Test drive from hell

madcowranch · December 13, 2013

Well today I went and checked out the new Silverado. I picked out a WK2 standard cab 2WD to test drive. Started it up and sat in the lot adjusting seat, mirrors, etc. Flipped on the radio and... nothing but static. Salesman says they forgot to put the antennae on during PDI. OK whatever.

Get out on the highway and push the gas pedal down to the floor to see how the 4.3 can get after it and guess what happens. The freakin pedal sticks to the floor! Holy Crap! I jab the brake and quickly shift into neutral while the engine is banging away at redline. Then I hit the accelerator several times and it finally unsticks. Pull over, inspect floor mat, don't think that was it, tell salesman "I think I'll pass on this thing", and head back to dealership.

Then to top it off, a strong odor of coolant fills the cab for the last half of the ride. I'm not getting the warm and fuzzies with this new truck.

MikeNH · December 13, 2013

Guys this bickering doesn't do anything. I'm deleting posts and if it keeps up I'll be passing out vacations.

madcowranch · December 13, 2013

Let me just say I'm not scared away from the new Silverado after this. I have an '03 3/4 ton Chevy that I use for work every day and that thing has been bulletproof.

I know GM will get these issues hammered out given time.

There was much to like with the new design that I didn't mention. Like how quiet it is, how sufficiently powerful the new 4.3 is, the improved comfort of the seats, how smooth the ride is, etc.

madcowranch · December 14, 2013

Not me. The people posting after me were debating previous generation versus current. Frankly I thought it was all a pretty civil discussion. Don't know why it got deleted. Course I'm coming from a Raptor forum where anything goes. lol

madcowranch · December 14, 2013

OK. now it looks like I'm having a conversation with myself since someone is deleting all these posts.

j-ten-ner · December 14, 2013

Sometimes I don't wanna even talk to myself...

Sad.

I'm sure that a sticking accelerator can scare the hell out of anybody.

Are you positive it wasn't the floor mat involved?

so long

j-ten-ner

madcowranch · December 14, 2013

I wish I knew for sure. I guess it could've been the mat. I mean that pedal was pinned to the floor.

This is going to be a vehicle my kids drive and I don't even want to think about an unexperienced driver beiing thrown into that situation.

One thing I've been wondering since this happened is that I thought after the Toyota unintended acceleration fiasco that manufacturers were required to engineer a system where the brake overrides the throttle when simultaneously depressed? It all happened pretty fast but my brake jab hardly fazed the truck while the throttle was pinned as far as I can recall. It didn't stop gaining speed until I shifted to neutral.

MikeNH · December 14, 2013

I have to question the brake "jab". It's been proven time and again after the BS Toyota went through (largely because of stupid owners) that brakes can bring down a vehicle even if the engine is at WOT.

And yes, I am deleting posts about people who just want to trash talk one generation of the trucks over the other.

madcowranch · December 14, 2013

I have to question the brake "jab". It's been proven time and again after the BS Toyota went through (largely because of stupid owners) that brakes can bring down a vehicle even if the engine is at WOT.

And yes, I am deleting posts about people who just want to trash talk one generation of the trucks over the other.

The brakes may have been able to shut it down. I guess I wasn't going to wait and see. As soon as realized what was happening I shifted into neutral but in that instant before I did, the brake "jab" didn't seem to slow it down. In hindsight, I think it slowed my acceleration but I could feel the engine straining to keep the truck going.

diannabill · December 14, 2013

I have to question the brake "jab". It's been proven time and again after the BS Toyota went through (largely because of stupid owners) that brakes can bring down a vehicle even if the engine is at WOT.

And yes, I am deleting posts about people who just want to trash talk one generation of the trucks over the other.

I have been driving for about 40 years and have never had a vehicle accelerate without my foot involved. But it apparently did in a few of those Toyota cases and I don't doubt that somehow it happened to madcowranch. I would probably slam on the brakes and get it into neutral or park as quickly as I could. But I could see a less experienced driver, or an old woman (sorry old ladies) panicing in that situation and not know what to do.

To say they're largely stupid is almost a post worth deleting also.