My first GM truck

medons · May 4, 2004

I shopped till I dropped on this truck. I've never spent even $20k on a vehicle before let alone over $40. I looked at Ford, Dodge and GM (GMC and Chevy). I drove them, sat in them, read the brochures, calculated payload, daily search inventory availability, talked to fleet managers about pricing etc. I know it's all personal taste, but here's the conclusion I came to. I didn't like the dodge (sorry dodge lovers), too noisy, small back seat in CC, and no CC, Short box, SRW, 1 ton. I have owned Fords for the past 14 years plus a best friend is on his 3rd diesel Super Duty truck which I've driven extensively. I think the 6.0L auto is by far the peppiest from a standstill, but it's considerably louder than the Duramax. So I prefer the Ford in this department. BUT ... the interior on the GM - LT or SLT is far superior to the Ford Lariat in virtually every aspect, leather quality, use of space, electronic toys (XM,Onstar,DVD), dual climate control. The wife and I love the GM and there was lots of Chevys and not many GMCs so I finally bought the chevy (2500HD,CC,4wD,SWB,White).

One crazy story in the process though:

Two weeks ago before I made this purchase I was ready to buy either a GMC or a Chevy. On thursday night I bumped into the GMC salesman at a Padres Baseball game. His salesmanager (bid mouth) put the pressure on to buy the truck he offered invoice only to withdraw it when he found out it was a Crewcab. On friday afternoon I called the GMC salesmen but he hadn't come into work that day. I had planned to pin them down on the invoice offer and buy it. I talked to the fleet manager and he said the general manager told them this loaded GMC had to go for sticker! I gave up on it and called the first chevy on my list of 5 or so. The internet salesman was excited to hear from me having only corresponded by email for weeks. The truck I was interested in was still available so he offered the usual $1200 over invoice. I told him forget it, I wasn't driving 70 miles to pay anything like that. To shorten the story, after some posturing, he asked how much I thought it should sell for and I said a few hundred over invoice. He got my number, called me back a few minutes later and offered to sell the vehicle $2100 UNDER invoice BEFORE rebates! I asked 20 questions and quickly got on the road. When I got there the truck was sitting in front of the dealer ship, brand spanking new, loaded, perfect condition ... but it was a LONG bed! We had crossed signals since I had asked for internet quotes on long beds a few weeks earlier. Anyway, I really wanted a short bed so he offered to try and trade it for a short bed with another dealer at the same INSANE discount. He ran the numbers for me and out-the-door was really that low. Anyway he tried for two weeks but nobody would trade. This was in the LA area so there was inventory. His deal, probably left over dealer coupons for HD trucks only ran out the end of April, so I moved on, very sad of course. Sorry this is soo long, but thought you'd find my story about the "big one that got away" interesting.

linda · May 4, 2004

a full size 2500HD LT CC LLY DMAX/ALLY should not run you more than $35-36k depending on your area. Washington area has them all over the place starting at $33k. You say you were looking at $40k? Thought you might be a little relieved to know you can do quite a bit better than that, and that it might not have been the big one that got away. Lot stickers wont reflect these prices, but a little talking in the sales room will drop the price about $10k if you got your facts. Internet sales does seem the way to go however, unless you just like the sport of dickering with the sales guys. Plus the internet sales seems to go a little smoother and less pressure. My truck sticker was almost $42k and i ended up paying just under $31k. Good luck in your quest.

RogueOne · May 4, 2004

Sad story...I was succesful about a month ago with a 04' 2500HD C/C LT S/B with the new D-Max...about the same thing.....in person I found is not the way to shop.....over the internet I settled for $2100 under "invoice" + $1000 in rebates.....about two weeks after my purchase I still had one dealer calling/e-mailing and I "talked" him down to $2500 under invoice + rebates. Enjoy your new trk.

jhill · May 4, 2004

Are you guys quoting prices before or after rebates? I qualify for GMS pricing and my deals usually work out between 16-17% off of MSRP, plus any applicable rebates.

sonjaab · May 4, 2004

JHILL............I get GM employee discount too............

Dealers are pretty tight to the vest with the CCs and duras.

Some will not discount much or do the GM employee deal.

I just got a new Chevy 2500 hd LS x-cab 4x4 $35500 msrp....

$5900 off for employee discount plus $3500 rebates, GM card,

bonus cert. etc.............

Not many GMCs in my neck of the woods either........So I will

have to live with that AV look!

Rebates, killer discount, and wicked trade in $$$...........

Had to do it !...............geo

MEDON...........Congrats and enjoy yer new ride!

shuug · May 10, 2004

The guy is trying to find the truck that I want but can't find it. It lists for 47 k buty the lowest he will go is 37k with rebates. His price is 500 over invoice. Is there any way I can get him to knock another 1k off? I'm trying to get the best deal I can.