DFW hummer owners, I need your comments and experiences

[ctupton]

Hello everyone, This might turn out to be long winded but here it goes.

Our current family vehicle is a luxury GM product and has been the biggest POS. We bought it as a certified Pre-owned through the luxury brand (good thing to!). And this fine automobile has had a very long list of issues (Which I can get into if people want to know, but will refrain for time)... Anyway GM is sending me a Owner loyalty Certificate towards the purchase of a new GM vehicle. From growing up in Texas I know that GM truck based vehicles in the past hold up real well so we were thinking that maybe we should go that route. Also with this super great car based SUV not holding its value worth a darn we are real upside down (first time I had a used car depreciate faster than a new one) so the current incentives on the trucks and hummers are even more appealing. At first I was thinking Silverado, but then I drove the H3, and I was really impressed with the way it drove... more impressively my wife was impressed with the way it drove. So currently it is the short list of vehicles to pursue, but I've been reading on here for a week or two and thought I'd post asking for some advice and to ask some questions.

1.) any DFW area owners care to share their real world MPG city/hwy with this crappy methanol mix fuel (10% my rear)... Dealer tried to tell me that he has customers that get up to 20-22 on hwy, and you know the saying if it sounds too good to be true...

2.) How reliable have your h3's been? Anything I should expect? any causes for concern?

3.) Anyone use this as your primary family hauler? we currently have 2 small children and don't plan on having a third for a while, but curious if anyone has experience with putting 3 car seats in there?

4.) how old is old enough to take kids off-roading

We would of purchased on on pure impulse the other day with the GM employee pricing incentives and such, but the un-named luxury brand hasn't sent me the certificate yet, and the dealer says they need it at time of purchase and I can't bring it at a later time (which I understand... I don't like it but I understand). Thanks for reading and any advice or answers you got are appreciated.

[Gunner_45]

I am on my second H3 if that tells you anything. None of the issues
I've experienced have been anything more that the usual nit-picky
crap everyone goes through with any new car.

I'm running after market wheels, larger tires and some off road armor (heavy).

I average 16+ MPG on the 5 cylinder?. if I drive like I have some sense.
It seems to drop 1 mpg for every ten miles over 65 that you travel. Numbers
are based on a 50 mile daily commute, all highway. Of course, your results
may vary.....A purely stock vehicle will probably get better?.

I can't speak for any of the other HUMMER dealers in the area, but I've
patronized the Sewell Dallas shop for several years now and will continue
to do so until GM screws the pooch as far as the brand is concerned.

If HUMMER is still around in a few years and Sewell still has a dealership,
I'll keep buying and driving HUMMERS for some time to come.

[H3Eric]

Answers......

1) 16 to 17MPG
2) very reliable, I had most of the issues that all others had with an 06 HR but overall through Sewell very satisified
3) I would say it is a little small compared to other verhicles (at least on the inside) I would not receommend 3 kids
4) at the hummer days there are many small childeren, remember off-roading is slow driving anyway. I can say off-roading with the H3 is the best.

Eric

Originally Posted by ctupton

Hello everyone, This might turn out to be long winded but here it goes.

Our current family vehicle is a luxury GM product and has been the biggest POS. We bought it as a certified Pre-owned through the luxury brand (good thing to!). And this fine automobile has had a very long list of issues (Which I can get into if people want to know, but will refrain for time)... Anyway GM is sending me a Owner loyalty Certificate towards the purchase of a new GM vehicle. From growing up in Texas I know that GM truck based vehicles in the past hold up real well so we were thinking that maybe we should go that route. Also with this super great car based SUV not holding its value worth a darn we are real upside down (first time I had a used car depreciate faster than a new one) so the current incentives on the trucks and hummers are even more appealing. At first I was thinking Silverado, but then I drove the H3, and I was really impressed with the way it drove... more impressively my wife was impressed with the way it drove. So currently it is the short list of vehicles to pursue, but I've been reading on here for a week or two and thought I'd post asking for some advice and to ask some questions.

1.) any DFW area owners care to share their real world MPG city/hwy with this crappy methanol mix fuel (10% my rear)... Dealer tried to tell me that he has customers that get up to 20-22 on hwy, and you know the saying if it sounds too good to be true...

2.) How reliable have your h3's been? Anything I should expect? any causes for concern?

3.) Anyone use this as your primary family hauler? we currently have 2 small children and don't plan on having a third for a while, but curious if anyone has experience with putting 3 car seats in there?

4.) how old is old enough to take kids off-roading

We would of purchased on on pure impulse the other day with the GM employee pricing incentives and such, but the un-named luxury brand hasn't sent me the certificate yet, and the dealer says they need it at time of purchase and I can't bring it at a later time (which I understand... I don't like it but I understand). Thanks for reading and any advice or answers you got are appreciated.

[H3slate]

The H3 is just right for 2 kids in back. 3 in car seats would not work. Your kids will have a blast off-roading. Just make sure to take breaks and get them out of the vehicle. My kids are 3 and 5, they like going off roading and usually last about 2 hours on the trails.

I avg about 16 mpg with mixed driving and about 17-18 of mostly highway. The H3 has been very reliable for me and only had a couple of minor issues.

[ctupton]

Thanks for all the responses... I've gotten in touch with Brian over at Sewell, to see if there is anything he can do about that GM loyalty certificate, I found his website a few nights ago and decided to drop him an email... The dealership I was talking with first was Classic in Grapevine, and the guy there Scott, was a real nice guy and wasn't the typical car salesman... really liked him, but his Sales manager said the certificate has to be in hand... so If Sewell has a more base model vehicle I can get into and honor the certificate before our friends at USPS bring it, then Sewell would definetly have a chance of my business... I've worked with Sewell on our SRX and they have been great as far as service dept. I live over in Keller so Sewell Hummer would be to far for service. What time of year do the DFW area hummer dealers sponser the offroad events?
The SRX is the wife's car but she starts a new job this next week that requires a ton of driving so she's getting to take over the commuter car and I'll drive it (or whatever family hauler we get). When we decide to have our 3rd kid we have already discussed we might have to just bite the bullet and get a mini-van, but that can be her next car

[HummerJim]

If you are in the DFW area Sewell and Brian are the people to deal with. There are numerous threads about the excellent service from these people. IMHO Sewell and Lynch are in a class by themselves.
I used my H3 as an everyday driver and never got worse than 15 mpg on the highway and never better than 18 in 44,000 miles of driving. 16.5 mpg is a good target figure.
Kids love Hummers - plain and simple and as a kid hauler they do well. My only problem with the kids was backing up, so I had an aftermarket backup cam installed and I tried to park so I could pull forward all the time. If you go to Utube you will find many kids on offroad jaunts. This one is one of my favorite father and son Hummer videos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCp_H4ZTBUk
Reliability wise, the H3 only went back to the dealer twice in two and half years for minor stuff.

[HummerHippy]

I kept track of my milage for the 1st year of ownership. Mostly highway, not much stop and go city driving. Thru a whole NY summer and winter, I averaged 18.75 mpg. I always get > 19mpg in the summer. total milage for the year was about 20K. In just over two years, I have 42K miles. Reliability is pretty good.
I did a trip to the Adirondacks on a full tank of 10% ethonol, last month. Still got about 20mpg, with the truck 2/3 filled with camping gear.
Hope that helps.

[rck0025]

I used to get right under 20 mpg on the highway with my alpha. After the rims, m/t's and torsion crank, I really have to work to keep it within 16-18 mpg. Probably 12-14 mpg in the city.

The h3 is a pretty unsophisticated/uncomplicated vehicle. Not nearly as complicated as your previous GM luxury vehicle if we are thinking about the one that rhymes with sadillac. However, the h3's interior is more comfortable than most comparatively priced and off road equipped SUV's - much nicer than the Jeep unlimited, and in my humble opinion, better road manners as well.

No kids, so I can't answer the last two questions.

Final word - the hummer is a wicked off-roader and commutable daily driver at a great price. I love mine

[ctupton]

Well we were on our way to go to the dealer (got half way there) and my wife, put a stop to it... not enough room for the 3rd kid. So I'm very bummed right now.. last weekend she thought was a good idea but I let her sleep on it... and well it has bitten me in the butt... but I guess it makes since if I was going to have to trade it off in a year or two.

[HummerJim]

Two child seats are definitely no problem in the H3 and my son hauls his 3 kids in the back all the time. Whose car is this going to be hers or yours? If it's yours go for it, Hummers by their very nature are in your face vehicles. Not as much room for three kids in the 3 as an H2, but it can be done. You can over what-if a vehicle purchase to death. Life is short, if you want and can afford it, go for it! Prices will never be this good again on new ones.

[RubHer Yellow Ducky]

Both my X-wives and my grown daughter make fun of my 2 1/2 year old 34000 mile YELLOW H-3 which gets 19-20 mpg on the highway and 13-17 mpg in town...

know what I say...***** EM ALL

3 people in the back seat is pushing it...

[Kaiser Souza]

I have for 3 years averaged 13.5-14.5 combined driving how I felt like driving.

I can now get 20-21mpg hwy @60mph. 14 city with a lot of effort.

Thsi vehicle is tough in the city.

I have been driving a Volvo XC90 due to to many miles on the lease I am getting 29-30mpg@60mph (24 is the rating).

As much as I love the H3 it has to go.

[hummer_metal]

Yuppies.....

They always wanna try to be cool, but they never go the extra mile.

[ctupton]

Originally Posted by HummerJim

Two child seats are definitely no problem in the H3 and my son hauls his 3 kids in the back all the time. Whose car is this going to be hers or yours? If it's yours go for it, Hummers by their very nature are in your face vehicles. Not as much room for three kids in the 3 as an H2, but it can be done. You can over what-if a vehicle purchase to death. Life is short, if you want and can afford it, go for it! Prices will never be this good again on new ones.

The Hummer would be mine, we went to look at tahoes last night and they are just more than we want to spend... and the salesman was like I recommend a trailblazer... where I then made the comment... if my choice is a trailblazer then I'd rather have the H3.... so we went back to the hummer dealership, and looks like I'll try to finalize things today after work.

[ctupton]

Well, I'm a proud owner of a H3...

[Gunner_45]

So what changed?

Details?

Who ended up taking your certificate?

I thought Sewell was taking care of ya?

Inquiring minds want to know....

[SteveRH]

Congrats on the new truck!
I would have posted my MPG, but I drive to the train station every morning, which is 1 mile or less from home...

[HummerJim]

Congratulations! Now it's time to enjoy it & get it dirty! It's one of the few vehicles that still excites me every time I drive it. In a survey by Offroad Custom Magazine, more Hummer owners go offroad than any other brand, including Jeep Wrangler - 46% said they had been offroad as compared to the national SUV average of 3%.

[rck0025]

congrats, you'll love it. Post pics!

[ctupton]

Well, my wife wanted to go look at Tahoes, so we went to Classic and even with all rebates etc... they were more than we wanted to spend. The salesman, asked if he could make a recommendation...we said sure, so he brought up trailblazers...and I was like well if I'm going to be driving it mainly then I'd rather have the H3, where he then said yeah but those are more expensive... and I explained how we were going to be able to get into one in our budget... he then said "I'll be honest with you, the H3 is a way better vehicle than the trailblazer, run over there and get one." we thanked him for his time and went over to Classic Hummer (where I had found my love for the Hummer that lead to all of this) and spoke with the salesman again and we drove it to Target grabbed a booster seat (my oldest will be in one soon enough) and test fit the 2 kids seats and booster... after trying several arrangements it fit.. barely and we wouldn't want to have to do it for long term or long trips, but if the need arose where we had to do it we can. So we talked about it and we aren't planning on a 3rd for anytime soon so if when the time comes we'll get a bigger family car and I get to keep the hummer... Win Win... so went back and started the process, and since GMAC was closed had to come back the next day (Wed)... but got it all worked out... Classic was great highly recommed them (Talk to Scott) or Sewell (talk to Brian) Scott was a great help and Brian was going to be able to be a great help as well, we had already told him that we weren't going to do the H3, and it was another 25 mile drive each way, so just decided to work with Classic on this one.... both are excellent dealerships...
I'm going to grab some pics and try to post this weekend.