08 CHEVY

[bjess8]

I have an 05 chevy diesel and seen an 08 chevy diesel that I really liked and was wondering does any one have any good or bad to say about this year truck?The truck is sharp and if they give me a good trade in I just might jump on it.All comments would be appreciated.
Thanks.

 

[nmu98]

I have 30K on my 08 Dmax. It has not been without some small issues, but overall its a nice truck.

I get great fuel mileage when I drive nice and am not stop and go. It has good power and tows well.

The body flex and noises drive me nuts. I have to contantly spray silicone on the rubber around the doors to stop the noise.

If you are buying it from the dealer I would have them go through all the updates to the intake. There is a sensor in there that is before the intake heater that they moved to the other side of it. It happened mid 08, so your might not be that way.

Seems to me the winter is the hardest on them as my truck was in limp mode 3 times and to the dealer each time for a fix when it was below zero out. I believe they have most of that stuff worked out now.

Due to whats going on, and the little stuff with this truck, this will be my last gm product. Although I hope to keep this truck until the new Ford diesel is proven......

 

[Diamondpilot]

Its a shame they can not build a body and chassis to match the power train. The fit and finish is just not there. I had nagging problems with my 05 and made me swear off GM trucks forever. Now with the Government involvement I will never own another GM anything. Like the old timer at the local pub told me Monday nights, its Ford and Foreign.

Chris

 

[Dmace]

Its a shame they can not build a body and chassis to match the power train.

It's also a shame Ford cannot build a powertrain to match the body and chassis...

I doubt there is a large difference in specs and capabilities between your 05 and the 08. Personally, I would keep the 05 and enjoy it. The 08 will just have more EGR/EPA stuff to go wrong and cause more headaches. When the truck dies, then replace it. That's what I do!

 

[bjess8]

ok thanks for all the help,sounds like I will just keep my 05 and it only has 54,000 miles on it,so it should run me a long time.
thanks again.

 

[tinman955]

The 07.5 and newer trucks have the DPF exhaust system which sucks but the 2010 or 11's are going to get worse, so if your truck has some miles on it and you can swing the difference I would trade up. The Duramax Allison combo is a great drivetrain, the chassis on the HD's have been the same for a while, the body is the only thing they changed for the most part.

 

[wkpoor]

Its a shame they can not build a body and chassis to match the power train. The fit and finish is just not there. I had nagging problems with my 05 and made me swear off GM trucks forever.

I would keep the "05" also.
As far as people and their issues with any one brand I subscribe to the theory that the best restaurant in the world will occasionally serve a bad meal. But not everyday. Ford ,Dodge and GM all build good vehicles. I drive GM mainly because the old man was an engineer there for 42 yrs. He always had good luck with them and so have I. I'm sure the same could be said for Fords or Dodges. If you like em you will have good luck. If you don't like you will find fault with them. Thats the way I see it.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I would keep the "05" also.
As far as people and their issues with any one brand I subscribe to the theory that the best restaurant in the world will occasionally serve a bad meal. But not everyday. Ford ,Dodge and GM all build good vehicles. I drive GM mainly because the old man was an engineer there for 42 yrs. He always had good luck with them and so have I. I'm sure the same could be said for Fords or Dodges. If you like em you will have good luck. If you don't like you will find fault with them. Thats they I see it.

My problems with GM are well founded, for me at least. My first GM was a 89 S-10 Blazer that the motor blew on at 30,000 miles. The transfer case went at 35,000ish miles. I traded for a Toyota and put 160,000 miles on it with nothing other than brakes, batteries, a clutch, belts, hoses, plugs, wires, and thats it.

My wife had a Chevy Tracker when we were dating and she traded it after 9 months due to constant issues.

My next GM was 3500 Dmax. Injector and Glow plug problems along with it liking to get hot towing plus all the little rattles and squeaks made me trade it before it was 2 years old.

My current GM, a Saturn, is in the shop every 3-4 months. Currently its a O2 problem I and the local GM dealer can not sort out. They have been replaced 3 times in the last 6 months. The Neutral Safety Switch is intermittent after being replace in December. Along with these items in the last 12 months the passengers drivers window has failed, the sunroof has failed, the horn quit then stuck on, ect, ect, ect. Its always in the shop while the Fords, Toyota, Nissan's, Honda's, and Lexus I have owned have never been in the shop a single day with the exception of one Ford truck with a bad dash cluster.

Maybe its just my luck but it seem to run in our family. My sister and father have had similar experiences. I really like some GM products like the Caddy's and Corvettes but just feel when it comes to a truck the Toyota's, Nissan's, and Ford's are a step above the rest.

Chris

 

[wkpoor]

You are not the only person to have had multiple bad meals at the GM restaurant. The strange part is how one person can have so much trouble over and over. If that was a common thread then they would have been out years ago instead of now. Obviously somebody was satisfied. One thing dad talked about was staying away from the dufus cars though. Like the Tracker. Yep you probably did have issues but that was a dufus car. If one sticks to the known quality rides you will have far less trouble than buying the re branded stuff. BTW so many talk highly of the foreign stuff but complain about it when it gets a domestic nameplate.
All vehicles will have there strong points and their weaker ones. And we will naturally key in on some weaker areas when trying to bash a brand. A guy at work loves Fords, his dad bought an Express van like mine and it is a piece of sh**t to him and of coarse he has had all kinds of problems. And of coarse I like mine and have had no problems. My Father-n-law has had several Ford vans and loves them too and can look past the steering issue. Even my wife who grew up on Fords can't stand to drive her Dad's after owning and driving the Express. So each to there own, they will all get you there and back.

 

[bdeboer]

2008 Chevy LMM CCSB with 20000 miles, been in twice:

Once for an ECM update
Second time due to raw diesel smell in cab during regeneration (cleans the 07.5 and newer particulate filter). There is a technical bulletin about this, however ours occasionally still does have this smell.

I haven't experienced the above issues with limp mode etc, replaced a 2002 3/4 Ton 6.0L gas powered Suburban. '08 pulls 10K dump trailer and our rv comfortably.

The only thing I do not like is the lint collection capability of the 2008 cloth seats.