We are probably going to pick up an 08 alpha tomorrow which I am excited about. The only thing I am not so happy about is there is no bluetooth capability and I need an auxillary input for my ipod. Do any of you have any experience with aftermarket cd players that have these features? What did you like/dislike?

Also the dealer has an Alpha with a leveling kit, 35" tires, running boards, etc etc but they want 4500 just for the wheels/tires, $900 for the leveling kit, and like $3000 more for the gas cap and brush guard lol... which seems ridiculous to me. I would like to see pictures of all different kinds of wheels on the hummer before I buy them. I checked out the photo gallery on this website but didn't really find what I was looking for. Do you guys have any suggestions for wheels/tires?

Finally... I called a local 4x4 shop and they said they can do the leveling kit for $500, is that fair or should I be able to find it cheaper?

Any other info for a noob, soon to be h3 owner would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Ryan

 

Those are typical dealer mark up prices which means they are absolutely ridiculous. Unless you can get them to discount all of that stuff heavily I would buy a plain Alpha and add what I want for a lot less money. I like the two piece beadlock wheels that Adventure Accessories sells. I wouldn't pay anything for a leveling kit, crank the torsion bars and buy Cognitos( if you raise it enough to need it). Be sure to get the front end aligned again after doing it though.Brushguards go from 400 to 1500.00.

 

Don't buy any of that stuff from the dealer unless it's take-off and he gives you a huge discount (50%). The only thing I bought from my dealer was the roof lights because I wanted them installed by them so they would be grauranteed.I adjustedthe torsion bars andinstalled Cognito shocks to level my Alpha. You can buy the other things, brush guard, gas cap, sidestep bars, etc on Ebay for a fraction of the price.

The Alpha comes with a 6CD changer and 3 month trial XM Radio, 1 yr. free OnStar. I think you can buy something to make it bluetooth capable but I'm not sure about that.

Buy your own tires & wheels, there are tons to choose from. Be sure to post some pictures when you get your new ride. Congrats.

 

I agree with the folks above. My dealer gave me a (straight faced) price of $ 2,500 for a set of Tacical (black) wheels. When pushed, he graciously offered a $ 1,000 buy-back for my chrome wheels, leaving me with a $ 1,500 balance.

I declined his gracious offer - then went to the mens room to wash my hands.

My sales guy got me aside and using his computer we found several sets of tactical wheels on eBay. Which is where I later found my five wheels for $ 500.

Search around, you can do much better.

Cliff

 

Ryan,

Here is a link to an earlier post about leveling the frontend on the H3 ALPHA.

https://www.hummerforums.com/m_134879/tm.htm

Kent
'08 H3 ALPHA
White w/cashmere [sm=shades.gif]

 

As everyone is saying, buy as little as you can from the dealer and add it on later. You will save tons of money. There are lots of great aftermarket accessories available and lots of shops to do the work. The dealership's markup is always huge.

 

Aftermarket is the way to go, so much stuff out there now at way better prices then the dealer will ever give you, as for the leveling kit, 500.00 for the kit, installed and if he throws in the alignment, not to bad 230.00 leveling kit, 80.00 for thealignment 190.00 to install, with no alignment he is ripping you. It took me and my buddy less then two hours to install.