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.

 

[George2615]

In my opinion I'd keep the 05. I had an 05 Dmax and traded it in for an 07 Dmax. The 05 was getting about 20 MPG empty and 14.5 towing 7K. In 07 (unknown to me) they added the DPF (diesel particulate filter) and mileage has suffered. Best I can get is 15.5 empty. If you are getting close to 20 MPG keep it because the new one won't get it. The 07 did have a recall for reprogramming the ECM.

Other than the poor mileage I like the truck. My 07 happens to be a lease that is up next year so if they are still in business at that time they better find a way to boost up the mileage figures on new Dmaxes or I'll be shopping for a used 05 or 06.

I'm trying to talk my dealer into locating the buyer of my 05 to see if he's ready to trade it in yet so I can buy it back next year. Don't get me wrong, the 07 did get a 65HP increase over the 05 and a little more torque but I still have the ECM programmer for the 05 which was able to give me the same power as the 07 without affecting mileage.

 

[jeffster]

Don't get too excited about MPG on the 06's either though. It seems it really is luck of the draw with these trucks. I wouldn't trade mine for anything else as it has given me almost no issues in 59k miles (except going through tires). It is an 06 2500 Dmax/Ally, CCSB with about every option they offered at the time. I routinely get around 14-15mpg or so, just depending on the roads. I can drive like a little old lady and it doesn't make more than a 1mpg or so difference. I figure I am still ahead though in that I haven't had to spend hardly anything on this truck other than normal maintenance items, so losing a little MPG really isn't the end of the world. Much better than a 20mpg truck that costs an arm and a leg in parts to keep it on the road...

I will say this though, never once have I worried about it stranding me. I did a 5,000 mile round trip to Alaska in it, a 2,200 mile round trip to SoCal, been all over the Pacific Northwest and she just keeps on going. I did have to replace the rear bumper today though due to a small dent in it I got last week.

 

[PA hayseed]

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.

I have a 08 chevy 2500, I couldn't pass up the deal. I used to get the chevy employee discount, but don't any longer. the deal I got was great. Sticker was about 39 and I paid less than 30 for it ( won't say how much below 30 because that is my information only). Unfortunately mine is gas and not diesel, so I don't know if you care about the comparisons. I couldn't justify the cost of the diesel, and quite frankly I will not likely own it long enough for the diesel to pay for itself. My fit and finish is fine, no issues with it. I had an oil pump fail at about 8k (valve stuck open), and when we had the big cold spell, my heater stopped working. They said it was a bad ground connection, but it didn't work on another negative temp day (cold ride to work that day). I've have owned no less than 5 other chevy trucks and have never had any real issues before this one.

I have a dark grey interior, and it really holds the heat in. FWIW.

 

[Builder]

I swear these truck topics bring the same cast of characters dragging out the same recycled stories every time. I bet they've told the same story at least 50 times. Maybe we should just make a FAQ at the top of this category with them so they don't have to go through the trouble of redocumenting them every day or 2? It's as if they think that by repeating the same negative story over & over, it will somehow save one of us poor "idiots" from buying a GM truck.

More on topic- I'd probably get the '08 because it has a little better engine & trans set-up than the '05 IF you can get a great deal and it has more features you like better than your '05 (if you have an LLY or 5 speed Ally). Otherwise, it won't be worth the hassle. Seeing how much prices have dropped on used vehicles, you may never get a better deal.

No doubt you'd be getting the best drivetrain available in a pickup truck today.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I swear these truck topics bring the same cast of characters dragging out the same recycled stories every time.

Glad you could join us!

In all seriousness it seems the fit and finish issue come up time and again. There is no doubt GM has some decent power trains, they just need to get the rest of the truck in line and they will have something. Maybe time will tell with this issue.

Chris

 

[Builder]

Glad you could join us!

In all seriousness it seems the fit and finish issue come up time and again. There is no doubt GM has some decent power trains, they just need to get the rest of the truck in line and they will have something. Maybe time will tell with this issue.

Chris

Maybe it's mostly you & a few others with "fit & finish issues" on this website and the other hundreds of us lon the website like our GM trucks.

I'll take the best overall drivetrain (notice I did not say "engine") in a full size diesel truck over something some wussy "fit & finish" issues, which I have none of in my current GMC, BTW.

Who would buy a truck for fit & finish superiority over a truck with drivetrain superiority? Maybe Martha Stewart.... lol

 

[wkpoor]

The other one the review gurus harp on all the time is the the interior. I don't get that either. How is Ford's plastic interior any better than Dodge or GM's plastic interior? Heck every car made today has a plastic interior. Sooooowhat!

 

[jeffster]

Yeah, they all suck for the most part. Lots of plastic everywhere, odd sized dash pieces, really crappy leather, etc. When I was looking for a new diesel, I liked the GM drivetrain the best but the interior was my least favorite. For a $50k truck, it sure has a lot of plastic. But, like I said, I absolutely love the truck from a functional standpoint. It has some things that annoy me, but overall I am happy.

 

[Storm56]

It all really boils down to chocolate vs vanilla vs strawberry or whatever. I have not had any luck with Ford products, never owned a Dodge. Gm products have been pretty darn good to me and I prefer them. A lot of my friends drive Toyota and just rave. Well I bougt an Avalon 3 years ago and it has been in the shop more than ANY of my GM's. Only vehicle I have owned in 20 years to leave me sit - twice.

Anyway back to original post question. I do not care for the new diesels that have all the garbage on them for emissions. I have an 03 D/Max with the Allison that is not leaving my stable any time soon.

 

[nmu98]

I swear these truck topics bring the same cast of characters dragging out the same recycled stories every time. I bet they've told the same story at least 50 times. Maybe we should just make a FAQ at the top of this category with them so they don't have to go through the trouble of redocumenting them every day or 2? It's as if they think that by repeating the same negative story over & over, it will somehow save one of us poor "idiots" from buying a GM truck.

More on topic- I'd probably get the '08 because it has a little better engine & trans set-up than the '05 IF you can get a great deal and it has more features you like better than your '05 (if you have an LLY or 5 speed Ally). Otherwise, it won't be worth the hassle. Seeing how much prices have dropped on used vehicles, you may never get a better deal.

No doubt you'd be getting the best drivetrain available in a pickup truck today.

Come on Duane..... GM trucks have been noted for the past 5 years of having leaking trans cooler lines. Has GM done anything about it.. Nothing!!!!!!!! Just keep replacing the ones under warranty and charging the others........ There are so many home made kits you can buy to fix this its sick, WHY>> Cause GM is not fixing the issue... I have gone through 2 sets in on my 08 in 30K and my old 2003 went through 1 set 42K. If this is the best drivetrain, then there are some issues. Back 5 years I think they had the best tranny, but now, everyone has caught up. The front end on these trucks is not built for abuse. The tie rods and ends are very good examples of that. Can and will the front end work hard. Yes, but not without wearing out very fast.

I am thrilled you like you chevy... and I do not mind my GM. It was the best choice at the time i bought. And it still might be right now since the 6.4 is going to die soon. But by no means is this truck without flaws, and some major ones. And I do not think this truck would be the hardest worker out of the big 3....