Just got a 2016 Duramax, quick review and pictures

[matt123]

After test driving the cummins, powerstroke, ecodiesel, gas 1500 and 2500 chevy I decided on the Duramax (No suprise)

 

I decided to get a 2016 for the digital steering, updated mylink, and wireless charging.

 

Ended up with a black custom sport LTZ crew cab 4x4 with most all the options. I was disappointed to find that the midnight package is only on LT trims. How ever the chrome trim and wheels that I didn't care for at first is really growing on me.

 

$64,970 sticker, Paid $56k. Also got $10k trade for my 2002 Duramax with over 230k miles which I thought was very fair.

 

I have 600 miles on the truck (on my 4th day with it) and each time I drive it I like it more and more. Speed limit here is 80, I drive 60 miles a day on the freeway. I'm glad to say I have no vibration issues like what i've read about. Mylink has worked flawlessly and even movie playback from usb drive is fast and smooth with much higher resolution then expected, voice commands work well and finds songs much faster then manually looking for them.

 

Truck is much bigger then my 02 crewcab inside and out. Tons of room for 4 adults to be comfortable on long trips. under hood looks like it wont be to bad to work on if needed.

 

First tank averaged a hand calculated 17mpg. The gauges read pretty much right on. I give it about 10 minutes to warm up each drive and drive about 75mph. I think summer blend fuel will raise it 1-2mpg.

 

The ride is much better then my 2002 (harsh ride was biggest reason for upgrade) how ever I think it could be smoother. Roads here are rough so I plan to ditch the rancho shocks and go with bilstein or fox and sulastic shackles when I get some extra money. I would perfer the truck had 18" wheel as I imagine this would help the ride but I guess I will stick with them for now.

 

I lane departure warning and safety seat are nice, I like it more then I thought. Cooled seats are awesome, heated seats and steering wheel heat up 10x faster then my 2002 did. Its nice that the power sliding rear window still has a defroster. Truck warms up very quickly. Starts with only half the cranking time my 2002.

 

Engine is silent going down the freeway. Power is great but I feel like a tune will make the truck more of a pleasure to drive. It really feels like they programmed it for mpg and made it so you have to push the pedal a long ways to really wake the engine up. Coming from a tuned lb7 it feel like it spools fast and makes good mid range power but lacks the hard hitting top end the tuned lb7 had. I think a tune will make for a quick fun truck though its not bad the way it is.

 

The digital steering assist is good. Steering is extremely easy in parking lots. Steering feels good on the freeway but if I had the choice I would up the power steering assist a bit at high speeds.

 

Onstar app is cool. Being able to remote start from inside my work is nice.

 

Overall truck is amazing. Here are some things that arent as great as i'd like though:

 

Headlights- they have a good pattern but going 80 I dont feel like they get enough light down the road. My 2002 with the all on mod and decent bulbs was a fair bit brighter. I already orders 9011 HIR philips bulbs for highs and philips xtra vision lows. I will report back on how they perform. I didn't want to mess with led / hid lights.

 

Bose stereo- wasn't impressed had a decent low budget system in my 2002 that blows this away. For the first handful of drives I kept messing with the EQ trying to improve sound. Until I got out and stuck my head under the dash I would swear there was no sub and everything was coming from door speakers. I guess I'm just getting use to it (maybe its getting better as it breaks in?) but i guess its all right. I will at some point upgrade speakers and add dynamat but being bose i'm sure it will have odd ohms and be a pain.

 

Collision alert- the green icon comes on the dash when following someone so I know its detecting cars but I have flown up on semi's asses trying to test the system and have gotten nothing. Either i'm not understanding something or it dont work.

 

Manually entering destination in navigation while driving- Even with a passenger it wont let you. Voice commands seem to work okay but I find it annoying.

 

inside door lever- 2 piece plastic feels cheap. Not like its gonna break but it feels like they cheaped out. a metal lever or better feeling plastic would be nice in a $65k truck.

 

No DEF gauge- Really? how do I know if the dealer is really topping it off or how much to expect it to take? Even if it only went in 25% increments it would be better then just saying "OK"

 

Lack of storage- lots of small pockets and huge center console but nowhere to put the few tools, straps, receiver hitches, and emergency supplies I normally keep in the truck. Guess i'll have to buy a under seat storage bin for the rear. This should be standard on a 65k truck.

 

Cant find a way to make the LED lights in mirror come on without cargo lights. Sometimes they are handy in reverse but it turns on my cargo light which makes the rear view mirror harder to see out off.

 

Fairly loud from outside of truck when warming up- I turned elevated idle off for now to make it quieter. makes a whine noise (i think its the turbo vanes closed to help warm up faster is my guess. Its not bad, guess I just gotta get use to all the new things.

 

Anyways thats my minor complaints so far with a otherwise awesome truck. Feel free to ask questions about this truck or the other trucks I test drove.

 

Here is link to a image gallery. http://imgur.com/a/VEF5B

[matt123]

Other thing I dislike is the black paint. Due to it raining when I got the truck I didn't notice it had scratches. The dealership I got it from is gonna have their detail guy try to get them out / hide them. Either way the black instant looks dirty and is showing swirl marks. I dont blame gm on this one just myself for buying a black truck.

 

Also the WiFi- It works in areas my cell phone dont have service which is nice, but the data plans are too expensive. probably wont bother with it once the trial is over unless price per gig goes down.

[SMiller]

You have to be accelerating for the crash assist to come on, you will know when it does as it will scare the shit out of you.

 

The motor/turbo is extremely responsive but the tuning is garbage, if you get a tune that simply full fuels instead of slowly being in fuel and make the throttle 100% more responsive you would be blown away, keep in mind I am still talking 100% stock fuel settings, not adding fuel, simply allowing it to come on 100%, I have a buddy that tunes these trucks and it is impressive how they run when setup like that.

 

Good review!

[Tony Bianco]

Sharp truck!

[Front Runner]

Nice read and sharp truck. Congrats.

[ShotgunZ71]

Great looking truck!

[matt123]

Thanks for the compliments!

 

If I leave all emission systems in tact can GM see that the truck has been tuned? I'm not looking to make a ton more power and will reflash to stock when ever going to dealer but i'm not ready to void warranty.

 

Anyone have any input on running boards? Aftermarket or stock. I would like something that dont feel like its gonna break with 2 people on it.

 

What first mods are you guys doing to your truck?

[slj2008]

TINT Windows , more photo's

[brwk]

Congrats and very nice

[SMiller]

Factory running boards are my favorite followed by AMP's.

 

 

A tune will ruin engine warranty, I don't trust some things on the Duramax to tune it unless I am doing a full delete, so its all in or nothing. I am guessing your best bet is to start getting used to stabbing the throttle instead of rolling into it and just get used to it.

[wade_660]

Yes your warranty is toast with tunes. And do not let the dealerships detail guy work on your paint, there is a 99% chance that they are the ones that swirled up the paint to start with. You can't expect someone probably making $9 an hour to have the knowledge or motivation to really care for your paint. I recommend hiring a high end detail shop to polish and seal your truck. I'd really recommend doing it yourself. No one cares about your investment as much as you do.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[matt123]

Yes your warranty is toast with tunes. And do not let the dealerships detail guy work on your paint, there is a 99% chance that they are the ones that swirled up the paint to start with. You can't expect someone probably making $9 an hour to have the knowledge or motivation to really care for your paint. I recommend hiring a high end detail shop to polish and seal your truck. I'd really recommend doing it yourself. No one cares about your investment as much as you do.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Good advice, Actually this dealership dont have a detail guy, they contract with a real detail shop so I feel a little better about it.

When I bought my truck after signing papers the sales man pulled it around back and hosed it off in their wash bay. This was there "Detail" they perform when selling a vehicle. It was a complete joke compared to the professional detail we did at the the dealership I worked for.

 

Yesterday I found a big scrape on the passenger side of the bed over a foot long even getting the taillight a bit. I have no clue how I could have missed it. Went back and looked at some pics from my second day with the truck and I can see it in the pics.

 

Guess I've learned two big lessons. 1: dont buy black, just dont, dont matter how bitching it looks on the lot. 2: inspect the truck thoroughly multiple times before signing papers.

 

Between the rain, me already driving 20 other similar trucks, and me already knowing the build sheet for this truck I new what I was getting. I was in a hurry and spent very little time checking over the truck, this bit me in the ass.

 

I do really need to learn how to wax / polish and care for it to keep it looking nice.

[avalonandl]

Thanks for the compliments!

 

If I leave all emission systems in tact can GM see that the truck has been tuned? I'm not looking to make a ton more power and will reflash to stock when ever going to dealer but i'm not ready to void warranty.

 

Anyone have any input on running boards? Aftermarket or stock. I would like something that dont feel like its gonna break with 2 people on it.

 

What first mods are you guys doing to your truck?

The Factory Steps are nice and have really beefy brackets. I think this is key as they dont deflect at all when i step up - i weigh 210....

[matt123]

Also I want to add I have GMSUPPLIER discount that I can share with ONE person. If you are planning on getting a new truck in the near future let me know, it could save you $5,000. I started a new thread you can check it out if you want more details.

[avalonandl]

Thanks for the compliments!

 

If I leave all emission systems in tact can GM see that the truck has been tuned? I'm not looking to make a ton more power and will reflash to stock when ever going to dealer but i'm not ready to void warranty.

 

Anyone have any input on running boards? Aftermarket or stock. I would like something that dont feel like its gonna break with 2 people on it.

 

What first mods are you guys doing to your truck?

The Factory Steps are nice and have really beefy brackets. I think this is key as they dont deflect at all when i step up - i weigh 210....

Thanks for the compliments!

 

If I leave all emission systems in tact can GM see that the truck has been tuned? I'm not looking to make a ton more power and will reflash to stock when ever going to dealer but i'm not ready to void warranty.

 

Anyone have any input on running boards? Aftermarket or stock. I would like something that dont feel like its gonna break with 2 people on it.

 

What first mods are you guys doing to your truck?

The Factory Steps are nice and have really beefy brackets. I think this is key as they dont deflect at all when i step up - i weigh 210....