[FC] A Question Regarding New Vehicles (Minimal Corvair Content)

[RoboMan91324 at aol.com]

Everyone,
 
I am in the market for a new vehicle and I am limiting myself  to the Big 3.  
I would like some advice if possible.
 
First, I want a vehicle with towing capacity for my toys  (Corvairs, etc.) so 
I am limiting my search to SUVs and pickup  trucks.
 
Yesterday, I drove a Chevy Tahoe Hybrid and a Chevy  Avalanche.  I liked 
both.  Here is my brief assessment.
 
Tahoe-  Other than the hybrid, this is a typical  SUV.  A benefit of the 
hybrid is that it comes with the big 6 liter motor  and has very good towing 
capacity around 6200 lbs.  The standard Tahoe tows  a minimum of 5400 lbs and goes 
up from there with options.  The  hybrid also has better city gas mileage than 
non hybrids but has the same  highway mileage.  20/20 vs. 14/20.  The Tahoe 
has a decent turning  radius though not quite as good as my Bronco.  This helps 
when maneuvering  a trailer.  A downside is the cost which is in low to mid 
$50k.  Also,  the longevity of the battery pack is a concern.  The salesman 
told me that  the hybrid portion of the vehicle had a warranty extended to 8 
years and 100,000  miles.  Also, he said that the battery pack was made up of 
traditional lead  acid car batteries but there was no access for me to verify 
this.  Does  anyone have knowledge of this vehicle and its battery pack?
 
Avalanche-  For those of you not familiar with this  vehicle, it is a cross 
between a pickup truck and an SUV.  More accurately,  it can be transformed 
from a pickup into a somewhat unusual SUV.  It starts  as a full size crew cab 
pickup with a removable hard cover on the short  bed.  You can remove the back 
window and lower the mid wall and back seats  to open the bed to the back of 
the front seats.  This allows you a full 8 x  4 bed for standard size plywood 
sheets, etc.  It can be used as  follows.  
 
1.  A short bed crew cab pickup with or without the hard  cover.  
 
2.  An 8' bed pickup with the window in place and the  hard covers attached.  
This seals the bed and cab from the outside rain,  cold etc.
 
3.  If you are carrying a box that is higher than the  sides of the bed and 
longer than the short bed, you cannot use the back window  and hard covers so 
the cab is open to the outside elements through the  rear.  In other words, the 
mid wall and window merely fold away but do not  move forward to change the 
crew cab into a regular cab.  Obviously, if you  are carrying something higher 
than the top of the cab, you can only use the  short bed length.
 
This vehicle has a longer wheelbase than the Tahoe and  therefore has a 
bigger turning radius.  It also rides more like a truck  than the Tahoe which isn't 
a big problem for me.  It is much more expensive  than the standard pickup 
but is slightly less expensive than the non-hybrid  Tahoe and about $6k less 
than the Tahoe hybrid.  My concern is that there  may be leaks at any of the many 
sealing points of the hard covers, mid wall and  removable back window after 
some years of use.  Does anyone have knowledge  of these kind of problems?
 
Any comments or advice would be appreciated.
 
Thanks in advance,
 
Doc
1960 Corvette; 1961 Rampside; 1962 Rampside; 1964 Spyder  Coupe, 1965 
Greenbrier; 1966 Canadian Corsa Turbo Coupe; 1967 Nova SS; 1968  Camaro Ragtop
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