Gonna tow the race car in style next season.

2013 year model. Dealer demo. Only 9,000 miles. Leather interior fully loaded. 5.3L, HD cooling w/external oil cooler, 6spd, 3.42 gears, Grenade 80 locking rear diff, tow package.

Gave $31,000 out the door. Bank gave me 2.29% on 5yrs so its almost like free money. Been wanting something really nice and this fits the bill.

[URL=http://s50.photobucket.com/user/rklessdriver/media/IMG_20141125_132441_zpsk0zqi5hb.jpg.html][/URL]


My 2003 Avalanche has been such a great truck the past 5yrs. I knew I was staying with a GM product as it's replacement.

I mean we have beat the crap out of it.... towing, camping, offroading.... one or the other every weekend for the past 5yrs. Just hit 130,000 miles, been paid off for 2.5yrs and has just began to nickle and dime me. Needed cats and fuel pump earlier this year... front hub assy last year and now needs the other side.... Just normal stuff that wears out but for me its just time to move on and let someone else drive it to I'm sure well over 200K.
Will

Looks a lot like mine and similar features. I got mine (09) in 2010 with 15k on the clock. Sweet.

Very nice - congrats!

Very nice!

Nothing like a good ole Chevy pickup.......looks good congrats!

SHARP TRUCK! I HAVE HAD REALLY GOOD LUCK WITH GMC PICKUPS.

looks great!!!!

That's a beautiful truck for the price. Did the out the door price include your trade? Seems like an amazing deal either way. I would love to buy a new truck

DG

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No trade. No $$$$ down. Nothing.

I kept the Avalanche and already have a buyer... We are going to work something out where I take some money off for him doing some work on my house.

And that was out the door tax tags and everything.

Some good deals out there if you look. I've been looking for a while and finally decided to pull the trigger.

They had a similar one in PA for like 33K and it had the 6.2L engine.... I almost had it shipped down.
Will

Does somebody else make pick ups other than GM? Looks like a solid purchase. Enjoy the ride. I almost talked myself into a 2014 Suburban with 16000 miles just a couple of months ago. They wanted $35,900. Not a bad price as it was nicely optioned. As long as old faithful can pull it's weight I'm keeping her.(99 Yukon)

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Well I also considered Toyota and the F150.... but I just like the GMC body style better and feel more confident in GMs drivetrain.

Theres alot to be said for keeping thing paid that are paid for.
Will

Congrats

let us know how you like the newer style engine

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I really like it.

Everyone had to know the first thing I would do is find a place to race them. From 15 to 60mph the 2013 will put 3-4 truck lenghts on the 2003....

My 2013 will flat walk the dog on my 2003 Avalanche.

I was surprised because I have never had a problem with the power the Avalanche has and honestly thought it ran pretty good for a truck....

The new 5.3L is a pretty powerful little engine. Dosen't really seem it becausue of quiet exhaust and the new 6spd tranny shifting all the time but it's no joke compared to other 1/2 ton trucks.

As far as everything else.... I've put about 150 miles on it over the weekend and I do have some observations.

I don't like the drive by wire TB. The delay/lag sucks. It's almost as bad as the one on the wifes Hemi Jeep Grand Cherokee. Gonna take some getting use to. It's espc annoying in parking lots at idle engine speed and very low vehicle speeds.

I do like the Displacement On Demand system. It's totally un-obtrusive.... I didn't even know that my 2013 had this system on it until I was fooling with the DIC/dash read out stuff (after 2 days of ownership) and noticed it switching between V4 to V8 at anything past light throttle openings. Way better than the system our Hemi Jeep Grand Cherokee has.

The 6spd tranny. It's definatly tuned for economy when your just normal driving.... a couple times it has shifted out early and then kicks back down when I was just try to give it a little more gas to get going better.... It's just different than the old truck so it'll take some getting use to.

The Grenade 80 locking rear diff.... Unless your in mud, I think everybody hates these SOBs.... espc in a pick up truck on wet roads. The Avalanche (which also has one) has way bigger tires and isn't nearly as light in the rear as the Sierra.... so I'm now re-learning how to turn corners from a stop.

Right now I'm trying to figure out which Tonnuae cover to get. I like the Peragon cover and the BAK folding hard covers.

Also contemplating which exhaust system. MBRP, Corsa, DB Perf and Borla all have my attention... but that's later next year sometime for sure.
Will

I bought a BakFlip VP tonneau for my Nissan Frontier, and I'm happy with it so far.

Wanted to give a little update on the new Sierra.

Just turned 10,000 miles.

I use the new Sierra to tow the 84 over to the chassis shop in Baltimore MD 2 weeks ago..... Got a lot going on with the race car that I'll start a new thread about soon enough....

Anyway back to the Sierra.... Towed great. Plenty of power and plenty of brakes... even with no brake controller. Stable as a rock... barley even knew the trailer and race car were back there.

Pulled down 17.2 MPG running 70-75 MPH the whole way.

Last weekend I ran back over to the chassis shop to check progress on the race car and bring some small stuff I forgot first trip.

Pulled down 22.0 MPG average on the HWY unloaded running 70-75 MPG..... I took a little detour thru the city for about 10 miles to get there which dropped the average down to 19.2 MPG for the entire trip there.

Same route home and by the time I got home it had gotten back up to 20.4 MPG round trip and I did hit a bit of stop and go traffic around Washington DC.

Back and forth to work every day it's averaging 17.1 MPG which is mostly city driving for me.

Gas mileage is very good for a full sized 4X4 truck IMO.... way better than the best mileage I ever got with the Avalanche even cheated up with cardboard, duct tape and the mirrors folded (18 MPG)..... Also way better than our gas eating 5.7L Hemi 2008 Jeep Grand Cherokeed gets.

Everyone thinks it's crazy that a brand new truck with the towing suspension package, factory tow hitch, and HD engine/tranny coolers - didn't come optioned with the factory brake controller..... and the fact that you cannot buy the factory brake controller and install it..... So my brother-in-law bought me an aftermarket brake controller for Christmas and I hooked it up this weekend. It's a Curt brake controller and it was easy enough to hook up. Truthfully I have been eyeballing the Prodigy P3.... but free is great and I'm happy with the much simpliler Curt for now.

Still no snow on the ground here..... so I haven't got to use the 4X4 yet.

I have washed it 4 or 5 times..... and it's still dirty. Black cars are a real PITA to keep clean.
Will

Nice review

That is awesome gas mileage! I can barely pull 17 out of my Frontier - hopefully it will improve if it ever warms up again. Meanwhile, an unlimited car wash pass is your friend ;-)

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That's very close to 2WD mileage.

My 5.3 still uses no oil, no leaks and gets the same mpg it did new at 150k.

5.3's are some of the best engines GM ever made........we run the dog out of them and they ask very little in return.... I'm a big fan.....

I don't get that kind of mileage out of my 09. Only got about 15 yesterday. We were bucking the wind and driving about 80mph though.

Obviously I didn't buy it for the gas mileage but the fact that it's doing as well as it is.... Nice bonus.

My folks have a 2011 Silverado 2WD.... gets 17 mpg HWY unloaded on a good day. Their truck has the iron block 5.3L thou....

Noticed mine has the Alum block 5.3L and I gather GM does this to offset the weight gain on the 4WD trucks... but that could be something to do with it.

Most likely just tolerance stack.... I got a good one and they got a crappy one.
Will

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Wow, that's low. My 2000 gets 19.5 CITY