Thinking About A New 2011 Silverado Or Sierra

[jwh463]

I currently have an extended cab 2004 Z71 Silverado. Just found out that we are expecting our second kid to arrive next May and I am thinking that I will probably need some extra cab space. So I am trying to determine if it would be worth it to trade in on a new 2011 crew cab Silverado or Sierra. The only real issue that I have with my current truck is that I think the brakes are pretty crappy. They have been checked by my local dealer and a reputable brake shop in my area. The brake shop basically told me that they are fine...just typical Chevy brakes! For those that have a newer truck, are the brakes any better?

 

Last weekend my wife bought a 2011 Sierra Crew Tx Edition, we pondered trading my 2003 in because we have another car and a motorcycle. I said no I want to keep mine because it is paid for....I try to drive the wife's whenever possible and now I view my 'old' truck in a different way. I am extremely jealous that my wife gets to drive that new truck daily

[Stevens03]

Last weekend my wife bought a 2011 Sierra Crew Tx Edition, we pondered trading my 2003 in because we have another car and a motorcycle. I said no I want to keep mine because it is paid for....I try to drive the wife's whenever possible and now I view my 'old' truck in a different way. I am extremely jealous that my wife gets to drive that new truck daily

 

I owned an 03, and the 2011's are night and day over the older trucks in my opinion.

[GuyGene]

Sounds like some of y'all are kind of like me - will buy whichever truck seems to be the best... But, you guys do trade in a lot!! Wow, I am thinking my '02 is not very old! I agree that GM needs to go back to all disc brakes; I would pay a little more for that. Isn't GM/Chevy the only truck now without all four disc brakes? Just doesn't make sense to me.

 

It is hard to choose a truck to me... good shopping.

[MikeNH]

Drums shouldn't be frowned upon- I had a Tacoma before this and it had the best 60-0 braking distance of any midsize and it did that with the "awful" drum brakes.

[lesZ71]

Drums shouldn't be frowned upon- I had a Tacoma before this and it had the best 60-0 braking distance of any midsize and it did that with the "awful" drum brakes.

 

My buddy is only got about 14.5 mpg round trip from Charleston SC up to northern Va last week. He was not happy...i tried to tell him that those 305's he installed would probably hurt his mpg's some...but even I figured he would get closer to 17 or 18 mpg. That has cooled my interest in the EcoBoost...the interior of his F150 (Lariat) is pretty nice though.

 

That said, salesman left me a message indicating that "special dealer incentives" will be in place through the end of this month and they could probably work a better deal for me. Two weeks ago I had a them down to $26k (with trade in plus rebates) on a 2011 Crew Cab 4x4 Z71 (sticker price was just over $41k...which is crazy for a truck). While this is probably a good deal, I wanted to be closer to $20-23k out the door.

[music]

I would pay a little more for that. Isn't GM/Chevy the only truck now without all four disc brakes? Just doesn't make sense to me.

 

After you've driven one for a while, it will. No way would I trade this brake setup for what my '99 GM had on it (4 wheel disc). It's not whether it's disc/disc or disc/drum, it's how the combo performs as a whole. This is a solid setup, and they last. Almost 40k miles now, and not a shudder one... and the pads/rotors/drums are in excellent condition. Stops strong, solo or towing.

[bustedlimb]

I would pay a little more for that. Isn't GM/Chevy the only truck now without all four disc brakes? Just doesn't make sense to me.

 

After you've driven one for a while, it will. No way would I trade this brake setup for what my '99 GM had on it (4 wheel disc). It's not whether it's disc/disc or disc/drum, it's how the combo performs as a whole. This is a solid setup, and they last. Almost 40k miles now, and not a shudder one... and the pads/rotors/drums are in excellent condition. Stops strong, solo or towing.

 

 

Between the great braking and the nicely timed downshifts, my '11 stops without having to apply hardly any brake pressure. In tow-haul with a trailer it is only amplified.

 

Great part is that it will also about make me shit my pants if I push the pedal that is right of the brake down a little too far... the six speed has some nice gearing

[fatalwishes]

Drums shouldn't be frowned upon- I had a Tacoma before this and it had the best 60-0 braking distance of any midsize and it did that with the "awful" drum brakes.

 

My buddy is only got about 14.5 mpg round trip from Charleston SC up to northern Va last week. He was not happy...i tried to tell him that those 305's he installed would probably hurt his mpg's some...but even I figured he would get closer to 17 or 18 mpg. That has cooled my interest in the EcoBoost...the interior of his F150 (Lariat) is pretty nice though.

 

That said, salesman left me a message indicating that "special dealer incentives" will be in place through the end of this month and they could probably work a better deal for me. Two weeks ago I had a them down to $26k (with trade in plus rebates) on a 2011 Crew Cab 4x4 Z71 (sticker price was just over $41k...which is crazy for a truck). While this is probably a good deal, I wanted to be closer to $20-23k out the door.

 

 

 

Are you friggen crazy?

 

 

I would have signed on the line that instant. That's almost 1/2 off. I'd like to see this deal myself. 15k off a new truck hasn't happened since 2008. If you got a deal like that staring you in the face, getting greed for another 2k is being a damn fool.

 

I'd like to believe you, but I'm having a really hard time on this one.

[lesZ71]

Drums shouldn't be frowned upon- I had a Tacoma before this and it had the best 60-0 braking distance of any midsize and it did that with the "awful" drum brakes.

 

My buddy is only got about 14.5 mpg round trip from Charleston SC up to northern Va last week. He was not happy...i tried to tell him that those 305's he installed would probably hurt his mpg's some...but even I figured he would get closer to 17 or 18 mpg. That has cooled my interest in the EcoBoost...the interior of his F150 (Lariat) is pretty nice though.

 

That said, salesman left me a message indicating that "special dealer incentives" will be in place through the end of this month and they could probably work a better deal for me. Two weeks ago I had a them down to $26k (with trade in plus rebates) on a 2011 Crew Cab 4x4 Z71 (sticker price was just over $41k...which is crazy for a truck). While this is probably a good deal, I wanted to be closer to $20-23k out the door.

 

 

 

 

 

Are you friggen crazy?

 

 

I would have signed on the line that instant. That's almost 1/2 off. I'd like to see this deal myself. 15k off a new truck hasn't happened since 2008. If you got a deal like that staring you in the face, getting greed for another 2k is being a damn fool.

 

I'd like to believe you, but I'm having a really hard time on this one.

 

 

I own my 2004 ext cab z71 outright. They offered 9k for it on trade in plus 5k in rebates. That is 14k. I am a USAA member, so that is worth another 750.00. Now I am at 14,750 off. There are a couple of dealers in my area and this has been my only stop so far. I know it is a good deal, but I feel like they could give a little more for my trade, which is in excellent condition and only 70k miles on the clock. I am also not sure if I want to hold on to my truck and just get something with better mileage to use as a daily driver. In short, I have some good options and I am still trying to determine what would work best for me.

[fatalwishes]

Drums shouldn't be frowned upon- I had a Tacoma before this and it had the best 60-0 braking distance of any midsize and it did that with the "awful" drum brakes.

 

My buddy is only got about 14.5 mpg round trip from Charleston SC up to northern Va last week. He was not happy...i tried to tell him that those 305's he installed would probably hurt his mpg's some...but even I figured he would get closer to 17 or 18 mpg. That has cooled my interest in the EcoBoost...the interior of his F150 (Lariat) is pretty nice though.

 

That said, salesman left me a message indicating that "special dealer incentives" will be in place through the end of this month and they could probably work a better deal for me. Two weeks ago I had a them down to $26k (with trade in plus rebates) on a 2011 Crew Cab 4x4 Z71 (sticker price was just over $41k...which is crazy for a truck). While this is probably a good deal, I wanted to be closer to $20-23k out the door.

 

 

 

 

 

Are you friggen crazy?

 

 

I would have signed on the line that instant. That's almost 1/2 off. I'd like to see this deal myself. 15k off a new truck hasn't happened since 2008. If you got a deal like that staring you in the face, getting greed for another 2k is being a damn fool.

 

I'd like to believe you, but I'm having a really hard time on this one.

 

 

I own my 2004 ext cab z71 outright. They offered 9k for it on trade in plus 5k in rebates. That is 14k. I am a USAA member, so that is worth another 750.00. Now I am at 14,750 off. There are a couple of dealers in my area and this has been my only stop so far. I know it is a good deal, but I feel like they could give a little more for my trade, which is in excellent condition and only 70k miles on the clock. I am also not sure if I want to hold on to my truck and just get something with better mileage to use as a daily driver. In short, I have some good options and I am still trying to determine what would work best for me.

 

 

 

I'm wrong.

 

When I read your first post I skipped over the part that said (with trade in plus rebates).

 

I apologize.

 

Now knowing that your trade in was 9k, incentives right now at most dealerships are 8k. So you should have 17k with trade in and rebates.....getting you closer to your price.

 

 

Now for your original post....I just brought home a 2011 Extended cab 4x4 7z1.

 

I have three kids.....thing is my wife is 5'6" and I'm 5' 8" and the teenage girls are 5 footers and my son is 6 so.....

 

There is a surprising amount of room in the Extended cab and we came from a quad cab Dodge so there is about the same amount of room.

 

I would imagine if the driver is 6ft or over, the front seat would have to be too far back to accommodate anybody in the back. In fact, anybody taller than 5'10" would need a crew cab. For a short family, we have plenty of room

 

 

The brakes? Well let's just say while I was....and still am leery of the drum brakes, I'm pretty delighted over their performance thus far.

 

Disc brakes are an upgrade and they put them on the bigger trucks and the more expensive vehicles.....

 

There has to be a reason they are on the smaller trucks, and my guess is the weight in the back....trucks are lighter and are mostly driven unloaded.

 

I have not towed my boat yet but brakes are the last thing you need to worry about. They work tremendously well and I did read they stopped shorter than the Dodge with 4 wheel disc.

 

Toyota Tacoma's have drum brakes as well. And for what they charge for those things, they should have 4 wheel disc IMHO.

[foghorn23]

As I haven't driven a Ford lately, actually since 2002, I wouldn't consider myself an expert on FoMoCo trucks. BUT every Ford product my family has owned, wife, parents, in-laws in the last 7-10 years has had terrible problems with warped rotors and brakes. Both my previous F-150's had front rotors replaced under warranty. On the other hand (knock on wood) all of my GM trucks braking performance has been head and shoulders above any other brand's. Like was stated before. It doesn't matter to me what the system looks like, it's how it performs that counts. Smooth and quiet get my vote.

[SierraBrad]

Upgraded to the Crew for the same reason, new kid on the way, needed extra room on the rear for the rear facing car seat, just wasn't the room in the Ext cab. Upgraded from an 08 Ext cab, loved the 08 and am loving the 11. Smooth ride. I did have an 02 Silverado before the 08, much better brakes and brake life on the new models.

 

My father had an 04 and had alot of brake work done to it, they never felt secure. GM replaced the hub assembly 3-4 times as the ABS sensor would plug with debris (never off road), and render the brakes soft feeling. Replace them and they would be fine for 6-8mths then do it again, thank goodness he bought GMPP extended warranty with it. They also discovered that they had an issue with the ABS manifold, some of the valves would leak internally, losing any stored pressure in the lines, causing the brakes to feel light. He has since upgraded to an 08 Sierra All Terrain and loves the truck and has noticed an improved brake feel.

[lesZ71]

Upgraded to the Crew for the same reason, new kid on the way, needed extra room on the rear for the rear facing car seat, just wasn't the room in the Ext cab. Upgraded from an 08 Ext cab, loved the 08 and am loving the 11. Smooth ride. I did have an 02 Silverado before the 08, much better brakes and brake life on the new models.

 

My father had an 04 and had alot of brake work done to it, they never felt secure. GM replaced the hub assembly 3-4 times as the ABS sensor would plug with debris (never off road), and render the brakes soft feeling. Replace them and they would be fine for 6-8mths then do it again, thank goodness he bought GMPP extended warranty with it. They also discovered that they had an issue with the ABS manifold, some of the valves would leak internally, losing any stored pressure in the lines, causing the brakes to feel light. He has since upgraded to an 08 Sierra All Terrain and loves the truck and has noticed an improved brake feel.

 

Talked with the salesman again late last week and he indicated that GM will most likely be increasing the incentives as sales are down. So maybe this will work itself out for me during the next few weeks . I have been giving some thought to buying a used Audi A4 to use as a daily driver and just keep the truck, but I am not sure that I want to deal with having 3 vehicles. And I know my wife is gonna want a newer vehicle pretty soon also. If I went this route (trading for the crew cab), that would give us another viable travel vehicle and help save some miles from her car.

[APT]

I think you are $5k off. If your 2004 is worth $9k-ish, you should be getting at least $10k off a 2011 on the lot. Can you afford to buy the new truck, then sell the old on on your own?

[lesZ71]

Upgraded to the Crew for the same reason, new kid on the way, needed extra room on the rear for the rear facing car seat, just wasn't the room in the Ext cab. Upgraded from an 08 Ext cab, loved the 08 and am loving the 11. Smooth ride. I did have an 02 Silverado before the 08, much better brakes and brake life on the new models.

 

My father had an 04 and had alot of brake work done to it, they never felt secure. GM replaced the hub assembly 3-4 times as the ABS sensor would plug with debris (never off road), and render the brakes soft feeling. Replace them and they would be fine for 6-8mths then do it again, thank goodness he bought GMPP extended warranty with it. They also discovered that they had an issue with the ABS manifold, some of the valves would leak internally, losing any stored pressure in the lines, causing the brakes to feel light. He has since upgraded to an 08 Sierra All Terrain and loves the truck and has noticed an improved brake feel.

Got to drive my buddy's new F150 crew cab a few days ago. Very nice braking (discs brakes all around). Acceleration was also very nice. The EcoBoost seems to have some nice low end torque...but it lacks the nice V8 sound. I also really liked the LCD display that Ford now includes on the gauge cluster. I also know why Ford provides much larger mirrors...that thing has a lot of blind spots!

 

Are there any negatives to the drum brakes that Chevy is now using? Why would they go that route instead of trying to improve their disc brake system.