I might regret my purchase.

[wsteele]

Congratulations on the third one coming. Enjoy every minute with them, even the minutes that are not so enjoyable. The time passes in a blink and then they are all grown up and a lot less fun to be around...

Totally agree on the LWB and 2WD for your needs. My wife and daughter (off to college that fall) cried when we sold the Suburban. Great family haulers.

Good luck.

 

[91RS]

I’m planning to get a quote from another body shop. I’ve seen a few cars from the place I already talked to and they didn’t look that good.

The good news is that after driving it most of the week I’m starting to like it a little more. It does seem to have good bones despite the large amount of things it needs. I think the biggest reason I regretted buying it was because I really didn’t want another project but I also didn’t want to spend $30k+ for one that wouldn’t have been a project.

I swapped the lowering kit and wheels from my Yukon today.

 

[avalonandl]

The Escalades drive nice.

 

[Rocket Man]

I’m planning to get a quote from another body shop. I’ve seen a few cars from the place I already talked to and they didn’t look that good.

The good news is that after driving it most of the week I’m starting to like it a little more. It does seem to have good bones despite the large amount of things it needs. I think the biggest reason I regretted buying it was because I really didn’t want another project but I also didn’t want to spend $30k+ for one that wouldn’t have been a project.

I swapped the lowering kit and wheels from my Yukon today.

Looks good.

 

[91RS]

And we’re back to regretting. I noticed today the passenger front door does have a spot on it where it’s starting to fail. I guess the swirls hid it. The passenger side of the roof is worse than the driver side so the passenger side must have gotten baked by the sun the most.

 

[pwtr02ss]

And we’re back to regretting. I noticed today the passenger front door does have a spot on it where it’s starting to fail. I guess the swirls hid it. The passenger side of the roof is worse than the driver side so the passenger side must have gotten baked by the sun the most.

put some wax on it and hope it helps

 

[petethepug]

The hood on our Cali 08 YXL Denali was $800 and the portion above the windshield back to 1/2 way around the sunroof was $400 and blended in. The remainder of the paint and clear was thin as hell when it was color sanded to prep to sell. Once the hood was resprayed it was hard to sell because it looked incredible. GM’s black paint seems to go on thin.

What I see is a vehicle that was parked near the beach and not garaged. You won’t be happy unless it’s resprayed to your high standards but … it’ll be a keeper after that. It’s a dilemma, but considering you found a Platinum for 80%+ less than new makes it easier to cope.

 

[91RS]

Also found some starting on the corners of both rear doors and the top of the right quarter panel.

 

[Rocket Man]

Also found some starting on the corners of both rear doors and the top of the right quarter panel.

Like I said, the rest of the paint probably isn’t far behind. I’ve never seen a vehicle with paint starting to fail on the roof and hood that doesn’t soon have failing paint everywhere else. You will either have to live with partial wrap/ paint and try to slow down the rest or paint the whole truck. Sucks. Sorry man.

 

[91RS]

The problem is that I don’t know how long I have before the failure spreads. Will it look like shit in 6 months or so I have years? I don’t know that this truck is nice enough to spend $10k on an all over (so far all the places I talked to don’t do all overs). Plus, it isn’t MY truck like my 08, isn’t garage kept like my 08, and the kids and wife don’t care like I do so I don’t need it too nice but I don’t want it looking like complete shit either.

So do I do the hood and roof and wait for the doors to get worse? I need to replace the window appliqués because they’re all faded and broken and the wind noise is terrible but those will need to come off to paint the doors and those clips are insane and don’t really appear to be designed to be removed and reinstalled (I replaced them on my 08). I could probably get the tops of the doors and quarters painted and blended. I could also rewrap the roof and get the hood and tops done. I could rewrap the roof and wrap just the tops of the doors, not sure exactly where it would look good to stop the wrap. Then it still needs a new front bumper because it’s damaged and the paint looks bad. I also want to get the headlights either wrapped or sanded and cleared to keep them in good order since they cost $2k a side. Even the cheap route is going to cost a fortune.

There’s also the fact that I’ve never had a vehicle longer than 5.5 years which has been due to various reasons. I’m pretty sure my 08 Escalade will break that curse and I had intended for the Yukon to as well but I also wasn’t planning on having 3 kids.

 

[Rocket Man]

The appliqués come off fairly easy. Just remove a couple screws and pull straight back to release the clips.

 

[91RS]

They were nowhere near that easy to remove on my 08. I had to squeeze them with needle nose if I remember correctly.

 

[mb1500]

I would clay bar then compound/polish the whole car to see where exactly you’re at in terms of damage.

The family vehicle is always tough to sink money into. ROI is never there. Amount of time on the road increases the probability of accidents, door dings at parking lots, etc. Tempting to do the panels in question & blend but if the above post about sitting Oceanside is right than you’d probably better off doing the whole thing and not worrying about the rest of the paint failing later.

 

[91RS]

I don’t know about it sitting ocean side. It was registered in Tallahassee according to Carfax. It isn’t rusty.

 

[91RS]

I really keep thinking I want to get rid of it because I don’t want to paint the entire truck but I don’t know how much more money I’ll loose. I’ll definitely loose a lot of time because other than the odd vibration under load the crappy tires hid, I’ve fixed the major mechanical issues (swapped suspension from the Yukon, swapped wheels, rear main seal, oil pan, oil cooler lines, engine mounts, rear shocks, brakes, axle seal, trans filter, brake flush, door latch). Since I’ve already bought the front seat covers, I’d have to find another Platinum and I don’t think I want Mocha Steel any more and my wife doesn’t want silver now since the Yukon is silver so that basically leaves another Black Ice or the Blues. There was a Xenon blue Platinum for sale in West Virginia for $25k but it had the damn brown and tan interior. I just feel like I’ve screwed myself with this thing because I should have passed and upped the budget $5k and probably found something nicer with lower miles that didn’t have so much wrong with it.

At least the fender came out nice with a compound and polish and Pinnacle Souveran wax.

 

[swathdiver]

I really keep thinking I want to get rid of it because I don’t want to paint the entire truck but I don’t know how much more money I’ll loose. I’ll definitely loose a lot of time because other than the odd vibration under load the crappy tires hid, I’ve fixed the major mechanical issues (swapped suspension from the Yukon, swapped wheels, rear main seal, oil pan, oil cooler lines, engine mounts, rear shocks, brakes, axle seal, trans filter, brake flush, door latch). Since I’ve already bought the front seat covers, I’d have to find another Platinum and I don’t think I want Mocha Steel any more and my wife doesn’t want silver now since the Yukon is silver so that basically leaves another Black Ice or the Blues. There was a Xenon blue Platinum for sale in West Virginia for $25k but it had the damn brown and tan interior. I just feel like I’ve screwed myself with this thing because I should have passed and upped the budget $5k and probably found something nicer with lower miles that didn’t have so much wrong with it.

At least the fender came out nice with a compound and polish and Pinnacle Souveran wax.

You are not losing any money. You bought a platform that is meant to serve your family reliably and safely for many years to come. New, that truck cost $80K or more. You've purchased it for much less than that so any work that needs doing to keep it in tip top shape is what it is. That's how I look at them anyway.

 

[91RS]

I agree to a point. Spending $10k on a paint job that won’t increase the value a penny isn’t something I plan on. I’m ok with a bumper or two but not the entire truck.

 

[swathdiver]

I agree to a point. Spending $10k on a paint job that won’t increase the value a penny isn’t something I plan on. I’m ok with a bumper or two but not the entire truck.

So do what you are comfortable doing. I could care less about the value of the truck because it is a platform that will serve our family for many years to come and was intended to be a memory machine. A machine to make memories with the family and it has.

My hood was looking like it was going to need repainting, kinda white, but I finally convinced the kids to compound, polish and wax the truck the old-fashioned way and it looks good as new. Same for the roof save for some rust spots due to rocks. I spent $600 for new OE headlights and $500 to paint the new bumper cover ($400). My youngest daughter broke the old one running over a tree to get out of stuck mud, memories, that Dad paid for! LOL

My wife works from home now so her need for a hot rod Denali has subsided some. That too will be a memory machine, like even our utilitarian Pontiac Montanas were. We brought the kids home from the hospital in them, watched movies at the drive-inn theater with them, traveled across country in them, etc. They eventually just plumb wore out and were not economical to fix. It cost less to go out and buy another then to repair it. There, I just ruined my own argument didn't I? LOL Well, I guess then that those platforms were not as important as these platforms! LOL 20 years of Pontiac Montanas is enough. Next 20 or 30 is full-size GM wagons and trucks!

You want the wife and children to be safe, the truck has good bones, paint it as necessary is what I'd do. A good body-man can match old versus new paint exactly these days. Those wraps don't last, especially under a hot southern sun.

 

[91RS]

I still haven’t made it to get a quote from the body shop I’d prefer to use so I still don’t have enough information to make a final decision. One of their painters is a co-workers brother and he’s done some little stuff and a bumper for my 08 which looked great. I’m sure they’ll be a little more expensive because they have better equipment and they use Sikkens water based paint but I know he does great work so there’s a better chance I’ll be happy with whatever I do.

I did have an idea today for the tops of the doors and quarters panels that might be the route I go. Paint protection film! I talked to my tint guy and he quoted $350 to do the tops of all four doors and the tops of both quarter panels. The one body shop (which I don’t intend to use) quoted me $200 per door to paint just the tops and blend so that’s at least $1200 so the PPF would be significantly cheaper. The clear bra stops the UV rays so in theory it should stop or at least seriously slow down the deterioration. The spots on the doors are currently very small so I’d be happy to lock in how it looks now after I finish buffing. The PPF he did on my SS still looks great after 5 years and even kept the headlights looking brand new when most of the other ones I’ve seen are already faded.

 

[Geotrash]

I still haven’t made it to get a quote from the body shop I’d prefer to use so I still don’t have enough information to make a final decision. One of their painters is a co-workers brother and he’s done some little stuff and a bumper for my 08 which looked great. I’m sure they’ll be a little more expensive because they have better equipment and they use Sikkens water based paint but I know he does great work so there’s a better chance I’ll be happy with whatever I do.

I did have an idea today for the tops of the doors and quarters panels that might be the route I go. Paint protection film! I talked to my tint guy and he quoted $350 to do the tops of all four doors and the tops of both quarter panels. The one body shop (which I don’t intend to use) quoted me $200 per door to paint just the tops and blend so that’s at least $1200 so the PPF would be significantly cheaper. The clear bra stops the UV rays so in theory it should stop or at least seriously slow down the deterioration. The spots on the doors are currently very small so I’d be happy to lock in how it looks now after I finish buffing. The PPF he did on my SS still looks great after 5 years and even kept the headlights looking brand new when most of the other ones I’ve seen are already faded.

I’m another vote for the keep it club. It’s rust-free. It’s hard to find rust free trucks. I’ll bet the paint job would be more like $5K, but I think you have a viable alternative course of action with the ppf.