Sell, Lease, Rent or Keep: 1998 Oldsmobile Bravada
Why did someone from Atlanta keep this? An all-wheel-drive SUV is not exactly the best choice for Atlanta’s hot climates and long commutes. You get abysmal fuel economy. A mediocre safety record. Higher repair costs due to the all-wheel-drive system. Did I mention the solarium effect out here that takes dashboards and discolors and deforms them? When I bought this for $1000, I was seemingly going against the conventional wisdom. But I wasn’t… here’s why…
Sell: Consumers want to feel rich. About 2% do it by buying the most fuel efficient vehicle out there. The other 98% want one with leather. a sunroof, a premium sound system, and pretty much everything else under the sun. Minivan owners want TV screeens. SUV owners? They want luxury and safety. Even if both of them are a complete illusion on a vehicle like this. The miles were high (202k), but this Carmax trade-in has dealer records and an owner who kept it in the garage. I would easily expect $2000 for this vehicle during tax time.
Rent: You would think that based on this logic SUV’s would also be my best rentals. Not even close. My most popular vehicles by far are gas sippers. Then minivans. Then midsized sedans. The SUV’s do go on on the road… eventually. But they have a tendency to sit once gas gets north of $3. My rental customers tend to need long-term deals, and these folks are usually either getting minimal help from their insurance company or are renting on their own dime. I could keep it for a couple of weeks and see if I could make it a rent-to-own. But I would rather…
Lease/Finance: I can definitely get $500 down and $50 a week for the Bravada. That is assuming gas prices don’t zoom into the mesosphere or our economy isn’t jolted by yet another black swan. Or that the all-wheel-drive system doesn’t go South. Or the transmission. Or the cooling system. Or the… Like most loaded up domestic SUV’s, this Bravada contains an awful lot of expensive sensors and old electrics. Sunroof, ABS, Traction Control, yadda yadda. The profits can be lucrative but I already know this particular model may require more maintenance than a mid-level Ford Explorer from the same era. I already have five of those on notes.
Keep: A place with lots of bad weather and minimal commuting needs would be ideal. Think the Northern Country like Penobscot Bay, Maine (a favorite retreat of mine) or the U.P. In a climate like Atlanta? No. Nein. Nyet. Not a chance. Heck even Subaru struggles to sell vehicles out here. There may be six inches of unplowed snow on the ground at this very moment. But I’m not about to a gas guzzler in my garage with the driving excitement of a 10 year old GE refrigerator. I hate ‘things’. But I would rather buy a boat, than to keep this boat.
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I had a 98' ZR2 Blazer with the 5-speed that I ran to 155k and sold recently. Many of the comments here are very true...for me, the 4.3L and 5-speed manual were very robust, and even at 155k drove as new. I never had any issue with the engine or 4wd. I did have to replace a clutch. I also had to replace ball joints, alternator, radiator, thermostat, cat converter, O2 sensors, o-ring from the remote oil cooler ruptured, e-brake never worked. Biggest complaint was the dexcool system...once you do anything to the cooling system, the delicate balance is thrown off and you'll spend forever troubleshooting little niggling problems like air getting stuck in the system, heater not working, etc. Yes, the truck started and ran every day, and never left me stranded. But it was true 90's GM all the same...strangely reliable, but with terrible quality all the same. That said, I bought it for $6k, drove it 7 years and 85k miles, then sold it for $2k, so in the end it was still a good financial choice.
Sell it to a kid-that's not to say these things don't hold up-they're indestructible-but with the dollar falling fast, gas will be $6 a gallon by July 4th. You'll never move it then-those 4.3s suck gas....... I'm dying to move mine, but my wife has pointed out that after 11 years we've never had to fix mine-just had to clean it and you can't replace something that won't break-it's senseless.