GM trucks have slipped

[gsganzer]

I'll preface this by first saying that I'm not trying to start a brand war. I currently have a 2016 Chevy 3500 Crew cab DRW cab chassis, WT trim, with flatbed for a work truck, which has a great ride and has been problem free. It's a basic tool with vinyl seats, rubber mats, and simple but convenient safety features. However, I've always thought it was a little crude, even for a work truck.

I'm looking for a higher trim level 3/4 to 1 ton SRW for myself that will ultimately serve dual purpose as my everyday rig and work truck (probably swap the bed for a flat bed).

I went out and looked at all three today. What the heck has happened to GM!?!? Compared to Ram and Ford, I felt the GM was amateurish and gimmicky in it's execution, certainly not deserving of the price tag. The new tailgate looks like a stupid idea. Who the heck wants that kind of contraption for a simple tailgate? And vibrating seat alert? It's disappointing that even with a complete redesign for 2020, they still don't seem to be on par with the other two.

Ram impressed me the most. What a well thought out truck with innovative and useful amenities. Storage was great in various convenient locations. A trip odometer for trailers and the trailering mirror design are great! Insulated coolers in the rear floors, to throw your lunch in. The console is cavernous with lots of configuration options and the multimedia screen was awesome.

All three have the pricetag of a small house!!

I'm starting to feel like GM is on a slow fade and their latest workforce issues might be an indicator of even bigger underlying issues. Anyone else getting the same vibe?

 

[ovrszd]

I agree.

Keep us informed of your choice. For the money spent it's our privilege to expect to be impressed.

 

[Tomtint]

We have had several GM vehicles. ..Denalis, Escalades, a few pick up trucks, numerous Corvettes, a couple 2500 vans... that's off the top of my head.. From my experience they are not built to last. Maybe it's planned obsolescence.. the past few years the fit and finish have really declined in QC. As have the materials used. I think if all comes down to them cutting every corner the years can in attempt to boost margins. ..GM is not alone, but I believe they are more concerned with the frosting instead of the cake. I also think the Ram has made some great improvements to their trucks.. would wait to see a few years to see how well they hold up. We now have 5 Ford trucks. 3 F150s, a F350 and a F450... no significant problems or complaints with any of them. ... time will tell.

 

[oosik]

That's just one of the reasons I bought my new 2019 Ram Power Wagon ( "the" Taco Wagon). I looked a new, top of the line - Ford, Chevy & Ram.

Tomtint - it's called - "engineered obsolescence". OR - "manufactured to fail".

 

[1010]

I have a ram 2500 work truck, and F250 personal truck, I've wished I had gotten a RAM 2500 instead.. My only complaint about the ram 2500 is the brakes with a load.. The ford stops..
I had a 2500HD before the ram 2500.. Ram would run circles around the HD..

 

[arits74]

i have owned 2 dodges and 6 new gmc,all 2500 hd since 2012.i wont ever own another dodge they both had the death wobble and no amount of money could fix it.im in a 19 2500 hd gas burner now and its miles ahead of the dodges.the dodges both felt cheap to me on the inside.

 

[dalola]

I'm not so familiar with the HD trucks, but it's a similar story with the half tons. I shopped all the brands before settling on my '18 F150. The GM twins were disappointing for being all new models. No decent non-V8 options at all. The RAM has a nice interior for sure, but again, no decent non-V8 offerings. Nissan & Toyota are simply outclassed in all aspects by the big 3. In the end, it was the all around "goodness" of the F150, anchored by the awesome Ecoboost/10AT drivetrain that won me over. IMO, nobody has anything that can compete with the EB F150's in the half ton market. Their drivetrain tech is smoking everyone right now.

 

[MA1920]

I'll preface this by first saying that I'm not trying to start a brand war...

All three have the price tag of a small house!!

I think you may have unintentionally started one. I can't agree more about truck prices.

 

[kf4uda]

Through most of my adult life you would not have caught me driving anything but a GM truck. I agree with your observations which is why I am driving a F-150. I also agree that they are all way too expensive.

 

[Copperhead]

Guess it all depends on what one is looking for. I rather like my 2015 Chevy 2500HD 6.0 Z71 LT gasser. Not a bit of a problem in 5 years. Had a sticker of $48K and I got it for $38K new. Been a rock solid pickup and I have no intentions of letting it go anytime soon.

Chevy has increased the number of package offerings. Was the normal work truck, LT, LTZ, but they now have the "custom" package which is a fit between the work truck and LT packages. Not sure it is anything special though. Best I can tell the only major difference between the custom and the work truck is that the custom has 20" wheels and tires. I would prefer 18", so I wouldn't be interested in the custom package. I have generally been fond of the middle of the road LT packages for my pickup trucks. My wife has the Premier package (formally LTZ) on her 2017 Equinox.

They are all too expensive. I will not pay more than 80% of MSRP, and shoot for less. My last 3 vehicles, I got for 80% or less off of MSRP, and none of them were purchased during any special promotion or end of year sale stuff. All in the middle of the model year. I don't even bother with the marketing fluff of incentives and rebates and such. That stuff just sidetracks a buyer and it is a 3 card monty game to divert the buyer from what they are actually paying for the vehicle. Any dealer will make a fair profit on 80% of the MSRP.

 

[MickeyDBC]

Had a 2014 Ram 2500 Cummins Lariat. Over the four years and 94K miles I had the truck it had 17 recalls and spent over six months in the shop. A lot of emissions problems, cracked frame, water pump that would set the truck on fire, leaks, etc... The thing drove nice but by the time I traded it in the seat leather was coming apart as well as a lot of the plastic pieces. Went with the Ford F350 XLT (not as fancy as the Ram) but in the nine months and 22K miles that I have had it there have been zero problems. Looked that the GM twins but the tow rating was not there and the DEF tank hanging down on the past models was not attractive. After having mostly GM pickups over the last 40 years and presently having a Tahoe and a Volt right now in the family, I agree that GM seems to have lost its way on the current generation of trucks. Interiors look cheap and the exteriors look like they were designed by a team of blind accountants (half ton chevy trucks right now are just plain ugly).

 

[Monster5601]

I realize this is very subjective but for me the GM interiors are not there, basic layout and lack of color contrasts have made my last two truck purchases easy. Both my 2013 (1500 HEMI) and my 2015 (Cummins) purchases went to RAM. As MickeyDBC pointed out, there has been a substantial number of recalls with both of my RAM trucks. Reliability has been excellent and my 2013 is still running strong. Outside of the recalls, both trucks have been trouble-free.

 

[coldsteelva]

Just keep in mind that the recalls are mostly on parts/components supplied by third parties and not really manufactured by RAM. RAM holds some of the responsibility but not all.

 

[Ford850]

Ram has also overtaken Chevy in truck sales volume so far this year. At the end of the year GM will try to spin it and blame the strike for the poor sales, but they lost the fight earlier in the year prior to the strike.
I do like a lot of the new technology buried in these trucks that you don't even know about when buying. You mentioned trailer odometer - my 2013 F150 has that and I didn't know it was there when I bought it. It allows me to name my trailers, and it recognizes them as soon as I plug them in to the truck. It knows the proper brake controller setting, and tells me the total miles on that trailer. Some of this tech stuff is easy to get used to (or maybe spoiled).

 

[WilliamBos]

The 07-13 were the biggest pieces of crap that GM ever built. But they have improved them since then, the newest gen has a lot of improvements.

 

[MossRoad]

All I know is all brands are ridiculously priced. I've got $7000 total wrapped up in a '93 Suburban that I've been driving for 12 years....

That's about $48 per month... it gets me from point A to point B daily. Can carry 8 people. Can pull my car hauler trailer. Insurance is dirt cheap, etc.... while I do enjoy the new safety features and new tech (I like heated seats, mp3 inputs, bluetooth, etc....) it's all fluff.

When I hear someone mention they want a basic work truck and then mention in-floor cooler compartments and a 12" touch screen, well................

:confused3:


:laughing:

The new trucks are very nice, I'll admit. If someone gave me one, I would be very happy. But the prices are approaching the full 4-year cost of college tuition. Yikes.

 

[atsah]

All I know is all brands are ridiculously priced. I've got $7000 total wrapped up in a '93 Suburban that I've been driving for 12 years....

That's about $48 per month... it gets me from point A to point B daily. Can carry 8 people. Can pull my car hauler trailer. Insurance is dirt cheap, etc.... while I do enjoy the new safety features and new tech (I like heated seats, mp3 inputs, bluetooth, etc....) it's all fluff.

When I hear someone mention they want a basic work truck and then mention in-floor cooler compartments and a 12" touch screen, well................

:confused3:


:laughing:

The new trucks are very nice, I'll admit. If someone gave me one, I would be very happy. But the prices are approaching the full 4-year cost of college tuition. Yikes.

I agree, they have priced me out of the market.. I buy one year old vehicles with 20K or less miles on them, if there is anything to fix the dealer fixes it at no cost to me, I save a crazy amount of money from buying new.. I do it about every four years because I have to have something that's reliable to drive to and from Florida several times a year..

 

[oosik]

No one can deny - pick the "Top 'O the Line" in the major brands - you will pay major bucks. And not just major bucks - ridiculously high dollars.

HOWEVER - unless something happened just recently - I realized, I can't take it with me. I've always purchased new trucks - work trucks. I've always wanted a really decked out truck but without all the chrome. I mean - what the h*ll - I can afford it.

The "Taco Wagon" is just exactly what I want. Loads of power, no chrome, all the digital technology anybody could ever need/want and it's reasonably nice looking.

It's not a work truck - it's my FUN truck. At 77 - this is the first extravagant vehicle I've ever owned. Maybe the last, also.

 

[EddieWalker]

Couple of years ago we decided that my wife needed a SUV to haul dogs to the vet and travel to dog shows. We looked at everything and couldn't find anything that would do what we wanted, so then we decided that we really needed to look at what the vast majority of other show dog owners are driving. The mini van!!! We looked at every brand and nothing compared to Chrysler. For the money, we got so much more. I'm not sure why, but I had a strong hesitation towards Dodge and Chrysler, but I couldn't deny how much nicer it was compared to the other brands. Since buying it, we've come to like it even more and have been recommending it to everyone, especially friends looking for a SUV, but not finding any that they can put two dog crates in and enough supplies for a 4 day dog show.

When I get around to buying my next truck, Ram will be at the top of my list. I currently have a Ford that I bought brand new in 2012 that has been mostly trouble free, but that doesn't mean that I will buy another. When spending that much money, I'm going to look at all of my options.

 

[dalola]

HOWEVER - unless something happened just recently - I realized, I can't take it with me. I've always purchased new trucks - work trucks. I've always wanted a really decked out truck but without all the chrome. I mean - what the h*ll - I can afford it.

The "Taco Wagon" is just exactly what I want. Loads of power, no chrome, all the digital technology anybody could ever need/want and it's reasonably nice looking.

It's not a work truck - it's my FUN truck. At 77 - this is the first extravagant vehicle I've ever owned. Maybe the last, also.

Good way of looking at things, seeing as how we all get one crack at life. Thank God we live in a country that affords you the choice. You can be as "foolish" or as "wise" as you wish. But when it's your time, hopefully you'll have few regrets.