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Chevrolet Avalanche
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Comments
Douggy
While the shorter AV would make it easier to fit in the garage and easier to manuever in small lots during plowing, I'm sure if the AV "truck" will hold up as good. I've been using a 92 K5 Blazer (purchased for that purpose) and it's getting worn and thought the 2500HD would be a better fit for plowing. Liked the ideal of having an SUV & PU combined into one, but will AV be too much like the blazer - worn out from plowing and the interior beat up from playing weekend remolding.
May not make any difference, since I can not use the full bed and have my son (5 yrs) in the truck. Any news if Chevy is going to add this much need switch?
Would love to hear other peoples .02.
Besides, if you keep the K5 as the plow vehicle, you won't have to buy another mount or a new plow, and could have the Av as the "SUV/P-U" that isn't worn out from plowing.
Just my $.02, probably not worth a penny, but...
-Eric
-Eric
Count - I think Av styling on the Silverado would have cost GM a lot of potential buyers. I can't see farm, ranch or construction buyers going for the more aggressive styling on a work truck. Maybe that is the "gimmick" for the Av - the niche it will fill in between a pickup and SUV - another joelis hmmmmm...
Don - the 2500 Av, when released, would be the plow version. Rear leafs, heavier suspension, etc. I saw mention of a plow package somewhere, I'll try to look it up.
Douggy - The steering right of center is a characteristic of the new 'rado/Sierra, Sub/Tahoe/Yukon. I think the consensus is that it gives a more comfortable driving position. It wasn't noticed by most owners until mentioned.
We're still waiting for an Av test drive; the dealer hasn't received their stock unit yet. I want to see the manager's face when I pull up in the big red F150 and he thinks he missed a sale! I won't tell him it was bought to trade for a new truck.
With all they did right on this thing, I can't believe they missed something as little as that.
I have been skeptical for good reason. They didn't get my 99 Silverado quite "right" as you say, so the first year of this one especially is going to need a close monitoring before I release my final decision. So far so good, but that's what I said about my Silverado in the first week too.
By the way, are you referring to me as a troll or something? I hope not, considering I've lived the ownership experience thru the evolution of GM and Ford trucks for many years.
Sell the Vette? Never. That would defeat the purpose of my future plans to own one of each version (C1 thru C6). This C5 is with me for life.
The Expedition lease is coming up, and the wife apparently loves the Ave right now. Good thing I've got about 9 months to let them work out the kinks first. I'm still not sold on it, but the wife is trying to pull me in that direction.
The styling is a bit over the top, a darker color would tone it down - or, as mentioned earlier by Mike, the Pewter to more closely match the cladding. If you live to be seen, however, the Av in Red or Summit White will get you noticed.
Am I getting one? My wife says only if we order one that has the medium neutral interior (yes).
Kudos to Quality Chevrolet in Escondido for a decent deal. I doubt the invoice numbers are very accurate at this point but 2% over is a decent start on a Z71 with everything except power sunroof.Throw in recent grad rebate and full tank of gas, we are enjoying the new truck glow. Glad to have the 4.10 for lower ratio for getting the trailer pull started. I thought the final drive ratio is always the same so gas mileage hit is for city driving with highway mileage being pretty much the same.
In comparing the ride with a Screw 150, the AV seems to handle flatter and more responsively. AV is quieter but has less headroom. The wife who served her term driving a E150 Van Conversion for more than a few years praises the maneuverability and the protection the cladding provides in the parking lots.
Planning a 1000 mi trip over the 4th, and will post mileage. Very enthusiastic at this point as the AV seems very solid with few shortcomings and time will tell.
mordantk
Mark
Alan: Does your Av have the sunroof? Headroom suffers with the roof, but is still adequate. Our F150 has more than enough headroom - to the point where it felt too close in the Av. After driving for a while, I think you'd get used to it.
I don't know that the final drive ratio is the same on the 3.73 vs. the 4.10. Same tranny, same ratios, different rear gear. Highway mileage would be a little lower and more noticeable than the difference in the city.
There was a large scratch on the passenger exterior mirror - someone had a hard time squeezing the truck into the transport.
Biggest disappointment - front seats needing to be moved forward to operate the midgate. If the headrest tilted it would help the operation go more smoothly.
Does anyone know if the Tahoe/Suburban/Yukon first time alignment issue with the knockouts been resolved? I remember new owners getting warranty alignments because of the cost.
I hope the my AV does not require this.
Anyone know of a place where to buy the AV accessories other than the dealership? I went yesterday to the dealership to inquire about accessories and the guys looked back at me with blank faces. They did not even have the accessories pamphlet. The customers are more knowlagable about the AV's than the dealerships are.
Water Management System
The Avalanche's cargo area is designed to be weather resistant and move water away from the cargo. The Cargo box is designed to manage water when the cargo covers are either in place or removed. Due to the Avalanche's innovative and flexible nature, the cargo area is not completely waterproof. The water drainage area is a two-inch wide border around both sides of the cargo box and across the back by the tailgate. This area is used to direct water out of the cargo box and, therefore, water may be present in the following areas:
* Two-inch wide drainage area around the back three sides of the cargo box
* Cargo box side walls
* Under the cargo mat
* Drain valves
* Tailgate
* Catch cups and gutters
So what does this mean? Will your stuff get wet when it rains? Indeed I did find water under the rubber mat of the AV in the dealer showroom.
My Silverado with the GM zip-lock style factory bedcove stays dry...even running it through a high pressure car wash....
any AV owner willing to put a couple of cardboard boxes under a hardcover and run it through a wash?
Cargo box side walls getting wet on the AV is
a ding in my book....
I took my Z71 to the car wash just to test the things on all our minds regarding water in the bed area. My AV has the hard covers, and I used a high-pressure wand for 4 minutes. Spray was directed at all seams of the covers, side boxes, and especially at the glass and Midgate/Front Cover seam.
As advertised, water was able to penetrate the seals and some was diverted by the various front and side cover channels, but I found water in the following areas, in amounts as indicated.
Inside cab: 5-10 drops of water beyond both lower corners of the glass seal
10-20 drops of water beyond both lower corners of the midgate seal (I don't get this one.)
Midgate/Front Cover: The bed side of the Midgate was covered with water droplets and 10-15 OUNCES of water was on the rubber mat in various puddles in the front 12" of mat.
Front Cover/Cover 2: No water was seen on the underside of the cover or on the side panel area
Cover 2/Rear Cover: 20-30 drops of water remained on the underside of both covers at the right and left ends. About an ounce of water was on the mat below these areas.
Tailgate: Drops of water were scattered over the perimeter area of the interior of the tailgate. None on the mat.
Side Storage boxes: The Passenger side box was completely dry. No evidence of water appeared to pass the top seal nor in the bottom area of the box
The Drivers side box had a 1" diameter puddle at the drain area of the bottom of the box below the outside rear corner of the top seal, which showed some sign of water drops beyond the seal.
I am concerned about the high volume of water which penetrated the Front Cover/Midgate area. It appears to be due to a lack of compression of the front cover seal which could only be corrected by adjusting the closed position of the midgate or moving the front cover latch plates, if possible. I am going to contact the dealer to have it looked at. . . . . Well, imagine that, I just got a call from the dealer to see how things were going. I related the water at the front of the bed and he said they just got "a bulletin about water in some areas" and he would look into it.
The best information I have gotten about the Avalanche is from this discussion group; it works.
Have read ALL of the postings to this site before offering any comments. I'm impressed with the level of conversation, and general lack of brand bashing and one upsmanship!
I had thought that my upcoming end of the year SUB buying experience was a done deal. I had test driven the new Trailblazer in May, and had been convinced that I was going to go with one. However, after driving the AV, the decision has become much more difficult. Even though both vehicles serve very different needs, considering how I would equip them, for me, they fall into the same general price level.
The AV surprised me with its handling ability and quiet smooth ride! Originally I had not been a cladding fan, but it seems to add a touch of added testosterone to this beast.
Very glad to hear about the most recent water test results on the mid gate via the car wash testing. I like to camp with the family, and the salesman mentioned a tent for the AV. One of the prior post mentioned seeing one on an AV in California(?). Does anyone know anything about a tent?
One gotcha with setting up the AV to tow a 20' Wilderness trailer was the height of the tailgate. Using an equalizing' hitch, the tailgate just brushes up against the trailer jack crank housing. The RV service people who did the installation ordered a longer extension ( current one is 12") with an extra 4" and that should provide enough clearance.
No towing for the first 1000 miles, but if this short run ( 4 miles round trip)is any indication, the AV should be a great tow vehicle for this light ( 3000#) trailer.
It took a 1/2 an hour to get out of the parking lot as AV attracted it's share of attention. As Chevy's first short bed quad truck, people who prefer GM finally have a choice versus the Ford Screw or longer wheelbase GM products.
I am also amazed at the amount of info shared here! I really enjoy reading what everyone has to contribute.
Lately, I check the price from cardirect.com for F150 Screw at Seattle area. It's now at least $1500 below invoice price. Very attempting! I guess the bad score of crash test on F150 really hit hard on F150 Screw. Anyone has idea how Av will do on such crash test at speed 40MPH head-to-head. I know 'redo doesn't do too well either from the report.
Roger: I plan on measuring the hitch height on a Z71 to compare to my F150 4WD - which has a 3 1/4" drop on the drawbar. Dealer just called as I'm typing to swap me trucks for trade-in numbers.
Kris - Just curious where you bought your Avalanche in Indy and what kind of a deal you got.
Miles
I was lucky through an ad in last Sunday's paper. The dealership I used was from Martinsville Indiana. He drove up from there to show me the red Z71 (which sold I believe at auction yesterday), and I drove down to Martinsville to view and purchase my black Z71. If holt5 would like the name and #'s of the delearship and my contact down there, please email me. As far as price is concerned, everything that I have looked at on the Northside of Indy (96th and Mich), online, and down south; has ranged from 36-38.3k. I received a remarkable deal on a trade-in, and then a little more. It was a price I could not pass up for a loaded Av.
You just have to laugh at these moronic dealers who are trying to make a quick profit. My local dealer only put a $1000 "Market Adjustment" on their single unit, but even that was too much for anyone to even think about. Well, it only lasted about 1 week, until they took the M/A sticker off. The AV then sold about a week later, but they wouldn't tell me how far below MSRP they had to go though...
I also got to finally see an AV with the assist steps and luggage carrier installed. IMO assist steps are a must for shorter passengers. Very smooth integration with cladding. Appeared to be VERY easy to install yourself as they attach to pre-existing holes. The luggage carrier seemed to give the truck a more complete look with the ribs on the roof. I will make sure my AV has both.
However one thing that caught my eye while browsing was that the standard deep solar tint on the second row windows was NOT on all of the trucks. I came home and researched it and yes, it is supposed to be standard equipment. When I looked at the window sticker it made no mention of the tinting at all on either the trucks that had it or not. I just find this to be weird. Is it an over-sight or factory error, don't know. I do know that the factory tint is a must for me. I appreciate the fact that it is hassle free, since regular tint discolors and bubbles, especially here in FL.
Invested, where are you in Florida?
Invested, I've got family in South Texas, their aftermarket window tint never had a problem in 10 years of their Chevy. You might re-check your tint offerings, there is good tint available. Though, since the 1999 models, Chevy is finally making the factory tint usable at night. But I still prefer the aftermarket tint, if only slightly now.
Sgrasso - I am in Palm Beach. Are you local? Best of luck with your new AV and definitely keep us posted with any new details at all, good or bad!