2014 Chevy Silverado LTZ Z71 Problems

Crf450r420 · April 14, 2014

Still the problems were pretty minor and being fixed under warranty. The spark plug wire could happen on any make or model of vehicle. They are put together by people after all. I wouldn't condemn the whole product line based on your minor issues.

Ford coil wires don't fall off, but they still have coils that fail like light bulbs. Just talked with my cousin about it. He asked me to get him a price on aftermarket upgrades for his truck.

TooTall1 · April 14, 2014

Any spark plug wire can pop off it's not seated all the way onto the plug. It's a common mistake people make when changing their own plugs.Simple human error.

Doodlebug · April 15, 2014

The quality seems to be somewhat marginal in the new GM trucks.

I owned a 2012 F-150 FX4 and now own a 2014 Silverado. I can assure you beyond the shaddow of a doubt that your get way more for your $50,000 in a GM in terms of overall quality than with a ford. Not even comparable!

pm26 · April 24, 2014

I owned a 2012 F-150 FX4 and now own a 2014 Silverado. I can assure you beyond the shaddow of a doubt that your get way more for your $50,000 in a GM in terms of overall quality than with a ford. Not even comparable!

In other words, of all kids that flunked out of school, GM had the highest grades.

donaldusmc2003 · April 24, 2014

The newest problem Im having is with my radio. It has happened a few times. When changing the stations with the steering wheel controls on the left side it will say no favorites found. Then I have to use the touch screen to change a station and then the steering wheel controls will work to change the radio stations. Has anyone else had this problem?

Another thing I noticed is when my phone rings the ac does not turn it self down like my 2012 Sierra did. It will stay on what ever level its at. Is this normal?

stevev · April 25, 2014

I owned a 2012 F-150 FX4 and now own a 2014 Silverado. I can assure you beyond the shaddow of a doubt that your get way more for your $50,000 in a GM in terms of overall quality than with a ford. Not even comparable!

Can you explain further what you mean by this? All these people reporting issues in this sub-forum doesn't sound like the GM truck has "'way more overall quality" than Ford. I've been on the Ford forums and I haven't seen issues being reported like warped dash pieces, poor FM radio reception, seat movement issues, leaking headlights, garage door opener with poor range, etc. I know any manufacturer can have problems, but it is scary reading about all the different problems posted in this subforum.

donaldusmc2003 · April 25, 2014

My heated seats just stopped working again. 50k down the drain.

donaldusmc2003 · April 25, 2014

Thanks for the awesome truck gm. I love spending my time off going back and forth to the dealership.

Silverado-Hareek · April 26, 2014

For those mentioning singing tires/rotation, I have a good side mechanic I've been using for a couple years now. His one employee is a former GM mechanic and he informed me that GM doesn't do an alignment on each vehicle they build. They use plastic tabs to set the alignment on every truck at predetermined dimensions/points/I don't know the exact lingo. They do this to save time and costs, but as we all know slight variations in every build and tires used means an alignment should be done. When I told him I bought a new 2014 Silverado he pulled out a flashlight to show me these plastic tabs and recommended that I immediately go get an alignment done before I develop wear patterns. I'm cheap and didn't do it but reading some of these posts, maybe I should have taken his advice more seriously. Anyway thought I'd throw that out there. I just hit the 2,000 mile mark on my odometer so maybe I'll get it done in the next couple of weeks before I drive much further.

Doodlebug · April 28, 2014

Can you explain further what you mean by this? All these people reporting issues in this sub-forum doesn't sound like the GM truck has "'way more overall quality" than Ford. I've been on the Ford forums and I haven't seen issues being reported like warped dash pieces, poor FM radio reception, seat movement issues, leaking headlights, garage door opener with poor range, etc. I know any manufacturer can have problems, but it is scary reading about all the different problems posted in this subforum.

Ok, so here's by 2 cents. I owned a 2012 Ford FX-4 ecoboost which was loaded, and now I own a 2014 loaded Chevy. Both vehicles had comparable MSRP's and are quad cab 4x4's. Here are my observations:

Pro's and Cons:

Chevy is much quiter in the cab.

Chevy gets about 2 MPG better when empty and 4 MPG better when towing.

Chevy's user controls, such as radio, nav, steering wheel controls, air/temp control, etc. are much easier to navigate and use.

FM radio reception was about the same - neither had great reception - my guess both manufacturers are trying to boost xm sales.

Ford's Sync system sucks with the iPhone - seemless with the Chevy.

Chevy came standard with wheel well protection/liners - would have been extra on the ford.

Chevy has more features than the ford, example, Onstar, More Apps such as pandora, weather, more display information, tire pressure, fuel economy calculators, etc.. Also Voice controls work much better.

A huge item is the electronic locking rear differential standard on the chevy. I could manually lock the ford, but that was problematic as it sucked going around a bend when locked in.

Turning radius on the chevy is handsdown way better than the ford.

Smoother ride in the chevy.

I can't stress how quite this truck is in side compared to the ford. My 2010 chevy was much quiter than the ford as well.

Ford was terrible in the snow compared to the chevy.

Ford does have a bigger back seat, which is a plus.

Ford did not have a gas cap, which was a plus.

Ford had keyless entry, which was a plus, you can do this with the onstar app, but it's not the same.

Ford paint finish may have been stronger than the chevy

Short bed on on the chevy is bigger than the short bed on the ford, it was basically worthless

Leather in the chevy seems to be of higher quality as compared to the ford.

Factory headlights on the chevy are way better than the ford - note fords were not HID and I couldn't see crap at night.

Chevy seats seem to fit me better than the ford seats did, I'm sure this depends on the person though.

Far more storage room in the chevy cab than the ford - I could fit a small child in the center console!

Bose radio is far more superior to the Sony sound system in the ford.

The wheel package on the chevy is def. premium compared to what looked like painted steel on the ford.

Back up camera on the chevy seems to be of better quality than the ford. Much clearer.

Front parking sensors on the chevy, would have been more money on the ford.

Lane departure warning on the chevy, would have been more money on the ford.

Cruise control features and use are way more user friendly than the ford.

IMO, generally the all steering wheel controls on the chevy appear to be much better quality and way more user friendly than the ford.

Ecoboost did seem to have a little more power, but this redesigned 5.3 is no slouch. Huge improvement over the old 5.3 and unless you are being really critical, it is not that different compared to the ecoboost. In other words, I personally would not buy the ecoboost for a power difference between the two as it is not that evident.

These are just my observations to date. I'm not trying to bash ford here, Just giving my opinion after owning one in between Chevy's. I really don't think they are all they are cracked up to be when you evaluate what you are getting for the money you spend. I have had a few things that need worked out like others on here, but dollar for dollar, I feel I got way more vehicle in terms of fit, finish and features in my Chevy than I did in my Ford.

stevev · April 28, 2014

^ok, thanks for your input and comparison. It's a good comparison but you're also comparing a 6 year old design (Ford) to a new model year design (Chevy), so of course the new Chevy might have more (new) features than the older Ford. Also you said you had a FX4 loaded but later said it did not have HIDs, so then you didn't have the FX4 Luxury package which is the truly loaded model with HIDs and heated/cooled seats, etc. None of the current F150's have front parking sensors or lane departure warning.

I've been shopping crew cab 4x4's including the Sierra SLT All-Terrain and the F150 FX4 Luxury package (IMO, those two models compare quite well with similar MSRP's), and the GMC was costing $3k more than the F150 after discounts and rebates. Like I said the FX4 Luxury does have HIDs and cooled seats, but the SLT All-Terrain does not have those two options, but it does have front parking sensors and a heated steering wheel. At this point, I've been thinking about waiting for the new 2015 F150 so I can then directly compare options and prices to the new GM trucks.

Doodlebug · April 30, 2014

^ok, thanks for your input and comparison. It's a good comparison but you're also comparing a 6 year old design (Ford) to a new model year design (Chevy), so of course the new Chevy might have more (new) features than the older Ford. Also you said you had a FX4 loaded but later said it did not have HIDs, so then you didn't have the FX4 Luxury package which is the truly loaded model with HIDs and heated/cooled seats, etc. None of the current F150's have front parking sensors or lane departure warning.

Just to clarify, in 2012, the HID headlights were an additional option and not part of the luxury package as my 2012 did come with the luxury package, which included heated/cooled seats, universal garage door opener, etc. If memory serves me correct, the HID lights continued to be an additional option in 2013 as well. Also, I realize that some changes were made to the f50's from 2012 to 2014, but after looking at them concluded that this was simply some minor rearraging of climate control buttons and the some minor expansion of Ford My Touch/Sync functionality. There was not a complete redesign between these model years.