Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!

GMC/Chev Quality?

tehrentehren Member Posts: 1
edited March 2014 in GMC
I own a 96 GMC. I have had what I consider too
many problems.....heater blower motor, fuel pump,
oil cooler lines, 4WD switch, Door popping noises,
Belts, antifreeze leak around the radiator lid etc.
All this with 45K miles and of course most of it
happening after the warranty. I am going to get
rid of it and buy a new pickup. I have driven the
Ford, Dodge, and Chev. The Chev is nice...it has
all the bells and whistles inside...push button
4WD, nice extended cab seat with headrests and more
room. However, I am leaning towards the Dodge
Quad cab because I am not convinced that Chev cares
about quality or the customer. I hate hearing the
same thing over and over from the dealers.....The
noises are normal, thats just the way it is, we
can't fix it. There are several postings on this
site about Chev owners and their problems......why
do they keep buying this stuff. Is Dodge or Ford
any better? I am thinking about buying the Dodge
2500 QC V10 so I can haul a camper and pull the
boat. Does anyone have any experience with this
beast? Any problems with Quality? What about gas
mileage.

Comments

  • parrot_headparrot_head Member Posts: 17
    Everyone has an opinion, here goes mine :)

    - As far as the GMC, I had a 95 Silverado, 3/4 ton, 4x4/lb/ext cab. Loved it, not a single problem. I think every dealer has their share of 'misfits'. I sold it because I wanted a crew cab and went with Ford, why? For the diesel engine and fact GMC hasn't redone its heavy p/u line yet. In another year or two, who know's which way I would have gone.

    - Have heard several say that the Cummins is great engine but surrounded by 'less than quality' body. Then again, know of folks who love em. Just have to be happy with whichever you choose, again, no gaurantees that it will be 'perfect out of the box'.

    As far as the gas mileage, heh, any big engine gets horrid mileage, shouldn't be an issue... Side note, have heard that the Dodge's V10 is better than Fords, but again, going from opinions of many folks after a lot of research. This should open up a lot of debate :) Good Luck!
  • jimcarrjimcarr Member Posts: 37
    tehran

    I own a 99Z71, purchased on 6/99, have been back to the dealer once-to buy a set of mud flaps.Am averaging 18mpg and have not one complaint.

    Of course my expections may be too low. I don't expect it to ride like a Caddy and there is a squeak once in a while, but I am glad I bought a Chevy.

    Jim Carr
  • zbad71zbad71 Member Posts: 226
    I ditto that. I am a 15 year Ford truck owner that bought a 98 Ford XLT F150 4x4 Ext cab, yada yada, yada.

    There is not enough disk space available to put down here all the problems it had. I have always owned GM cars and had excellent quality and performance from them. I traded that 98 Ford after 4 months and bought the 99 Z71.

    I have had a few minor problems, the worst being the ping on "some" brands of 87 octane gas. I have switched to Texaco 87 octane gas and have no problems with this truck.

    The new model Fords just went South. I won't buy one until they get a better gas engine for them among some other minor things.

    Don't know "too" much about the Dodge, but the consistant problems I hear are....transmission, brakes, anemic engines for size trucks, and poor gas mileage. That sounds familiar of the Fords to me. tee heee heee!
  • powerisfunpowerisfun Member Posts: 358
    This is off subject (but related to the previous post by zbad71), but my wife and I have both noticed that Texaco gas seems to give us better gas mileage than the others. This was observed independently before she and I even met. Maybe their octane ratings are more conservative. Or maybe their refining process is better. Has anyone else noticed this?
    -powerisfun
  • quadrunner500quadrunner500 Member Posts: 2,721
    Across the country, our gas comes from different refiners, using different formulations.

    I haven't been able to notice a difference between any brands of the same octane, so I buy the cheapest major brand for that day. And if I find it cheaper by a penny somewhere else, grrrr!
  • RoclesRocles Member Posts: 982
    Oh sure, Gas is CHEAP-spend the whopping extra 3 bucks a fill-up and get the blend.

    Quality? Three Chevy 95s and I have never seen such crap! Mislabeled rears, bearings shot, wiper motor blown, routinely fouled sensors, fuel pump shot, etc...... We also had a 93 2500--Oh boy! But keep one thing in mind, as with me, there are stories like this with all brands. After being scorned for awile, I have somewhat warmed up to the new Silverado. I currently have over 30 light-duty trucks at my firm and all makes have given me fits from time to time.

    Notable: Fords have given the least amount of headaches.


    my two cents.....
  • zbad71zbad71 Member Posts: 226
    So why then buy anything but Fords? If they are so great and give you less hassles, why even buy a Chevy or Dodge?

    Keep the prices of the best trucks down, buy a Ford. Leave those nasty and unreliable Chevy's to those that don't know any better.

    Teee heee heee!

    "MY" .02 worth........
  • RoclesRocles Member Posts: 982
    Didn't I tell the score? Whoops! I sold the last of the Chevys last month. Currently we have no Chevys on the lot with one old(89) GMC 2500. The rest are Fords and Dodges. I said I was "warming" up to the Silverado. Does that mean I wanted to buy one? Chevy is OKAY--just not the best.
    Remember ZBAD, You're the one blind to brand.......


    What happened to post #7? Was it vile?
  • cr3cr3 Member Posts: 42
    had several gm products all were great but the canada trucks were above average.when compairing notes with ohter gm buffs they agreed 100 %.i just picked up a 99 4 wheeler,its perfect,in fact i went over this truck w/fine tooth coomb iam totally impressed.build quality is exellent.the only thing i found was a loose wheatherstrip.you can drive this truck down a rutted road[like the one i live on]it doesent even make a sound.truck of the year for me too!!!
  • z71josez71jose Member Posts: 22
    cr3

    Maybe you're right. I have a 1996 Z71 with 93,450
    miles.Heck, I even wrecked it 8 months after
    I bought it($5000 worth of damage). I've taken it
    off-roading in Mexico, towed trailers, use it as
    my daily commute vehicle and the only thing I've
    replaced is the alternator(@90,000 miles). Even
    then, it didn't leave me stranded. The red warning
    indicator light came on, and despite the low
    voltage it kept on going for a full day. The only
    one complaint I have is the so-called leather-
    wrapped steering wheel...it keeps peeling off.
    I'm actually on my third steering wheel, and last
    since obviously my warranty has expired. I'll just
    by my own REAL leather steering wheel cover.
  • lneillneil Member Posts: 9
    I've owned 3 GM trucks.. The first, 1988 chevy
    has over 245,000 miles on it and is still
    running strong.. Just had the Tranny rebuilt
    at 180,000. My 1996 Sierra went back due to lemon
    law. My 1998 Sierra just had the engine replaced and the new one is making starting to rap.
    Stuck between a rock and a hard place.
  • powerisfunpowerisfun Member Posts: 358
    My '98 GMC ex-cab Z71 truck is fantastic. I love the power and the smoothness of the engine. Absolutely no problems (not even so much as a squeak or a rattle from anywhere, even the 3rd door) and it gets 21 mpg on mostly highway (Note that that's with 5.7L V8 engine, 3.73 axles and that's an average over the last 6 fillups not just what I've gotten once during a heavy tailwind or something). If it only had a 4th door, I would have the perfect truck. I can live without the 4th door for now, though, since I'm happy with everything else.
    Mine was also made in Canada. It appears that the Canadian plant may have a better quality control than the American one or maybe just workers with pride in their work.

    Ineil:
    Do you happen to know where your truck was made? How about your '96 and your '88. You can tell by the VIN. If it begins with a "1" then it was made in U.S.; if it begins with a "2" then it was made in Canada.

    -powerisfun
  • pkooistrapkooistra Member Posts: 12
    has come out with a review of full size extended cab pickups and the Toyota Tundra got the best rating. The Silverado came in second overall but was not given the Consumer Reports recommendation due to the poor maintanence record of the Chevy full size pickups over the years. Instead they gave the recommendation to the Ford F150 even thought it scored lower in the individual markings for this year's models. Dodge came in last. To highlight the problems with the Chevy, the truck Consumer Reports bought for their testing ended up with 7 defects, perhaps bad luck, but hard to argue agaist their historical maintanence records.
    The Toyota seemed to be a real nice truck except for the back seat may as well not be there. What's the point. I can't wait for the 4rth door in the SIlverado as that is the missing piece to really put it above the others that already have 4 doors.
    You have to subscribe to their site but here is the link: www.ConsumerReports.com/Special/CurrentIssue/index.html
  • lneillneil Member Posts: 9
    powerisfun:
    My 1988 was built in Canada, the other 2 were
    built in the US.
    Watch your steering on your 98. My steering has
    been acting up, I get too much power steering
    on corners as of late. It looks like the speed
    sensor for the power steering may be going.
    It's at the dealer as I write this.
  • meredithmeredith Member Posts: 575
    As a result of 30 or more days of inactivity....

    this topic is being "frozen." It will be archived or deleted in the next 10 days or so.

    Front Porch Philosopher
    SUV, Pickups, & Aftermarked and Accessories Host
This discussion has been closed.