We have a tow vehicle. We didn’t expect to get one this early, but we saw one we liked and we jumped. It is a 2005 GMC Sierra HD3500 dually, cranberry red, with 76,000 miles on its 6.6L 300hp diesel engine. It is bigger than I would have liked as it has an 8-foot bed, but duallies with short beds basically don’t exist. Even when I broadened my search to include long-bed duallies I didn’t find more than a few dozen available within 100 miles for under $25,000. When I saw one being advertised by a Chevy dealer just a few miles away, we hopped in the car and went to take a look.
It was in great shape, had a nice Bose sound system, leather seats, rear seating with fold-down seats that will give the dogs a flat platform to relax on while we drive, and a variety of features which convinced us that we could be comfortable driving it across the country (like adjustable seats with lumbar support). A test drive proved that the engine ran smoothly, the steering was tight and bumps were handled gracefully with no rattling.
A little dickering with the sales guy brought the price – which was already reduced by $2,000 because we had seen it on-line – down another $1,000. We traded in the 2005 Mazda 3 (thanks for the years of service, buddy), got 5.73% financing from a local bank and signed on the dotted line. We pick it up on Tuesday after I run to the bank to retrieve the Mazda’s title.
All that we need now to complete the rig that will carry us west (or will need once the purchase of the coach is completed) is the hitch that will connect the coach to the truck. The rails for the hitch are already in the truck, so this is just a simple matter of acquiring a hitch and installing it. The towing electronics are already in place.
Here is the new (to us) tow vehicle:
-
- The GMC Sierra HD3500, Oblique View
-
- The GMC Sierra HD3500, Front View