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Pickups Chevrolet Silverado & GMC Sierra 2007 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra - First Impressions
707 messages, Last post on Mar 04, 2008 at 11:34 AM
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Replying to: navigator89 (Oct 27, 2005 10:23 pm) In Southern California and South Texas, guys buy 2 wheel drive Ford 1/2 tons for their wives because they think they want a pickup, and the price is right. The wife doesn't mind if the 4.6 liter has just enough torque to move it off of a standing start, or just enough traction to stay on wet pavement. The price is right, and Mommy gets a pickup. Best selling? Uh... whatever.  Here in northern Maine it's a different story, where extreme weather, deep-woods utility use, plow duty, tow duty, winch duty, overloaded beds, farm use, off-road use, and yes, highway travel is the norm, one pickup design is dominant on the market, the Chevy Silverado/GMC Sierra pair with the Gen III V8. It isn't driven for the name, but for what it can do, and what it does. One guy I know, a crew chief for a major logging company, drove a 2002 Ford Super Duty 4x4 assigned to him for work, 40 miles into the woods each way 6 days a week, loaded. Not only is he forced to apologize for driving a Ford, his boss had to apologize to HIM that the tranny cooked out at 40K miles and he was stuck in the woods. There were so many problems with actually USING the Ford "Super Duty" pickup they replaced them all. All of them. Every one.  I'm not even going to go into the also-ran category of 1/2 ton only Nissans and Toyotas. Having owned a 2002 Ford F-250 4x4 with the disturbingly underpowered 5.4 (sold that 'bargain' in a hurry after having looked in the trans pan after 20,000 miles-scary), driven a '04 Dodge Ram Hemi for work at length in all weather and surfaces (what a tinny, front-heavy, loud piece of crap), and going home to my '03 Silverado x-cab Z-71 with the 5.3 Gen III V8, it's good to be home. It's all about the drivetrain at GM. Power? Tons of it. Torque? From off-idle all the way to the top. Economy? 15 in the woods, 19 on the interstate, mostly loaded. Reliability? The only warranty repair after 50,000 miles was a 4x4 wire I must have hung up working in my woodlot. Comfortable, safe, quiet,... the list goes on. That a 7 year old GM truck design can outsell (combined GMC and Chevy numbers) a fresh Ford F-150 design and a burly-looking but horribly engineered Dodge design is a testament to it's quality and market dominance. I'll bet the 2007 Silverado/Sierra will be even better, a evolution of a great pickup, with wholly unnecessary but welcome engine improvements. In a nutshell, don't let some "Weekend Warrior" flatlander spout off about working trucks he knows nothing about. He might be late to his corporate sales meeting. 
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Our family currently owns 3 GM trucks. The most recsent being a 2005 Silverado 2500 HD Duramax desiel. I'll let yawll fight on who's got the best gas engine but hands sown the best deisel engine in Chevys Duramax. Pulled a truck across the state a couple months ago, averaged 16.3 mpg pulling close 6500lbs. Can't beat that. running clean at 55 mph you can hit 21 mpg whh for a 6000lb truck ain to bad. I've driven a new F-150 and it is not the truck that it is cracked up to be. Acceleration is moderate but you have to revv that little 5.4L to get it. I beleive it aint the working truck that the Chevy is due to the bed being built for 10 footer. I'm 6'3" and it's all i can do to see over that bed. To lift anything up on the bed you would have to bench press it. A sack of Quick-Crete aint to light if you know what I mean. I buy trucks to work with them. I own a 1979 Chevy C10. Nuthin fancy, but it gets the job done without having to be a body builder. I believe the Titan is a pretty good truck and I beleive it will do good, but it will never rival the Fords, Dodges, or GM trucks in sales
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Replying to: 79customd (Dec 30, 2005 7:29 am) Whatever. Bottom line: The 2006 doesn't even have 50% of the technology that Ford's 1986 F150 has! If you do a straight line comparison between trucks, you'll see firsthand that the 1976 F150 compares right on par with the 2006 Silverado in the areas that actually count. Am I saying that OnStar and Satellite are worthless? Why yes...yes I am. The 2006 F150? Well, Chevy hasn't even put a rival to that on paper yet because they keep "redesigning" a vehicle, hoping that people won't realize that they changed 1% of the parts they need to change, and 99% of the pieces that they don't. Chevy hopes that their ads will make people believe that they're the most dependable trucks. Umm...whatever. Here in Texas, you see F350 Super Duty trucks and F150's on the roads AND the ranches. I admit that the CK trucks are good, but just like Toyota is doing, they're dragging out their dependability just a little bit too far. Too many new "American Revolution" trucks are going down way too fast - do some research and you'll see there are a SLEW of issues with these trucks. It's rather interesting you mention harsh conditions. I quite distinctly remember when my wife and I were in the hills of Tennessee last December. We rented a 2004 4x4 F150. The snow plow in the town was a 2004 Z71 Silverado and, with CHAINS ON THE TIRES, it couldn't even make it up the mountain to plow the roads that we effortlessly were able to get up and down (without his assistance). When it was snowing and 8 degrees outside, I saw Ford and Dodge trucks on the road.....what does that mean to you??? Face it, Chevrolet has and always will stand for "Cracked Heads, Every Valve Rattles, Oil Leaks, Engine Ticks." If the Silverados perform well in Maine, it's probably because you waste money changing out engines and trannys every 40,000 miles. The F150 HANDS DOWN is 10 years ahead of any truck on the market and second to none. Honda Ridgeline is second, RAM third, Tundra fourth, Chevy/GMC fifth, and Titan DEAD last. |
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Replying to: thereisnospoon (Dec 31, 2005 8:42 pm) |
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Replying to: thereisnospoon (Dec 31, 2005 8:42 pm) But here in Carolina Basic simple and to the point engines are what cuts it. Also, I dont know how tall the average person is up there but we aint 8 feet tall like you have to be to use Fords Deep bed. Like I've said the only reason Ford has out sold Chevy is because if you buy a Chevy, it lasts for 15 years, You'll go thru 12 Fords in that time period. I'm not putting down the F-150, it looks pretty tuff sitting broke down on the side of the road. If thats what yawll call a truck. I'm kinda worried bout ya.
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Replying to: thereisnospoon (Dec 31, 2005 8:42 pm) I guess Ford guys have to defend their brand with gross exaggerations. My buddy has a '97 F-150 (the used bar of soap style), with 100,000 miles. It's been an OK truck, but feels much more worn out than my '01 Silverado HD with the same miles. And to say thet today's F-150 is ten years ahead of other trucks... They do have nice interiors and look good. But the finally put in a 300 HP engine at a time when the competition is at about 350 HP. And the truck is so damn heavy, the tests all seem to use words like "sluggish, and "lethargic" to describe it. But to the topic at hand, if the new trucks are as reliable as my two previous Chevys were/are, then I'm in line for this next one. Hopefully the host will cut us a little slack with all this Ford/Chevy talk. But the topic is about a truck we know nothing about yet, so all we can do is speculate as of now. |
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Replying to: betochevy (Sep 30, 2005 10:05 pm) Here are the only issues I had: 1.) Replaced transmission at 118,000 miles, park pawl was defective(design flaw). The rebuild has 60,000+ miles on it has a beefed up park pawl and is going strong. 2.) Replaced fuel pump at 175,000. 3.) Replaced window regulator at 185,000. The brakes on this vehicle were unbelievable. Granted I have mostly highway miles but I got 113,000 on the rears and when I replaced them(both rotors and pads) I did the work myself and they were still in decent shape when I replaced them. I got 150,000 out of the front and the outside pads were almost new the inside pads showed some uneven wear. Compared to problems I had with 4-wheel disk brakes on GM vehicles, this was a dramatic improvement. I was born and raised in a GM family so I am biased. My next truck will be a 2007 GMC Sierra w/5.3L and 4WD. My opinion is that all of these truck brands (GM,Ford,Toyota) are good except Dodge. I have seen alot of friends with Dodge trucks have major problems at low miles and some of these issues are design flaws that will had not been fixed by Dodge after several years. |
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Replying to: 79customd (Jan 01, 2006 8:03 pm)
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Replying to: thereisnospoon (Dec 31, 2005 8:42 pm) I've always been a ford guy, but when it came time to buy a half ton, i couldn't choose the ford lariat over the chevy LT. For the same amount of money, you get much more with the chevy. the ford is slower, sucks more gas, huge plastic door panels, and way out dated stereo system. Full power seats are not even an option. if you get heated seats, only the bottom part heats, not the back. the audio controls on the steering wheel are too far from the actual wheel. also, the mirrors, not power folding, no led inside the mirror itself, they're not auto dim either, they dont even have curb assist. as for the chevy, FULL power bucket seats with power lumbar and full heat (on both seats). Bose stereo with sub built in the center console (instead of under the rear seat taking up storage space) and tweeters on the A pillars. rear audio controls (not that i'll ever use them, just nice to have)rear ac vents, power folding mirrors with built in turn signals, auto dim, and curb assist. Let me start on the onstar, amazing option. Hands free, voice activated SATELLITE PHONE for when i'm out in the country and most cell carriers don't get signal, my onstar phone works perfect. locked out? no problem. onstar unlocks the doors. Check engine light on? onstar will tell you what's wrong with your truck without even opening the hood. Another thing, I love white trucks, chevy's summit white is much whiter than ford's oxford white, which looks yellowish next to a chevy. Chevy has dual climate controls. Satellite radio since '03 as for ford it just became available for '06. I love ford, but for a $38k sticker price on both fully loaded, ford is still in the 1990's. the ram has a nice bodystyle, but the interior is worse than ford. also it depreciates faster than anything. i feel sorry for the people that bought the chrysler 300. what were they thinking, ITS A CHRYSLER!!!!!!!! you owe more than its worth. ps. the fog lights on the silverado are waaaaaaaaaaay brighter than ford's. ps2 - nissan and toyota just have to go back to japan. the toyota is a damn shame, no difference from a corolla in the interior. honda ridgeline, not full size, go compete with the colorado and the ranger.
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Replying to: txpimp (Jan 06, 2006 10:23 pm) I dont know what to say about the Ram. I had one, new in 96 and it was a great truck. A little pricey but I never had any problems. It was a lease so I turned it in and just drove my wifes Expedition cause she bought a new Maxima in 2000. The F-150 is a whole nother animal. My family all bought 150's when they came out it 97. A extended cab 4.6, and regular cab 4.6 4x4, a extended cab 4.2 work truck and a regluar cab 4.2 work truck and I bought a 5.4 4X4 Epedition in late 97. The only one that remains is the 4.6 regular cab 4X4 and that is because it is hardly used. It has about 38000 miles on it and it is my father in laws farm truck. All of them have had problems with IAC sensors, IPS sensors and a host of head gasket, and front cover gasket and oil stem seal problems. My Expedtion was the electronic transfer case and it stuck in 4 Low and would not come out and I had never switched it into 4 low, and it died on the interstate. I was going about 70 when I noticed the steering was tighter and I got no acceleration. It also did this in a parking lot as I was driving around the service department said they could not find a problem. I even got a sweet deal on a 01 XLT extended cab 4.2 to use as a commuter and although it did not have the engine problems it was a sensor nightmare. I have sworn off Fords. You can fill the pilars with foam but if you dont do something about the crappy sensors it will look pretty on the side of the road or in the service departmen and you wont be able to hear the laughter of the Chevy owners driving by. If you want a pretty truck, buy a Ford. Now the Superduty's are nice but really, a HD Silverado or Sierra will do the same job but give you more realiabilty and driveability. It is easier to drive a Sivlerado than any of the other trucks. Try loading a new F-150 and then load the same into a Silverado. The only reason ford sells more F-150's is because of government contracts, more V6 models, and Ford motor credit will finance anyone. If you can give loans to just about anyone you will sell more cars period. My current truck is a 04 Silverado extended cab 4X2 with the 5.3 and I am impressed. It is loaded out with everything except leather and I love it. I drives very tight and handles great. On my last trip to Jacksonville I set the computer and it showed I got 20.1 mpg and that was at 70 mph. When I towed my 67 Lemans back from Kentucky last year on a trailer the truck got 16 mpg. That is no lie and all I did was install a K&N, no other mods. Back in August I was hit by a car in the front and that truck took the hit and I felt very safe. In my 01 F-150 I hit a deer at 50 mph and the whole truck shook and spun out doing a 180 and the deer only weighed about 100lbs. Although the airbags did not deploy I was able to hit the onstar button and step out of the truck to check on the other driver the operator still heard me and athorities were on the scene in 10 minutes. That right there is the reason I will buy another one in 2008. It is not the prettiest of trucks but I did not buy it to look cute. It has hauled, driven, and performed in every way I will ever need a truck and that is the problem with most folks is they have way more than they need to satify a image. Ford now has given the F150 3 valves(we have all seen the commerical) to do what the Chevy has been doing, come on, with that heavy ass truck you need to add more than another valve cause the new Chevy engine the Max is going to still clean its clock. If you want a truck that will hold its value you will also buy a Silverado/Sierra. Due to the fact the F-150s are a dime a dozen and most are commercial, rental, goverment fleet, or stripped down V6 models make them right there with Dodge and with Dodge they have never recovered from thier reliabiltiy problems. I dont know, call me partial, but I have owned them all and the Silverado I the best on I have had. I drove a new F-150, and even the Titan and neither one felt as good as the Silverado. All of this is just my opinion. You should always drive all the trucks mentioned to form your own. And never just take a truck down the road, drive it like you stole it, walk around it, open the tailgate, sit in the back seat so you really know what you are getting. What works for one person may not for the other. |
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