s219
Super Member
- Joined
- Dec 7, 2011
- Messages
- 8,548
- Location
- Virginia USA
- Tractor
- Kubota L3200, Deere X380, Kubota RTV-X
After years of avoiding pickup trucks, I finally had a forehead smacking experience two weeks ago. Since we had a baby, my wife has taken over my Acura MDX SUV. It tows well and can swallow 10' lumber with the hatch closed, but has become less and less usable for me as we've added a baby seat and other doodads and baby gear. While picking up some rental equipment, I had a heck of a time getting stuff in with all the baby gear in the way. Then to pickup some light lumber, I had to hitch up my 7x16 trailer, which was ridiculous overkill. With a lot of projects on the horizon, I finally decided enough was enough and started shopping for trucks.
I went into the market with no baggage, no bias, and an open mind (haven't owned an American car in over 20 years, but was a Ford guy back then). Two and a half years ago when I looked at 1/2-ton trucks (before choosing that MDX), Ford was clearly out in front. This time around, GM was clearly in the lead (though I expect that to be challenged when the new 2015 F-150 arrives in the fall). The Rams seemed pretty good, but I never found one equipped and priced for normal people -- every dealer in this area had posh high-end models priced north of $50K. They were nice trucks, but not for me (I kept expecting a rich Texas oil tycoon to bust through the dealership doors, yelling "Yee-hah! I need me a truck" and throwing $100 bills around). Toyotas were clearly built well, but I was turned off by the styling and options packaging.
So in the end, GM reeled me in with their new 2014 re-design. Their interior is top notch -- as good or better than our Acura, and the overall build quality is excellent, inside and out. Body fit and finish and paint quality borders on perfect. Ride and handling is surprisingly good for a truck, especially steering feel (this is one area they now clobber Ford, which just doesn't have any sort of feedback or handling feel through the steering wheel at all). And I am still amazed how quiet the GMs are -- in this case better than our Acura.
I looked at Chevy and GMC models, but was drawn to the GMC Sierra for the looks, little extra touches, and more refinement (which seems to include a better "NVH" noise-vibration-harshness package). After looking around all the local dealers, I found this beauty:
It's an SLE crew cab 4x4 with 6'6" bed, 5.3L V8, 3.42 rear end, cloth seats, SLE Value Package, 20" wheels, Z71 suspension, and navigation screen. I didn't want nav, and was hoping to get the factory brake controller, but otherwise the truck was very close to what I wanted. With the current incentives, over $7K was knocked off the sticker price.
If the truck was just for me, I would have gotten a regular cab long bed, but we traded my wife's old car for this truck and it needed to be able to carry a baby seat if needed. The double (extended) cab models would not fit a rear-facing baby seat, so that left crew cab. It's amazing how much room is in that back seat -- it's like a limo back there. I am sure the truck will make a great family vehicle in the future. I was surprised to find that most crew cab models on the lots have the short bed, which seems borderline useless to me, so I was lucky to find a standard bed model.
Thus far I have averaged 20mpg in city/country driving. I will start to mix in some highway miles when I go back to work next week, as my daily commute is 45 miles each way on the interstate. So far, I have seen the V8 go into V4 mode quite a bit when cruising on country roads, and I expect that will have a big effect once I'm on the interstate.
I'll be picking up some lumber tomorrow, and getting a rental plate compactor. Then I need to move my Prodigy brake controller from the MDX to the GMC, and setup some new drawbars and balls, in preparation for towing next weekend.
I went into the market with no baggage, no bias, and an open mind (haven't owned an American car in over 20 years, but was a Ford guy back then). Two and a half years ago when I looked at 1/2-ton trucks (before choosing that MDX), Ford was clearly out in front. This time around, GM was clearly in the lead (though I expect that to be challenged when the new 2015 F-150 arrives in the fall). The Rams seemed pretty good, but I never found one equipped and priced for normal people -- every dealer in this area had posh high-end models priced north of $50K. They were nice trucks, but not for me (I kept expecting a rich Texas oil tycoon to bust through the dealership doors, yelling "Yee-hah! I need me a truck" and throwing $100 bills around). Toyotas were clearly built well, but I was turned off by the styling and options packaging.
So in the end, GM reeled me in with their new 2014 re-design. Their interior is top notch -- as good or better than our Acura, and the overall build quality is excellent, inside and out. Body fit and finish and paint quality borders on perfect. Ride and handling is surprisingly good for a truck, especially steering feel (this is one area they now clobber Ford, which just doesn't have any sort of feedback or handling feel through the steering wheel at all). And I am still amazed how quiet the GMs are -- in this case better than our Acura.
I looked at Chevy and GMC models, but was drawn to the GMC Sierra for the looks, little extra touches, and more refinement (which seems to include a better "NVH" noise-vibration-harshness package). After looking around all the local dealers, I found this beauty:
It's an SLE crew cab 4x4 with 6'6" bed, 5.3L V8, 3.42 rear end, cloth seats, SLE Value Package, 20" wheels, Z71 suspension, and navigation screen. I didn't want nav, and was hoping to get the factory brake controller, but otherwise the truck was very close to what I wanted. With the current incentives, over $7K was knocked off the sticker price.
If the truck was just for me, I would have gotten a regular cab long bed, but we traded my wife's old car for this truck and it needed to be able to carry a baby seat if needed. The double (extended) cab models would not fit a rear-facing baby seat, so that left crew cab. It's amazing how much room is in that back seat -- it's like a limo back there. I am sure the truck will make a great family vehicle in the future. I was surprised to find that most crew cab models on the lots have the short bed, which seems borderline useless to me, so I was lucky to find a standard bed model.
Thus far I have averaged 20mpg in city/country driving. I will start to mix in some highway miles when I go back to work next week, as my daily commute is 45 miles each way on the interstate. So far, I have seen the V8 go into V4 mode quite a bit when cruising on country roads, and I expect that will have a big effect once I'm on the interstate.
I'll be picking up some lumber tomorrow, and getting a rental plate compactor. Then I need to move my Prodigy brake controller from the MDX to the GMC, and setup some new drawbars and balls, in preparation for towing next weekend.
