Need Chevy Avalanche Review

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J Knight

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In the near future I'm going to buy a crew cab and I been going back and forth between 2000-2005 Chevy 1/2 ton CCSB or Avalanche or Suburban. What I would like to know if any of you guys have or had an Avalanche. Did you like it, love it, or hate it? Also did you find any problems with them with regards to the 1/2 pickup, 1/2 burb design?
 

dhamp

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Don't know how much info this really is, but......
My dad bought one in '06, the last year before the body change. It's a fairly well loaded 2WD. I think it's the Z66 Pkg w/out the stickers. He passed in '09 and my mom drives it occasionally now. For what it may (or may not) be worth, the Avalanches are pretty consistently getting recommended in Consumer Reports. The good news is that he's never had a single problem beyond a dead battery once. Unfortunately, as of right now, it's only got about 40k on it, so just about anything can go that long w/out problems. I will say it rides good and is pretty quiet on the hwy. The 5.3 does just fine with the weight of that truck. If you're not somebody that needs the longer bed of the CC truck, I'd definitely go with the Avalanche first. Just IMHO....

If I had to name one negative, it would be the height in the rear. It may not look like it at a glance, but the rear bumper of that thing sits pretty high up. You can't see crap right behind it. I see that as a minor gripe though.
 

RetroC10Sport

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I've heard great things about 1/2 ton Avys...But 3/4 tons are complete crap.
 

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I test drove a GMT800 Avy a while back and it drove nice. Just like a Tahoe would. I've heard good things about them. If it was me, though, and I was looking for an Avy it'd be the GMT900 (07+) mainly because I think they look better than the GMT800 style but that's just my own personal preference.

When I get around to getting a new DD I'll be making the same choice between a CC and an Avy. I like both and don't know which I'll end up getting yet.
 

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I've had 2 fully loaded Avy's. One a 2002 Z71 4x4, and a 2003 Z66 4x2. Loved the 03 cuz it didn't have the body cladding and the new interior features with adjustable pedels, heated seats and driver 1 and 2 memory features. Had that one the longest of any new vehicle I bought cuz I liked it that much, and of course the divorce. I got rid of it with 50,000 miles on it, and only had a problem with the common steering imtermediate shaft, and they replaced it, and I had a heat seat problem where it blew the breaker. They found from me being tall, wife being short and the memory seats going back and forth alot on the floor pan, the wiring rubbed raw and grounded out. Apparently due to my truck they put up a Service Bulletin and came up with a rubber track for the harness to move inside of. They did have the truck 4 different times for the problem, and the last time, I told them, I coudl already pull lemon law on this vehicle, but I like it to much so I'm not. You get it right this time, or I will get another vehicle. So they had it like 2 weeks and flew in some techs from out of state and pretty much tore the whole truck apart til they found the problem. I had never had a problem with it since and it was a perfect vehicle. Very comfy ride too. MPG wasn't so bad either for what it was. Its built on the Burb chassis so it's longer wheelbase than the Tahoe. It had all the features of the Burb, with exception of the Rear Air since it wasn't needed, but the price was like $10K less than a Burb and why I bought one. I'd highly recommend it if you need a CC. Then in O5 I got a CC half ton fully loaded pick up, after the 2003 Avy, I wanted it back. I didn't like the CrewCab pick up near as much. Ride was not as nice, comfort wasn't as good etc. The 03 Avy jut fit me like a glove. I still miss it.
 

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bucket

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I've heard great things about 1/2 ton Avys...But 3/4 tons are complete crap.

Why? Only thing I don't like about them is they were only available with the cladding.
 

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Why? Only thing I don't like about them is they were only available with the cladding.

Everyone I have known that has had one has had problems.

My mom's 3/4 Avy was the biggest pile we'd ever had. Every week something was going wrong with it. She once drove to Akron and thought the heated seat was on...Turned out it was ON FIRE...The entire wiring harness had to be replace in it. Still didn't help it any, went through 2 or 3 alternators, 4 batteries, 6 CD players, 2 BCMs and I forget what else. :Sumo:
 

bucket

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Everyone I have known that has had one has had problems.

My mom's 3/4 Avy was the biggest pile we'd ever had. Every week something was going wrong with it. She once drove to Akron and thought the heated seat was on...Turned out it was ON FIRE...The entire wiring harness had to be replace in it. Still didn't help it any, went through 2 or 3 alternators, 4 batteries, 6 CD players, 2 BCMs and I forget what else. :Sumo:

All that stuff is the same as a 1/2 ton...


It does sound like a POS though, lol.
 

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True, but everyone I know with a 1/2 ton rarely has any trouble...It's weird...
 

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NO, they are not the same either. I looked into a 3/4 ton Avy. They are rear leafs instead of coils, 14b Semi Float rear axles instead of 10bolts, they got the 4L80-E trans instead of the Allison like the pick ups got with the 8.1, and they got the 8.1 motors, not 6.0. There were several reasons I didn't like the 3/4. I knew of only one guy with a 3/4 and it seemed he had lots of issues too.
 

J Knight

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Thanks for the replys guys, I'm definitely not getting a 3/4 ton, a 1/2 ton will do. I was just curious about them since I've never realy thought about getting one till now.
 

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