My New Truck

After 14 years, it was more than time for an upgrade. A $1000 credit thrown on our GM mastercard for a new purchase, plus Detroit auto show discount and a couple other things motivated us to set aside a couple hours to spend at the local Chevy dealer in Brighton a few weeks ago. Tim specifically asked for the saleswoman who worked with us there when we bought our Chevy Traverse in January of 2009. She's actually a neighbor (we can almost see her house through the trees to the east of us: she lives on the next road over).

I have no idea how it is on other makes/models, but what's nice about Chevy is that you don't feel like you're landing on another planet when you sit down in a vehicle 14 years newer. However, we do now have a computer touch screen that would have been unthinkable in 2000. Pandora radio. And heated seats, which I only recall Saab having as early as the 80's. My favorite quantum leap upgrade: the heated steering wheel. Straight out of my self-indulgent idle fantasyland, willed into reality. Heated. Steering. Wheel.

No more sitting on my hands or jamming my fingers into the air vents on those bitter cold commutes home. No more deep breathing, cringing, wincing, wanting to cry from the pain in my fingers. Despite double gloves an a ridiculous fuzzy sheepskin steering wheel cover.

The entire purchase was completed in two on-site visits, a fair number of emails and phone calls which Tim handled, and a bit of a wait-and-see about getting one in our preferred color. I made a point of saying color was the last consideration in the blizzard of option choices/packages. BUT...if we're going to spend the big bucks on a new vehicle, and since we tend to keep our vehicles for a decade or longer, let's get EVERYTHING we want. Which is a color different from the combined 21 years of pickup trucks (dark blue) and contrasting to the Traverse color (silver moss). I held out for the metallic ruby red. Not the 'Victory' red, which to me looked a bit too volunteer fire truck. No, I gravitated toward the delicious, lickable cranberry red listed in the slick dealer pamphlet.

Tim's pet option was the back-up assist, which admittedly I probably need more than he does, given my tendency to back into snow piles and light poles. A rear cam view appears when you throw it in reverse, and orange guidelines appear, similar to the Weather Channel's hurricane trajectory cones. I still cling to old-school ways of using mirrors, and looking over my shoulder. But it is handy when backing into the garage and letting me know when I'm about to (or already did) bump into the plastic trash bin.

My one disappointment is the increased size: 2 inches wider and 3 inches longer than our 2000 Silverado. Really? So far there haven't been any problems fitting both vehicles in the garage, but there was precious little room before.

What may surprise people is that we opted for a crew cab. This is where 4 adults can ride in car-like comfort. Rather than the extended cab we had for 14 years where people could ride behind the driver, but with jammed knees and for not very lengthy periods. That space was reserved for groceries and miscellaneous car junk. The crew cab on the 2014 looked even smaller than what we'd had on our 2000, enough that we decided to go crew cab.  I was worried about losing bed space, but Tim pointed out that we can still haul the same amount of crap when we go camping, just more of it is going to be inside the cab now. And the box has gone from 6 feet 6 inches to 5 feet 8 inches...only a loss of 10 inches. I'm hoping the kayaks will fit into that bed without hanging over the top of the tailgate too far.

There was actually a choice of 6-cylinder engine, but we ended up with an 8. Even with the 5.3L engine, we are told the gas mileage will still be an improvement over our old truck. Not by a lot, but if we can come out ahead by simply buying the same, newer vehicle, then I'm happy with that no-brainer.

This weekend we got it tricked out with some necessary after-market items: a cloth bed liner, which  has already kept Costco purchases from sliding all over the place; a folding tonneau cover, which is essential for keeping the bed contents secure, but ever so handy for food chilling and storage in the winter months. It's the equivalent of Grandma Zucker's back porch or Grandma Kueffner's front porch: open the door, and set down whatever pan or vessel of food on the conveniently close expanse of horizontal surface. I missed that the few weeks we went without it. The cooking never stops here. And running boards (or 'nerf' bars, or side tubes). I was having trouble hauling myself into and jumping out of the driver's seat all last week, and I missed those, too.

And do I miss my old truck? Yes. I even wonder where it is now. But the whole experience wasn't as painful as I thought it would be. I tend to be sentimental and get attached to vehicles (and things), especially when I have them a long time. The dealership truly made it a 'one stop' shopping experience by giving us a trade in for my beloved old blue Chevy and even providing the plates right there, too. They shopped for the best financing and even switched institutions when another offered a fraction of a percentage lower.

Even after the Sirius XM Radio runs out after 6 months (Hair Nation and Classic Rewind!!), my 60 minute total commute in this new truck will be one of the highlights of my day.