What made you go with an SUV over a Truck?

[HiHoeSilver]

I started with a little ford ranger (yeah, I said ford). It had a manual trans and I loved it. It had a tool box in the back that served my purposes at the time. A buddy of mine totaled it pulling into our driveway in front of oncoming traffic. Dammit! I HAD to have my manual trans, and it just so happened that a customer of mine had a manual Explorer sport (2 door) for the right price. As soon as I got it, I realized how much I loved having covered storage. I could leave tools and material in it overnight without worry of theft or weather. No more in /out of the shop every morning and night. Then I ended up with a much larger music rig (im a keyboard player), and couldn't fit it all in the truck. One day, as I was driving, I saw it... A 2000 Z71 Tahoe. That grill guard screamed at me from the dealer lot. I stopped, drove it, and fell in love. Somehow, with that 350, I didn't care about not having a manual anymore! I went home and measured for my gear. It fit to a T. I went back to the dealer, negotiated a bit, and ended up walking away over price. That killed me. About a week later, the salesman called me and said last chance or its going to auction. I went back and haggled some more. It was fully loaded with 30k, and I walked (drove) it away for 23g. That was in 02. Drove it until last year when I bought the 06 Z71. Love it even more. Never going back to a pickup.

 

[Martinjmpr]

Yeah, the covered/secure storage is what sells it for me. We use my Suburban as a camping vehicle and tow vehicle for our small travel trailer (a T@B clamshell.) Unlike most travel trailers, the T@B doesn't have a lot of "built in" storage that can be accessed from the outside, so the things that we need for camping have to either ride inside the trailer (where they sit on the bed and have to come and and out through the narrow door) or they ride in the Suburban.

Just last weekend we took a 3 day camping trip to Eastern Colorado. In the 'burb was me, the wife and our dog (a 40lb red heeler.) Also in the 'burb was a refrigerator (truckfridge TF-41), a large plastic tote for food, another one with all our cooking gear, a heavy duty plastic box I call the "dirty box" (that has power cords, tent stakes, shovel, axe, jack pads, etc,) 4 pop-ups, a screen-house, two camp chairs, a 7 gallon water jug, two coleman lanterns, a free-standing propane cooker, all my survival/recovery gear, camera gear and tripod, all our clothing and personal effects, and even a backyard firepit! It all disappeared into the Suburban and with two side doors and that big liftgate, it literally took me 15 minutes to load and unload everything we needed for the weekend.

Not only that, but once we get to the campsite, I have secure (dry!) storage to put things like the cases and covers for all of our gear. So, for example, I can unload our pop up shelters, put them up and stake them into the ground, and then throw the cases back into the suburban. That way if it rains I have a dry case to put the popup back into when I leave - no dirty gear going into my truck.

Back about a year ago I found a sidecar for my motorcycle on Craigslist. The price was right but the location was 200 miles away. At first I thought I'd take my small truck (Nissan Pathfinder) and pull a 4 x 8 cargo trailer behind it, but I didn't relish the idea of pulling an empty trailer for 200 miles. Then I looked into the Suburban and realized that if I removed the 3rd row and folded the 2nd row down, I could likely get the sidecar into the Suburban. Not only would it be easier to travel without pulling a trailer, but since it would be inside I wouldn't have to worry about lashing/strapping it down. I drove up there, picked up the sidecar (with some assistance from the seller!) and drove back, no problem. Best of all I got almost 19mpg along the way - MUCH better than I would have done with the Pathy and a trailer.

It amazes me that SUVs are less expensive on the used market than pickups of the same year and mileage. It's very weird but I don't mind, I like my SUVs.

 

[ScottyBoy]

Yeah, I'm not sure why trucks hold their value so much better than SUV's. Especially considering the fact that a new Tahoe or Suburban costs a good chunk more than a new Silverado.
But now that I am spoiled to having a Suburban, I can't go back. I LOVE having the enclosed storage space, and not having to worry about something being unsecured in the bed and vulnerable to theft. Another big plus is grocery shopping, especially if the kids are with us. Even with the rear seats up, I still have plenty of cargo space. With a crew cab truck, not the case. About a year ago or so, my wife got in a wreck and while her car was in the body shop, she ended up with a 2016 crew cab Silverado as a rental car. I was driving it and I absolutely loved it, until we went grocery shopping. We both hated having to put our cold groceries in the hot metal truck bed in the middle of the summer. That was the deal breaker for me. I was SERIOUSLY checking into getting a new truck because I liked driving the Silverado THAT much. But now my wife and I both truly realized that we can't have a truck after having a Suburban for so long. The enclosed cargo space had me spoiled. Not to mention when we take road trips, I can just tell one of the kids to undo his seat belt and reach over the seats and grab me a drink out the ice chest. Can't do that in a crew cab truck, lol.
But after driving that new Silverado, I was indeed wanting a new truck. But then I realized that I would need a Tahoe or Suburban. Once I looked on the dealership lot and I saw that Tahoes are now upwards of 60 grand, I didn't even bother to try and test drive one. That's WAAAAY out of my budget right now. I will just keep taking good care of my ole 2001 Burban and keep er running good for many more years to come.

 

[BigDaddy13440]

Yeah, I'm not sure why trucks hold their value so much better than SUV's. Especially considering the fact that a new Tahoe or Suburban costs a good chunk more than a new Silverado.
But now that I am spoiled to having a Suburban, I can't go back. I LOVE having the enclosed storage space, and not having to worry about something being unsecured in the bed and vulnerable to theft. Another big plus is grocery shopping, especially if the kids are with us. Even with the rear seats up, I still have plenty of cargo space. With a crew cab truck, not the case. About a year ago or so, my wife got in a wreck and while her car was in the body shop, she ended up with a 2016 crew cab Silverado as a rental car. I was driving it and I absolutely loved it, until we went grocery shopping. We both hated having to put our cold groceries in the hot metal truck bed in the middle of the summer. That was the deal breaker for me. I was SERIOUSLY checking into getting a new truck because I liked driving the Silverado THAT much. But now my wife and I both truly realized that we can't have a truck after having a Suburban for so long. The enclosed cargo space had me spoiled. Not to mention when we take road trips, I can just tell one of the kids to undo his seat belt and reach over the seats and grab me a drink out the ice chest. Can't do that in a crew cab truck, lol.
But after driving that new Silverado, I was indeed wanting a new truck. But then I realized that I would need a Tahoe or Suburban. Once I looked on the dealership lot and I saw that Tahoes are now upwards of 60 grand, I didn't even bother to try and test drive one. That's WAAAAY out of my budget right now. I will just keep taking good care of my ole 2001 Burban and keep er running good for many more years to come.

Agreed. Had to install a couple of storm doors for a customer on Wednesday, he had a brand new 2017 Tahoe with all the bells and whistles, said it was over $80 grand. and he paid cash.

In the meantime, the storm doors are going on a converted garage (into a small apartment), between two trailers (not even mobile homes, these are 12' x 60' TRAILERS!!!), and he and the wife (sister/cousin/mother/ all of the above) are pounding Old Milwaukee like it was going out of style at 11am, I think there were 14-16 cans on the ground by the time I left at 1:30......

 

[HiHoeSilver]

Agreed. Had to install a couple of storm doors for a customer on Wednesday, he had a brand new 2017 Tahoe with all the bells and whistles, said it was over $80 grand. and he paid cash.

In the meantime, the storm doors are going on a converted garage (into a small apartment), between two trailers (not even mobile homes, these are 12' x 60' TRAILERS!!!), and he and the wife (sister/cousin/mother/ all of the above) are pounding Old Milwaukee like it was going out of style at 11am, I think there were 14-16 cans on the ground by the time I left at 1:30......

Cans on the ground..... Lol. BTW, Old Milwaukee went out of style waaaaayyyy before today at 11 am.