'16 Silverado LTZ

[C-Dawg]

Hi,

 

My name is Christopher.
I've been poking around the site for a few days, and decided to say hi.

 

A little of my story: My family has always been GM, and, naturally as I became an adult, I bought GM as well.

When I was single, my first truck was a '78 GMC, 3/4 ton 4x4. At the time, it was my second vehicle, and I used it to tow a small boat.

 

After I got married (actually two months before), my wife and I bought a 23' travel trailer with a 6,500# GVWR. As we merged households, the truck became the third vehicle, and was used primarily to pull the trailer and the boat. We sold the boat, and then decided the regular cab truck wasn't going to work for a family.

 

Then came my crown jewel, that I likely will never repeat. We bought a '91 Silverado, 2500 4x4, with 15,000 miles on it for $7,300, in '08. It had the 700r4, which I had to have rebuilt at about 25,000 miles, which they told me would have been covered under factory warranty had it been new. Regardless, that was the only major thing I had to do to that truck in 10 years. Again, it was our third vehicle, and it sat most of the time, and when it was used, it was worked pretty hard to pull the trailer.

 

Fast forward to today: My dad bought a '17 Silverado double cab about a month and a half ago. My wife and I got to thinking, "well, the old truck has done us well, but, it just sits most of the time, and it's starting to need some work due to it sitting all the time. I'll bet we could sell it, and a car, and replace it with one truck that would be a daily driver and used to pull the trailer". We did the math, and since I only drive 16 miles a day, we figured out it'd pretty much be a wash, by the time we factored insurance on two vehicles, fuel costs, and repairs to the old truck. Additionally, I reviewed all the specifications on my then current truck, and the new 1500's, and realized the current 1500's are more capable than my 27 year old 2500.

 

So, I sold the '91, with 45,000 miles on it for $10,500 (a $3,200 profit over 10 years), and we found a '16 1500 LTZ for $34,995. It's Carfax history shows that it was a Canadian lease return (1 year) from BC, and that it had been imported into the US, and offered for sale. It has 23,000 miles on it, and is in almost perfect condition, just needs tires soon. We ended up with this specific truck, because we had narrowed down that we wanted a crew cab, 4x4, with the 6.5' box, 3.42 gears and the tow package, and our max budget was 35k, and this one checked every box (and then some). I am hoping my research paid off, and it pulls my trailer well (haven't had a chance to try it yet).

 

However, my dad and I were talking last night, and to be honest, both he and I are a bit intimidated by these "new" trucks. He out and out said, had he read the owners manual before buying it, he never would have bought it. I'm not sure I'd go to that extreme (because, what are the options, buy another old truck that will need work, and may have problems), but it seems like there's a litany of potential issues in the owners manual that it says to see the dealer for if you're having trouble. It seems like there is very little you can do to work on these things yourself, and everything is controlled by computers. After the warranty is up, you are at the mercy of the dealer to fix any issues for you, at God only knows how much a pop. My dad and I are both the kind of people that buy vehicles, and drive them for 10 years or more, racking up 100k or more. The more I read these forums, the more nervous I get (maybe I should stop?). It seems like there are a lot of people with various problems, and it seems like a lot of you guys buy these things, keep them until the warranty is up, then move on to another one. I don't want a perpetual car payment, which is what that would amount to. My thought, that I keep telling myself, is that the majority of people come to these forums when they have problems. There are probably millions of people out there who never say a word to anyone because they have no complaints.

The only complaints I have so far, is, yes, the 8 speed is a bit clunky (sometimes) around town. I plan on taking it to the dealer, to ensure it has the most recent software updates, and, otherwise I am hoping it will pull my trailer well enough to compensate for the annoyance. It definitely does not have the "shudder" I have read others have at highway speeds. Other than that, the MyLink system locked me out of the "media" icon once (nothing would respond but the radio, until the truck was shut off and restarted). I also seem to have the, what appears to be mysterious, buzzing noise from the cabin on occasional entry, after unlocking, before starting, oh, and an occasional rattle from the dash, somewhere.

 

I usually keep up on my vehicle maintenance (oil changes, etc) every 3,000 miles. I see this truck is every 7,500 miles (even under the severe schedule), but I can't decide if I want to wait that long, or, if I'm wasting my money doing it sooner.

 

I am hoping I am worrying about nothing. The general "word on the street" seems to be that vehicles today are more reliable, and last longer than ever before. I hope that rings true in my case.  

I have read/heard of similar issues for both the RAM's and the FORDS.

 

Please let me know your thoughts, as to whether my dad and I are worrying about nothing, or what your opinion may be.
I'd love to stick around and at least have this forum as a resource should anything arise.

 

Thank-you for reading my ramblings.

 

[frenchsquared]

People only post about the bad stuff. Think about how many trucks are sold and compare that to how many individual users on this site. Way more trucks are good then bad. These trucks should last 10 years and 250,000 miles with no issues. Yes, some stuff happens but as a rule they are fine. 

 

I had a 99 with 280,000 miles. It did get a new tranny in that time frame but my dad pulled 12,000 pounds with it over a few passes and across several states. My dad killed the tranny not GM.

Just sold a 2004 that ran perfect. Truck was rusted to heck but that was the original owners fault.  

Had a 2010 with 60k miles on it. I had it 2 years with no issues at all. 

I put 40,000 miles on a 2015 over 2 years and had no real issues. Truck shook a little but this forum helped me figure out a solution to that. 

[les curd]

ive been buying chevys for last 26 yrs and the 2016 is the only one I'm having issues with the transmission makes clunks at stop and acceleration and also having engine issues has also just been in shop to have a lifter replaced and a bent push rod and now it is tarting to use some oil since added a 1/2 liter in 1000 kms since engine was repaired and now its back in shop for intermittent bottom end noise hope my 2018 centennial edition doesn't start having them issues

[Styles_888]

Hi Christopher - Welcome!

 

I wish you nothing but regular maintenance on your new goat, congrats!

[Daryl LBZ]

Welcome!

[slj2008]

Welcome

[TMFD]

Welcome



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