Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Taking About Quality And Price.............

Leaving out all the BS about the government bailouts.........from you guys that have shopped they new 1/2 and 3/4 ton trucks............what are they real differences???

Four new Gubmint Motors trucks, since 2002. Price was never a question, since the "rock bottom" best deals were what we went with.

2002 Chevy ZR2 (S-10 4x4); 2006 Sierra Z71; 2006 Chevy Colorado crew cab 4x4; 2010 Chevy Z71.

Three warranty issues with the 2002: Replaced tailgate cables/latch assembly; Replace V6 intake manifold gasket; Dealer replaced OEM tire (BFG T/A KO, couldn't be balanced). No issues in the year+ beyond the warranty expiration. All but the tire, I had done right before the orig. warranty expired, as preventative measures. Approx. 55,000 miles when traded. Was looking at a new Tacoma when I bought this one, the Chevy came in at $7K less w/rebate.

Sierra: One engine sensor replaced under orig. 3/36 warranty; Another sensor replaced under ext. warranty; Fan switch and fan motor replaced under ext. warranty. About 58,000 miles when I swapped it. $5K rebate on this one, plus price had been reduced $3K, before the rebate came out.

Colorado: One recall for defective brake light switch; Ignition switch replaced under ext. warranty; One emer. brake cable replaced under ext. warranty. Lubed squeaky power window door tracks at no charge, when truck was in for crash repairs.

2010 Silverado: 14,800 miles thus far, zilch issues. Sticker, $33K, $7K rebate, plus better price on trade for the Sierra, than I had expected.

By comparison, buds with comparable Fords and Dodges had far more problems than I did, got worse gas mileage and paid more for their trucks, new (2002-2006 time frame).

One bud got a new, loaded Tundra not long after I got my new '06 Sierra, boasted about it continuously for a coupla years, then suddenly got a new Tundra in '09. Still won't say why he traded, but his wife intimated that the truck had some serious ills? Do know the comparably-equipped '06 Tundra cost him a coupla thou more than my GMC cost me.

Not much. I have a 3/4 ton and want a half ton. I like having a diesel I just hate oil changes and fill ups; plus I don't use the engine enough to warrant it. If you tow often then a diesel is the way to go, I don't. If you tow heavy then same as before. Most all 1/2 ton trucks will tow over 10k lbs now. For a DD or trips to Home Depot or deer hunting I would just get a good half ton that I liked. I like the f150, have a buddy that raves about his Tundra. Take your pick of the one you like the most and enjoy.

micky

I tired of my 2006 2500HD Duramax CC/SB, which was flawless but which I totally did not need. I sold it to a nice young family last year.

And I bought a brand new 2010 Chevy 1500 4X4 CC/SB 5.3/3.42 with the new 6-speed tranny. The new rig is the top-of-the-line LTZ with every possible option ... Victory Red with Graphite leather.

Expensive? Yup, but who gives a schit. It's MY TRUCK for goodness sake and I've totally got my priorities in the right spot.

Holy CRAP I have absolutely never enjoyed a new truck as much as "BLOODY RED LTZ," the new six-speed tranny is at least as "smart" as the Duramax's Allison was and it's power band is enormous.

Great mileage? Hell yeah ... easily 21 mpg on the highway and 15.5 around town is a snap. And it pulls our 7,800-pound trailer house sooooo easily.

Yeah, I know all the bullshit about Obumma Motors and all that crap and I could care less. GM is making one hell of a nice truck today and count me as a fan.

I had the bed sprayed by Line-X and bought one of the fabulous Line-X tonneau covers. Cool product and downright bulletproof.

My new Chevy has been totally flawless. If I bent it tomorrow, I would buy precisely the same rig, same LTZ and same total options again. It's fracking perfect!!!!

Can you tell that I LOVE MY TRUCK??? It's a beautiful thing, a guy and his truck. And this gorgeous RED puppy is am amazing truck.

Steve




















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The new 2011 Duramax/Allison with the exhaust brake is a great truck (but expensive). I just made the switch to a diesel 3/4 ton and it is significantly more enjoyable to tow with than my 2005 1/2 ton. If you tow a camping trailer infrequently, go 3/4 ton gasser. If you tow a camping trailer alot, go diesel.

I'm on the road over 1 month and a minimum of 6,000 miles of towing per year. For me the diesel makes the most sense. I won't likely buy a 1/2 ton again. If I wanted a gasser, I would still go 3/4 ton or 1 ton.

i will never own a half ton again, axle carrier bearings spin when over loaded, smaller braking capacity, less payload, c-clip axles, lighter frame, the 3/4 wil ride a lot rougher but in my mind it is totaly worth it, if you not towing a lot buy a 3/4 ton gasser, beyond that buy what you like, they all have there advantages/disadvantages but over the long run a 3/4 ton will last longer, did i mention I really hate half ton axles.
I really thing i gonna start buying wrecked trucks and just build my own from peices, nobody makes what I want anymore, so fug-um I starting from scratch

Yer too damn old for a red truck.

That's what my son told me in '02, when I bought the new ext. cab S-10 ZR2 Chebbie, also in Victory Red. Dark charcoal Buckets, 5 spd. manual, pretty nifty little truck and handy for getting in and out of tight spots.

Missed that little pizzer for some time, when I went back to a full sized pickemup in '06. Got over it. Only b-itch I have with my '10 Z71, is crappy mileage. As noted, the '06 GMC (5.3L/3:42s) did 20 highway, no sweat and was a rocket. The "new" one w/3:08s, sux monkey gonads, both in off the line whupazz and fuel mileage.

I'd swap'er on an '11 with 3:42s in a heartbeat, but the other half would get fired up. Can't complain about it either, 'cause she's still pizzed I got rid of the '06. Makes two of us. ;O)

Dang, I'm up in the middle of the night again. Spine PAIN.

Victory Red ROCKS.

I owned the first 2500 Chevy Avalanche in the Portland area. The combination of it's Victory Red paint and the absolutely incredible 8.1-liter engine made it an astounding rig.

Once, we were coming back from an enormously successful mule deer hunt out of Brusett, Montana. We stopped for lunch in Lewistown, Montana and I parked the bright red three-quarter ton Avalanche in front of the cafe.

In about ten minutes, the Avalanche was surrounded by about a dozen Montana cowgirls. Some were enormously appreciating the cool truck ... the rest were drooling on the pair of 28-inch, heavy-horned mule deer that Karen and I killed.

Victory Red simply raises my heartbeat about thirty percent.

Steve

PS. For some reason, it is very difficult to find Victory Red trucks in our area. It's almost always a factory-order situation. Amazingly, I found my 2010 on a lot and I bought in a heartbeat.

By the way, I LOVE MY TRUCK. Have I said that before??

Bought new a year ago. Went Tundra.

Get out drive them all, factor in your biases and make a choice.

Just curious...you list a number of repairs under ext. warranties. Did you have ext warranties on all 3 trucks? Have you added up the cost of the repairs vs the cost of the warranties? I hear arguments for and against them. I'm just wondering if the warranties paid off in your case.

Had a GM ext. warranty (5 year/77K) on the '06 Sierra, but it was offered when the truck already had about 22K on it (3/36K warranty back then, new).

IIRC, cost around $1400 back then and had a $100 deductible. That was the "best" warranty offered, as it covered all the bells and whistles. Would've been cheaper, had I opted for it when buying the truck new.

So it cost me roughly $800 while I owned that truck (4+ years), in coverage: Two deductibles, plus a check for $800 and change in a refund, when I bought the 2010 Z71.

Engine sensor was "break even", as it would've cost about what the deductible was; Fan switch/new fan, a bit better. Deductible covered it, actual cost of repairs, close to $600. That truck had dual zone heating/AC.

Got an extended warranty when I bought the new truck last year.

Fact. warranty is 5/100k on drivetrain. Ext. warranty covers all the bells and whistles for the same period. Cost $1200, no deductible on this one.

Had intended to keep the '06 far longer than 4 years when I bought it, which is why I opted for the ext. warranty when it was less than 2 years old.

Ext. warranty on the '06 Colorado, also bought with the truck, new. No deductible, IIRc, also about $1200? So far, ignition switch and brake cable are the only two uses. No charge for either repair. Costs, according to dealer paperwork, amounts to roughly 2/3's the cost of the ext. warranty, to this point.

Not difficult to find a red one in these parts.

When I bought my '10, dealer had a red one identical to mine (ext. cab Z71); One crew cab version Z71 and one ext. cab LTZ. Got a black one this time. No chrome grill bars/front bumper inserts. Same color as the truck on the frontend, which I like.

'06 was "stealth gray", never really showed the dirt much. The black one ain't the best choice, since it spends lots of time on gravel roads when I go to the cabin. Depending on the weather, it's either covered in mud...or brown dust.

So after about five minutes in the boonies, it looks like a black and tan hound, with wheels.

rahtreelimbs,

Over the past 40 or so years, I have owned a bunch of pickups, both half and three quarter ton, Fords, GMCs, Chevys, and most recently Dodges.

I currently own two Dodges, a '99 2500 Diesel, and an '09 1500 Hemi.

The Dodges have, without doubt, been the most reliable of the bunch. The '99 is now at nearly 100,000 miles, without a single mechanical problem, of any kind. All I have ever done to it is routine maintenance.

Same story with the '09- although it only has 20K miles, it has done so without a single mechanical problem. It is very comfortable- my wife would rather drive it than her Grand Cherokee. It tows my boat with ease, and the 390 HP Hemi is just plain a kick to drive. Gas mileage is better than any of my previous trucks, other than the '99.

I would buy another one, in a heartbeat.

My 2000 Yukon XL was making some lifter noise 2� years ago, & I got a dealer to lower his pants on a 2007 replacement, so I made the switch.

The 07 had just under 41,000 miles on it at purchase, & now has just over 63K. They replaced a cracked dome light control, & the instrument cluster under the 12 month/12K GM Certified Used warranty.

I've noticed that I've had to top off between oil changes with progressively more oil, so I took it in 2 hours ago to get an oil change, & start their oil consumption test. They came back saying there are leaks at the oil pan, the rear seal (Yikes!), & the left front drive shaft. They're going to replace all of them under the 5 year/100K warranty. I'd be more upset about having to be without it for a day or two, if I weren't heading out for a sheep hunt...

All I know is that I've had more problems with this 07 in the past 20-ish thousand miles, than I did with the 2000 model in the 184,000 miles that I had it. My hope is that everything that's going to go wrong with it will go ahead & do so before the powertrain warranty is up.

FC

Zapper,

I can tell you love that truck!! I may be in the market for a new truck soon and might have to give the Chevy a look. Nice looking truck you have there.

Thank you, my friend. It is such a total pleasure to drive.

Steve

I've shopped them as I'm in the market for something next year. Based on everything I can find, there are no clear winners. Some at a bit better than others in the small details of performance or cost to operate and maintain. The competition has been so great that the US made trucks are doing as well as the famous Toyotas for the most part. The Ford 150, and the Dodge 1500 are rated as recomended and very close to the Toyota Tundra by Consumer Reports for instance.
The Toyotaq Tacoma is rated right with or even a bit less than the Nissan sized trucks. The Dodge Dakota isn't however. Haven't bothered looking at the Ford mid size.
The only really clear differences as far as trucks go are in the serious off road vehicles. Nobody makes anything even remotely similar to the performance of the Dodge Power Wagon, for instance. Nobody makes anything like the Jeep Rubicon either. But you can get a Nissan mid size, a Toyota Tacoma or a Toyota FJ with electronic locking rear differentials. E

I just traded my 2006 Tundra on a new F-150. I can't give a true answer to the quality yet because it has 600 miles on it. But MPG have exceeded what I expected. Pulling a 5000 pound boat, for 208 miles I got 14.5 MPG. Without the boat I'm 19.6 on the highway so far.

It is far more stable than the smaller Tundra was, and has more power than I should have in a vehicle.

I gotta say I am really suprised to hear of all the issues folks talk about, and how they trade them in so soon also,barely broken in. I sold my 93 Ford 7.3 a few years back and all I ever replaced in 200k miles was a trans (expected) and a powersteering pump. My 2007 tacoma has been basicly flawless at 70k already. I seriously doubt I will sell until 300k plus. BTW, once I figured I didnt need a 3/4 ton for work anymore, I went with the tacoma. Its the best all around hunting rig I have ever seen, no regrets....

I went with a Tundra 4x4 crew cab a couple of years ago. Get 20mpg on hw/interstate, about 12-13 pulling a camper and livestock trailer. The price was as good as the Chevy and Ford I looked at...but the dealer really came off the price a lot. One big thing about the Tundra that pulled me that way was the dealer's forever warrenty.....as long as I follow the minimum maintenance schedule and have it documented they warrenty the powertrain, engine, 4x4, etc forever.... I'm the kind that will drive a vehicle until it's worn out...I don't trade in or buy until something dies....so this was a big plus to me...it seemed the dealer had a very high regard for the Tundra to do that...wouldn't be a big deal for someone who trades in often but it was a huge selling point for me and spoke to the quality of the truck at the price point.