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