Future Vehicle Purchase…My Ongoing Search

I was at Lisa’s KidsPark with my laptop and I decided to go to auto makers’ websites and do the “build your own” vehicle. I got pricing on the vehicles I’m interested in. Here are the pricing results and my ratings based on the vehicles appeal to me and the pricing results I found. All the prices are based on similar options available on the various vehicles. I did not price out the bottom or the top of the line vehicles. I chose the features and options I liked and tried to keep the price within reason. All the options I chose were similar on all the vehicles in a particular category.

The First Category is SUVs:

My “5 Stars” choice is the Chevrolet Tahoe. A new Tahoe moderately equipped was priced at $39,905.00.

I love the look of this SUV, and although it is not the cheapest, it is larger than the price leader and would be a great fit for our needs.

My “4 Stars” choice is the Ford Expedition. A new Expedition moderately equipped was priced at $42,055.00. This was the highest priced SUV I built. This keeps it out of the top position but it has several features we really like.

This SUV has been on the list for a few years. Some of the things added to this latest model are really nice. I really love the cooled seats. Again, the room here is what we are looking for.

My “3 ½ Stars” choice is the GMC Arcadia. A new Arcadia moderately equipped was priced at $35,960.00. This was the “best price” winner.

This is a new vehicle without many reviews completed on it yet. It is a cross over and is probably more like a car in its handling. I am not sure about the room, but if it’s good, it would probably move up the list. If it really was able to provide for all out needs, it could even move to the #1 (5 Stars) position, based on its cost.

I did price out the GMC Yukon as well which came out to be $40,160.00. That was the highest price of my list. I didn’t price the Cadillac Escalade because it is a “luxury” brand and pricing would be even higher. The Cadillac would be on my short list of purchases if I was extremely wealthy. Both the Yukon and Escalade are based on the same platform as the Tahoe so the ride, handling, room, and even features would be similar. (Of course, a salesman will disagree.)

The Second Category is Trucks:

My “5 Stars” choice is the GMC Sierra 1500. A new Sierra moderately equipped was priced at $33,655.00. This is also the “best priced” winner. I think this is the truck for me right now.

If I was going to buy a truck, this would be the one. GMC is a solid truck. The room would be great and I love the lines. It can also do its share of the chores.

My “4 Stars” choice is the Ford F-150. A new F-150 moderately equipped was priced at $34,628.00.

This is a close second…really close. I’ve liked the F-150s for a little while. The only down side I see to this one is the 2009 is a model change year where the GMC is going to last for probably 6-8 years more before a change.

I did look at the new Toyota Tundra but the price was $37,564.00 and it has a really short bed on the four door version, something Ford finally fixed on the 2007 version of their F-150.

The Third Category is Sedans:

My “5 Stars” choice is the Dodge Charger by a hair. A new Charger moderately equipped was priced at $31,665.00.

This car’s only fault is its manufacturer’s reputation. Chrysler has not had a good name for as long as I can remember. But, all of that aside, this car has everything I want. It’s a rear wheel drive muscle machine with lots of room for the family, all packaged in a tough looking sweet ride.

My “4 ½ Stars” choice is the Nissan Maxima. A new Maxima moderately equipped was priced at $31,220.00.

I drove this car a few times as a rental. I loved its handling, power and comfort. It is a great car. The back seat may be a little too small for the future but it would work great as a second family vehicle.

Of course, my dream family car is the Maxima’s luxury big brother, the Infiniti M35. A new M35 moderately equipped was priced at $44,965.00, coming way over budget. But, I can’t skip my favorite sedan.

My “3 ½ Stars” choice is the Toyota Camry. A new Camry moderately equipped was priced at $27,615.00.

It’s a Toyota. It’s a great car. It is probably going to have the same issues as the Maxima in terms of room but it’s still a solid sedan for the fam.

These were the choices I came up with and priced out. I did look at the Chevrolet Impala (cheapest priced), the new Ford Taurus (Five Hundred was a better name), and the Toyota Avalon (most expensive besides the M35).

So I think I would choose:
Chevrolet Tahoe for my SUV
GMC Sierra for my Truck
Dodge Charger for my Sedan, maybe the Nissan Maxima (this is the hardest category)

PLEASE POST YOUR OPINIONS TO THIS ENTRY. I want to know what you think.

Nice Picture

I found this picture on a computer at work. I thought it was cool.

Summertime

Here is the third YouTube post. This seems like a happy song.

Ford F-150……….OUT!

I priced out the truck (an F-150) I’d like to have. I built it on Ford’s website. The problem is the $37,125.00 price tag I came up with. OUCH! Of course, the smart thing to do is buy used. The problem is the used Ford F-150’s are usually beat up from being used as work trucks. Also, I want the four door version but I don’t like the 5 ½’ bed. The 6 ½’ bed came out this year but you can’t find used ones that new.

I’m also not really sure that’s the best purchase. We keep talking about SUVs vs trucks. The SUV would be great for hauling our son and his 2 cousins. The truck would be great because then we would have the ability to go to the dump, take our Christmas Tree to the pile in Lincoln, help move big objects to and from KidsPark, etc. …I just realized I don’t really have a lot of needs for a truck. All the examples I just listed are don't really come up that often. I just would like one because I like trucks. Wow. I just made up my mind that a truck is not the right purchase.

In the codes we use at work…10-22 (disregard) this entry.

Watch for one on the SUV I would like to purchase.

Also, the picture is the the King Ranch edition. This is not the model I priced out. It is nice though.

When You Wish

Jeremy wrote this February 24, 2005 and has never released it to anyone. In fact, his wife is the only one who has ever heard it. It's not as "funny" as Cyclops Boy but it is silly.

Enjoy.

Most Impressive Part Deux

On April 9, 2006 I posted an entry called "Most Impressive." It was the prequel to this amazing home made light saber battle. Check this out.

Pachelbel Rant

This is cool. My mom actually found it. It is the reason I don't like most "popular" music.

Jeremy Camp - Understand

This is a Christian artist that I really like. i stumbled arcoss this video of an acoustic version of this song "Understand." It is always impressive when an artist sounds this good live and acoustic.

DUI stop

Ted reminded me I've been wanting to post this video. Good DUI stop.

First of all, Ted reviewed the iPhone and seems to love it.

Second, Dan needs to do a review on whatever kind of phone he is using in Canadia. (Yes, I know I spelled Canada wrong…that’s just what we call it.)

Third, my phone is a piece of junk. Here is my review:

First (again) some history…my first cellular phone was a Motorola the size of a small county. I then moved to a smaller version, then an Ericsson, and then……Dan convinced me the Nokia was the way to go. I bought, and Dan was correct. I had two more Nokias after that and then my work provided me with a Motorola on the Nextel network. Wow, that was a cool network but a boring phone. I loved the two way feature and it worked so well. My wife and I could talk all the time in an instant. The problem was camera phones and Internet capable phones were coming out. Also, SMS messaging was not available. I ended up upgrading to a newer version that had a camera and other available features.

After quitting that job and starting the one with the county, I switched back to Cingular and bought myself the newest and “greatest” Nokia. The 6102i. i = Bluetooth. i also = sucks.

Originally I was given the 6102 which is only missing the Bluetooth, but I asked for the one with Bluetooth so I went back and demanded they replace it with the i.

The phone’s features include a crappy camera, a radio feature that only works if you by the Nokia headphones, a speaker phone that is so useless I never use it, a menu system that scrolls so slowly you forget what option you were looking for, no memory, extremely slow and limited Internet access, and a whole stack of other issues which include terrible reception on the service with the fewest dropped calls. Fewest dropped calls because they leave you on with no transmissions back and forth. The call doesn’t drop. You decide to hang up to not burn minutes on a call where you can’t hear each other.

Don’t buy this phone. Don’t buy Nokia anymore. Buy Apple, Moto (some), Samsung.

50 States Game

See how you do at placing the 50 states. Check out Dan's original blog entry for the link.


Here's my wife and my score. We worked on it together but she really did most of the work.




Our score was higher but our time was double what Dan's was. I don't really know what that means but I'll go with better score wins. :)

Russian Street Racing, Really Crazy.

I found this on Edmunds.com. This is crazy!

Hilarious 911 Call

This is pretty good.

The Real iPhone, Not as cool

The real iPhone, now that it is out, is not as impressive as it originally looked. This picture of my friend's iPhone should clarify why it's not as cool as everyone once believed it would be.


I think the biggest flaw is the rotary dial. Sure the circle works great for the iPod features, but dialing really takes time.