I ordered mine from a dealer in San Juan Capistrano (Weseloh & Son's) in July 2005 and took delivery in September. I had the gmid discount, which saved me 3-4k and I understand that not all dealers will accept that discount. There are some options that were not available combined with that discount. For example, I could not have a sunroof combined with the discount. There may be other options not available. Out the door including california tax, title and liscense, I had to write the check for just over 41k, so it would have been about 44k without the discount.
If you get the one for 29k, you are going to spend the entire time you own it wishing you had gotten the options you really wanted.
These are the additional options I ordered with it that were included in the total price I paid; adventure package, oversized tires, custom hand-made leather interior (i ordered the truck with the basic interior package, then changed my mind when I saw this custom leather job they did at Weseloh), roof racks, tow package, xm, monsoon, black grill guard, nerf bars, billet taillight protectors, billet gas cap, billet hummer lettering below the grill, billet tow bar cap, gm 5 year exterior body sealant, and some other stuff that i cant seem to remember if they were options.
I have driven almost 8k miles so far and have had only minor problems like occasional warning lights (low tire and service 4wd) that don't seem to mean anything, but I do have some rather annoying rattles that I cannot seem to locate!!!
I really like the truck. It looks good, drives great, chicks dig it, it can go just about anywhere, but I do not think that the H3 was built anything near the toughness that the H1's were. But, what do you expect from GM and what to you want for 40k?
I think the washboard roads where I live will beat this thing to hell in a short time. I have charged on some of the nasty desert roads around here and it really floats well over it, but each time I develop new rattles, so I just use my old Bronco when I head out there now.
It really is a shame when you do the research and think you have purchased the best offroad vehicle there is and it turns out to be a dressed-up city vehicle. Maybe I need to upgrade the suspension package. Don't get me wrong, the H3 will go just about anywhere, but you have to go slow if you don't want to tear it up.
The doors are already moving a little, the back seats have some movement and vibration when no one is sitting in them.
If I had the money to go out and buy a new one every 2 years, maybe I wouldn't be so conservative with this one and really get it out and see what it can do, but I have no dealer support within 1,000 miles.
Overall, the truck was totally worth the price. It just isn't the truck I expected.
As a side note, we were down in Costa Rica last month and saw several Defender 100's with straight six diesels. (I don't think they are offered in the US) The roads down there are much worse than the ones here and the Defender's are the ones that seem to last. Definitely not as luxurious, but larger, more fuel efficient and way more bulletproof.
