Eh, I think ours had a sticker of 34.5k or so. With nav, V8, 4x4, and sunroof added (the options we didn't get) I think it tops out at 38-39k.

The price I was referring to earlier was the price we got it for after the deal was finished, as we bought from a wholesale dealer who only sells fleet sales for medium and large sized companies. Since my fiancee's dad is a home builder and buys fleet trucks from him from time to time, plus he also build the guy's house... he gets the hookup (ie: large company discounts on a single car or two purchase). Then again even those large company discounts are only like 500 under invoice on most 'yotas.

 

Well I know for a fact the ls1/ls2 is built in mexico and when tremec bought the t56 from borgwarner they started assembling them in mexico. If you ask me if I'd rather my drivetrain built in mexico or china it would have to be the latter. Doesn't really matter though since gm is trying to be a global corporation anyway.

 

This is no excuse, but the 3.0/3.3L V6 from the Camry/Highlander/RX/Sienna/ES is old school. It dates back to the late 80s... it has been seriously revised and upgraded since then... but the basic block and design has remained the same throughout. So realistically it's a 16+ year old engine with lots of new feature content added over the years. It is not as impressive power-wise, nor is it impressive reliability-wise compared to some other newer choices out there.

Then again Toyota already has the all-new ground-up designed GR-series V6 that will be in one form/displacement or another found in pretty much if not every Toyota and Lexus V6 model made... starting with the 03 4runner, and now moving on to the new Avalon, GS300, IS250/350, Tacoma, etc, etc... they all use derivatives of this new design. Some with direct injection, some without, some with their new generation-3 valve timing setup, some with only generation 2, etc, etc.

It's Toyota's first ground-up 6-cylinder design since the late 80s. So while it's not representative of Toyota's reputation, I do think it is understandable why the 3.0/3.3 doesn't really stand out among the competition these days. All other things equal, I'd much rather have the Nissan VQ-series 3.5L V6 from both a power and durability standpoint.

 

not quite! Some LS1/LS2 blocks were cast in Mexico and some were cast in St. Catharines....but they're assembled in Romulus and St. Catharines.

 

I do have to wonder why GM would source LS1/LS2 engine blocks from both Mexico and Ontario?

 

Now all you need to do Branden is to update your sig

 

Formula,

Did you go through two different Trailblazers before buying an Equinox?

 

Yup, and both had issues. We would seriously have a Toyota if there was no Equinox for her to fall in love with. It is my wife's car, and she gets what she wants

 

Lol, what a sad statement it would be if the owner of the largest GM fansite was forced into a Toyota!

 

I know, right? Because we've disagreed about so much besides your opinion on the HHR and your bad attitude to fellow members in a recent post...

I think I've disagreed with guion more than you, and I think guion and Charlie are 2 of the best assets this site has. Can't take stuff personally...to each his own.

Branden - Sorry to hear you had such bad luck with not one but TWO TBs. Knock on wood, my dad had a great '02 LS he put 76k miles on in less than 3 years...it was so great he bought his new one, like I said.

 

Now, imagine John Q Public in Branden's situation. They move from a late 90s Toyota or Honda to something with more room & the vehicle GM is supposed to be expert at producing and where most all of their car development money went, SUVs.

They bought, say, the then new Trailblazer and proceeded to make monthly payments. With a true blue GM fan like Branden calling his Trailblazer (Yet you bought 2 of them in a row?! ) the "Trailblazer from hell", isn't it any wonder why GM is having something of a sales & profit meltdown now? John Colletti onece told me you only get one chance to make a 1st impression. He was talking about the GTO at the time & something similar was said by a Ford rep regarding the then new F150, but it's especially true everywhere.

GM is lucky if there is one in a million customers like Branden who continue to buy GM despite multiple bad experiences.



Going slightly off topic for a moment, has anyone heard that GM is still not convinced that high fuel prices (just about $3.00 per gallon for premium here in NorCal) is the reason why sales of their large SUVs have plummeted?

I think some of GM's marketing analysts might be better suited to other positions instead.

 

I am unaware of many foundries that can crank out a couple of million engine blocks on their own. The 5.3/5.7/6.0/7.0 are all basically the same block, and take a hard look at how many vehicles they go in.

There was going to be more than one plant no matter what happened, nobody on the planet has the square footage required to make them all in one place.

 

perhaps flipping burgers is the job for them.

 

The reason I had two in a row, is we had issues with the first one, and the dealer offered us a great deal to get in a different one that was much nicer. At the time, there was no Equinox, and we pretty much had to buy from them. My wife works in the city, and did not want a Tahoe that would be a task to drive.

 

My wife has a 03 Saturn Vue and loves it and since the new Equinox appears to be a larger and more refined version of the Vue your wife should be happy with it for many years.