Very Old Dog
04-28-2003, 17:17
Last Friday I purchased my first Chevy Duramax diesel with the Allison Transmission. I have owned 2 Dodge Cummins with automatic transmissions and my last one was a 2001 HO 6 speed with heavy modifications. It was a beast. Great vehicles and great performance. The automatics were not as hardy as the 6 speed in towing the 5th wheel. But, last Fall, I had a stoke and I could not depress the clutch in the 6th speed and coupled with some arthritis in the left hip, driving this vehicle was out of the question. My wife in her good spirits bought me a Nissan Frontier, good gas car with an automatic so I could get around. Got stronger, so I had enough of that and wanted a real truck with a diesel again. Went to the Ford, Dodge and the Chevy dealerships and last Friday, I just decided that I was going with the Chevy Duramax. It had the best automatic transmission and reports of a reliable diesel. Ford, .....just couldn't bring myself to it for the 6.0 and there has been a lot of negative discussion on the Diesel Stop web site. Dodge did not have a reliable and proven automatic transmission to haul anything worthwhile without major modifications to that transmission.
I put on 234 miles this weekend and filled up today with 13 gallons of diesel fuel for 18 miles per gallon. Needless to say, I am pleased...and this vehicle is not even broken in as of yet. The HO speed got 19 to 19.5 in the city and about 21 on the highway unloaded. I am optimistic at this point.
By the way, thanks to all of you contributors who shared information about your experiences on this web site, which provided information and gave me confidence that this was a low risk decision.
Now just for your information, I went to this dealership which had about 12 diesels on it's site and said that I would pay only invoice on a vehicle that I purchased. Knowing that the Nissan had a value of $18,000 before hand which they agreed upon, I subsequently purchased the Duramax for invoice less the $3,000 rebate. So the actual purchase price was $33,000 plus tax, title, and registration. I wrote a check for $17,000. This was an LS model, extended cab fully loaded with extendable mirrors, towing package, bed liner, nerf bars, mud flaps, etc., etc., etc. Great vehicle but I can remember my first new car was a Chevy Malibu which I purchased for $2,600 in 1969 when I came home from Viet Nam.
I believe that the dealership treated me very well since I pushed in their face the fact that I served in the USMC for 23 years and have 4 purple hearts. I will use this to get my financial benefits if I can. And they felt very patriotic since the victory in Iraq.
I think that they are more negotiable these days and this is to our advantage as consumers.
Again, thanks to all on this site for helping this old man make, what I think, is and will be a good decision.
Ed
I put on 234 miles this weekend and filled up today with 13 gallons of diesel fuel for 18 miles per gallon. Needless to say, I am pleased...and this vehicle is not even broken in as of yet. The HO speed got 19 to 19.5 in the city and about 21 on the highway unloaded. I am optimistic at this point.
By the way, thanks to all of you contributors who shared information about your experiences on this web site, which provided information and gave me confidence that this was a low risk decision.
Now just for your information, I went to this dealership which had about 12 diesels on it's site and said that I would pay only invoice on a vehicle that I purchased. Knowing that the Nissan had a value of $18,000 before hand which they agreed upon, I subsequently purchased the Duramax for invoice less the $3,000 rebate. So the actual purchase price was $33,000 plus tax, title, and registration. I wrote a check for $17,000. This was an LS model, extended cab fully loaded with extendable mirrors, towing package, bed liner, nerf bars, mud flaps, etc., etc., etc. Great vehicle but I can remember my first new car was a Chevy Malibu which I purchased for $2,600 in 1969 when I came home from Viet Nam.
I believe that the dealership treated me very well since I pushed in their face the fact that I served in the USMC for 23 years and have 4 purple hearts. I will use this to get my financial benefits if I can. And they felt very patriotic since the victory in Iraq.
I think that they are more negotiable these days and this is to our advantage as consumers.
Again, thanks to all on this site for helping this old man make, what I think, is and will be a good decision.
Ed