New Member Contemplating '17 Sierra Denali

DanMan_S · October 28, 2016

My advice - do NOT buy a GM truck. I own a Silverado High Country 14. It's a beautiful truck - the Chevy equivalent of the Sierra Denali. And it cost around $60K. But GM has no clue how to treat its customers or make high end vehicles. The latest case in point is a seatbelt recall fix where they have literally instructed their dealers to manually cut into the vehicle's interior trim, leaving an ugly, unsightly mess in their customer vehicles. Ironically, for unsold vehicles, they have a different fix for the same issue, where they replace the entire trim pieces. Typical GM crap - they do not give a damn about their customers. Want to see how bad it is... read this thread http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/topic/190371-happy-with-your-seatbelt-recall-fix/

This is one of a stream of safety recalls on this truck. The paint jobs suck. My less than 3 year old truck has more chips on it than my 8 year old Hyundai Santa Fe. And that has 3x the number of miles on it.

Overall, while GM got a lot of things right, they really do not know how to make a luxury truck. Nor do they know how to treat their customers, in my view.

Along those lines, my dad is just in the process of getting a new 3/4 ton pickup. He's been driving GM trucks for the past 20 years and is finally pretty disgusted with how his 2010 Silverado 2500 has been falling apart and giving him problems. So our fleet guy at our CHEVY dealership ordered him a new F250 Super Duty. He even admitted that GM has a ways to go to catch up with Ford on these trucks.

BlueCrayon · October 28, 2016

Hi All,

New member here and current owner of a loaded '14 F150 FX2 w/ 3.5 EcoBoost. I've always been a Ford guy but had plenty of GM in the family. I'm in the market for a new truck and looking to take advantage of a lease on a new Sierra Denali.

I went to the dealership to test drive tonight knowing I loved the idea of this truck, but left with more uncertainties...

First things first, the truck is absolutely beautiful. Interior is leaps and bounds over Ford in terms of quality & feel. GM has some neat features that make it competitive against the F150.

Transmission: the first thing I noticed on the test drive was a serious CLUNK from the 8 speed every time I stopped and the transmission downshifted into first gear. I also noticed some pretty serious hunting going on when passing and attempting to downshift. It was probably a 1-2 second delay after I mashed my foot down.

Engine: I was honestly a bit disappointed for 2 reasons. One, with all the sound deadening, I could barely hear the 6.2 rumble (unlike my mother's '12 Yukon Denali). Second, it really didn't seem all that quick? There was an initial quick burst of torque when on the throttle but once you past 3-3.5k RPM the power really seemed to die off? (I know I'm coming from an engine with 2 turbos and looking at a big lazy eight.. but still)

Headlights: It might have been the road that I was on (lots of other cars) but it sure seemed like the LED headlights were dimmer than the HID's on my F150.

Turning Radius: it sucks. Couldn't make a u-turn on a very wide intersection.

In addition to those "bigger" / deal-breaker issues, there were a couple of other things that really irk me for a $65,000 truck:
No keyless entry (the Yukon's have it...)

No push button start (again, the Yukon's...)

No blind-spot light (again... ^)

The plastic "wood" trim on the sides of the center console was loose and rattled...

The intellilink touch screen seemed slow to react graphically to my inputs... For example, when changing a station, the audio switched immediately but the indicator on the screen and the "beep" were delayed.

The door handles feel like they might actually break off in my hand

No power telescoping steering wheel...

No A/C vents to the back seats??

Don't love the 22" wheels and wish there was another option with the "ultimate" package

So, I apologize for the rant but I think I am even more undecided then where I started. Yes, the new F150's are really nice, but so similar to my current truck that it doesn't warrant getting a new model to me. And now having experienced the Sierra Denali... not sure if I think trading up is worth it either?

What do you think.. did I just get a "dud" of a truck? Should I go back and test drive another?

Well I can say I have a 16 mostly loaded SLT with the 6.2L so it's basically the same truck minus a few options and I absolutely love it! As others have said the peddle has a fake floor, it only goes down about 3/4 the travel and then you push harder and it kind of pops to go further and kick down more. I know gm has tuning to protect the drivetrain but I feel this truck still has incredible performance. I do agree with the door handles, sometimes I feel the door and tailgate handles are kind of cheap but ok. I also had some clunking downshifting to first but I can attest it smoothed out a lot after a few thousand miles. As far as the headlights, I just don't get it, the led are far better than anything I've ever owned but it's the only vehicle I've had with them so I can't really compare.

AggieZig · October 29, 2016

Thanks for all of the feedback, everyone. I went and drove another truck at another dealer today and it was a completely different story. This one has all the features of the Ultimate package without the 22's (don't think I'm in love with those anyways).

The dealer has come around $5k off so far... (MSRP $62) I was hoping to see around 7-8k off. Is that unrealistic?

Doobs41378 · October 29, 2016

I agree I think you can get more off. Laura GMC has them for about 8k off and that is kind of the benchmark to use on how much room there is to move.

http://www.laurabuickgmc.com/VehicleDetails/new-2017-GMC-Sierra_1500-Crew_Cab_Short_Box_4_Wheel_Drive_Denali-Collinsville-IL/2828707313

Sir Dan · October 29, 2016

Run, don't walk away from the 8 speed transmission. Nothing but trouble.

CRApex · October 29, 2016

Run, don't walk away from the 8 speed transmission. Nothing but trouble.

Frustrating to have issues on a new truck to say the least....That said, for those following this thread, my 8speed has been great.

f8l vnm · October 29, 2016

My 8 speed is actually not bad. Some clunks here and there but overall I'm happy. Hey even the fords clunk.

In the end I went with the 6.2 and looks. Which no 1500 truck can match.

Trust me the grass is not always greener. Think about how man trucks sell every year and the small percentage of us on here. It's minuscule when you think about it.

Bvonscott · October 29, 2016

Along those lines, my dad is just in the process of getting a new 3/4 ton pickup. He's been driving GM trucks for the past 20 years and is finally pretty disgusted with how his 2010 Silverado 2500 has been falling apart and giving him problems. So our fleet guy at our CHEVY dealership ordered him a new F250 Super Duty. He even admitted that GM has a ways to go to catch up with Ford on these trucks.

That's a bunch of BS. Ford has someone full of koolaid. This is like well since the Camry is the #1 selling US car it's the best. NO ITS NOT. That is a lot of sheeple following. Especially the F250. Worst most unreliable diesel on the market. Crap plasticky interior. Now with weak aluminum body that has a 10 + year old design. Sheesh that fleet guy is full of crap.

Anyways to the original poster. Every auto manufacturer will have individual units come out that aren't quite up to the rest on the lot. (I can certainly go to the local ford dealer and prove it). But yes, even the new ford f150 has a hard plastic interior. You get bits and pieces of soft stuff but it is mostly the same hard plastic design as the last gen. It has hardly changed. Ford just does a good job of hiding it with lots of contrasting chrome pieces. Plus the seats are still the too wide hard ones as always.

As far as the Denali's, the 8 speed has a learning mode on from the factory and mine wasn't dialed in until about 3,500 miles. The 6.2 is crazy powerful and paired with the 8 speed is going to beat an ecoboost. Make sure you push the pedal down all the way or adjust it towards your feet. None of the interior pieces should be loose or rattle, mine doesn't. If you want a louder sound get an aftermarket muffler. Lastly I got about $6,000 off. Have fun.

Mark Diedrich · October 29, 2016

Thanks for all of the feedback, everyone. I went and drove another truck at another dealer today and it was a completely different story. This one has all the features of the Ultimate package without the 22's (don't think I'm in love with those anyways).

The dealer has come around $5k off so far... (MSRP $62) I was hoping to see around 7-8k off. Is that unrealistic?

Mark Diedrich · October 29, 2016

And it drove much better with no clunking, right?

I thought you had a "dud"

AggieZig · October 31, 2016

Yep, no clunking on this one... was definitely just isolated to that first truck I test drove.

I realize I misquoted my first number earlier... They came $5k off MSRP and there was an additional $1.5k rebate for some lease incentive. I'm going back tomorrow (the 31st) to try and seal this deal. I'd like another 1k off... but we will see. Wish me luck!