Old Man River - 2009 Cadillac Escalade EXT

Sometimes I think about certain vehicles enough that it just becomes a need. I had felt this way about an Avalanche for a while. Trucky enough for truck stuff, crew cab size inside for the kid and dog, LTZs are fancy and the footprint is smaller than a full size crew cab. I have an actual truck for stuff that's too trucky for an Avalanche. Guess I'd better get an avalanche.

Found one on FB that I really liked. 08 LTZ all black. Grandfather passed and the girl selling inherited it. Literally messaged her on and off for a month and could never get her to commit on a time to see it. I even told here I'd bring cash when I came to see it and that I wanted it. No go. Kind of forgot about it for a while then messaged her on a whim and she had traded it in.

So, back to searching. Lot's of ragged early ones and overpriced newer ones. Kept seeing a tan Escalade EXT listed for $20k but I was looking at $10,000-12,000.

Couldn't get the Escalade out of my head so I sent a message that I was interested but I thought their price was a little high. She said they were flexible. Asked if I could see it that Friday afternoon she said yes but they had a tight window cause they were going on vacation. Told them we'd connect after their vacation.

Then Friday morning I decided to make it work to go look at it.

Had a buddy run a carfax and found a few blemishes. Decided 15k was my limit.

Went to look and drive. Not perfect by any means but good. Couple scratches and dings and a bit of rust. Ran and drove great. 6.2 was nice. Told the gentleman 15k was my limit. Cash today. He hemmed and hawed for a minute and went for it.

Followed him to his 5000 square foot house and checked out his 2021 Denali then did the paperwork. Arranged for them to meet me at my shop in an hour and I'd have the money.

Pics from FB:

Appears to be well bought!

$15k seems like a real bargain for that. A similar "truck" in that condition (Silverado, Seirra, etc) would be $25k plus all day. 

Now excuse me while I open Facebook Marketplace and Autotrader. 

Yeah I  think it was pretty well bought, as mentioned a crew cab Silverado or Sierra with the same age and mileage is quite a bit more, even for an LS/LT.

It does need some body work but should end up being only a few thousand dollars worth.

Four wheel brakes, a caliper and an axle.

Doing truck stuff cause my dad keeps saying it's not a real truck.

Not a bad looking rig.

Wife got pulled over, it's a little quicker than her old CRV 

A few pics of my biggest areas of concern that I took for the body shop. Should be bringing it over to him in the next few weeks so he can look it over and we can come up with a solid plan and estimate.

More truck stuff.

Pretty much up to date now.

We did add a set of Husky floor liners, I typically go for Weathertech but I couldn't seem to come up with those that covered the middle of the rear floor.

One thing it doesn't have that most newer vehicles have is Bluetooth so I got a doohickey from Amazon for it, the same one I have in my C1500 that was a recommendation from here it think.

Other than that the air suspension compressor sounds like a rock tumbler and someone hit the right rear between the rear tire and bumper.

Wife has wanted a new Bronco for a while but we missed the boat on ordering for now. At this point the future of OMR is one of the following three options.

1. Wife decides she likes it/likes no payment and keeps it, at least for a few years.

2. Trade it in/sell it if we order a Bronco.

3. Get the Bronco but I keep OMR for myself.

That Escaladed quickly

i've lived in MI 30 years now.  rocker panels are overrated.  ;-)

Holy hell. That rust was impressive. My '07 ESV is still rust-free, thankfully. Your repairs look amazing!

Awesome!   Looks brand new!

Are you still in the black with it after all the body work?

I'm around asking price now. Probably over the real value but I like it and I want to keep it. I do think I'm still quite a bit ahead vs a Crew Cab LTZ pickup of the same age and mileage that would be rusty.

I think you said a shop did that work...  that's awesome that they were so thorough and looks like they did great work!   And sent pics throughout the process.  
 

I wish I could find a shop near me like that

yes! wallet job! the shop did outstanding work. when I dropped it off I said I'm not trying to restore it but I want it right, let me know if there's more. he did exactly what i was looking for to a high level of quality. couldn't be happier unless it was free.

Escalades doing truck stuff, you love to see it.

Both rockers correct ??? amazing  work obviously a close associate of yours???........uh after all that I'd keep it too.

LR quarter patch.

RR quarter patch on the dog leg.

RR dent repair.

Paint both rear quarters.

Refinish both bumpers.

Refinish hood.

Both rockers.

Door jamb repaint.

Not an associate, came highly recommended and had an impressive portfolio, planning to do more business with him for sure.

Great looking truck! Needs moar low. 

Nice work on the rust repair. Seems like a decent deal too if I'm reading it right.

Be sure to get lots of cavity wax up in there to keep the rust at bay as long as possible 

CaprockFabShop said:

Great looking truck! Needs moar low. 

Agreed. Just need to figure out how to keep the air ride.