Ok, before you flame me up I love my dodge Ram with the Hemi...but I sat in a Chevy Alalance that was starburst orange and was a 2007 model. Please talk me out of considering this vehicle. It was so nice inside and I really dug the way the bed is set up with the midgate and hard cover and side tool boxes that seem perfact for icing down a case of beer. The thing has decent power numbers and MDS plus it runs on E-85 fuel. My wife-to-be liked it a lot (she hated the color) and thought the interior was fabulous. Please give me all the horror stories you have heard about the 2007 Chevy's and their powerplants. I really haven't done any research yet and I stopped in the dealership on a whim. That front end is so sharp and it was even wearing 20' rims. If all I am giving up is 20 hp by getting a Chevy then it is a real contender around the first of the year for me. I feel like I am considering cheating on my wife or something, someone talk me out of this!! Remember, don't rip on me, rip on Chevy!!

Here is the exact one in the showroom:

http://www.topspeed.com/cars/chevrol...ge39712-1.html

I am heading over to the chevy forums to lurk around. Thanks all -- K

 

OK, dude, dont worry, i'll talk ya through this. First, step away from the crack pipe. Now dunk yer head in the sink, full of water and ice of course. Now, do you ever go off-road? Cause if you do it once, you can kiss the cv joints in that chebby goodbye, do it twice and there go the ball joints. I work in the oilpatch in Alberta and we run the new chebbies, nicest truck on the highway, ON THE HIGHWAY. Once you take it off the highway, they might as well go to auction. I work a 9 on, 5 off shift and the first place I go, when on days off, is the local Garbage Made Cheap dealer to get my truck worked on. The most common thing we found is, front ends and cv joints. We have been having a rash of tranny lines, popping off the rad and thus taking the transmission out. Unless your lucky and tranny fluid hits the exhaust and fills the cab with smoke. I thought it would be a good idea to shut er down and that saved the tranny, lol. I have 74,000 km on this truck, approx 46,000 miles and it has had 3 transmission, 3 transfer cases, a dozen cv joints, just about to get it second set of ball joints and one new exhaust. Thats the major stuff. 3 air conditioning pumps, they are mounted at the bottom of the engine on the 6.0L. I could rant for another page about the problems with these trucks. Another guy at work, put $15,000, after warranty was up. NOT tough trucks. Hope this gives you a small glimmer of what yer looking at getting yourself into, dude.

 

Im guessing dirt road is as off road as it is capable of...

 

Well, my 03 Avalanche was the absolute hands down best truck I ever owned and although I like my 05 1500, it does not hold a candle to the Avalanche. I traded it on my Jeep - don't regret the trade but I miss the truck and my wife reminds me constantly about HER Avalanche that I traded in. We would have an 06 Sunburst Avalanche now but frankly we are sick of car payments and are going to wait until the Jeep and Dodge get paid off before getting another one.
Drawbackes were:
The Avalanche did have a lot of plastic and it seemed "prissy". I was always afraid I was going to break or scratch something. Not that way with the Dodge. If it gets a ding, oh well.
Price was high. I know on the 06's Chevy is offering 7k cash back but they are still expensive trucks. My 03 was a 32k truck.
That dang piston slap that GM says is normal. Be very aware of that.

On the good side it was the most versitle truck I have ever owned and when you put down the midgate and tail gate, it seemed you could not fill up the bed. Also, my wife could get better than 21 mpg out of that truck.

Check out www.chevyavalanchefanclub.com and talk to those guys.

edit: One other thing I forgot to mention about my Avalanche is I had he!! with keeping the front end aligned. Of course it could be the p.o.s. county I live in that steals our money for road improvement and then they never do anything to improve them. My Dodge is currently in need of an alignment as well because of the roads but, it seemed the Avalanche would only hold it for about two days.

 

That color is such a rip off of Dodge's...

 

yep visit yer locl Chevy dealer and take a peek at what's in the bays, friend of mine had one for a year, it spent more time in the shop than in the guys driveway.....No thanks, No way

 

I have an 06 Silverado 1500 Ext Cab and an 02 Ram 1500 QC. I had them lined up next to each other last night in the garage comparing the body styles, interior, width, height, engine compartments etc... I've driven them both enough to know that the Ram is a hell of a blast to drive compared to the Silverado but the Silverado is a better ride for long trips. The body style of the Ram compared to the Silverado, well there's no comparison! Rams look much better. My Ram sits taller (probably because of the 285/70's) and wider. Although my Ram has the 4.7, I have more than enough power at my fingertips with the 5 speed MTX. The 5.3 Vortec is strong enough and runs smooth, I do admit that but with all comparisons, I'd take a Ram anyday. Avalanche, I've never owned one but it's basically a Silverado covered in plastic, right?


As far as repair shops, I haven't had either truck in the shop. The Silverado is just now hitting 30,000 miles and the Ram is sitting on about 50,000 so far.

 

GM's build quality right now is in the toilet. That is all you need to know.

 

okay man here it goes, me and my dad work for rental car companies, his fleet is mostly compared of GM (General Maintance) Cars, vans and suv...they all suck, they all have some many recalls on stupid stuff and some are deadly, oh lets see trailblazer the taillight harness blows and whoops no more rear lights, say hello to im about to get rearended...um right now a bunch of the 2007 model vehicles are blowing their air compressers within the first 200 miles, they just blow up oh and then if your luck the belt will jump and then your screwed.....If i had to sum it up it would be this JUST DONT BUY A GM UNLESS YOU WANT A BUNCH OF PROBLEMS

at work most of the parts/repair lines are filled with GM's...their just not worth it in my opinion

 

I LOVE my ram, but I am new to the dodge family... I've always been a Chevy guy (I also own a 1988 Monte Carlo SS, not stock of course).... My father is a landscaper and owns a 2003 GMC 3500 (not HD) extended cab dump truck... Its got the 6.0L V-8... Its basically a dualie pick-up with a dump bed, and its a damn good truck... its got 21,000 HARD earned miles on it... it carries a constant full bed of grass and pulls a 3500 lb trailer day in and day out... we only had one problem which was pretty minor, the hazard relay burnt out, which was replaced under warranty...

i dont, however, deny all of the HORROR stories ive heard from numerous GM owners....my advice to you is to wait... its the first model year for the avalanche and its bound to give a load of problems.... in most instances id advise to wait for the the second model year of the style, but in this case im gonna have to say to wait for the third model year, GM is a little slow with working out the kinks...

The new avalanche is a really nice truck, but to me it kind of looks like an over grown trailblazer__lame__ i definately think the ram is a better looking truck, its definately more of a tough looking truck...

Over all, the GMs are not as reliable as the dodges... So, its up to you to weigh out the options, convenient and cutting edge, or reliable and good looking...