New and looking to buy a TB/Envoy

[DirtRidinZ71]

Hey everyone, new member here. The girlfriend and I are planning on selling her car (2005 Ponitac G6) and my truck (98 GMC K1500) and going to just one vechicle and saving some extra cost.
Mainly it will be her DD, so fuel ecomony is needed. With selling my truck we need something 4wd and somewhat offroad capable since we do plenty of hunting/fishing and just cruising back woods roads, nothing to serious. It needs to be reliable and depable off road since our 1 year comes along on all drives. These needs point us both towards a mid sized SUV, more so the Trailblazers/Envoys. From actual owners do you think one will fit our needs nicely?
With our budget it puts us looking at the mid 2000 year models, with around 150k km's (100K miles). What are some main things to be looking for when buying a used TB? Weak areas that are prone to issues/failure? Spots to look for any hidden rust, as its bad here in eastern Canada. Any other helpful info would be great.

If we do end up buying one, the "cant leave anything alone" part of me wants a lift and some decent AT tires, but I'll leave that for another post later in time. I'll finish off with a couple pics of my 98 and the 92 woods toy.

[dvanbramer88]

Glad you found your way over here. Welcome!

[navigator]

If I were looking for an SUV for my wife/kids that is great all season and good on gas then I would likely look at a crossover or subaru outback or something else. I would expect the stock short wheel base in mixed driving where you are to get around 18mpg.

If that kind of gas mileage is ok, then I think the TB/Envoy is a great platform for what you want.
It is a pretty good people hauler, does pretty well towing and with a decent set of tires is pretty capable.
As long as it was maintained pretty well you should be in good shape. One of the main things is that the xfercase fluid was changed regularly (every 50k miles).

From what I have read the V8 and I6 will both be similar in gas mileage with the V8 having more low end torque and a beefier 8.6 rear end. Since this will be her DD and you already have an offroad toy you might not be concerned about the gearing, G80 (locker) etc that would interest us if we were shopping for another TB.

[HARDTRAILZ]

Welcome over here. Seems like one of these would be a good fit for your needs.

Do like the toy. Bet it is fun.

[djthumper]

Welcome!

[Cable810]

Thats a nice truck man! To bad you have to sell it...

Welcome!!

[Diacom]

Welcome

[DirtRidinZ71]

Thanks for the welcome everyone, see a couple familar names here.

If I were looking for an SUV for my wife/kids that is great all season and good on gas then I would likely look at a crossover or subaru outback or something else. I would expect the stock short wheel base in mixed driving where you are to get around 18mpg.

If that kind of gas mileage is ok, then I think the TB/Envoy is a great platform for what you want.
It is a pretty good people hauler, does pretty well towing and with a decent set of tires is pretty capable.
As long as it was maintained pretty well you should be in good shape. One of the main things is that the xfercase fluid was changed regularly (every 50k miles).

From what I have read the V8 and I6 will both be similar in gas mileage with the V8 having more low end torque and a beefier 8.6 rear end. Since this will be her DD and you already have an offroad toy you might not be concerned about the gearing, G80 (locker) etc that would interest us if we were shopping for another TB.

I dont think a "crossover" will suit our offroad needs, granted its nothing to serious but in late fall things can get pretty slick with the frost and mud/snow, have needed 4wd at times with the truck.

The fuel mileage is about the only thing that does not impress me with the TB, its not terrible but I was expecting more.

I've read about having the tcase fluid changed every 50k a couple times. What is the reasons for needing this, problem if not changed? Seems like a task that the "normal" owner wont have done.

Thats a nice truck man! To bad you have to sell it...

Welcome!!

Thanks. I dont have to sell it, just going to see what the offers are on it and if decent enough it will go. Just going to try having 1 vechicle and cut some cost down. I've only put under 8000km's on it in the 16 months I've owned it.

[mikekey]

Welcome to the site! Believe it or not, Outbacks can be lifted about 3 inchs. I seriously considered a 2006 for a brief time as a MPG/Expedition vehicle. But after riding from IL to SD with a friend in there's I realized I didn't want to take multi-day trips that don't involve hotel stops in that vehicle.



But trust me, I'm not trying to sell anyone on that car. Just pointing it out.

MPG can be improved by how you drive, air pressure, vehicle condition and tires. We ran some good road tires, dropped the rear spare and rear seats and did some heavy hyper-mile experimenting last spring and managed to get the TB up to 20MPG around town.

After the tires though and mods we haven't seen that in forever. Best right now is 17mpg.

Personally I think the TB is a good in between for small families who don't need something as big as the Tahoe but don't want a lame ass cross over.

[87chevy]

Welcome

[DirtRidinZ71]

MPG can be improved by how you drive, air pressure, vehicle condition and tires. We ran some good road tires, dropped the rear spare and rear seats and did some heavy hyper-mile experimenting last spring and managed to get the TB up to 20MPG around town.

After the tires though and mods we haven't seen that in forever. Best right now is 17mpg.

Personally I think the TB is a good in between for small families who don't need something as big as the Tahoe but don't want a lame ass cross over.

Thanks for the info. If 17 is the best what is your average mpg? That is with the 245/70R17's and 3.73 gears? I like the looks of your setup, pretty simple but a improvement over stock.

I've stopped to look at a few different trailblazer at some used car lots. All seem to be 3.42 gears and under the front lip of the hood is rusted on them. Hopefully with spring coming soon the market will pick up and my truck will sell, then can seriously begin looking.

[JorDaneeKey]

MPG can be improved by how you drive, air pressure, vehicle condition and tires. We ran some good road tires, dropped the rear spare and rear seats and did some heavy hyper-mile experimenting last spring and managed to get the TB up to 20MPG around town.

After the tires though and mods we haven't seen that in forever. Best right now is 17mpg.

Personally I think the TB is a good in between for small families who don't need something as big as the Tahoe but don't want a lame ass cross over.

Thanks for the info. If 17 is the best what is your average mpg? That is with the 245/70R17's and 3.73 gears? I like the looks of your setup, pretty simple but a improvement over stock.

I've stopped to look at a few different trailblazer at some used car lots. All seem to be 3.42 gears and under the front lip of the hood is rusted on them. Hopefully with spring coming soon the market will pick up and my truck will sell, then can seriously begin looking.

She's my daily driver so to answer your question I'm averaging 15 combined city/highway right now. I've gotten out of the habit of hypermiling since the transmission rebuild. She's fast off the line and kicks into passing gear a lot faster and stronger than before. So, I've been having some fun navigating around the snowbirds here. However with gas jumping .60 cents in the last month and my work commute increasing from 11 to 22 miles, I'll be working on behaving again.....

Where are you located that you're seeing rust? My first TB was an 02 and started to show rust from NY salty roads pretty quick, even with the underbody treatment. Our second TB was a VA soccer mom-mobile and is totally rust free, thankfully, since Florida is murder on Northern vehicles.

[DirtRidinZ71]

She's my daily driver so to answer your question I'm averaging 15 combined city/highway right now. I've gotten out of the habit of hypermiling since the transmission rebuild. She's fast off the line and kicks into passing gear a lot faster and stronger than before. So, I've been having some fun navigating around the snowbirds here. However with gas jumping .60 cents in the last month and my work commute increasing from 11 to 22 miles, I'll be working on behaving again.....

Where are you located that you're seeing rust? My first TB was an 02 and started to show rust from NY salty roads pretty quick, even with the underbody treatment. Our second TB was a VA soccer mom-mobile and is totally rust free, thankfully, since Florida is murder on Northern vehicles.

Thanks again for the info. Things will probably be left stock to keep the mpg reasonable for the gf to drive. Personally Ive only drove older full size pickups and 15mpg would be a dream

From New Brunswick Canada, they use a ton of salt here, almost impossible to find anything truely rust free.

[dvanbramer88]

I've read about having the tcase fluid changed every 50k a couple times. What is the reasons for needing this, problem if not changed? Seems like a task that the "normal" owner wont have done.

It's a wet clutch driven system that uses the "special" AutoTrac II fluid. Some argue that it isn't all that different than Dex 6 because the Dex 6 in the trans and the AT2 in the Tcase are only separated by an oil seal and the two fluids have the potential to mix over the life of the vehicle at one point or another. Anyway, AT2 probably has friction modifiers to play nice with the clutches. The clutches like fresh fluid and like the fluid at the proper level. After 50K miles, the fluid gets old and accelerated wear starts to occur within the clutches. It's a common held belief that lack of scheduled maintenance is the #1 cause of T-case failure. #2 would be excessive/continuous use of the A4WD feature. That will also kill the clutches in a year or two.



This is the case that the TB and Envoy use.
NVG 226
http://www.offroadtb.com/articles/tech- ... operation/

[DirtRidinZ71]

Thanks again Dave for all the good info!

[The Roadie]

Believe it or not, Outbacks can be lifted about 3 inchs. ...

Small world! My wife's car has always been a Sub, and I was following the exploits of one called the "Superu" on the net for a while. An Oregon offroad company close to where I used to live was the US distributor for Australian springs and lifts for the platform. In the mid 80's, my vehicle was a minivan while hers was a Sub wagon with a manual low-range transfer case. She HATED it when I wanted to borrow hers for a logging road run.

[navigator]

....my vehicle was a minivan....

The Roadie in a minivan....blaspheme!

j/k we had one for awhile and they are really versatile.

[DirtRidinZ71]

Even though nothing has sold yet we might go look at this envoy on the weekend, we have enough saved up to just buy it and might not be a bad deal at 4K
http://fredericton.kijiji.ca/c-cars-veh ... Z462500046

A couple others that have caught our eye, of course they will have to wait until my truck or her car sells
http://moncton.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehicle ... Z460768930
http://moncton.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehicle ... Z456506954
http://moncton.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehicle ... Z459126334

[DirtRidinZ71]

We should be picking this one up on Tuesday. Has 3.73 gears and g80.

http://moncton.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehicle ... Z460768930

[JorDaneeKey]

We should be picking this one up on Tuesday. Has 3.73 gears and g80.

http://moncton.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehicle ... Z460768930

Gosh, I haven't seen an engine that clean in ages. Looks really nice!!