Chevrolet Avalanche 2500
 

My wife and I are looking for a new vehicle for the family and for towing. She doesn't like the Excursion (too big she says) . We test drove a 3/4 ton version with the 8100 engine tonight (12,000 lb towing capacity) and she likes it. We were initially looking at 3/4 ton Suburbans but I kinda jokingly said "what about an Avalanche" and after looking at she said she likes it. It's got all the options we wanted, leather, dvd, color, etc and the price is good.

The boat/trailer is around 11,000 lbs and towed for up to 10 miles. She'll be trailering horses up to 50 miles or so, with an occasional 300-500 miles trip a couple times a year.

Before we buy it, anyone who owns one care to share any pro's/con's?

the 8100 with a allison tranny is a great tow vehicle.
i have a dually same set up, 95000 miles. and still a work horse.

Sydwayz has one that he pulls a 26 Sonic with I am sure he can tell you the goods and bads.

Pete B,

I'm not sure the Allison 1000 is offered in the Avalanche. The 1/2 ton has the 4L65E and the 3/4 ton has the 4L80E, I beleive.

Does she really like the looks?

Surprisingly, yes. To be honest, I didn't really think much of the Avalanche's looks a couple of years ago either. My neighbor has a 2002.

But after getting "up close and personal" with it, I really like it. One of my concerns is resale or trade in value on it. I plan on holding on to it for at least 5-6 years, which seems to be our average, but sometimes you never know....and I don't want to be stuck with something that I can't get rid of. Obviously, a car salesman will tell you anything to sell a car, but he said that nationally, the Avalanche sells almost as well as the Suburban, although he admitted most are sold in the South, Texas, and West Coast.

Admittedly, the Avalanche is one of those vehicles that some people really like, and some don't like. I wouldn't put it in the same catagory as an Aztek though. I repeatedly asked my wife if she liked it, and she said yes. I even told her some people don't like the looks of them, but she said she like it and even countered with the fact that her good friend has told her she likes them and wants one. That doesn't really mean much to me, 'cause my wife and her friends change ther mind about things on a regular basis.

I take it you don't care for the looks of the Avalanche?

Monty;
 

The 2500 Avalanche and 2500 Suburban have the same running gear: 8.1 liter and 4:10 axle gets you 12k towing capacity. They ARE built on the same chassis.

The Avalanche gets you a slightly shorter vehicle and a little more fun with the adaptable features.

I got my 2500 Avalanche 3 weeks ago and love it. It will tow the boat or horse trailer no sweat. I get about 12 mpg but it is not yet broken in=1300 miles.

The Avalanche is one of those vehicles you either love or don't.

GM has great deals right now on all their vehicles, big rebates/incentives.

Wannabe

It DOES NOT have the Allison in it. It has an M32 4spd Auto, 4L85E. I absolutely love everything about the truck, except the gas mileage. It pulls my 7k lb. package very well. I have also upgraded it with:
Bigger wheels and tires
K&N Intake
HyperTech Powerprogrammer III
True dual all Stainless Flowmaster exhaust
Rear individual adjustable Air Lift Airbags, (EVERY TRUCK SHOULD HAVE THESE)
Nerf bars, grill, spoiler, custom mats, spray in bed-liner (floor), and some other asthetic goodies.

Check out http://www.chevyavalanchefanclub.com/ as well. It IS the OSO of the AV. They can tell you how to take apart the truck and put it back together bolt by bolt. We have had three in my family. My brother-in-law had a 2500, and sold it. I bought my 2500, and he just recently picked up a 2003 1500.

I recommend the dark charcoal interior. I think it looks better and holds up better, leather especially. The only kinks I had were a couple transmission issues that were bad when it was new, that took a few trips to the shop to figure out.

What questions might you have about it? I will do my best to answer them. I think the only way they could capability better this truck is fit the Duramax and Allison into the frame, which isn't going to happen for a while.


Front in the snow:

The looks have never really grown on me. It got a little better when they got rid of the plastic on the sides. I've always been a Chevy guy but when they made the Silverado look like the Avalanche, I about crapped. I have a 1998 Chevy and I'm still in love with that body syle. Even the next one I liked but they didn't keep it for very long. Wonder why?

Thanks guys,

My wife is a partner at Accenture, so she gets GM Supplier Discount ($4000) plus a $500 bonus right now. I've got my old Army military ID, which as a former officer says INDEFINITE, so I can pass myself off as a current member of the military for another $750, in addition to the current $4000 rebate.

We're looking at a '04, Sport Red, 2500, 8100, with full leather, DVD, CD, Onstar, XM, electric pedals, 2 person memory controls, 10 way power seats, power extended mirrors, power sunroof, dual climate control, tow package, all options etc. In other words, alot of stuff to potentially beak down the road.... MSRP for $43k minus rebates, discounts, etc for $33k.

I never really gave the Avalanche much thought until tonight. I checked out the http://www.chevyavalanchefanclub.com and there everything looks good. You either like the looks or you don't I guess.

I'm thinking we'll have it parked out front tomorrow.

The looks have never really grown on me. It got a little better when they got rid of the plastic on the sides. I've always been a Chevy guy but when they made the Silverado look like the Avalanche, I about crapped. I have a 1998 Chevy and I'm still in love with that body syle. Even the next one I liked but they didn't keep it for very long. Wonder why?

$33K is a GREAT deal on that truck. Snatch it. Then go buy stock in Amoco/BP; and keep your foot out of it. :D

A couple simple mods like the billet grill and billet Bowtie on the front will really set it off. Several folks here on OSO can get them for you. I also highly recommend the Catch-All molded carpet matched floor mats. Mine are great, and much better than the stock. Also, moisture gets trapped under the rubber mat in the bed. I did not like that, plus the rubber is difficult as hell to move anything on; plus the rubber weighs about 60lbs. I would also recommend a spray in liner for the floor of the truck. And of course, byfar, best thing I put on mine was the airbags, with the filler air-fittings made to be my rear license plate bolts. It turned out trick. (Thanks OutlawMark!)

My figuring, when I advance the timing, and fill it with Super Premium fuel, I've got it up from the stock 340hp closer to 360, and stock torque up from 455lb/ft closer to 500. Too bad the tranny is torque limited when in first gear. (They do this to save the tranny. The Allison could handle that.)

PS... when you get it, can you drive it over to Troutly's house and do a donut in the front yard?? :D :D :D :D

Awe man, don't get me started with thinking about mods.... I've got to ge the boat done first. Thnaks fort he suggestions though, the spary on bedliners sounds like a good idea as I have read a couple of comments regarding moisture under the bed liner.

As for Troutly's yard, I prefer to keep a low profile with the cop's...lol

Which dealer are you going to? If you want, I can put you in touch with Team Chevrolet, GREAT folks, and where my Dad bought his C5 from.

Bredeman Chevrolet in Park Ridge, IL. They're about 2-3 miles from my house, which is a big selling feature. I was actually pretty impressed with them.

My standard has always been BMW dealers, they pretty much just hand you the keys to a car and say just test drive it and come back a couple hours later. These guys were much the same way, even tried to convince us to do the 24 hour test drive. No pressure, and so far, no BS. Of course the BS usually doesn't start 'till you are finalizing the final $$ amount and they need to go talk to their sales or finance manager.

I hate that game

Well, my Dad's salesguy is now the Finance Manager at Team, so if you need another route; drop me a line.

Best and easiest car buying experience I ever had was with Brett Dean, here on OSO, (bsag). He now sells boats at Offshore-performance.com, but when I negotiated with Brett, I told him flat out where I wanted/needed to be, and he beat it by $138 bucks. That was also back with 0.0% financing.

I have an 03 2500 with the 4.10 rear end and love it. I actually had an 02 with the 3.73 on a two year lease and was able to turn it in 6 months early with no penalty back in June. My lease was supposed to be up on Jan 2, 2004. Anyway, at the time the rebates were unreal on the 03's. $5k rebate, an extra $1K for MI, OH, IN residents, $500 owner loyalty(previous Av), $500 conquest (my wife has an Infinity), $1K for previously having an Olds (since they were discontinuing the brand), some GM card money, and my dad's a GM retiree, so I got the full family discount. The $43K came down to around $28K plus tax and sounds like it's equipped like yours, except I don't have onstar or the sunroof.

I pull right at 12000# with a full tank of gas in a 336 Formula. You know it's back there, but it pulls pretty good. Mileage sucks, I'm getting around 11.2 mostly city driving. If you have kids, the rear seat dvd system is a bargain at twice the cost. It's pretty sweet that they can watch a movie with wireless headphones in the back and we can listen to the uncensored XM comedy channel up front at the same time.

I like the look and love the practicality of it. The cladding takes care of anything anyone dishes out in a parking lot, I can carry full sheets of plywood covered in the back when I need to (and have), pull 12000#, and it will still fit in a standard garage.

Thanks for all the responses guys. It looks like I'll be picking it up this afternoon.

Monty, just thought I would mention that there really isn't any negotation necessary as the Supplier price is a fixed price, normally printed on the dealer invoice, not the window sticker. Also I do not think that are able to charge you any bs fees for license/title other than what they are charged. Enjoy the ride!

Monty,

I would not get red...

Once you get it home, and beside the other Vette, you are going to realize you need a nice matching red C5 Convertible, black top even; to properly match the colors and balance the driveway... expensive realization!!

:D :D

And Troutly... we got another one!!! :p :p :p

My next mod: 4 of these:

No worries there. No Vette's fro me for awhile, at least until we finally get the long-rumored 427 in the C6....

I've been reading the Chevyavalanchefanclub site and I'm a little confused on what I need to do with regards to the towing hitch. The truck is equipped with the HD towing package, but it seems there is some debate as to whether that is sufficient enough to tow up to the Av's 12k tow rating. Will I need to swap out the OEM reciever and go aftermarket?

Or can I just add wieght distribution bars?

Do I need to upgrade it to something like a Reese Dual Cam setup with bars?

Will I need airbags?

I would definately do the airbags. I leave mine up at 30 lbs ALL the time, even when not towing, and I think it vastly improves the handling; like heavy acceleration on to a curvy freeway on ramp. They are like adjustable rear sway bars. Well worth the $300 installed price. For another $100 you can have a compressor on board. Since the airbags add 1000lb load capacity, you now have a 1 ton Avalanche in a matter of speaking. All Ford does for the most part, between 250 and 350, is 2 inch taller blocks over the rear axle.

I tow 7K lbs, so with a 10K lb drawbar, and ball, I feel secure, but I also regularly check my frame/hitch. I think this is along the same problem the Ford SD guys have, where the truck is rated more than the factory hitch. For horses, I would think you would want the sway/leveling bars anyhow. If you wanted to be DAMN sure you had the best hitch, go for the Reese Titan V. When I go for the bigger boat, I will have mine upgraded just for peace of mind.

If you get it w/o all of the cladding it's not to bad. Especially if you go BIG!! 2500 or nothing!!:p

2500 does not come WBH (without body hardware).

Yup, they tow great, just ask Madcow:D

Damn, that doesn't look good. What's the story?

He was pulling that huge trailer with a 1500 with custom rims, and low profile tires, and the wind got the best of him.

wans't really windy that day...and only a 26' trailer