Some starting info:
This review is for an LS K2500 (4x4 3/4 ton), not 1500
I should also start by noting that i traded in a 2003 2500 because of all the problems it had - i would recommend reading it as well if quality is an important factor in your purchase. If not, by all means, go ahead and buy GM :) Make no doubt about it - GM knows how to engineer a vehicle , they just don't seem able build them to hold up (at least not the 2500's from the Mexico plant).
http://www.epinions.com/content_112938290820 I truly dreaded buying another GM product because of that experience. However, the only other vehicle at the time with similar capabilities was the Ford Excursion and my wife refused to consider it. You may be saying "but there are other vehicles with fairly large tow *ratings*". Yes, there is the Armada, the Expedition, Durango and others. But i've seen the size of the rear diff on the Nissan and i wouldn't pull my canoes with it. As for the "other" ford product, I would never consider a vehicle to haul/tow when it has four wheel independant suspension. There is a reason HD trucks have historically had solid axles and leaf springs and when you see cars/ trucks with rear wheels buckling like the following diagram, i trust you understand why:
/ \
Anyway - per the misses, no Excursion, so i could either keep a piece of junk 1000 miles short of being out of warranty praying nothing goes wrong while we take an 8000 mile trip form FL to MT/WY/SD for a month long vacation... Not worth the risk - so we combined our GM Card earnings with the employee discount, took the loss and hoped for the best on another GM vehicle. There were only two big blocks anywhere close by in the state: one too decked out and one fairly base - we chose the latter.
Requirements We have a growing family and we love to take our travel trailer camping around the country. I work out of the house full time, so we have no need for a second vehicle (i ride a bike or run where i need to go). Thus we need one vehicle which meets the towing/hauling and daily driver needs of our family.
On the last purchase, I made the mistake of letting the dealer talk me into the 6.0 engine and i wasn't making that mistake again because we know we'll be getting a larger trailer soon (currently 6000 lbs loaded). You want to be well under the max ratings of your vehicle, not at them... Thus big block was #1, large (4.11) rear end was #2 is it gives you 12000 vs 10000 lbs of towing capacity. Though i live in Florida and 4x4 is a very rare need, i'd been in two or three situations camping in national/state forests where i really wished i had it, so 4x4 was #3...
As purchased specs LS K2500 8.1L big block 3.73gears, Black exterior, Gray interior (cloth), bench up front, Autoride, power extending tow mirrors, cargo , trailering, side airbags.
The Exterior Fit and finish seem solid. Black paint is beautiful. Factory wheels for the 3/4 ton vehicles are awesome (bought a fifth so i could do 5 wheel rotation and get value out of the spare). We had cargo/barn doors on the 03' but they are no longer an option, so liftgate it was - so far no real complaints and the door and glass feel solid.
The power extending tow mirrors are awesome! Only downside is that the glass is all one pain / flat. I like the ford's two glass mirros that give a little more options when viewing the road.
The Interior LS includes cloth. In Florida, the wife really didn't want leather, so we saved a bit of money by not going with LT package. We decided that instead of captains chairs, we'd get the front bench. Great when we load up our inlaws and have seating for 9. The clear downside to this is without the captains chairs and center console, you lose a lot of cupholers, the rear audio option (and power outlet) for the kids... I do miss these, but again bench is handy in its own right.
Floormats throughout are standard (even in the cargo area). Cupholders are located for all three rows of seats (but without center console up front, they are only in the flip down console imbedded in middle of second bench). Since that's where the baby's car seat goes, kind of limiting. As configured, 3 Power outlets: - 2 up front (including the lighter), one in the right pillar in the cargo area (would be great for a 12V cooler/fridge or blowing up a matress when camping, etc).
Seats are comfortable. I'm not a big fan of the partial powered driver seat you get with the LS package. There's no memory for seat positions and i could just grab a bar and move the seat back in a fraction of the time i have to wait on the motor to move it for me. The Middle seat (60/40 split) folds forward and the rear is removable or you can fold it forward and still keep in the vehicle. So tons of space to load up your stuff from Home Depot or Lowes...
Love the DIC (driver information center), multiple trips, odometer, MPG, oil life, and too many personalizations to list (when doors lock/unlock, etc).
Audio is not the Bose (you need the center console for the woofer). Definately doesn't sound as good as the 03 - lack of bass and lack of tweeters mounted on pillars are noticable. main drivers can be seen through the door grills and they are brown paper. Nice!!!! May eventully upgrade, but for now i pulled the Pac AUX interface out of my old burb and use it to hook up my laptop and/or ipod to get additional sources.
Biggest knock on interior is the cheap plastic. consumer reports has dinged GM on this for years and they still haven't gotten the picture (perhaps because people like me keep settling for less).
Driving Impressions Trust me or my wife in that for a 6000 pound beast, this thing is a comfortable and easy ride. For it's class and considering its capabilities, the ride is great and there is no comparison between the Ex and the Burb in my opinion (for this category). This (as was the 03) is so much easier / more comforable. It corners very well (no noticable leaning at all - though i won't claim it meet's Julia Roberts description of the Lotus in Pretty Woman). Parking is a breeze - i honestly think it's easier then my old f150 extended cab truck which is a couple of inches longer.
Empty/Semi-Empty, the 8.1 moves this beast rapidly. Merging onto an interstate with short ramp, no problem. Be careful when roads are wet though, i've lost control once after a light rain.
Towing is a dream... Our 8000 mile trip out west was much more enjoyable that the 6.0 Vortec offered in lower elevations. It has much more off the line ability to move as well as keep high speeds than either the 03 burb or my F150 (w/ 4.6L) did. On straight grades, not even gunning it, you'll generally keep up with normal cars while accelerating with a load such as mine (6000 trailer lbs passengers / cargo). I wish it had the 4.11's but it's ok. I can swap those later if truly needed - or i could put on a supercharger and feel like there was nothing back there.
4x4 got us through some nasty roads (if you'd call them that) in northwest wyoming west of the big horn forest. That mud was at over a foot deep and i only have the OEM highway tires - no issues at all... And i don't feel this one drives/handles any more adversely than the 4x2 we had.
As for Autoride, i can't tell if this is a gimic or not... I can't tell much of a difference, towing or not. Going over speed bumps is just as brutal as it was on the 03 without it... I do know the shocks would be a lot more expensive to replace than just swapping out with bilsteins. Had i built this instead of buying it off the lot, i would have skipped this - just seems like more to go wrong with it...
Odds and Ends this is mostly from my prior review - still applies:
I don't recommend these vehicles for the average family looking for an SUV as a normal family vehicle. If you're not towing (or only towing 2 jet skis), in my opinion you would be better off with an SUV/minivan with a lighter chassis and a smaller block engine. You'll have better selection at the dealer lots in addition to saving thousands at initial purchase, thousands more on fuel and even more on maintainance (these things take a lot of fluid - engine,tranny,rear diff).
However, for those with serious hauling/towing needs, the suburban has been around to meet those needs for decades. I think the Excursion is a good choice too if you like the ride and don't mind the size, but it would be challenging in my opinion to men and women alike as a daily driver around town. If your wife doesn't like it, do not force her to drive it, she probably won't forgive you....
Hope this was helpful and i hope this GM product isn't as poorly made as my last one!
Problems so far (nov-05) Rear axle seal - 2000 miles
Light out on the tranny temp gauge
Low frequency portion of the horn not working
Seems like something is sucking juice when parked
- haven't had a totally dead battery, but i'm worried
lights flicker, etc when getting in and engines not on
Update (nov-07) we're at almost 45K miles now...
Back up lights do not come on when trann is put in reverse (true both day or night)
Interior dome lights do not come on when doors are (regardless of the bypass switch). The interior lights on the doors work fine.
Still looking for some time to pull the dash apar t and investigate, but tracing the circuits in the Helm manual and their diagnosis steps most likely points a bad BCM (body control module) and not wiring.
Was hoping i would not experience electrical issues lik e the 2003 had, but unfortunately, it looks like that was wishful thinking. and out of warrnaty, i suspect this is going to cost me
Update (jul-09) Unfortunately we haven't done any cross country trips since 2005, though that will change later this year... In the mean time, over the last 4 years:
a) the same fuse that causes the interior dome lights to go out is also responsible for back up lights. I cut both + leads to the connector, and it's the backup actually causing the blown fuses. I tried with a multimeter to detect extra current draw in each bulbs and didnt' find any so it should be somewhere inbetween BCM and the sockets, but i'm not patient enough (it's not constant even if i run the amp leads in the fuse socket itself) so beackup wire remains disconnected. Good news: i have interior lights again... bad news: i'm extra careful when i'm backing up since nobody can see any indication i'm doing so...
b) new tires at 55K (put on some nice Michelin LTXs and rotate the spare). Should hold up a while...
c) right after b, "service ride control" warning appeared. This is a wonderful code only applicable to the autoride option i really didn't want. I was sure it had something to with the new tires, but the tire shop swears it isn't and that their madic decoder box says nothing is wrong. i'm unwilling to pay the diagnostic at the chevy place yet so warning comes on everytime she starts up.
d) we're also getting the same clunking/popping when turning through the steering wheel that we had in the old burb. Last time on the 2003, they replaced the whole column under warranty. Guessing parts and labor would be at least $400 - i'll live with it till it gets really bad.
e) the rear A/C sporatically turns off. Haven't gotten to tracing this, but no consistency to it (i.e. aux position / rear control don't matter)
f) gas milage remains it's marvelous ~11 AVG
g) it seems to be sucking more oil of late. Used to be 1 quart every 3000 miles, looks like more like every 2K now... No major leaks though - garage floor is clean...
h) minor, but one of the wheatherstrips (passenger side rear door - upper) kept falling off. Looks like my wife neglected to pick it up during ome shopping outing a while back.
i) also minor, the red interios light snap in covers for the rear doors both broke off at different times. I don't think the kids kick these or anything, so somewhat odd.
j) the plastic hold downs that are supposed to hold up the fold down floor covers for the far rear area (i.e. fold down from 2nd row seats) broke. Holding them up with bungies for the moment.
I think a trip to the local parts center is in order.
Like the 2003, the most concerning issues are electrical in nature and obviously we're out of warranty...
