My biggest complaint about the current interiors are the seats. If you're a person with a long torso, the seats will have quite a heck of a time supporting your upper back.
As for the resale value - Hummers will have the tendency to be high for the first 2-3 years of their life, then drop drastically.
Case in point, a 2004 Open Top has a buy it now price of $74k on EBay. A 2002 Open Top is around 60k. 2001's are going for 50k. All retailed for about 100k, and likely sold to their first owner at 90k or so.
The 97-98 Model year have seemed to level off around 30-40k, depending on the option level....so pricing will stabilize after a while.
The Alphas are likely not going to follow this path. The buyers are going to be few and far between, with the majority being those who want an Alpha just to waste the cash.
In fact, I'm personally somewhat shying away from an Alpha because I don't want to deal with the prices of parts for a LLY level Duramax. Maintaining the Alpha's engine beyond it's factory warranty period will be a royal PITA. The Geared Hubs and other drivetrain parts will be also a bit more expensive due to the fact that the parts will be a bit harder to find, since all of the parts are upgraded ones.
I doubt that H1's will go away for a while. AM General will likely continue to build them until they quit making them for the military. That's not likely for another 5-6 years based on the recent contracts they have won.
As for the Open Top and interior space - I have a 4 Door Hard Top, and I've got very little cargo room that's secure. The only options you have are either a TruckVault or a Weather Guard in-bed vault.
Hope this helps!
Steve
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Denny Crane:
I too am contemplating an H1 and would like other's thoughts on the difference in the latest 2004 and the Alpha, or which model is most desirable with an emphasis on comfort and driving fun in Dallas traffic. I'm only considering a Soft Top and would purchase the 1st H2 Open Top if ever there is one.
The only thing that bothers me about the O.T. is lack of interior space, no place to haul multiple shotguns & related equip. to sporting events. Does anyone have similiar complaints that has owned an H1 O.T. ?
We have an 03 Lux Adv. w/ supercharger and related engine mods and am really impressed with it's functionality and manueverability both around town and mildly 4-wheelin to the Cabin.
The H1 will be my primary driver and i'm certain the few things I hate will die in time and it will eventually grow on me. I've driven the Alpha and a 04 and really like the improvements but hate the interior colors, hate may be a little easy. I prefer the Pewter/Tan and will likely attempt to change the interior to Tan, feasibly possible or not. The best looking rig in my opinion has always been the Desert Platinum/Tan w/Tan Soft Top.
My biggest concern on the H1 is resale, as the 04's are almost half off original sticker. Will the 06 continue on this path? I think that depends solely on the evolution of the H2. Seriously, even GM has reduced the production to 300 ? units / yr. I think it's only time before it's history, and yet another fear. What would you do with, GULP a $125.02K ???
My .02
Denny </div></BLOCKQUOTE>