07 Tundra Owner - Why I Didnt Buy the 2015 Silverado

KVTundra · June 12, 2015

Afternoon all

I have a 2007 Tundra SR5 DC with 5.7 V8. Been a great truck, never loved a vehicle as much as I love this vehicle. Never left me stranded, comfortable and powerful.

So after eight years I decide to start looking around. The new Tundra is basically the same thing so I prefer something new. The Silverado looks great so I started researching.

The Tundra is basically American-made/has a high % of American labor/parts. However, I never had a GM product and after renting some GM sedans on vacation and being impressed I thought I would give Chevrolet a try.

After reading reviews and forums I was turned off with all the issues. Issues that really you shouldn't have in this day and age. Rust after a week, leaking roofs, slow MyLinks, etc. In any case I wanted to give the truck a fair shake so I went into my local dealer and test drove one. 2015 Rainforest Green LT LT1 4x4 with 5.3 Eco.

My impressions were:

Good:

Looks of the truck.
Interior layout. I was very comfortable in it and using the knobs etc.
Roomy backseat.
Smooth turning.
Easy liftgate and the bumper steps are a nice touch.
Up to date technology.
Shifted in and out of gear using the stalk (not to be confused with below complaint) smoothly. As in, when I went from P to D it was smooth.

Bad:

Rust in many spots on the frame already. Also when inspecting the frame I saw rough edges where the metal was cut poorly. I'm in CT, shouldn't the underbody be sealed?
Pumpkin 30% coated in rust already.
Rust in the engine compartment on the manifold. I don't care if it doesn't technically impact performance, it looks like shit and my Tundra has zero rust.
Transmission delay. Wow, it constantly sat in limbo looking for the right gear and really turned me off. The dealer said "I never had anyone complain about it before but the transmission learns you and it will go away" to which I replied "I don't want to gamble 45 grand on it maybe learning me." When I use the gas, I want an instant and even response - this was anything but. I may be able to live with some of the other complaints but this one no way. Drove in on back roads and the highway.
55% made in Mexico. 41% US/Canadian (which probably means 1% US and 40% Canadian). So Im buying an American truck that is 10x less American than my Japanese truck?
Felt wheel-well covers. I can't see these lasting more than a year or two.
Eco engine that goes to 4 cylinders. I don't like this feature.
I don't like the way it wants me to manually shift on the stalk.
A rattle inside already. How many rattles in 1 year, 5 years?
And one complaint I have always had about Chevy trucks - when you see them from the rear they always look like they have a loose wire at the back driver's tire.

To the dealer's credit, they offered to let me take home a used 2014 with, in theory, a broken-in tranny and I may do that next week. However, the rust and rough metal cuts really turn me off and send a message that the QC and Engineering in the truck are substandard.

This message isn't meant to flame. I really wanted to like the truck and buy an American truck but it seems like the 2015 Silverado is a Mexican rust-bucket with poor tranny programming.

Any suggestions besides "go away Tundra jerk"?

Rawyzf · June 12, 2015

Simple, don't like it, dont' buy it.

MikeNH · June 12, 2015

Full disclosure: I previously owned a 2008 Tacoma. It was a POS that convinced me the Toyota superiority is bullshit. My 2011 Silverado had one unscheduled dealer visit in 4 years/73000 miles. I now own a Jeep Wrangler that I fully expect will allow me to become very close with the service people at the dealer.

Raw cast iron rusts. That's axles, suspension components and exhaust manifolds. Get over it. It won't cause harm. Ever.

I do think its hilarious a Toyota truck owner is criticizing GM trucks over rust when Toyota still can't make frames that don't rot out.

As for the rest-

GM tranny programming is lazy. I tuned my 2011 to fix this.

I don't like the parts content of the new trucks but in the end GM is an American company, Toyota is Japanese. I don't like that they produce the trucks in Mexico either. Thank Clinton and NAFTA for that.

People have voiced concern about the felt liners but I can't recall reading of any issues.

The 4 cyl mode works way better in the new trucks but I'd disable it like I did in my 2011 if I got a new one.

The shifter button isn't intended to manually shift. It's made to limit gear ratio use. In town I'd set my trains in M4 or M5 to keep it out of the higher gears.

As for interior noise, I'm surprised. Every new GM truck and SUV I've driven was very solid/quiet.

Rawyzf · June 12, 2015

Felt liners are to reduce road noise, no?

WendysOrBust · June 12, 2015

I don't understand the concept of buying a vehicle on where its made. Especially with the "American" brands as they have been made across the border for decades now. GM builds the single and double cabs here in the states, and the Crew Cabs down south. It is also widely understood that if you want the most American made truck, Tundras are the way to go. So I don't know why you went into your test drive thinking anything else.

As far as the rust throughout goes its the first I hear about rust throughout that bad. I've seen another post on here about a member complaining about rust on the frame but it seems like they are pretty isolated incidents at best.

My 14' Sierra Crew Cab that was made in dirty, dirty, Mexico has shown no rust issues our poorly constructed interiors that you say. As far as the shit transmission programming goes, that is an on going issue. All signs point to GM purposely hampering the transmission tuning to obtain the highest possible mpg rating. I fixed this with a tune, but I understand not everyone wants to go this route.

The cylinder deactivation or v4 mode is what it is, both the 5.3 and 6.2 have it and have had it since last gen. So again, nothing new. If you don't like it this can also be removed via tune.

The wheel covers are not felt, they are a carpet material that is meant to reduce road noise. To GM's credit I have 25k on my truck and they still look brand new. They are cheap to replace as well.

The manual shift on the stalk is GM refusing to offer a center console shift lever like Ford or Tundra. To their credit tow/haul mode is one of the best I've used and beautifully downshifts and rev-matches to engine brake.

I feel like most of the "issues" you had were pre-existing before the test drive took place. But if you didn't like the truck to each his own. Unfortunately Toyota has not updated their v8 and while its vastly more responsive compared to a stock 5.3, by current standards its underpowered and inefficient .

newdude · June 12, 2015

Buy one! I've seen all the big three's trucks with surface rust on manifolds, diffs, driveshafts, etc. Ford is usually the worst for that. Trans was "delayed" because its adaptive to your driving. Seems to me like you read no positives on this forums and just focused on the negatives.

KVTundra · June 12, 2015

In all seriousness, why not put some type of coating on the metal parts underneath (not talking about manifold as it gets too hot) so it doesn't rust? Even if the rust, as some of you say, never matters, it looks like shit and the average consumer doesn't like it when they go to drop 45k on a brand new vehicle.

Also, how hard is it to get your tranny reprogrammed?

KVTundra · June 12, 2015

Here is a perfect picture - while it isn't mine, I saw the exact same things:

1. Rust.

2. Terrible metal cuts

Again, you may say "Well, it don't matter!" but it sends a message of poor quality. It's like seeing a fly in your soda - you expect the pizza and salad to be bad too.

WendysOrBust · June 12, 2015

Those bad cuts seem like they are notches. Not sure what for though. Maybe machine handling?

KARNUT · June 12, 2015

My brother in law has two 13 Tundras, nice trucks. We agree that my 14 GMC is a smoother quieter ride then the Tundra enough to notice. I did tune it to get rid of the V4 and transmission issues. I also saved money on mine, as far as 0-100, I waited for him to catch up to ask him what he thought, thank you E85. Rusted frame I can't see if it's there, wouldn't rust through if it was.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

ShotgunZ71 · June 12, 2015

You could always check out other new Chevys and GMCs to see if they have the same issues you described.

jay15892 · June 12, 2015

Tranny is a little sluggish. I bought a Diablo intune and increased the throttle sensitivity. Really woke the truck up..

nadrojcote · June 12, 2015

Afternoon all

I have a 2007 Tundra SR5 DC with 5.7 V8. Been a great truck, never loved a vehicle as much as I love this vehicle. Never left me stranded, comfortable and powerful.

So after eight years I decide to start looking around. The new Tundra is basically the same thing so I prefer something new. The Silverado looks great so I started researching.

The Tundra is basically American-made/has a high % of American labor/parts. However, I never had a GM product and after renting some GM sedans on vacation and being impressed I thought I would give Chevrolet a try.

After reading reviews and forums I was turned off with all the issues. Issues that really you shouldn't have in this day and age. Rust after a week, leaking roofs, slow MyLinks, etc. In any case I wanted to give the truck a fair shake so I went into my local dealer and test drove one. 2015 Rainforest Green LT LT1 4x4 with 5.3 Eco.

My impressions were:

Good:

Looks of the truck.

Interior layout. I was very comfortable in it and using the knobs etc.

Roomy backseat.

Smooth turning.

Easy liftgate and the bumper steps are a nice touch.

Up to date technology.

Shifted in and out of gear using the stalk (not to be confused with below complaint) smoothly. As in, when I went from P to D it was smooth.

Bad:

Rust in many spots on the frame already. Also when inspecting the frame I saw rough edges where the metal was cut poorly. I'm in CT, shouldn't the underbody be sealed?

Pumpkin 30% coated in rust already.

Rust in the engine compartment on the manifold. I don't care if it doesn't technically impact performance, it looks like shit and my Tundra has zero rust.

Transmission delay. Wow, it constantly sat in limbo looking for the right gear and really turned me off. The dealer said "I never had anyone complain about it before but the transmission learns you and it will go away" to which I replied "I don't want to gamble 45 grand on it maybe learning me." When I use the gas, I want an instant and even response - this was anything but. I may be able to live with some of the other complaints but this one no way. Drove in on back roads and the highway.

55% made in Mexico. 41% US/Canadian (which probably means 1% US and 40% Canadian). So Im buying an American truck that is 10x less American than my Japanese truck?

Felt wheel-well covers. I can't see these lasting more than a year or two.

Eco engine that goes to 4 cylinders. I don't like this feature.

I don't like the way it wants me to manually shift on the stalk.

A rattle inside already. How many rattles in 1 year, 5 years?

And one complaint I have always had about Chevy trucks - when you see them from the rear they always look like they have a loose wire at the back driver's tire.

To the dealer's credit, they offered to let me take home a used 2014 with, in theory, a broken-in tranny and I may do that next week. However, the rust and rough metal cuts really turn me off and send a message that the QC and Engineering in the truck are substandard.

This message isn't meant to flame. I really wanted to like the truck and buy an American truck but it seems like the 2015 Silverado is a Mexican rust-bucket with poor tranny programming.

Any suggestions besides "go away Tundra jerk"?

Give you an idea of what it will be like after a couple years.

-My 2014's frame was badly rusted, the entire thing. I repainted it myself.

-The transmission delay doesnt go away unless you get a custom tune. I have a diablosport trinity and it still lags when stepping on it, so I think I'm going to get a custom tune.

-The felt liners have held up good, they do hold dirt and need a good spraying at the car was from time to time

-You get used to the eco mode, others have told me they disabled it and the mpg actually increased with a tune, so I've done this and am currently testing

-RATTLES!! OMG RATTLES!! this thing is a rattle trap, screws coming out on their own in the dash, little pieces of plastic rattling in the dash and the sunglass holder, wires and parts in the seat rattling. I've honestly used so many zip ties and pieces of felt tape I can't even recall where I put them all. For now it seems to be fairly rattle free though.

People can bash toyota all the want, but my previous truck was a toyota that was treated worse than my current truck and in 10 years it had less problems than my sierra has had in the last 4 months. I love this truck, but its a love hate relationship.

Northside · June 12, 2015

This Toyota 'superiority" nonsense has been going on for a long time. The new Tundra can not compare to any of the Big Three's trucks. I guess it's the ol' brand loyalty thing again. I suppose a lot of us have it. We try to find fault in brands that we don't care for and tend to overlook issues in the brand we love.

spectaculous · June 12, 2015

Bad:

Rust in many spots on the frame already. Also when inspecting the frame I saw rough edges where the metal was cut poorly. I'm in CT, shouldn't the underbody be sealed?

Pumpkin 30% coated in rust already.

Rust in the engine compartment on the manifold. I don't care if it doesn't technically impact performance, it looks like shit and my Tundra has zero rust.

Transmission delay. Wow, it constantly sat in limbo looking for the right gear and really turned me off. The dealer said "I never had anyone complain about it before but the transmission learns you and it will go away" to which I replied "I don't want to gamble 45 grand on it maybe learning me." When I use the gas, I want an instant and even response - this was anything but. I may be able to live with some of the other complaints but this one no way. Drove in on back roads and the highway.

55% made in Mexico. 41% US/Canadian (which probably means 1% US and 40% Canadian). So Im buying an American truck that is 10x less American than my Japanese truck?

Felt wheel-well covers. I can't see these lasting more than a year or two.

Eco engine that goes to 4 cylinders. I don't like this feature.

I don't like the way it wants me to manually shift on the stalk.

A rattle inside already. How many rattles in 1 year, 5 years?

And one complaint I have always had about Chevy trucks - when you see them from the rear they always look like they have a loose wire at the back driver's tire.

The rust in the picture you showed seems like an anomaly to me. I would take a look at several of the Silverado/Sierras at the dealer to see if they all exhibited those symptoms.

Various cast iron parts will exhibit rust easily, especially the exhaust manifolds. This is only cosmetic issue.

Transmission delay/AFM can be addressed thru tuning.

The country of manufacture means jack sh1t to me.

The carpet wheel well covers are suprisingly holding up well for me. And i put a high pressure washer to them regularly. That they show dirt easy is my only complaint with them.

Interior rattles are annoying. But that is a problem all OEMs have. I would drive another to see if it rattles as well...