Chevy Pokes Fun at Ford Aluminum Truck

[Carhartt Cowboy]

Since all 4 major truck brands are getting to be equivalent, now its all about perception(s).

4?



Really!

 

[Gary Fowler]

I am not brand loyal by any means, I have GM and Honda in my current stables and did Ford trucks and Mercury cars once. My current Olds Bravada has over 100K with only repair was a water pump at 75K. My Silverado only has 49K but it has never been back to the dealer since new. My first and only Ford had engine spark module go bad at 5K with intermittent power loss and dealer could never find the problem. I finally put in a new electronic module at my cost to fix the problem. Radiator with factory fill was so corroded with lime scale at 30K that I had to have it repaired at a radiator shop. It was so stopped up that running 70 MPH would overheat the engine due to sucking the radiator intake hose flat. Mercury cruise control would sometimes lock wide open throttle and only turning off the key would turn it off, hitting the brake had no effect. Mercury dealer was no help in solving the problem so I always dealt with it by turning off the key momentarily when it happened.
My next door neighbor just put the 3rd set of brakes on his Ford F150 in less than 50K and he never pulls anything with it. Ford dealer was all apologetic about the fast wear but still charged him for the work the first, second and third time. My Olds has original brake shoes with over 104K on it and the pads are still thicker than AutoZone replacement pads when new.

So does GM not make good products? For me they do.

I realize that all manufacturers make the occasional lemon, GM included, but my experience has been good with all my GM products.

 

[oldpilgrim]

My 91 GMC PU was the most expensive vehicle I ever had to maintain. If it could break, it did. 3 Tranny's, 2 water pumps, 2 alternators, one belt tensioner, one fuel pump, 3 exhaust systems, 2 sets of u-joints, 2 sets of brakes, radio died, head liner fell down, paint flaked off hood and roof, A/C quit, TPS quit. There's probably more I forgot. This was used primarily as a second car. Very little towing.

I got rid of it with 70,000 miles on it.

My brother bought a new leftover 2013 Chev, it's been back to the dealer 3 times with oil pan leak, bad coil, and bad fuel pump. It still only has 14,000 miles on it.

I like my Tundra.

 

[Garandman]

Trust me, as someone who went from a Caravan to a Suburban, looks had nothing to do with it. It had more to do with lower repair bills (nothing like dropping $2500 over the last 3 years on a 2006 Caravan with 140k miles on it) and a vehicle that will hold up for longer (200k miles with no major issues is fairly common).
The 2002 Caravan with ~130k miles that was replaced was starting to have a weird feel to the 2-3 shift and it had 3" wide by 2' long holes in the rocker panels going back from the front wheelwell and forward from the rear wheelwell.
We looked at getting another Caravan, but it wasn't worth the risk of problems and the resale value on a 15-20 year old Suburban with 200-250k miles is a lot better than a 10-15 year old Caravan with 150-200k miles.

Aaron Z

You keep cars for 20 years because of their resale value? If so than buy an Odyssey or Sienna. Caravans should come with a spare transmission instead of a spare tire.

Edmunds True Cost of Ownership for a Suburban is $16,000 less so buy a Caravsn and give it away every five years.

5 year depreciation for the Suburban is 54%. Total costs are over $57,000.
5 year depreciation of a Caravan is 56%. Total cost is $41,001.
5 year depreciation of an Odyssey is 41%.

2014 Chevrolet Suburban: True Cost to Own | Edmunds

2015 Dodge Grand Caravan: True Cost to Own | Edmunds

2015 Honda Odyssey: True Cost to Own | Edmunds

This is a perfect demonstration of buying behavior: people decide they want a truck, then find economics to support their conclusion. Suburbans are very expensive to buy and own.

 

[sd455dan]

Let me know when they make the frame from aluminum.

Semi tractors were available with a choice of steel or aluminum frames for a few years...
rumored that KW will still sell one if ordered that way.?.

Found this quote on a site:laughing:
I remember a long time ago the weight savings didn't offset the cost.

[/ QUOTE ]


Still doesn't......I saw a 97 KW T-800 at the KW dealer, It had an aluminum frame, it was traded in, the dealer told me he pretty much got it for free, it had been on his lot for 4 months when I saw it, he told me when potential buyers see it they run.

Also several complaints of flexing being a problem with the Aluminum frames.


Mmm may not bode well for the use of Aluminium frames in pick ups ???

 

[aczlan]

You keep cars for 20 years because of their resale value? If so than buy an Odyssey or Sienna. Caravans should come with a spare transmission instead of a spare tire.

Edmunds True Cost of Ownership for a Suburban is $16,000 less so buy a Caravsn and give it away every five years.

5 year depreciation for the Suburban is 54%. Total costs are over $57,000.
5 year depreciation of a Caravan is 56%. Total cost is $41,001.
5 year depreciation of an Odyssey is 41%.

2014 Chevrolet Suburban: True Cost to Own | Edmunds

2015 Dodge Grand Caravan: True Cost to Own | Edmunds

2015 Honda Odyssey: True Cost to Own | Edmunds

This is a perfect demonstration of buying behavior: people decide they want a truck, then find economics to support their conclusion. Suburbans are very expensive to buy and own.

Ah, but the catch is that we didn't buy new. We bought a 2005 with about 110k miles from South Carolina and we paid around $10k. Two owners (dad bought it, then sold it to his son who's wife drove it).
I could have gotten a newer (say 2010) Caravan with 50k miles on it for a similar price.
Gas is about $1000 more a year. Insurance is a little more, but its hard to compare as we have full coverage vs liability only. Might be $100 more a year.
The Caravan also couldn't tow a loaded haywagon and towing much of anything is iffy. We tow a 3000# rated 6x10' landscape trailer 6-8 times per year (which the Caravan is theoretically rated for, but isn't recommended if you don't like transmission repairs).

 

[Garandman]

Ah, but the catch is that we didn't buy new. We bought a 2005 with about 110k miles from South Carolina and we paid around $10k. Two owners (dad bought it, then sold it to his son who's wife drove it).
I could have gotten a newer (say 2010) Caravan with 50k miles on it for a similar price.
Gas is about $1000 more a year. Insurance is a little more, but its hard to compare as we have full coverage vs liability only. Might be $100 more a year.
The Caravan also couldn't tow a loaded haywagon and towing much of anything is iffy. We tow a 3000# rated 6x10' landscape trailer 6-8 times per year (which the Caravan is theoretically rated for, but isn't recommended if you don't like transmission repairs).

Edmunds has TCO numbers for used vehicles as well.

Look, you want to buy a Suburban knock yourself out, but there is real-world user data to show they cost a lot more to own than a minivan. Interesting you first say you bought it because of good resale value, then say how you bought it used because it was so cheap.

Down south where people can buy 2wd Suburbans they seem a better bet but in the snow belt you are tying up a lot of money.

We owned two Caravans before buying an Odyssey, there's good reason why Fiat-Chrysler lost that market and has to give them away. As resale values reflect.

 

[MikePA]

Posts between people about the personal decisions they've each made, as if one decision was right and the other one wrong, must represent a large percentage of world wide forum traffic.

 

[aczlan]

Edmunds has TCO numbers for used vehicles as well.
Look, you want to buy a Suburban knock yourself out, but there is real-world user data to show they cost a lot more to own than a minivan. Interesting you first say you bought it because of good resale value, then say how you bought it used because it was so cheap.
Down south where people can buy 2wd Suburbans they seem a better bet but in the snow belt you are tying up a lot of money.
We owned two Caravans before buying an Odyssey, there's good reason why Fiat-Chrysler lost that market and has to give them away. As resale values reflect.

Yes, it comes down to the fact that we liked the Suburban better than the alternatives. Resale at 200k miles should be higher than a Caravan with 200k miles (yes, it is 4wd).

We had a 2002 Caravan (bought it from my Grandparents with 90k miles on it), my sister in law has a 2006 (bought it from her Mother in law at ~7 years old). Both have been well taken care of. Ours was starting to shift funny, the rocker panels had mostly rusted out, the wife didnt like the minivan non-caravan alternatives and I was not interested in working on another Caravan, so we started looking at SUVs.

Yes, we could have gone with a different minivan with 50k miles, driven it to 150k miles and sold it, but with the issues that the 2006 Caravan has had with ~130k miles (2-3 computers have died, power doors stopped working, bad EGR valves, etc, etc, etc they have dropped $2500 into it that I know of into it and I am pretty sure they have spent more. We didn't want to go back down that road with another minivan, so we went with a SUV.

My brother in law has a 2001ish Suburban that is over 200k miles with just normal maintenance (and possibly 1 alternator?).
The Suburban rides a lot nicer than either Caravan, its a lot more capable and we just like it a lot more.
In our mind, its well worth the extra $1000/year in gas and the slightly higher insurance cost.

Aaron Z

 

[lilranch2001]

My 2 cents worth.......
Any SUV is a better purchase than a minivan, much less a Caravan

I would not have a Caravan up my whatchacallit if I had room for a saw mill

But I sure am curious how we went from Aluminum Fords to Caravans......
:confused3: