2007 Chevy Silverado

[legion]

I'm starting this thread separately to discuss this vehicle, not why I got it.

The first thing I noticed about this vehicle was that the door opens with a firm click and closes with a positive lock in position, not unlike a Porsche door, but not as dramatic. The body panels are tight with small gaps.

The fit and finish of the interior is confusing. It is a domestic, but it looks a lot like my friend's Honda Element inside. Not sure how I feel about this. Gone are the standard domestic oversized HVAC controls. In their place are small buttons. Speaking of buttons, this vehicle has more of them then any other vehicle I have ever owned...including my MB 300D.

The engine (5.3L V8) is powerful, has good torque (doesn't downshift on minor hills like my old F150 did. It shuts down up to 4 cylinders while cruising...allowing me to go 7 hours on 3/4 of a tank of gas yesterday. Gas mileage is great for a full-size. I realized between 19 mpg in hilly eastern Tennessee and 26 mpg in flat Illinois. With 7800 pounds of towing capacity...a car trailer seems like a good idea...

The handling is superb, much better than some cars I have owned. The frame is rigid, the suspension has range to move yet is relatively stiff. The result is that it doesn't roll much in turns yet absorbs bumps like a Cadillac. The rack & pinion steering makes it feel like a car on the highway, and it has a turning radius that seems supernatural for its wheel base. I can pull into 90º parking spaces without having to borrow from the parking space to the outside of the turn (a physical impossibility in my F150).

The brakes. There are huge rotors up front and drums in the rear (something I may change one day). In my F150, I became accustomed to having long following distances from other vehicles because I could not stop on short notice. The fact that its V6 could be out-accelerated by a VW Bug running on two cylinders helped to create the long gap with the car in front. The Chevy stops like a car. I've yet to do more than gently depress the brake pedal a quarter inch to stop the 5,000 lb. beast.

The stereo on this truck is ridiculous. There is a subwoofer hidden somewhere and six speakers that I have found so far. It can reproduce deep bass at low volumes the highs do not fade when the volume is turned up. I've yet to hear a hint of distortion.

I'm happy with the truck, but there are some drawbacks. I hate the auto-tint rear-view mirror and side mirror. As soon as it gets dark, the only think I can see behind me is headlights. No outlines, no reflections, no horizon, just headlights and darkness. Turning off the feature is inconvenient (you have to hold a button down for six seconds--difficult on a bumpy road) and only lasts until you turn off the engine. The windshield is shorter than in my F150, so I don't have the panoramic view that I used to.

My only regret is that I couldn't hold out until the 6 speed transmission was available

[gprsh924]

Looks nice, I've only heard good things about the new ones, and it won Motor Trends truck of the year. Hope you enjoy it. So the old F150 crapped out on you?

[Jim Bremner]

my 2002 has 147,xxx miles on it

I've towed more then 10k miles with it

My trailer was 22'x8'x7 plenty big and heavy

I've used it like a taxi cab for 5 years

it's still on it's stock brake pads and rotors, only problems have been the parking brake release cable has failed, and the tranny failed after driving it up the grapevine at greater then 80mph towing. (that melted the paint off of the diff cover)

other then oil changes, and a tune-up at 100k not one other dime spent

hell yeah I'll get another one

[oldE]

Chris,

Sounds like the new Silverado is a good step above the previous model.

I know a lot of folks get bent out of shape over drum brakes on the rear of many vehicles, but, for most driving conditions they seem to me to be more suitable than discs. Usually, the truck is unladen and you are using just a tiny bit of their power to slow/stop the vehicle. Drums do that sort of thing well. Discs need to be exercised to keep from corroding and sticking, in my experience.

Les

[David]

Thanks for sharing. My 2001 Silverado is getting a little long in the tooth for me, so I've been looking at the new ones. Of course I only have 80K miles on it so maybe I can keep the truck for a couple more years and get a few year old 996 or 997 .

[DaveE]

I think GM makes good trucks / SUVs. I work for what used to be a GM division that was sold off in '05, but used to drive new TrailBlazers and Bravadas, and put 25 to 30K miles on them. They seemed solid and I rarely had trouble with them and I used to beat the hell out of them in my job. Good luck with the truck. I'm sure you'll take much better care of it than I ever took of those company vehicles.

[notfarnow]

Originally posted by legion
[ Gas mileage is great for a full-size. I realized between 19 mpg in hilly eastern Tennessee and 26 mpg in flat Illinois.

Holy smokes, that's impressive! I never would have expected a f/s truck to get mileage like that.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

That mpg is truly amazing...I don't think I ever got above 16mpg in my old Dodge 2500 ('98? '97? Don't remember). I think I usually got around 12. Plus it pinged constantly regardless of the octane used and despite numerous trips to the stealership.

Re: turning radius, don't these have the 4-wheel steering now? Or is that an option?

[legion]

I should say I got 26 mpg in spurts. I averaged a little over 20 mpg for the whole trip.

[Schrup]

Nice looking truck, I like the new design. I bought a Nissan Titan about 6 months ago & am really pleased with it. I wish my mpg were closer to the new Silverado. I think I probable average close to 12 mpg speeding around town. I got mine for under $20k.

[911boost]

Nice truck, I have been toying with the idea of an 4 door F250 or 4 door Siverado HD with the diesel. I am probably going to wait a couple of years though until the newer versions are used.

My 2001 Tahoe has done a lot of towing with the 5.3L and it does just fine up here in CO.

Bill