bummer , I’m not the tallest person I fit pretty good in there a few nights here and there
Help with getting a car Phoenix and I can temporarily live in
- Thread starter Jexnell
- Start date
Ummm….a BMW is one of the least reliable and most expensive cars to repair. There is something deep inside that x5 engine that is going to become a very expensive problem in the near future, which is why it is selling so cheaply.
At least the parts for a general motors is affordable compared to a BMW and they are probably more reliable too. My buddy bought a used BMW 5 series convertible he thought was a fabulous deal at the time. It’s been sitting in his driveway dead now for three years.
It was MUCH cheaper to go buy another car than to fix that one.
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I evidently love to give people life advice, but I would surely hate to live in a car. I have slept in cars myself. It sucks.
Before I did that I would buy a cheap rusted out van that still runs OK and patch up the body somehow.
I would care mostly about reliability of a commercial vehicle, versus the cost of gas for a little car. One visit to the shop can cost you a year’s worth of gas. You can control your gas consumption but you cannot control the cost of repairs.
Also some cars will simply never sell, but you can always sell a commercial vehicle, if just for parts. At least here in farm country.
Before I did that I would buy a cheap rusted out van that still runs OK and patch up the body somehow.
I would care mostly about reliability of a commercial vehicle, versus the cost of gas for a little car. One visit to the shop can cost you a year’s worth of gas. You can control your gas consumption but you cannot control the cost of repairs.
Also some cars will simply never sell, but you can always sell a commercial vehicle, if just for parts. At least here in farm country.
I work 3 jobs to make ends meet, 2 of which are selling auto parts. My main job is a gm dealer and 1st part time job is aftermarket retail auto parts.
Don't get a bmw Mercedes or Volvo, parts are really expensive, finding a good mechanic to work on them is difficult and expensive and you definitely don't want someone who thinks he can work on one.
Stay away from any gm with afm engines from 07 up. Afm is active fuel management or cylinder deactivation. 5.3 are the worst. It really seems like most of the major failures on these are 12 and up but just be aware.
Looking at what you have been looking at the older gms are quite good actually. As stated above the parts are very reasonable and available. Prior to 07 5.3 engines still offered afm and nonafm so be careful and research, really haven't heard of a ton of issues though with any of the older 5.3s.
Every vehicle manufacturer has good and bad vehicles. Good and bad ideas. You can find fault with any of them. In my area it's all retired gm employees and some of the gm plants are still here so current gm employees too. Very heavy gm presence. So Ive seen a lot of the issues with their products. I've been working in car parts for over 20 years.
Lastly I hope for the best for you. I'm sorry that this is and has happened to you. I feel if you have served our country in a military, police, fire, emergency responder situation whether or not you actually had to put your life on the line, the fact you were willing to should be enough and you should be taken care of.
Best of luck. I'll try to keep an eye on this if you have questions I'll try to help.
Don't get a bmw Mercedes or Volvo, parts are really expensive, finding a good mechanic to work on them is difficult and expensive and you definitely don't want someone who thinks he can work on one.
Stay away from any gm with afm engines from 07 up. Afm is active fuel management or cylinder deactivation. 5.3 are the worst. It really seems like most of the major failures on these are 12 and up but just be aware.
Looking at what you have been looking at the older gms are quite good actually. As stated above the parts are very reasonable and available. Prior to 07 5.3 engines still offered afm and nonafm so be careful and research, really haven't heard of a ton of issues though with any of the older 5.3s.
Every vehicle manufacturer has good and bad vehicles. Good and bad ideas. You can find fault with any of them. In my area it's all retired gm employees and some of the gm plants are still here so current gm employees too. Very heavy gm presence. So Ive seen a lot of the issues with their products. I've been working in car parts for over 20 years.
Lastly I hope for the best for you. I'm sorry that this is and has happened to you. I feel if you have served our country in a military, police, fire, emergency responder situation whether or not you actually had to put your life on the line, the fact you were willing to should be enough and you should be taken care of.
Best of luck. I'll try to keep an eye on this if you have questions I'll try to help.
Basically, any European or English car is a bad idea. If you live on the West Coast And you’re not rich, you probably wanna own an Asian car.
I get upset every time I think about what has been done to General Motors, Chrysler & American motors.
Marketing, legal, and finance had taken over from engineering completely. When they started making more money by financing the cars than by selling good cars, everything turned upside down in America.
I was going to be an automotive engineer, but I ended up as an architectural engineer by some strange fate. We saw exactly the same thing happen with finance etc in our industry.
The expected lifespan of a new building has gone from centuries down to decades.
Instead of screwing up production and manufacturing by changing the styling all the time, America needed simpler cars that would last a long time and be easy to repair.
Instead they sold us quickly designed overblown models with lots of fake luxury, miserable fuel economy, and hidden bits of foam stuffed everywhere to keep them from squeaking.
If you have ever built cars plus worked at a junkyard and un-built them, you would see the bare bones of American automotive evolution in a way that would pretty much disgust you.
I was a junkyard rat until I got my first professional engineering job. I can afford new parts these days, but there’s still lots of grease under my nails.
Yup I've done all that with cars. I started out wanting to be a mechanic. Went to school got a associates degree in automotive technology (worthless...lol) got state certified as a master mechanic. Have been working on my cars, family and friends since high school. Got a job at a dealership and got a raw deal, lost hope and worked in food service for years. I kept working on cars on the side. When I got the offer to buy the restaurant I was managing I had had enough of that. Decided to put my automotive knowledge to work and went into parts (retail, traded 1 demon for another). Got an offer to work at the dealership 2 years ago and decided I was tired of retail management. To see these newer cars and how they need to have things replaced that shouldn't fail so soon and the way they have to be replaced is rediculous. I'm glad I'm not a tech to be honest. I let my certs expire a few years ago. I really don't work on anything anymore and haven't in quite a few years unless absolutely necessary. Prior to 2010 is okish for the most part.
I actually worked at the Ogden American motors dealership as a mechanic. I grew a beard, lied about my age, and borrowed my father’s tools. I was 18 years old.
They didn’t let me touch the new stuff except cosmetic. I glued a number of shifter handles back together on brand new Javelins. People would forget to push the button fast enough and just ripped the plastic snaps apart.
Every single one of them broke, and you could not get parts at the dealership. There were none available. This is always a problem with short production run cars and I always recommend people to buy a car that’s been in production five years at least.
I did easy AMC brake jobs and changed gaskets on old Ramblers. They also sold Renaults and I got to work on a couple of the first front wheel drive European cars I had ever touched.
They didn’t let me touch the new stuff except cosmetic. I glued a number of shifter handles back together on brand new Javelins. People would forget to push the button fast enough and just ripped the plastic snaps apart.
Every single one of them broke, and you could not get parts at the dealership. There were none available. This is always a problem with short production run cars and I always recommend people to buy a car that’s been in production five years at least.
I did easy AMC brake jobs and changed gaskets on old Ramblers. They also sold Renaults and I got to work on a couple of the first front wheel drive European cars I had ever touched.
I thank both if you for your advice and suggestions.
I am leary of commercial vehicles due to the unknown possible chemical contamination as it could very easily kill off Phoenix.
Birds unlike us have no reserve lung capacity. They always use 100% of their lung capacity and simply increase respiration rate to get more oxygen.
So I have it narrowed down to a Chevy Trailblazer or it's GMC twin the Envoy. The standard version has 70in of internal space with the back seats folded down, the length of a single mattress.
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The Envoy has less mileage, but it's 100+miles away so a greyhound bus ride to go get it. While the Trailblazer is only 20min away, but it's a base model while the Envoy is a lot better equipped.
I am leary of commercial vehicles due to the unknown possible chemical contamination as it could very easily kill off Phoenix.
Birds unlike us have no reserve lung capacity. They always use 100% of their lung capacity and simply increase respiration rate to get more oxygen.
So I have it narrowed down to a Chevy Trailblazer or it's GMC twin the Envoy. The standard version has 70in of internal space with the back seats folded down, the length of a single mattress.
Used Chevrolet Trailblazer for Sale Nationwide - CarGurus
Browse the best April 2026 deals on Chevrolet Trailblazer vehicles for sale. Save $4,211 this April on a Chevrolet Trailblazer on CarGurus.
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Used GMC Envoy for Sale near Vancouver, WA - CarGurus
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The Envoy has less mileage, but it's 100+miles away so a greyhound bus ride to go get it. While the Trailblazer is only 20min away, but it's a base model while the Envoy is a lot better equipped.
The envoy was in an accident the trailblazer wasn't or at least it wasn't reported as being in one. I didn't see the type of accident, that would be my first concern. The milage isn't that big of a difference. Most of the vehicles in my state of that age are rusted to the point of being worthless, at least it doesn't seem you need to worry about that.I thank both if you for your advice and suggestions.
I am leary of commercial vehicles due to the unknown possible chemical contamination as it could very easily kill off Phoenix.
Birds unlike us have no reserve lung capacity. They always use 100% of their lung capacity and simply increase respiration rate to get more oxygen.
So I have it narrowed down to a Chevy Trailblazer or it's GMC twin the Envoy. The standard version has 70in of internal space with the back seats folded down, the length of a single mattress.
Used Chevrolet Trailblazer for Sale Nationwide - CarGurus
Browse the best April 2026 deals on Chevrolet Trailblazer vehicles for sale. Save $4,211 this April on a Chevrolet Trailblazer on CarGurus.
Used GMC Envoy for Sale near Vancouver, WA - CarGurus
The Envoy has less mileage, but it's 100+miles away so a greyhound bus ride to go get it. While the Trailblazer is only 20min away, but it's a base model while the Envoy is a lot better equipped.
