New Truck too

Azjeff

Active member
Took delivery on May 25th of a 2021 GMC Sierra SLE 3500HD with the 6.6 gas motor that was ordered 12/31/20. We've got 750 miles so far on it and can't find a thing not to like. It's the quietest truck I've ever been in, as in no rattles and really quiet on the highway. It's way more truck than we need for the trailer we have right now but I'm guessing after some longer trips this year and next a bigger trailer of some sort is in the future. We didn't get a bunch of the tech stuff like cameras and lane change alarms and emergency braking, tried to keep the options limited to keep the complexity and cost down. The reason we went with the 3500 was for some reason with the 2 packages we got it only added $400 to jump to the 3500 not the usual $1200 so why not? I was concerned about the ride and did a lot of checking and found that the ride unloaded is the same as a 2500. I haven't driven a 2500 and 3500 back to back but it rides better than the 07 Sierra 2500HD Duramax we had. This is a tall truck, steps or boards are pretty much necessary and this is the only thing I'd change, stock trucks don't need to be this high. I'm 6'1" and can't reach the catch loop under the hood when it's up to close it. It's like a 1500 with a 3-4" lift. No MPG report, mostly driving it locally to get some easy miles on but a 150 mile round trip to Seligman on Rte 66 for lunch indicated 17.7 so not terrible. We did pull the trailer to the CAT scales yesterday and it pulled the trailer effortlessly.
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I think you're really going to like the truck and in the long run be very happy you went with the 3500. Nothing worse than having to trade up because you didn't get enough truck.

So looking forward to your report vs. the Nissan after pulling the trailer on you east coast trip.
 
Congrats, you will probably have to keep looking in the rear view mirror to confirm the trailer is still there.
My holiday rambler is about 9k lbs and on flats at night, I had double check as I was not sure if the trailer was still there ;-).

Do you guys mind sharing what the damage was $$$?
 
Do you guys mind sharing what the damage was $$$?
MSRP minus the current pitiful incentive money from GM. The ridiculously high trade-in value of the 18 Titan took some of the sting out of it. Right now a new truck is a no-brainer vs anything decent used.
 
Glad you got a good trade in. Used cars and new cars are in demand so these dealers are paying premium price for them also selling them for a premium too. My friends dad sold his 2019 Toyota Tundra for $43,000 and bought a 2011 Jeep and has been spending that $43,000 on upgrades for the Jeep lol. He is crazy if you ask me but it’s his vehicle, his wife agreed with me 🤣.

Hope this truck will serve you well. Is that like a brown color or grey color or a different color? It’s hard to tell for me.
 
The color is Brownstone Metallic.

The wheel design reminds me of a flower, not sure how I feel about that.:unsure: I prefer simple easy to clean wheel designs that have an odd number of spokes. They are what they are no aftermarket for me.

Nobody washes my vehicles but me. I can barely stand to let them do the free oil changes.

Oh yeah, remembered one thing, the steering wheel is off center about 1". They can fix it at the first OC.
 
Interior. Love anything but black. It's hard to tell but the dash and door panels are dark brown.
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Took delivery on May 25th of a 2021 GMC Sierra SLE 3500HD with the 6.6 gas motor that was ordered 12/31/20. We've got 750 miles so far on it and can't find a thing not to like. It's the quietest truck I've ever been in, as in no rattles and really quiet on the highway. It's way more truck than we need for the trailer we have right now but I'm guessing after some longer trips this year and next a bigger trailer of some sort is in the future. We didn't get a bunch of the tech stuff like cameras and lane change alarms and emergency braking, tried to keep the options limited to keep the complexity and cost down. The reason we went with the 3500 was for some reason with the 2 packages we got it only added $400 to jump to the 3500 not the usual $1200 so why not? I was concerned about the ride and did a lot of checking and found that the ride unloaded is the same as a 2500. I haven't driven a 2500 and 3500 back to back but it rides better than the 07 Sierra 2500HD Duramax we had. This is a tall truck, steps or boards are pretty much necessary and this is the only thing I'd change, stock trucks don't need to be this high. I'm 6'1" and can't reach the catch loop under the hood when it's up to close it. It's like a 1500 with a 3-4" lift. No MPG report, mostly driving it locally to get some easy miles on but a 150 mile round trip to Seligman on Rte 66 for lunch indicated 17.7 so not terrible. We did pull the trailer to the CAT scales yesterday and it pulled the trailer effortlessly.
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Did you compare other trucks, or did you know you wanted GM?
 
Did you compare other trucks, or did you know you wanted GM?

At heart I'm a GM guy but we did look at the others and tried to be impartial. We had rented a '19 RAM 1500 Limited when we went back to PA 2 years ago and it just felt like it was trying so hard to be a car inside and the huge screen on the dash was confusing and annoying. Road noise was disappointing for the highest trim level. When we started looking we couldn't even find a RAM 2500 to look at or drive. Same with F250s, none to be found except the high trims with all the tech, and they were sold and you couldn't sit in them, and the Ford dealer wouldn't even give an estimate on a delivery time on an order. We started out trying to order a Silverado 2500 Custom trim, a tarted up Work Truck, but got a bad feeling when the salesman was talking about the price not holding if it changed between order and delivery and the agreed trade value could change, it felt like there was no doubt we were going to get hosed on both sides when the truck showed up. Started with a base Sierra trim but found out we needed power driver seat to get my co-driver high enough to see well. She liked the funny folding tailgate on the GMC, you know the saying happy wife etc so we got it and it really is useful with how tall these trucks are. I went to the 3500 and got the 5th wheel/gooseneck prep mainly for future resale, this is horse and toy hauler country and that really helps. For some reason the exact same truck in 3500 was only $400 more that a 2500 instead of the usual $1200 difference so we did it. Like Wayne said about his I've never been in a quieter truck at highway speeds and it doesn't have a rattle or squeak. We placed the first order on 12/31 and had several annoying setbacks and basically lost the spring camping season and now it's HOT but we're getting ready to go when the boss gets back from Florida visiting her dad. We're going north and high. The trailer needs the 5 year old tires replaced first then we're off.
 
Did you compare other trucks, or did you know you wanted GM?
I too am a GM guy and always have been, but that's an emotional thing. The Dodge and Ford HD trucks don't ride as nice as the Chevy. We have lots of experience with the Cummins 5.9 and 6.7, both of which are great motors. The noise level in the Dodge trucks seems to be higher and I didn't drive a Ford because the 6.0L and 6.4L Powerstroke left such a bad taste in my mouth. It was never going to be anything but a GM.
 
I must be the only die hard Ford guy on the forum. Lol 😂 oh well. From a mechanics point of view that’s the one I feel is best and the one I work on the least (besides ball joints I’ve never seen a Ford that didn’t eat ball joints) but I’m sure all of them are good as long as you take care of them. I don’t judge based on truck choice. My dad had a 1987 GMC Sierra and he loved it but the thing rusted so bad it just wasn’t worth fixing unfortunately. It was a very beautiful blue. If buying a new truck today I’d buy a Ford or Toyota just my preference because both the Ford and both Toyota we have now and the ones we’ve had in the past have pretty much been problem free and if one does break I’m factory certified to work on both. I don’t know a whole lot about the diesel Ford ones mainly gas is what I’d be looking at.
 
AM, judging by your fleet listing on that other website it will be a cold day in Phoenix before you'd buy a new anything.:oops: Who is the heretic in the family with the 2017 Camry and watery oil?

I really liked the 18 Titan we traded but it was obvious Nissan didn't design it to tow much of a trailer.
 
AM, judging by your fleet listing on that other website it will be a cold day in Phoenix before you'd buy a new anything.:oops: Who is the heretic in the family with the 2017 Camry and watery oil?

I really liked the 18 Titan we traded but it was obvious Nissan didn't design it to tow much of a trailer.
That’s my moms Camry. She bought it. She was going to wait until 2018 but then she seen it only had push button start and a CVT so she said she would pass on that and get the 2017 this is the last new car any of us plan to buy. She only got it because having new stuff runs on her moms side of the family so she was the odd one out and her coworkers all had new stuff too which made her upset. I’m just glad she got the 2017 model. I’d buy something new today if it was a base model, minimum features and the deal breaker is it has to have a real key and no CVT. If it had everything on my list I’d buy it.

Unfortunately our fleet can’t grow anymore 🙁. For one thing too much insurance and expenses and the county has an ordinance to the number of cars you can own and have on your property which that magic number is 8 which is how many we have, in the town that neighbors us that my automotive teacher from high school lives in you can have 11. Once I put some in my name and get my own insurance I’ll have way more as long as space and money permits 😄.

We want to get a full size truck we have been looking at some older Fords like 2005-2008 or so definitely can’t afford a new one at the prices these days we looked at one a few weeks ago at the Ford dealership that was almost $80,000 for the highest level 2021 model 😳. If we did get anything else we’d be giving the 2004 Camry to my sister and her family because they only have one running car.
 
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