At $38,500, Is This 2015 Chevy Tahoe LTZ HPE500 an SUV That Should Sell PDQ?
In the ad for today’s Nice Price or No Dice Chevrolet Tahoe, the seller claims the 500 horsepower wagon was his wife’s very speedy daily driver. Now she needs something bigger and that means we’ll need to see if it’s priced to sell as fast as it probably goes.
I’ve heard that there is a certain type of sex education course that impresses upon teens that premarital boot-knocking equates them to chewed-up pieces of gum. That’s both weird and wildly inaccurate because sex-having teens almost never get stuck on the underside of a detention hall desk. The idea of something getting used up is, however, a concept with which we are all very familiar. At least when it comes to cars.
The 2001 Audi S4 Avant we looked at yesterday is a prime example. It has 245,000 miles on the clock and a lot of battle scars to show for those miles. Despite the promise of proper maintenance, most of you just felt that the car was too used up, and, at $13,500, too expensive to start a full rehab. That ultimately manifested in an enormous 96 percent No Dice loss.
Moving on, let’s start off down the rabbit hole of today’s 2015 Chevy Tahoe LTZ HPE500 by noting that John Hennessey—owner of the eponymously named Hennessey Performance that modded the truck—has something of a bad reputation. And that’s not in the Joan Jett rock anthem sort of way either.
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That being said, this Hennessey-modified Chevy shouldn’t require any interaction with the company unless something with the supercharger goes bad or you decide to pair the Tahoe with one of Hennessey’s new Venom F5 super-hypercars.
On this Tahoe, the Hennessey add-ons include the twin-scroll supercharger, which the seller says displaces 2.9 liters and pumps the 5.3 Ecotec3 V8 to a solid 508 horsepower. Per the ad, along with the supercharger, the engine gained upgraded pushrods, an enhanced PCV system, a high-flow intake, and a new cat-back exhaust. All that comes a bunch of HPE badges and a plaque on the dash that notes this as being #5 of some uncertain number.
The Tahoe under all that Hennessey hooliganism is an LTZ, with what the seller says are all the options. Much of the chrome on the bodywork has been blacked out, matching the paint, and the factory wheels have been given the heave-ho, replaced by 24-inch DUB S121 alloys and rubber band tires.
The paintwork looks to be in terrific shape and while the wheels may not achieve universal appeal, they at least serve to differentiate the all-black big SUV from the run of the mill FBI or Secret Service whip.
Inside is a cabin awash in a beige and brown color scheme with leather seating surfaces. A flip-down DVD player in the ceiling is intended to entertain the second and third-row passengers. A sunroof sits ahead of that. The only notable issue here is a tear on the driver’s side seat bolster. That seems to be endemic on K2 trucks of this age. If you want to pick nits, the center armrest is also a bit misshapen from too many elbow jabs.
According to the ad, the seller bought this truck brand new and poured a bucket of money over it to add all the Hennessey parts. Since then, they claim it has been consistently garage-parked and given meticulous maintenance, including synthetic oil every 5K. Now it has 79,400 miles on the clock and needs to be gone since the seller says it’s just taking up space after being supplanted by something larger. It comes with a clean title and a $38,500 price tag. Could someone build a similarly-spec’d Tahoe for about the same? Possibly. But then they’d have to deal with Hennessey and who wants that?
What do you think? Is this potent wagon worth that $38,500 asking as it sits? Or, quick or not, is this one-owner Tahoe priced to stay that way?
You decide!
Lincoln, Nebraska Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to FauzShizzle for the hookup!
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