johnd393

The Tahoe has a 5.3l. The place where it's at is willing to put it on a lift to let me inspect underneath. Haven't done it yet. The same place has a 2005 Escalade 6.0l, 96k, thats nice but it's $15k. These cars were spotted while driving around locally. I have been getting a pictures of the RPO tag of the vehicles I'm interested in to look up exactly what equipment they have. There was an 04 Escalade with a 6.0l that I looked at, also spotted locally. Somebody else bought it. I think the 6.0ls are pretty thirsty. Others are on Craigslist, there are many scams, out of state phone numbers for local listings, in places I don't want to go, funny wording that sounds fishy, or just too far away.
I've not seen any 4.8ls that I'm aware of but sometimes they just say V8.
I'm evolving. Sometimes I consider the Trailblazer size. There was a Envoy XUV 2wd. Turned out it was only 2wd cus some 4wd parts were removed or disabled. The XUV in an interesting vehicle.
If I find something, I can get rid of my Ranger and get the Ford smell out of my driveway and off my hands.

intheburbs

I've found my last few vehicles using AutoTrader. It's a good site that allows you to do very customized searches (options, price, distance, key words, etc), and you can save and re-run those searches, or add alerts any time a vehicle matching your parameters is entered. Never been much of a fan of Craigslist for items any larger than TVs or foosball tables.

The Envoy/Trailblazer XL would actually be a pretty good tow vehicle. Sizewise, they're almost as long as a Suburban, but because of the long wheelbase and shorter rear overhang, are actually MORE stable than a Suburban when bumper towing. And they can be had with the 5.3 engine.

Jettix2

Autotrader is great. I found my Burb 700 miles from home that way, because I couldn't find a 3/4 ton Burb anywhere near me. Just set the price parameters a bit higher to allow for some wiggle room on price, and search for exactly what you want.

johnd393

Autotrader found a Trailblazer v8 that looks good in price, description, & pictures. It's a 7 hour drive.
So often, when you actually see the car it falls short of the description & pictures in the ad. How does that work when you have to travel a great distance to see it?

intheburbs

The biggest problem I've had is smokers' cars. Several times, fortunately all local, I went to see a vehicle and it reeked of cigarettes. Total dealbreaker for me.

I bought my Suburban 2500 from a dealer in Ft. Wayne, IN, about a 3 hour drive for me. I spoke to a salesperson prior to making the trip, to make sure there wouldn't be any surprises. Other than the smoker thing, I've had no issues with the vehicles I've looked at. Especially if it's a new car dealer, they want to make sure they keep their reputation in tact, so they tend not to do the shadier practices. That being said, I bought my Denali from an independent used car dealer about 75 miles away, and the process was quite painless. They put it on a rack, and I noticed the front pinion seal was leaking a bit, and they fixed it free of charge prior to closing the sale.

My last used car buy was the 2010 Wrangler, and again, no issues, very painless process. It was a Chrysler dealer about 30 miles away. Now granted, all three of these used car buys were over $20k, so we're not exactly talking small potatoes. The Burb was bought 3 years ago, the Denali last year, and the Jeep a few months ago.

johnd393

I usually don't want to pay dealer prices.

intheburbs

Having done both, I'd much rather buy a used vehicle from a dealer. They'll do whatever it takes to make a problem right. Perfect example - I'm driving back from the dealer last July with my newly-purchased 2010 Wrangler. The Check Engine Light comes on. Since I was almost home, I just stop by Autozone to have the code read. Bad EGR valve. I take it back to the dealer the next day, they move me to the top of the service queue, and I'm in and out in 2 hours with a new EGR valve fixed at no cost to me. And the salesman called me three times over the next month to make sure I was 100% satisfied.

Plus, if the car was a trade-in, they're pretty willing to negotiate on price.

johnd393

I bought a 2005 Chrysler minivan. One family owned, maintenance records from new, has original new car window sticker, spent most of it's life in the south, $2500. Sometimes best bang for the buck wins. I can recover the cost by selling my Ford Ranger. I will still keep an eye out for a good deal on a RWD Suburban/Tahoe/Yukon, but the intense search is over.

KNERD

Well gosh, would you look at that?

73shark

That's a two-door Tahoe that it is no longer made. It was originally called the Blazer.