GM needs to step their game up!

econometrics · May 10, 2021

2 minutes ago, Grumpy Bear said:

What the brainiacs know is $$$$. This latest round of seats is GM's R&D department testing the publics tolerance for discomfort at the highest profit margins possible. Looks like they are winning too!

JohnH4260 · May 10, 2021

For some reason seats have become firmer in newer model vehicles. My wife drives a 2 year old BMW X5 with really firm seats, more firm than in my Denali. And we also have a 2015 Land Rover Range Rover with seats a little softer than my new Denali, but not by much. I was just in Houston on a business trip and had a Chrysler 300C rental car and yep, seats were rock hard. Made the Denali feel plush in comparison. Maybe I need to invest in one of those honeycomb Gel seat cushions I’ve seen on Amazon.

Edited May 10, 2021 by JohnH4260

OnTheReel · May 10, 2021

The seats in all of GM’s small SUVs and CUVs are a lot softer than what you get in the pickups. I know not why.

PPK · May 10, 2021

My dad has had three rams - ‘13 (lost 8sp), ‘15 and ‘18 (using coolant) and is now in a GMC.. The Ram is a lot more impressive inside… but you really don’t weight it very much after you have had to top off the radiator and the coolant fill with three quarts of antifreeze..

Basically a blown head gasket… still under powertrain, but enough was enough and yes you do have fight the touch screen to change certain functions like active vents… that is why you do GM.

todd308 · May 11, 2021

On 5/9/2021 at 4:55 PM, swathdiver said:

I remember a review of a 2013 Sierra Denali. The reviewers complained about it but it did everything they asked it to do off-road. Years later, they tested a Trail Boss. They complained about this one too but it did everything asked of it out in the field and while towing. Over time it grew on them and they came to appreciate it.

My old Yukon XL goes wherever it's pointed.

That's fair, if it gets the job done for what you need if it's your needs, and for the vast majority of owners it's probably fine. However, other off road vehicles/systems can be significantly better in certain situations. We've seen it twice with newer silverado/sierra testing reviews where in off-camber loose situations spinning the wheels to lock the diff results in the truck sliding downslope and in both cases almost causing very bad things to happen. Computer controlled limit slip and electronic lockers can be a real benefit. When TFL tested the new Yukon AT4, with stock highway tires and it climbed up a loose slope in 2wd with very little wheel spin that the TB could not even get up with it's meaty all terrain tires in 2WD and even struggled in 4wd with lots of wheel spin. Not to mention having to spin the tires up on the TB to lock the diff had the back end sliding into a rut. Electronic lockers are a huge advantage in some situations, the clutch locker is durable and most important to GM I'd bet...cheap, but there's lots of off road situations where you don't want to spin up the wheels to lock your diff. If you don't drive in those situations it's a non factor.

Mandalorian · May 11, 2021

6 hours ago, JohnH4260 said:

For some reason seats have become firmer in newer model vehicles. My wife drives a 2 year old BMW X5 with really firm seats, more firm than in my Denali. And we also have a 2015 Land Rover Range Rover with seats a little softer than my new Denali, but not by much. I was just in Houston on a business trip and had a Chrysler 300C rental car and yep, seats were rock hard. Made the Denali feel plush in comparison. Maybe I need to invest in one of those honeycomb Gel seat cushions I’ve seen on Amazon.

Lincoln is just about the last brand left making plush seats. The "Perfect Position" seats on Black Label vehicles are pretty spectacular. Also, as mediocre of a truck the Titan is, Nissan's Zero Gravity seats are pretty sweet.

Grumpy Bear · May 11, 2021

5 hours ago, PPK said:

My dad has had three rams - ‘13 (lost 8sp), ‘15 and ‘18 (using coolant) and is now in a GMC.. The Ram is a lot more impressive inside… but you really don’t weight it very much after you have had to top off the radiator and the coolant fill with three quarts of antifreeze..

Basically a blown head gasket… still under powertrain, but enough was enough and yes you do have fight the touch screen to change certain functions like active vents… that is why you do GM.

Neighbor has a Dodge Penstar 3.6 that blew head gaskets. Fixed it at home. Now has over 200K flawless on it. 352 Fords use to burn #8 exhaust valves. 454 GM's burn oil. Everyone has an issue until you fix it. Outfits like Jasper make a good living fixing OEM flaws. Some good shade tree wrenches do to.

Dunn · May 11, 2021

Was so close to buying 3 rams in last 3 years....I mean all I was looking at and dealers I was talking to were Ram....until I drove one, it felt just as cheap as any other truck tbh, sure the screen was nice but it still felt cheap and I know they don't age well as I looked at 1 and 2 yr old used ones....in end I just felt GM reliability and resale was better plus they look better....my neighbor had 2018 Ford ecoboost that took a chit and he replaced it with 2020 lariat with coyote 5.0 and his tranny is toast.....sure they all have problems just pick the lesser of the evils and play the %s.....Ram did have few more options for same pricepoint but whateves....I just couldn't do it when it came time to throw down racks and was 100% sure I would, lol.....gut instinct, who friggen knows

Kennewbike · May 11, 2021

I appreciate everyone response. I guess everyone is different. I have repeatedly driven my brothers 21 Ram Rebel and anyone that says they feel any cheaper than the GM feels, just doesn't know what they are talking about. It out classes my interior and feel by FAR. That said, I do really like the driveability and exterior look of my truck. I know it sounds crazy, but I like new technology and I don't like the "basic" or "simple" look, especially not when it comes at the same price as the "newer", "more updated look and usability. I was asked "why I bought my truck then?", and it was because my friend owns a GM dealership and I get prices that just can't be touched. I have bought 3 new trucks and a new SUV in the last 2 years, and even at these better prices, I am still going to switch to Dodge for my 2022 if the interior issues aren't updated. I agree that Dodge has had some mechanical issues in the past, but lets keep it real, so has GM and Ford. Many of us buy a new truck every 2 years and aren't as worried about how it will run in 10 years. If I'm paying $1000 per month for a truck I sure as heck need to enjoy driving it and not be deflated every time I get inside it and feel like its 10 years old.

To each their own I guess. Everyone has different tastes and I just like getting behind the wheel of something that offers me more than the last truck I was driving, or I just would have kept that one. These trucks are so expensive now and with this elevated pricing I would like to see more things. Its like everything else in our lives, our TV's are getting bigger and better picture, our cell phones are getting far more advanced, and even regular household products are all becoming wi-fi enabled. Nobody is going to spend money to upgrade things if the new product isn't much different than the one they already own.

captainzombie · May 12, 2021

13 hours ago, Kennewbike said:

I appreciate everyone response. I guess everyone is different. I have repeatedly driven my brothers 21 Ram Rebel and anyone that says they feel any cheaper than the GM feels, just doesn't know what they are talking about. It out classes my interior and feel by FAR. That said, I do really like the driveability and exterior look of my truck. I know it sounds crazy, but I like new technology and I don't like the "basic" or "simple" look, especially not when it comes at the same price as the "newer", "more updated look and usability. I was asked "why I bought my truck then?", and it was because my friend owns a GM dealership and I get prices that just can't be touched. I have bought 3 new trucks and a new SUV in the last 2 years, and even at these better prices, I am still going to switch to Dodge for my 2022 if the interior issues aren't updated. I agree that Dodge has had some mechanical issues in the past, but lets keep it real, so has GM and Ford. Many of us buy a new truck every 2 years and aren't as worried about how it will run in 10 years. If I'm paying $1000 per month for a truck I sure as heck need to enjoy driving it and not be deflated every time I get inside it and feel like its 10 years old.

To each their own I guess. Everyone has different tastes and I just like getting behind the wheel of something that offers me more than the last truck I was driving, or I just would have kept that one. These trucks are so expensive now and with this elevated pricing I would like to see more things. Its like everything else in our lives, our TV's are getting bigger and better picture, our cell phones are getting far more advanced, and even regular household products are all becoming wi-fi enabled. Nobody is going to spend money to upgrade things if the new product isn't much different than the one they already own.

I am cross posting here from the resell thread since it is relevant with the conversation. I just traded in my 2018 Z71 Crew 2LT last night and was able to get $40K for it. Crazy to think that I bought this for $37k about 2.5 years ago. I did contemplate going with a 21 LT Trail Boss, but after some back and forth on how much the inside of the truck felt a bit too similar to my 2018, I ended up going with a 21 Laramie and decided to give RAM a shot after how much we really liked test driving a few Laramie's and one Limited.

I've been a life long GM fan, my second vehicle that I had with car payments was a good old Chevy Beretta. From there I moved on to a Cavalier because my wife was driving it at the time and she needed a mini van as our family started growing, so I ended up taking the Cavalier and that thing lasted me 200,000 miles before the trans went out. I did have a few Elantra's in-between due to 80 mile a day commutes for work at the time, but then came back to GM with the 16 Colorado, before trading it in 2 years later for an 18 Silverado. We just bought a 21 Tahoe back in January and after seeing some of the nice things GM did there, I'm like damn why is their trucks so damn behind still the more I drive her Tahoe.

The last few weeks I've had this struggle on getting the Trail Boss, but after driving the RAM it felt like such a different truck. I kept thinking if go with the Trail Boss, the interior is still somewhat similar to my 2018 and if I am going to spend this kind of money, may as well try something different. For $5k more than the Trail Boss, I was able to get several more options and features in the RAM and I added a 7 year 85,000 miles extended warranty on top of it as I am still a bit iffy with Chrysler and some of the issues they have had in the past. I know several family and friends that have had RAMs the last few years and so far they haven't had too many issues. Hell, I took my 18 Silverado for an oil change last week and they already had to change the oil pan lines due to some leakage. None of these vehicles are perfect and they will surface issues which really sucks considering what we pay for them.

I will say that while the large ass screen is beautiful, that damn thing can be overwhelming to use and granted this is only day 2 with the truck. It is crazy to think how even tech heavy our trucks are getting.

Edited May 12, 2021 by captainzombie

steelcity · May 12, 2021

1 hour ago, captainzombie said:

I am cross posting here from the resell thread since it is relevant with the conversation. I just traded in my 2018 Z71 Crew 2LT last night and was able to get $40K for it. Crazy to think that I bought this for $37k about 2.5 years ago. I did contemplate going with a 21 LT Trail Boss, but after some back and forth on how much the inside of the truck felt a bit too similar to my 2018, I ended up going with a 21 Laramie and decided to give RAM a shot after how much we really liked test driving a few Laramie's and one Limited.

I've been a life long GM fan, my second vehicle that I had with car payments was a good old Chevy Beretta. From there I moved on to a Cavalier because my wife was driving it at the time and she needed a mini van as our family started growing, so I ended up taking the Cavalier and that thing lasted me 200,000 miles before the trans went out. I did have a few Elantra's in-between due to 80 mile a day commutes for work at the time, but then came back to GM with the 16 Colorado, before trading it in 2 years later for an 18 Silverado. We just bought a 21 Tahoe back in January and after seeing some of the nice things GM did there, I'm like damn why is their trucks so damn behind still the more I drive her Tahoe.

The last few weeks I've had this struggle on getting the Trail Boss, but after driving the RAM it felt like such a different truck. I kept thinking if go with the Trail Boss, the interior is still somewhat similar to my 2018 and if I am going to spend this kind of money, may as well try something different. For $5k more than the Trail Boss, I was able to get several more options and features in the RAM and I added a 7 year 85,000 miles extended warranty on top of it as I am still a bit iffy with Chrysler and some of the issues they have had in the past. I know several family and friends that have had RAMs the last few years and so far they haven't had too many issues. Hell, I took my 18 Silverado for an oil change last week and they already had to change the oil pan lines due to some leakage. None of these vehicles are perfect and they will surface issues which really sucks considering what we pay for them.

I will say that while the large ass screen is beautiful, that damn thing can be overwhelming to use and granted this is only day 2 with the truck. It is crazy to think how even tech heavy our trucks are getting.

So your truck and how much put you in a Laramie? Are they discounting RAM'S?

Dunn · May 12, 2021

nope, not by much... their huge discount was a perk for getting one (because resale is so poor) ....bill luke was 10k off in feb and now 2-3k and some are at MSRP (they beat all idaho dealers)....they were one of cheapest back in feb........sure if you look hard enough same with any youll find someone to do a better than avg.....

Edited May 12, 2021 by Dunn

captainzombie · May 12, 2021

11 hours ago, steelcity said:

So your truck and how much put you in a Laramie? Are they discounting RAM'S?

Not by much right now. We did get $4500 off MSRP and then there was about $3K in rebates but we opted to do the 0% for 72 months so you lose out on the rebates. When I was at the Chevy dealer looking at the Trail Boss they were only discounting it about $4k and didn’t include any rebates or 0% financing.

We paid a bit over $60k after the dealer discount off MSRP. I bet if we weren’t in this crazy time where car prices are through the roof this thing would of been a good $5k or so less. That’s where the same thing can be said for the trade-in values too considering what I got for my 2018 which for a 2LT it didn’t have too much in terms of features and options.

Ive been reading around too that some dealers are not even giving any dealer discounts and some are paying MSRP or even more. These are some crazy times we live in.

Edited May 12, 2021 by captainzombie

wesd · May 12, 2021

Good luck with the Ram.

I've never owned one but we rented one (2019 Rebel) and drove it all across Texas back in 2019, and I was smitten with it. Drove great, very comfortable, would strongly consider one if I was in the market for a 1/2 ton. I wasn't big on the red accents on the dash, it caused some glare but puled and wrapped in carbon fiber weave and it would be very nice.

Driving the new Rams and then the current GM twins (and also the K2) feels like the Ram is at least two generations ahead.

bwoodsmn · May 12, 2021

21 hours ago, captainzombie said:

I am cross posting here from the resell thread since it is relevant with the conversation. I just traded in my 2018 Z71 Crew 2LT last night and was able to get $40K for it. Crazy to think that I bought this for $37k about 2.5 years ago. I did contemplate going with a 21 LT Trail Boss, but after some back and forth on how much the inside of the truck felt a bit too similar to my 2018, I ended up going with a 21 Laramie and decided to give RAM a shot after how much we really liked test driving a few Laramie's and one Limited.

I

Gotcha. So, you set up a thread, on a GM site, to beat up on GM, to justify your buying a Ram. OK. Enjoy your new truck.