Ownership update - the first 5,000 miles

[kurtg2020]

I thought that I would post an update on my ownership update, I bought the truck at the end of January 2014 with 136 miles on it, I am currently at 5,700 miles. Mine is a victory red LT 4x4 crew cab with the 5.3 and the custom sport package with the 20" wheels. Mine was built in Oct 2013. I would have more miles on the truck, but the dealership had it for a week getting the driver seat movement fixed, the part took longer to get in then they thought, they gave me a car to drive, in the end it was no big deal. The good part of it is that they got the seat fixed, a week later it is still not moving, so I am very happy. I have kept track of gas mileage with an app on my phone, what I find interesting is that the computer on the truck and when I calculate the gas mileage the difference is usually less then .5. I use the same pump almost all the time, and once it shuts off, I take the nozzle out. My lowest tank was 15.48 mpg, and that was back in Feb when it was -20, and my highest tank was 17.61 mpg, and that was 5 days ago. Overall I am satisfied with the MPG's of the truck considering the cold weather and a brand new engine. I have owned 2 F150's, a Ram, and various other makes and models, so I am not a brand loyal guy, I buy what I like. Overall I have really enjoyed the truck, everyone who gets in is impressed on how quite it is and how smooth the ride is. I have had no issues with the fit and finish, a piece of trim broke on the inside of the truck on the bottom of the seat, but that was my fault.

A few things that bug me, however it would not stop be from buying another one, I think GM missed with the MyLink system. I have had time with Mylink, Ford's Sync, and the U Connect system, and I found that for what I like, the MyLink could have been better executed. I don't like how slow the system is, on XM, it might take 5-7 seconds for the music to come on, and I have never experience that in any other GM or non GM vehicle. The Bluetooth could work better, it drives me nuts when I make a phone call using voice command, and when I hang up it stays on the phone screen. The reason on got from GM was that the phonebook was the last screen I used so that it what screen it goes back to, to me, that makes no sense. I just think they could have done a better overall job with the system. And the last think that I don't really like about the truck is how the steering when in not centered in the instrument panel. It is only off by a1/4 inch, why didn't they center it.

Having said all that, this is the nicest vehicle I have owned. It does what it is suppose to do well, and I would buy one again. With the media lately on GM I thought I would post this to give a honest review of the truck. In all honesty, Ford, GM, and Ram put out good trucks. No matter what brand you buy, you are going to have a great vehicle, there are going to be bad ones with each brand, but that's the nature of the beast. If any one who reads this is considering a Silverado and has questions, please ask, I will answer them honestly and how I see it. For those of you who already own one, you guys know that this is a great truck, and somehow GM needs to show people how good it is.

[BlueWrapper]

Man that MPG is a bit disappointing. I was hoping these new engines would average almost 20 MPG.

 

Do you mostly drive city exclusively?

[Rocky5000100]

Thanks for the mini review and thoughts.

 

I also agree with the statement if buying what you like, and not necessarily being brand loyal. And I like the Silverado. I'll be getting a 2015 next year.

 

Also curious about the MPG. Are you doing mostly city driving? How often do you find it going into v4 mode?

 

[kurtg2020]

I attbute the MPG's to a few factors...

1. Cold weather and remote starts...there would be mornings that I would start it twice, so that would be 20 mins, and I would also do that from my office when I left work.

2, Snow..I was in either auto 4x4 or 4x4 high more than usual. I work in a small town, and I have to travel rural roads, and they where not the best.

3. Break in period.

 

As far a V8 vs V4 modes, it goes into V4 more as the weather warms up. In my truck it is not as seamless as I would wish, so I can tell when it does switch modes. If I look at my fuel screen in the information screen, my best 25 miles is 25.5, and my best 50 miles is 22.5, so the truck is capable of better mileage, i just have not had normal conditons for the majority of my ownership. My drive to work is 17 miles one way, three stop signs, and I set the criuse at 61. So I would say 50/50 highway and city. One of my F150's was a 2010, and I had the 4.6, it was also a 4x4 crew cab, many people complained about that motor, but I thought it was a very efficient motor. It was the 3 valve, with the 6 speed, and my average in that truck was 19.2 mpg once the motor was broke in. I am guessing that once it warms up and I get a few more miles on it, I will be able to average between 19 and 20. My other F150 was a 2004, and no matter how I drove that, 15.5mpg was the average. Hope this answers your questions.

[TxTruckMan]

I am also approaching 5000 miles. I'll be there by the end of the week and just scheduled my first oil change. I drive 22 miles each way to work, and have been averaging almost 18 in my 50/50 mixed driving over my last 3 or 4 tanks. I drive with cruise between 70 and 75. My lifetime average is just over 17. I couldn't be happier.

[spectaculous]

"My drive to work is 17 miles one way, three stop signs, and I set the criuse at 61."

 

I find that cruise control makes mpg worse than just manually pussyfooting it. Cruise tries to hold a specific speed and will accelerate hard if it has to. I seem to do much better economically with manual pedal control...

[bills]

I have 4,233 miles on my 2014 Sierra SLT crew cab 4x4 with the 6.2L engine and max tow package. I couldn't be happier with my truck! Absolutely no problems so far. My lifetime MPG is 16.19 calculated, and my driving has been about 60/40 highway/city. That also includes a few hundred miles towing my race car. My only gripe is that the MPG shown on the DIC is ALWAYS about .5 to 1 MPG higher than calculated. I wish it was more accurate. Guess I can live with it since I always calculate my MPG anyway.

[daddis01]

My mileage with mostly city driving is averaging 13.8 at 3300 miles. I drive easy for the most part and am really not very pleased at far below the advertised city I'm getting. I even switched to 100% gas to see if it was the ethanol mix we have at most stations locally, but no noticeable improvement. Also as an additional comment, I don't notice when its going from V8 to V4 mode, it is completely seamless to me. Overall I love the truck, the OP's observations are pretty much inline with what I have found also. My previous vehicle was a '98 F150 that I drove since it was new, so I have really been enjoying the updated technology and quiet ride.

[BlueWrapper]

I've always been curious with those black bear tunes, can you do a tune that gives a better fuel economy?

 

I mean I know it's truck, but it seems like in this day in age we should be able to get a full size that averages 20 mpg.

[fondupot]

I've always been curious with those black bear tunes, can you do a tune that gives a better fuel economy?

 

I mean I know it's truck, but it seems like in this day in age we should be able to get a full size that averages 20 mpg.

 

Yes. And typically when Blackbear does a tune, they can increase power and performance, and at the same time, this unleashes hidden MPG.

[Black02Silverado]

I'm sure there are those out there getting 20mpg or better but for the most part 18mpg from what I'm seeing others getting is a little disappointing for these new trucks. My 02 gets 18mpg and it is 12yrs old with 150k. I would think technology would have improved MPG a bit more by now.

[Sooperdave]

Great review, thx for posting! And I agree with buy what you like. I've had two ford trucks in the past but mostly owned GM vehicles. I did however buy the best 1500 on the market after a dissappointing drive in the current F150. Love my SLT!

[fondupot]

I'm sure there are those out there getting 20mpg or better but for the most part 18mpg from what I'm seeing others getting is a little disappointing for these new trucks. My 02 gets 18mpg and it is 12yrs old with 150k. I would think technology would have improved MPG a bit more by now.

 

trying to push a brick through the wind is hard. no matter how good technology is.

[sigmonster]

Thanks for the post. My SLT has 500 miles and I love it. They are great trucks, not perfect trucks. My V4-V8 transition is seamless and my XM changes chanels at the normal speed. The small sunglass holder drives me nuts! I think most of us are getting good MPG's (even if it is not 16/22) compared to other pick up trucks. My friend's Ecoboost F150 is only getting 16 MPG on the highway---so maybe we are doing better than we thought.

[daddis01]

I thought that I would post an update on my ownership update, I bought the truck at the end of January 2014 with 136 miles on it, I am currently at 5,700 miles. Mine is a victory red LT 4x4 crew cab with the 5.3 and the custom sport package with the 20" wheels. Mine was built in Oct 2013. I would have more miles on the truck, but the dealership had it for a week getting the driver seat movement fixed, the part took longer to get in then they thought, they gave me a car to drive, in the end it was no big deal. The good part of it is that they got the seat fixed, a week later it is still not moving, so I am very happy. I have kept track of gas mileage with an app on my phone, what I find interesting is that the computer on the truck and when I calculate the gas mileage the difference is usually less then .5. I use the same pump almost all the time, and once it shuts off, I take the nozzle out. My lowest tank was 15.48 mpg, and that was back in Feb when it was -20, and my highest tank was 17.61 mpg, and that was 5 days ago. Overall I am satisfied with the MPG's of the truck considering the cold weather and a brand new engine. I have owned 2 F150's, a Ram, and various other makes and models, so I am not a brand loyal guy, I buy what I like. Overall I have really enjoyed the truck, everyone who gets in is impressed on how quite it is and how smooth the ride is. I have had no issues with the fit and finish, a piece of trim broke on the inside of the truck on the bottom of the seat, but that was my fault.

A few things that bug me, however it would not stop be from buying another one, I think GM missed with the MyLink system. I have had time with Mylink, Ford's Sync, and the U Connect system, and I found that for what I like, the MyLink could have been better executed. I don't like how slow the system is, on XM, it might take 5-7 seconds for the music to come on, and I have never experience that in any other GM or non GM vehicle. The Bluetooth could work better, it drives me nuts when I make a phone call using voice command, and when I hang up it stays on the phone screen. The reason on got from GM was that the phonebook was the last screen I used so that it what screen it goes back to, to me, that makes no sense. I just think they could have done a better overall job with the system. And the last think that I don't really like about the truck is how the steering when in not centered in the instrument panel. It is only off by a1/4 inch, why didn't they center it.

Having said all that, this is the nicest vehicle I have owned. It does what it is suppose to do well, and I would buy one again. With the media lately on GM I thought I would post this to give a honest review of the truck. In all honesty, Ford, GM, and Ram put out good trucks. No matter what brand you buy, you are going to have a great vehicle, there are going to be bad ones with each brand, but that's the nature of the beast. If any one who reads this is considering a Silverado and has questions, please ask, I will answer them honestly and how I see it. For those of you who already own one, you guys know that this is a great truck, and somehow GM needs to show people how good it is.

if this is trim piece that you broke, I was able to get the dealer to warrant the replacement. Might give it a try.

 

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