At 150K miles the most I’d pay for just about anything is about $3-4K. Anyone asking $11K is only slightly less nuts than the person who would pay it.
You said you wanted to buy a pickup truck. An Avalanche isn’t a pickup truck.
I suppose there is no use for a truck with a 1500 lbs weight capacity and a 5000 lb tow capacity, similar to all compact trucks and 6 cyl full size. 1500 lbs is a lot of garden supplies and 5K lbs is on heck of a utility trailer. Guess you all macho truck guys like carrying your garden supplies in a 3/4 ton diesel. Many of us are OVER trucked and IMO, the Avalanche is an example unless OP says he wants to tow 8500 lbs. It certainly has no more carrying weight capacity. Why not a truck that rides and handles like a car and does everything a compact/6cyl full size “real” full frame truck with hair growing out of the sides. Love the gas mileage with that real 5.3L v8 gets…
A nitch vehicle, with a lower load capacity than the Ridgeline for the Avalanche. You’re right, other than towing, it has little going for it. Ridgeline by capacity is closer to being a real pickup.
Neither one are pickup trucks. They are SUVs with the rear section cut off. A pickup truck has a proper bed on it - even if only a 6 footer.
Obviously I’m speaking from my opinion. I grew up in a family that depended on pickup trucks for both business and personal matters. You couldn’t give me either one of those things and call it a “pickup truck”
I never said the Ridgeline was first, I just said the Avalanche was equivalent to it. Ford’s equivalent is the Sport Trac, as previously mentioned. They’re all just SUVs with the rear hatch removed to make a truck bed.
I will give props to Honda for their in-bed lockable trunk, though.
El Caminos were not a traditional pickup truck, yet I’ve seen the used by carpenters and painters as work trucks.
My take on it is. That for the same amount of money that a Ridgeline costs you can get a vehicle with far greater capability that doesn’t have appreciably higher operating costs.
I have a 4WD F-150 V8. I don’t come anywhere close to using its full capabilities. The only thing I tow is my PWC (which is a Honda funnily enough), and I haul mostly yard waste to the dump. A Ridgeline would look like good choice for me. But The F-150 gets me more truck for the money. So I get added capability, for no additional cost, and largely the same operating costs.
you don’t inspect it after you buy it, you inspect it BEFORE you buy it.
Have you actually checked the fuel economy ratings for that “real” 5.3L Vs. the 3.5L in the Ridgeline? Overall they both rated at 17 MPG overall. With the Avalanche beating the Ridgeline by 1 MPG on the highway. Both are rated at 15 MPG city. This is with revised (IE: realistic) EPA methodology, which is almost always dead on for real-world use.
Does it have the 8.1L engine and every option available for that year? If so, it’s worth close to that. If it’s the model with the 5.3L, it’s not.
Offer them $7500 and see what they say
El Caminos were body-on-frame, sold rear axle, and had either a 6 cylinder or V8 engine. Pretty trucky 
Ok - but El Caminos are so ridiculous that I think they’re cool. One of those I’d take!
" Ridgeline by capacity is closer to being a real pickup."
Really?
Payload for the Ridgeline = 1,100 lbs per Honda’s website
Payload for the Avalanche = 1,598 lbs per Chevy’s website
Bed Length for the Ridgeline = 60 inches up to 79 inches
Bed Length for the Avalanche = 63 inches up to 98 inches.
I fail to see your argument.
Straight from the Honda websight;
* High-torque 250-hp , 3.5-liter, 24-valve, SOHC VTEC? V-6 Engine
* Variable Torque Management? (VTM-4?)
* 4-wheel-drive system 5,000-lb. towing capacity[5].Up to 1,546 lb. total payload capacity. (RT/RTS)
As you know, tow weights are borderline hocus pocus for any vehicle, changing with the stroke of a pen for adv. reasons and hopefully more valid by 2013 when SAE standards are established.
We’ll just have to wait and see then if the Ridgeline and Avalanche are closer “than they appear to be”.;
It’s reasonable to compare the two because as
"cig" points out, neither is a true PU but close enough to each other to make it valid.
BTW, OP may be concerned about the reliability of the motor, which is good, but the reliability of the entire vehicle doesn’t hold a candle to the I believe, American made Ridgeline according to CR. Overall reliability on two similar vehicles is worth considering the Ridgeline…my original argument intent.
Canadian made since 09, American made since while…
The Chevy Avalanche is manufactured in Silao, Mexico alongside the Chevrolet Suburban and Cadillac Escalade EXT.
Gotta luv those “American made” Tim the tool man (Arr Arr hoo hoo) trucks.
Trucky like a Crown Victoria ?
I did not say that it was just like a 1500. I implied that despite it’s car-like construction, it found use as a work truck. I’ve seen MB station wagons used by painters as work vehicles.
Hmmm. I got the 1100 pound figure from http://automobiles.honda.com/ridgeline/hauling.aspx
"Equipped with a Steel-Reinforced Composite (SRC) cargo bed, the Ridgeline is specially designed to take your abuse. Its 5-ft bed allows for a thick stack of 4’ x 8’ plywood sheets to lie flat between the wheelwells and 8 heavy-duty tie-down cleats secure up to 1,100 lbs of cargo. When you need to tow, the Ridgeline cooperates. A high-output V-6 engine and 4WD system work in perfect unison to pull 5,000 lbs of just about anything you put behind it."
I must’ve miscontrued the meaning of “up to 1,100 lbs.” of cargo.
The Crown Vic and the F-150 actually shared much of the same running gear. Same AOD/AODE/4R70W transmissions, same 5.0L/4.6L engines (though the CV 5.0L lacked the E7 heads of the F-series and Mustang), same 8.8 inch rear axle, etc. Ford could’ve made a new Ranchero based off the panther platform had they wanted to.
Read…“cleats secure up to 1,100 lbs of cargo” that implies the cleats can secure up to 1100 lbs. That’s a statement of how strong the cleats are for transporting 4 wheelers etc. as demonstrated in their vehicle picture. Not the payload capacity. The un-cleat, payload is what the issue is…ie. 1500+lbs of un-cleated whatever
On same site as you indicated, click on “specifications”.Total Payload Capacity (lbs) 1546 You were on “hauling” which is an item description capability which the Avalanche web site does not get into with their “foreign” made/assembled cleats.
BTW, the much longer bed length is because the “mid-gate” to the cab can be lowered, not because it’s that much a larger vehicle. I will concede that the ladder frame adds to that capability. Other than towing, their specifications are quite comparable.
What I like about this board is that no matter what kind of vehicle the OP has in mind to purchase, we have posters who think the OP should buy something else. Years ago (back in the 1970’s) I had a telephone number that was one digit off from a busy Chevrolet dealer. People would often call and not realize they had the wrong number. When the person would ask about purchasing a particular Chevrolet model, I would do my best to steer them to a Ford product. At that time, I had neither a Ford nor a Chevrolet–I was driving an AMC Rambler.