'04 GMC Envoy Purchase - Thumbs Up or Down ??

[Turk]

Hey all,

A Gal I know wants to but an '04 GMC Envoy SLT with a 4.2L.

She looked it over well & she knows vehicles moderately well. It has new tires. There is no maintenance records. It has ~55,000 miles on it.

Asked her a lot about it & sounds good to me. I'll try to check it out Monday.

Any comments good or bad...?

Anything to watch out for...?

Thanks much!!

 

[Saturn_Fan]

14/19 mpg @ 3.53+ per gallon, heading to 4.00. Doesn't seem like a smart move right now IMHO. Moreover, the Envoy enjoyed sub par reliability according to Edmund's site and others. Is she going to do a lot of towing as the engine does produce a healthy near 300 horsepower from the 4.2L. I have never been a fan of the Envoy/Trailblazer and the smaller Blazers that came before it.

 

[Compman1988]

Uncle's had three, and loved them. He's currently in a Trailblazer SS (6.0 High Output V8) and is mad that they are discontinuing them soon. Hasn't had a single problem with any of them. Great winter cars (the 4x4, of course

)

 

[MrCritical]

Price? 4x2? 4x4? Probably closer to 14 avg in real world driving.

 

[JTK]

I owned a 2005 Trailblazer LS 4x4 for ~2yrs. It was the nicest driving, handling and most comfortable truck I ever owned, but had the most horrible body and interior panel quality and fit/finish I have ever seen. REALLY bad. They tend to be hard on their 4L60E transmissions and the 4x4 components and P-steering is light duty. A major issue with them is the !@#$ goofy GM electro-mechanical fan cluch for the engine cooling fan. Problematic, expensive and not easy to change. The 4.2L inline-6 has okay power, but sucks gas as bad if not worse than a V8. Oh.. and the water pump quailty is Harbor Freight tools. Other than that, they are an awesome used value if you are in the need for this type of vehicle!! I'd buy one again if gas was $1.90/gal.

Joel

 

[Saturn_Fan]

Heck, the old 4.3 Vortec in the Blazers was a gas hog too. 13/17 for the 4x4 version. Ugh! You're getting into 5.7L Hemi fuel economy territory with the Trailblazer/Envoys. There are much better choices out there on the used mid sized SUV market IMHO. If she doesn't need the towing capacity, RAV4, CRV, Escape/Tribute, etc. And with the CRV especially, you can run em' 100K and still sell them for good money with their resale value.

 

[PT1]

50-60,000 miles is a difficult time to buy any vehicle unless you know how it has been maintained. So many people lease on a 4 year lease and never do anything but 8-10,000 mile oil changes. I would definitely take that truck to a shop where for $100 they will inspect all the fluids, brakes, a/c, suspension etc. One key thing to look at that only takes 2 minutes is to pull the air filter.If it's black with crud...walk away. Then get underneath and see what kind of oil filter is on it.

 

[Saturn_Fan]

Great suggestion you pose and well worth the 100 bucks for a third party to take a look see. I always check air filter, oil cap, dipstick, auto transmission dipstick, etc. when I buy used.

 

[Cutehumor]

why buy a gas hog when oil prices are so high?

 

[Turk]

She was gonna get a medium sized pick-up, but wanted something more enclosed. She does roofing, etc. & hauls shingles quite a it. Hummm... Good comments so far.

 

[Ed_T]

Something about the retainers for the spark plug paks being impossible to remove due to corrosion, not fixed until MY-05, IIRC.

We had the fan clutch problem on a 03 TB. It was so horrid in so many mechanical ways we dumped it at 50k miles. Rode nice, tho. Just couldn't live with the constant problems (dead battery, axle whistle, doors flexing out of their openings over bumps, stuck-on cooling fan, fuel consumption high, ignition-shifter interlock malfunctioned intermittantly, dash gauges would "freak out" every so often).

Went to a 4Runner and haven't looked back. What a world of difference. 115k miles right now and feels as tight as the day we bought it new.

 

[PT1]

Originally Posted By: Ed_T

Went to a 4Runner and haven't looked back.


+1 that will be my next truck. My buddy has 370,000 miles on his and is "thinking" about getting a new one because one of his seats just ripped...

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: Ed_T
Something about the retainers for the spark plug paks being impossible to remove due to corrosion, not fixed until MY-05, IIRC.


Good call Ed. I forgot about that one. There is single very long and skinny screw that secures each coil pack on the 2002-2005 Atlas/Vortec 4.2L. Instead of securing to the cam cover, the screw routes way down through the plug well and threads into the aluminum cylinder head!! Left in place too long w/out some form of lubricant or anti-seize and those buggers break right off upon removal. Your only cheap fix is to silicone the coil-over to the cam cover and forget about the broken screw. GM went with a different design in 2006+ that eliminated this problem.

Joel

 

[paulo57509]

FWIW, when I'm waiting for my commute bus at the local Park-and-Ride there's a guy that gets dropped off by his wife in an Envoy. I don't know what model year it is, but it appears to be fairly new.

The first thing I noticed about this vehicle is that it has an annoying PS whine.

 

[Turk]

Wow, thank you Ed, Joel! Thank you everyone who chimed in so far...

 

[Gillsy]

Originally Posted By: tpitcher
She was gonna get a medium sized pick-up, but wanted something more enclosed. She does roofing, etc. & hauls shingles quite a it. Hummm... Good comments so far.
I own an 07 Envoy. It is a great suv. The 4.2 is a phenominal engine, and was Wards one of ten best engines several years in a row. It is not as bad as the Hemi in fuel economy. It is built on a full frame and is not to be compared with the imports. As a matter of fact, there isn't much out there that can compare with it's capabilities as far as towing goes unless you get into a bigger suv. I wish the brakes were heavier. My previous two vehicles were an 05 GMC Sierra crew cab four wheel drive with the 5300, and an 03 GMC Sierra extended cab four wheel drive with the 5300. The 4.2 feels more spirited than the v-8's. It has not been back to the dealer once. Neither were the other two trucks. The only negative thing that I can say about it is that the seats in the trucks were HUGE more comfortable than the no contour pieces of [censored] that were in the Envoy. A very capable vehicle that runs on 5W30 Havoline. The 4.2 is a DOHC 24 valve injected engine with coil on plug ignition, and variable valve timing. It is the smoothest mill I have ever owned, and it has a seven quart oil pan. Enjoy!

 

[oldmaninsc]

Originally Posted By: JTK
I owned a 2005 Trailblazer LS 4x4 for ~2yrs. It was the nicest driving, handling and most comfortable truck I ever owned, but had the most horrible body and interior panel quality and fit/finish I have ever seen. REALLY bad. They tend to be hard on their 4L60E transmissions and the 4x4 components and P-steering is light duty. A major issue with them is the !@#$ goofy GM electro-mechanical fan cluch for the engine cooling fan. Problematic, expensive and not easy to change. The 4.2L inline-6 has okay power, but sucks gas as bad if not worse than a V8. Oh.. and the water pump quailty is Harbor Freight tools. Other than that, they are an awesome used value if you are in the need for this type of vehicle!! I'd buy one again if gas was $1.90/gal.

Joel


As usual, Joel hit all the nails on the head. I also have an 05 Trailblazer, except mine is the extended version. I haven't had to replace the water pump yet, but have had the fan clutch replaced.
These are very nice vehicles to drive. One thing Joel didn't mention is there seems to be a lot of problems with ignition switches.
But as Joel said, the MPG isn't very good. My EXT gets about 12-14 around town and my personal best on a 400 mile trip to Arizona was just over 20 MPG. Normal freeway MPG is about 19 for the EXT. The short wheel base models do get slightly better - maybe a mile or two at most. I've rented a couple of 06 and 07 models while out of town, and they did do a little better than mine on MPG.
FWIW - Mine is going up for sale if anyone is interested.
(Off topic) Joel - we miss you over at Trailvoy. You should drop in and say hi once in a while!

 

[Turk]

Ok, I checked it out today......... Thanks everyone!!!!!

Super clean inside & out. Engine compartment is clean also, not just power sprayed either. It's the shorter style.

The engine starts & runs nice - no noise, rev's super too.

The oil looked brand new...

There was oil under the engine, but may have been from changing it I THINK....

The transmission fluid smells "a little burnt" though..... It had 52k on it and being a lease, of course original. We went to smell my truck transmission fluid to compare to her and it smells more burnt than mine - and I have 125k on mine!!! But I changed mine twice & have Amsoil in it too.....

Steering shaft was tight, shocks did not leak.

Could not see the oil filter.

The air filter looked real good.

Price is ~ 14,900. Others were higher we saw.

I believe she's gonna get it tomorrow...

 

[Saturn_Fan]

Wow, if she wants 12-14 mpg city and horrendous resale value down the road, more power to her I guess. There are simply much better choices, even if you want to occasionally haul shingles as you point out.

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: oldmaninsc
...we miss you over at Trailvoy. You should drop in and say hi once in a while!


Thanks OM! As much as I love the Cobalt that replaced my Trailblazer, I do miss the capability and comfort of the TB (wife does too). Trailvoy is indeed the best resource around for GM T360 chassis owners.

Joel