Had some body work done on my wife...'s TB!

06Envoy

Original poster
Member
Dec 4, 2011
419
A few weeks ago when installing her LED Tails, I noticed some rust on her tailgate that I didn't see before.
4870-img-20120218-142755.jpg


And she had an ugly white stripe on her passenger door moldings.
4871-img-20120201-114131.jpg


She also needed some mechanical work done too.
The body shop wanted the truck for three days, and the mech shop wanted it for two days.
Perfect! I rented her some stupid Ford Fusion for the week, and booked the work.

Here is what the body work looks like.
4874-100-0933.jpg


4872-100-0928.jpg


4873-100-0930.jpg




The auto garage repaired the following;
- All four shocks with Dealership AC Delco rebranded Bilsteins. (comforts)
- Rear sway bar bushings
- Rear sway bar endlinks
- Front sway bar bushings
- Front sway bar endlinks
- Both front strut mounts
- Both lower control arms brackets
- Ball Joints
- Tie Rod ends.

All in all it ended up costing me a little over $3k for all the work to be done, but the truck looks better and it's much safer on the HWY's.

The worst part is that the wife liked the stupid FORD!!!!
So much so that she went the dealership and got a price quote for a 2012!
SO I dump $3k into her TB and now she wants a FORD???
ARGGGGG!

Actually, I did some quick math. Typically I spend over $2k/month in gas for her and I to drive our trucks. She drove that ford over 950kms on $75 of fuel last week. Less than half of what the fuel usage of her TB would have been.
So If I bought her the new ford, the $ saved in gas spending would be enough to cover the car payments and give me some $ back in my pocket every month.

It's gonna be a tough call for her...
Personally I don't care about the $, it's about what she wants. :yes:
I told her to wait until the summer and see what her TB looks like with the 20's on it. :crazy:
 

TollKeeper

Supporting Donor
Member
Dec 3, 2011
8,045
Brighton, CO
Vultures are already circling... And include me in that! Think those rims might look good on the X..
 

TexazReece

Member
Dec 4, 2011
1,341
TollKeeper said:
Vultures are already circling... And include me in that! Think those rims might look good on the X..

Add another vulture in the mix.....:crackup: just kidding
 

The_Roadie

Lifetime VIP Donor
Member
Nov 19, 2011
9,957
Portland, OR
I was thinking she might be a bit fickle, but then I saw you have two of the GMTs. Probably you don't BOTH have a mission that requires you to have one instantly available - one in a family is usually enough. And the troubleshooting benefit of being able to swap parts is lost if you're a take-it-to-the-dealer kind of owner. So carry on - I promise to not mock you. :raspberry:
 

Jkust

Member
Dec 4, 2011
946
Bummer, I never seem to hear anything bad about the fusion as much as I hate small cars. Should have got a Crown Victoria as a rental like we did (not on purpose) on our Arizona Vacation last month. I can guarantee she would have happily welcomed the TB back. The Crown Vic has all the best technology the 1980's had to offer.
 

navigator

Member
Dec 3, 2011
504
maybe you can talk her into a Malibu to keep it in the GM family.

My wife and I were "window shopping" the other day. It was raining off and on and we stopped at our local GM dealer. I had been thinking a Cruze might be nice but we decided it might be a little small for us. We thought about the Malibu but it was raining so we didn't get out.
We ended up going back to the used lot where I got my TB originally. They were really good to work with before and I would buy through them again if they had the right vehicle/price. Anyway, to make a long story short, that dealer carries lots of fleet style cars where many are less than a year old with really low mileage.

My wife's favorite car on the lot was a Fusion :-( We aren't planning to do anything before maybe the fall sales but when you see a car with 4500 miles on it for 5-6k off of the new list price it does get you thinking....
 

Jkust

Member
Dec 4, 2011
946
navigator said:
maybe you can talk her into a Malibu to keep it in the GM family.

My wife and I were "window shopping" the other day. It was raining off and on and we stopped at our local GM dealer. I had been thinking a Cruze might be nice but we decided it might be a little small for us. We thought about the Malibu but it was raining so we didn't get out.
We ended up going back to the used lot where I got my TB originally. They were really good to work with before and I would buy through them again if they had the right vehicle/price. Anyway, to make a long story short, that dealer carries lots of fleet style cars where many are less than a year old with really low mileage.

My wife's favorite car on the lot was a Fusion :-( We aren't planning to do anything before maybe the fall sales but when you see a car with 4500 miles on it for 5-6k off of the new list price it does get you thinking....

I saw a commercial yesterday for a new model, small Buick and it looked really nice. Don't know anything about it other that it looked like the LaCrosse which I have driven for extended periods of time and is a nice GM.
 

Sparky

Member
Dec 4, 2011
12,927
06Envoy said:
Actually, I did some quick math. Typically I spend over $2k/month in gas for her and I to drive our trucks. She drove that ford over 950kms on $75 of fuel last week. Less than half of what the fuel usage of her TB would have been.
So If I bought her the new ford, the $ saved in gas spending would be enough to cover the car payments and give me some $ back in my pocket every month.

But you are forgetting one critically important thing...

The cost of the vehicle itself.

Do you have payments on the TB?
If so, how much do you still owe, and how much are the payments a month? How much would your payments be on the car?
If not, well, you own the TB, so how much would you be paying for the car?

$20,000 is a huge amount of gasoline for the one TB.

How do you spend $2k a month in gas though? I thought I drove a lot (I have put 43k on my TB in 1.5 years) but even then my average gas bill has been no higher than $375. Do you drive like 10k a month or something? :eek:
 

Jkust

Member
Dec 4, 2011
946
Sparky said:
But you are forgetting one critically important thing...

The cost of the vehicle itself.

Do you have payments on the TB?
If so, how much do you still owe, and how much are the payments a month? How much would your payments be on the car?
If not, well, you own the TB, so how much would you be paying for the car?

$20,000 is a huge amount of gasoline for the one TB.

How do you spend $2k a month in gas though? I thought I drove a lot (I have put 43k on my TB in 1.5 years) but even then my average gas bill has been no higher than $375. Do you drive like 10k a month or something? :eek:

I wondered on the mileage thing as well.
 

Voymom

Member
Feb 3, 2012
2,523
2k a month in gas is about what I spent. I have had the truck for less than 60 days. At $80.00 dollars to fill it up and filling it up once a week it get's pricey. I have driven the truck 2k miles in the 45-50 days I have had it.

70x30 is 2100, so I can see it. I spend about $320-$350 a week in gas....

And i'm looking at paying close to three times as much this summer when gas prices go through the roof and when storm season gets here as I am a volunteer spotter for the NWS/NOAA and travel hundreds of miles a day through the entire state of Iowa
 

ItsOnVoy

Member
Nov 21, 2011
2,401
Sparky said:
But you are forgetting one critically important thing...

The cost of the vehicle itself.

Do you have payments on the TB?
If so, how much do you still owe, and how much are the payments a month? How much would your payments be on the car?
If not, well, you own the TB, so how much would you be paying for the car?

$20,000 is a huge amount of gasoline for the one TB.

How do you spend $2k a month in gas though? I thought I drove a lot (I have put 43k on my TB in 1.5 years) but even then my average gas bill has been no higher than $375. Do you drive like 10k a month or something? :eek:

Yeah $2,000 a month on gas is crazy lol that is 7000miles saying your truck is getting 14mpg and gas is $4 a gallon. I personally think if your done paying off the tb then it might be a better move to get a hybrid or something like that for the wife if she drives so much which will save you a ton. Saying the new car gets a good 30mpg city then your saving about a good $1066 a month with that! Prob less since that 2k is with you driving also Im assuming! Keep the voy :biggrin: I beat she will like the chev cruze more then a ford! :yes:
 

06Envoy

Original poster
Member
Dec 4, 2011
419
Yes, both of my trucks are paid for with no payments.
Yes, I would be making payments on the Fusion. ~$418 taxes in.

We live in the bush, about 30mins from town. Each trip to town is one hour round trip and is ~70kms.
I am a service man using my truck every day. On average I drive ~200kms a day.
My wife is an university student studying to become a nurse.
We have two boys who are turning into teenagers and have become involved in Navy League Cadets, Army Cadets, Soccer, YMCA, etc.
She averages about 3-4 trips into town per day.
She also drives about ~200kms per day.

That's about 6 fillups per week. At ~$100 per fillup, it gets over $2k per month easy.
That's for the both of us together mind you.
If I can cut her consumption by over a half, then I pay for the Fusion payments and I get $ back into my pocket each month.

BUT, she has to like what she drives.
Is she fickle? OH HELL YA!
Welcome to my world.
I'm here to make her happy though.
It's whatever she wants.

We have two GMT's because I bought hers first. I fell in love with the ride, comfort, etc. I spent 6 months trying to find a GMT 370 with a V8 that I liked. I finally found one and now we have two. :thumbsup:
 

TollKeeper

Supporting Donor
Member
Dec 3, 2011
8,045
Brighton, CO
I have a friend that works for the Roush Testing ground in Michigan. Its where they test every new model year, or model, that Ford produces. They have had the least problems with the Fusion, over any car they have tested in the last 3 years. The trucks they have had the least problems with is the Escape, but everyone seems to complain about how small the tank is.

Personally, I am looking for a Taurus AWD, or Edge AWD, or something simalar. I think I am done with GM. Been burned to many times.
 

TexazReece

Member
Dec 4, 2011
1,341
TollKeeper said:
I have a friend that works for the Roush Testing ground in Michigan. Its where they test every new model year, or model, that Ford produces. They have had the least problems with the Fusion, over any car they have tested in the last 3 years. The trucks they have had the least problems with his the Escape, but everyone seems to complain about how small the tank is.

Personally, I am looking for a Taurus AWD, or Edge AWD, or something simalar. I think I am done with GM. Been burned to many times.

Noooo don't do it Toll..........don't give in :whiteflag: on GM
 

TollKeeper

Supporting Donor
Member
Dec 3, 2011
8,045
Brighton, CO
TexazReece said:
Noooo don't do it Toll..........don't give in :whiteflag: on GM

They arent out of the question. I just dont see anything that peeks my interest. I love the Edge. Drives great, good fuel mileage, good sound system, good road manners, love the Ford Jukebox system, and microsoft Sync.
 

Jkust

Member
Dec 4, 2011
946
06Envoy said:
Yes, both of my trucks are paid for with no payments.
Yes, I would be making payments on the Fusion. ~$418 taxes in.

We live in the bush, about 30mins from town. Each trip to town is one hour round trip and is ~70kms.
I am a service man using my truck every day. On average I drive ~200kms a day.
My wife is an university student studying to become a nurse.
We have two boys who are turning into teenagers and have become involved in Navy League Cadets, Army Cadets, Soccer, YMCA, etc.
She averages about 3-4 trips into town per day.
She also drives about ~200kms per day.

That's about 6 fillups per week. At ~$100 per fillup, it gets over $2k per month easy.
That's for the both of us together mind you.
If I can cut her consumption by over a half, then I pay for the Fusion payments and I get $ back into my pocket each month.

BUT, she has to like what she drives.
Is she fickle? OH HELL YA!
Welcome to my world.
I'm here to make her happy though.
It's whatever she wants.

We have two GMT's because I bought hers first. I fell in love with the ride, comfort, etc. I spent 6 months trying to find a GMT 370 with a V8 that I liked. I finally found one and now we have two. :thumbsup:

Yikes, knowing that you are definitely a candidate for a 4 cylinder car. I'm thinking you'd be fine with a regular gas or diesel engine if thera any options out there and skip the hybrid if you aren't doing a lot of city driving. Good thing there are tons of websites out there to help you decide if a hybrid is worth it or not.
 

Jkust

Member
Dec 4, 2011
946
Voymom said:
2k a month in gas is about what I spent. I have had the truck for less than 60 days. At $80.00 dollars to fill it up and filling it up once a week it get's pricey. I have driven the truck 2k miles in the 45-50 days I have had it.

70x30 is 2100, so I can see it. I spend about $320-$350 a week in gas....

And i'm looking at paying close to three times as much this summer when gas prices go through the roof and when storm season gets here as I am a volunteer spotter for the NWS/NOAA and travel hundreds of miles a day through the entire state of Iowa

It may be time to turn the volunteer position into a paying position. I've gotta think all the spotters are thinking this.
 

06Envoy

Original poster
Member
Dec 4, 2011
419
TollKeeper said:
I have a friend that works for the Roush Testing ground in Michigan. Its where they test every new model year, or model, that Ford produces. They have had the least problems with the Fusion, over any car they have tested in the last 3 years. The trucks they have had the least problems with is the Escape, but everyone seems to complain about how small the tank is.

Personally, I am looking for a Taurus AWD, or Edge AWD, or something simalar. I think I am done with GM. Been burned to many times.

Hey, thanks for that insight into the Fusion! I appreciate that! :thumbsup:
I havn't looked at that MS Sync thing yet, but my wife said it was awesome, she really liked it. AND it was the first bluetooth that she was able to sync with herself!
 

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