which vehicle should I buy?

[Tom Tom Turbo]

Here's the deal, I work for a dealership and they give me a car to drive to/from work, but we now have to log our mileage and cannot use it for personal use. I already have the T Type as a race car/cruiser, but it certainly isn't reliable enough to be used as a daily driver or year round car (not that I would do that anyway)

I am limiting myself to $20,000 max, as I'll be buying a house in the next few years so I don't wanna buy something brand new and finance it forever.

Do I go practical and purchase a 2003/2004 Silverado 4x4 extended cab or possibly a Z71 Tahoe/Yukon or should I pursue another fun car...most likely a 2005 GTO or low-mile 2003 Cobra.

I have several co-workers who attend factory auctions and dealer sales, so I can buy a car at wholesale prices and all of these will fall in that range, its just a matter of what I wanna do with it.

I don't have to worry about anyone else driving it, I am 23 and single, no kids...basically, this new car will be good for picking up women and going to the store.

[Quiky One]

Do you have a need for a tow vehicle? The 5.3's are great motors.

Jason

[Tom Tom Turbo]

well, I don't really need a tow vehicle, because my dad lives about 20 min from me, and he always goes to the track with us with his 04 Avalanche. You're right, the 5.3 motor is the ****...tows like butter and gets decent mileage.

But it would be nice to have one down the road....but I kinda feel like if I don't buy a GTO now, I won't be able to afford one later, with a house payment and such.

[jasjamz]

We just replaced our 93 Rodeo with a late model 2000 Tahoe. Now all I need is a trailer for when I want to tow my GN to the track. 80,000 miles and $11,000. It's a nice truck. There are times when a truck comes in handy. I have a 01 V8 Olds Aurora for my daily use. Chicks like it, fun car too.

[72firebird]

Well if you could go a little higher you could have both LS1TECH - 1000+hp 10sec truck But really I would just go with the truck, and do some mods to it. You can use a cam and heads made for the LS1 on the 4.8,5.3, or 6.0L trucks and there's plenty of mods. Wouldn't take too much to get the truck into the 13s and you'd have a really practical sleeper.

[Quick6'n'-K.C.]

03 cobra

[SVORay]

Pratical: '07 Denoli

Ok maybe a Tahoe but teh Denoli's are sharper looking.

[Tom Tom Turbo]

show me a 2007 Denali I can buy for $20K and I'll take it. There is not a single way to justify a $54,000 truck by any stretch of the imagination. For $750/month I'll buy a house.

[UNDER-PRESSURE]

Dodge Cummins Turbo Diesel Truck. 20+ mpg and a lot of fun!!

[SVORay]

Originally Posted by Tom Tom Turbo

show me a 2007 Denali I can buy for $20K and I'll take it. There is not a single way to justify a $54,000 truck by any stretch of the imagination. For $750/month I'll buy a house.

Just saying spending 20k on a vehicle is about like spending 54k on a vehicle. I would find some 5k truck to drive around on and focus on the house That 20k truck will probaly drop down to 5k in value over a period of 5 years vs a house that could increase as much as 50% in that amount of time. A house is a solid investment where as a car is sinking ship.

[Tom Tom Turbo]

ok, the topic wasn't "should I buy a house or a car" but whether which vehicle should I buy. I'm in a situation where all I really have for bills is rent and utilities, but I am also at a point where I might not stay at the dealership for a long time, so I need to take into consideration that I may not have a company car in a few years. And I know a house is an investment, where vehicles are a "waste" of money, but I'm not gonna walk to work anytime soon, and I don't have anyone to share a house payment with, so until I find a wife, there will be no $6-700/month house payment.

[pontiac69fb]

Originally Posted by Quick6'n'-K.C.

03 cobra

I second that suggestion. I raced a 6.0 liter GTO yesterday, in my stock turbo, intercooler, and converter grand national and murdered it. I was definitely not impressed, but maybe that was just the driver that made the car so slow.

Also the 03-04 cobras, are just as fast as the new GT500 cobras that have 100 more hp. I have been very impressed with the performance of the 03-04 cobras, guys are adding a few basic mods to them and are making over 600 to the rear wheels.

[CHARGED]

Where can you get a low mi 03-04 Cobra for <20k ?
I've been looking for about a year now and haven't seen any lower mi Cobra's for less then 24k.
I was hoping the new 500hp Cobras would cheapen the 03-04's but they haven't seem to come down in price
I'm looking to upgrade my daily driver 98 GS to a Cobra but haven't found anything in my area that I liked or could afford.
The basic mods get them 450-500hp, I think you need the juice or a SC upgrade to get 600 along with other supporting mods
My vote is obvious

[SS_Sean]

I'd be looking at the best tow vehicle/daily driver you can. I have an 01 Silverado 2500HD with the 8.1 liter. Best dang truck I've ever owned or driven, and I've driven a lot of trucks. Sounds like you work at the right place for a good deal. Good luck!

[Quick6'n'-K.C.]

Ok, maybe im one of few that read the part where you DONT get to use this car for PERSONAL use.....
It would be a daily driver to and from work right?

How much fun would it be to drive a denali or a dodge cummins as a daily commute to work and back?

UMMMM

03 COBRA and trailer it to the track when you really want to beat the piss out of it.
Id do it in a heartbeat.
BW

[vicious6]

GTO man, 400HP. Awesome car no matter who says what!

[Dreamcar86]

Let's see hear, you are 23 with no wife and kids and looking for something practical and fun. Am I getting this right so far? Is there a question here? How fun is a truck Get the Cobra and enjoy your youth. You only live life once and you do not want to grow old and have regrets. When I was your age I was cruising around in a 66 convertible vette and chasing women. Have fun and enjoy being single. Trust me once you get married all the vehicle fun has a way of getting put on the back burner because you will be involved in picking out what tile to put in the kitchen and so on.

[UNDER-PRESSURE]

My Cummins is a lot of fun. With the edge box & 5" exhaust i dust off most cars i run across, get good mileage & can pull any trailer i need too. It is truely the best of all worlds for me. My wife was so impressed she bought a mega cab cummins diesel as her daily driver.

[pontiac69fb]

Originally Posted by Tom Tom Turbo

this new car will be good for picking up women and going to the store.

Most girls would probably prefer the slick looking cobra over a full sized truck or the gto... plus the cobra is the fastest of all the vehicles you metioned so you will have a lot of fun going back and forth to stores.

But when it comes down to it our opinions are just opinions, you should choose whichever car you will enjoy the most in the long run.

[SVORay]

Originally Posted by Tom Tom Turbo

ok, the topic wasn't "should I buy a house or a car" but whether which vehicle should I buy. I'm in a situation where all I really have for bills is rent and utilities, but I am also at a point where I might not stay at the dealership for a long time, so I need to take into consideration that I may not have a company car in a few years. And I know a house is an investment, where vehicles are a "waste" of money, but I'm not gonna walk to work anytime soon, and I don't have anyone to share a house payment with, so until I find a wife, there will be no $6-700/month house payment.

The only reason I said to buy something pratical and cheap was because you said "you was buying a house in a few years!" I simply thought it best to not have a ton of negitive debt when you sat down with a banker trying to barrow funds for a house. Either way, I still would buy something pratical since you already have a T-type. If you want to make it interresting, pick up a Diesel...those things can move. A friend of mine has one that does 13.2's in the quater almost stock and pulls more than my Regal with 23psi of Boost A truck will make you independent...I don't have to ask anyone to barrow their truck because I bought a new 50" TV. I simply pull the 50lb bed cover off and head to the store.