Chevy vs GMC

[wforrest08]

Your trying to make this ?s to ?s it’s not. Your comparing the whole line of Chevys to the whole line of GMCs. Chevys range from a 12k sh!t box to well over 100k for a loaded Vette. 

 

Here is the article from JD Powers http://www.jdpower.com/cars/articles/jd-power-studies/2018-us-vehicle-dependability-study-results . This is a “2018 dependability study” yet it’s comparing 2015 vehicles, by their own admission the #1 dependability problem owners face is ACEN Audio/Communications/Entertainment/Navigation (ACEN) is the most troublesome category for vehicle owners in the 2018 VDS”  I personally don’t think a malfunctioning radio, bad directions from poor nav, or not being able to pair Bluetooth for a call is a dependability issue. To me dependability is making from point a to b back to a without a tow truck. Another thing if your going to consider things like this for dependability the more stuff you put on/in a vehicle the percentage of having a “problem” go up. I see a lot more fully loaded GMCs as opposed to Chevys at least trucks anyway. I personally don’t like that JD calls it 2018 dependability study to me that implies 2018 model year vehicles not the last 12 months of ownership of 2015 vehicles. While the K2 trucks are relatively the same many models of vehicles have either been updated/completely revamped/or done away with...

 

“The Vehicle Dependability Study, now in its 29th year, measures the number of problems experienced per 100 vehicles (PP100)—covering 177 specific problems grouped into eight major vehicle categories—during the past 12 months by original owners of three-year-old vehicles”

Ok so JD tell us what the 177 problems are and what are the 8 categories so we can decide for ourselves if these “problems” matter. But you’ll notice AS ALWAYS JD glosses right over it. Apparently ACEN is one of the categories... Are recalls on this list of problems? all of them, none, or just safety related? The 2015 trucks and suvs had multiple recalls probably the biggest one was the seatbelt recall. Let’s say GM recalled 250k GMCs (Sierras/suvs) and 500k Chevys (Silverados/suvs) for this. Well if GMC made 1 million total vehicles in 2015 that’s 25% of the whole line up that now had a “problem” but if Chevy made 10 million total vehicles that’s only 5% of the whole line up that had a problem. This is one reason of many why your not ?s to ?s. Also Yota was in the mists of the whole air bag recall thing in 2015. The other thing is where is JD collecting this info? Is it from the manufacturers? dealers? consumers? is it a survey? how many surveyed? loyal owners or new owners? combo of all this? WHO KNOWS

 

I first looked into the JD studies/awards awhile ago when GM was running the ads on tv about their vehicles winning the JD “initial quality awards”. I was like “WTF is initial quality?” Well come to find out it’s the first 90 days of ownership. Yep a whole 90 days...  so personally I don’t put much stock in the whole JD Powers thing, but hey that’s just me...

 

 

[15 Z71]

Maybe gmc uses cheaper parts. If they market them toward professional's or people with money,they may have more problems and think they will take them back to dealer to be fixed. And there for pay that high hourly rate. I don't know,I have had a few problems fixed under warranty on my sierra but my friends with silverados 0 issues.

[L86 All Terrain]

There are a lot less GMC's out there than Chevy products. This gives JD a smaller pool to pull stats from. With smaller overall numbers, it is surely to inflate the Problems Per 100. If you can only test 100 Sierra's, you might find 107 issues, but if you pull 100 Silverados from a pool of 300 trucks, your chances of missing issues goes up. It's like saying the US has more gun violence than any other country, but not basing the figures on the total population. If it is any consolidation for you, my Silverado is the worst truck I have ever driven and my Sierra is my favourite truck I have owned yet. Never ending problems with the 14 Silverado, the 15 Sierra has yet to go to the dealer.