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AV Problems

G

Gabe

GUEST
I am still in the process of buying my new AV. My question is after reading some of the many posts on the website, It seems that there is a high level of problems and maintance with this vehicle. Chief just posted that he had to bring his in for Four problems. Can anyone estimate the amount of problem free AVs out there. Is there anybody that has not had to bring theirs back to the dealership. I just have no time for that. My last truck a 99 GMC 4X4 Ext cab had very little problems if any.

Thanks
Gabe
 
Gabe:

I think you have to realize that on ANY product Forum, you will have a lot more posts about problems, than not. Not a lot of people just jump online and say "Oh, My AV is running great, no problems to date"

The people posting problems *probably* outnumber the people with no significant problems 10:1 or even 100:1 (I don't know how many members are on this board, so I don't know for sure)

The AV is a new model, most of the bugs have been worked out over it's first year. A little water, a little this or that, but all in all, It is a solid truck.

My best advice to you is to find a competent dealer with a great service dept :D. You may never need them, but when you do, it is good to know that your dealership keeps on top of the TSBs and such. If you can find one with a later build date (anyone, correct me if I'm wrong but maybe after Feb 2002) , it should be a little better

Good luck on your new AV purchase. I hope you enjoy it as much as we all do... it is by far the most versitile vehicle on the market... I hope mine goes for 1/4 million miles or more!!

Welcome to the club!!
 
Gabe, count me down as a very satisfied Av owner!! Although I have only owned it for four months, I have had absolutely no problems!! I believe that these are very trouble-free vehicles, although every manufacturer out there will have some defects now and then. Remember, we are enthisiasts and will find the smallest things wrong with our vehicles, and this is the forum to share those problems with other enthusiasts. I personally don't believe you should be "scared away" from the wonderful experience of owning one of these vehicles by what you read here.
If you do have any problems, remember that there is a three year warranty, and request that you be given a loaner vehicle to drive while the service dept. sorts them out.
Good luck, and go for it!!
 
5+ months, and not a single reason to bring it to the dealer yet.

Do a search for this topic, there was even a poll taken that listed # of owners with Av problems.
 
Thanks for some of the quick responses. Does anybody in their "OPINION" feel there will be less, more or the same amount of problems with the 03 AV versus the 02 AV.

Gabe
 
Probably would be less, but then again, you will probably pay more (GM press release somewhere about increasing 2003 model prices), probably won't have the great 0% financing as you do right now.

The Front end is really different next year too..looks like every other GM truck...

Looks like the 2002 is going to be "special"!!!
 
bmontini said:
The Front end is really different next year too..looks like every other GM truck... ?

Looks like the 2002 is going to be "special"!!!
Click to expand...

You are thinking about the "No Body Hardware" version. The other 2003 Avalanche will have the same body as ours with the exception of darker cladding and some new paint colors ;D
 
Actually, I was talking about the headlights... Aren't they changing to match the rest of the GM Trucks? I could swear I read that yesterday..
 
bmontini said:
Actually, I was talking about the headlights... ?Aren't they changing to match the rest of the GM Trucks? ?I could swear I read that yesterday..
Click to expand...
That again was in the "No Body Hardware/No Cladding version".

I can see how this can get confusing.

You can see that the headlights are still the same for the 2003 Classic version here:

2003 pic and new info from GM!

goo929
 
BTW ... I have only had the cracked window trim issue that was a problem in the earlier build dates.

Heres what the Chief said about the issue back on the July 14th:

OK - lets look at this scientifically. There are at the time of this posting 2,927 TOPICS on the board, total. Of those 364 are in the Problems & Answer section. Now even if we assumed that all 364 posts in the Problem & Answer sections are defects/problem related than 12% of all the posts are about defects. The other 88% of the posts are about other things. Again, that assumes that the 12% are about problems, not things like my transmission starts in second when I'm in second (because it's suppose to - that's why), or how do I reset my change oil light, or why is the tailgate lock key hard to turn (because the tailgates not latched).

You'll get what you're going to get - I know that the magazines are very dissapointed in the 5.9 performance, which has less torque than the smaller 5.3 in the Av...that is if you're looking to tow...
 
Actually I am thinking about the new Grey color that is to match the darker cladding. I rather like the cladding, but my wife thinks it looks cheap. She wants it to match the truck. Don't think that she is making the decisions on the truck, I just don't want her to be :8: when I spend over 30K on a truck. Anyway the question is more, less or the same amount of problems of 03 versus 02.
Gabe
 
My guess would be less problems with the '03s since they have already started to address some of the issues in the later '02 production.

But we will have to wait to see if there are any issues with the new features of the '03s.
 
That again was in the "No Body Hardware/No Cladding version".
Click to expand...

Thanks for setting me straight!! I am glad I have an '02.. nothing confusing there!!

I rather like the cladding, but my wife thinks it looks cheap. She wants it to match the truck.
Click to expand...

Cladding = Less Door Dings.. VERY functional... About caldding matching the truck (I know this isn't grey, but...) check out a post by vlkwagan(?) for a All Sunset orange metallic AV... Too much for my tastes!!!

I think the dark grey will be a better color for most apps, but I like having a 1 model year only feature!! Good luck to you!
 
I have owned my AV for 10 months, 13,000 miles and have had absolutely NO problems. No big problems, no little problems, nothing. The 2003 will have a certain amount of problems just as SOME 2002's did. Will you be lucky enough to get a problem 2003? Who knows? If I could make those kinds of predictions, my 401K wouldn't have dissapeared in the stock market last year! The important thing is to choose your dealer carefully, so that if you do have problems they are taken care of professionally and promptly. That MAY mean you have to pay a few dollars more than at the flim-flam operation down the street, but it may be worth it. In general the AV seems to be a big step toward GM improving their reliability and quality image. I don't think you would be "wrong" to choose either a 2002 or 2003. If you can find a 2002 equipped the way you want it, it may be a good deal. I tend to keep my vehicles for a LOOOONG time, so the extra year of depreciation doesn't bother me. If you plan to trade every few years, you may need to cosider this. I suspect (I have no information to support this, but it is my suspicion) that 2003 prices will be substantially higher than 2002. When you compare the AV to the other vehicles available it appears to be an exceptionally good deal. When we bought the AV we were also looking at cars. When we realized that any sort of family sedan was in the 30K range, the AV, with 4-wheel-drive, ability to tow a trailer, room for 5 adults, and good options avilable, not to mention the extreme versatility - started looking like a steal!
Good luck in your search!
 
This brings up a good question for me. I have seen the little problems people have had , and I have the opportunitity to pick up a rare Forest Green w/ Tan interior. But the truck is 300 days old. DOes anyone foresee anything I should be looking for??
Thanks
DVD
 
Hi Gabe I understand your concern The problem that I'M having with my AV is that after 10 months I only have under 4,000 miles on it and I,M not spending much time with it and thats sad But other than that it's all good.
Good luck
PS also if you can, get an extended warrenty I got one from GM for 72 months 75,000 miles and $0 deductable.
 
Bought Sept 01....never been to the dealer yet for any problems!!!
 
Bought on Aug 31
At 11 months 20190 miles on 459.3 hrs is 43.96 mph average :eek: :eek:
75 miles a day on country roads

Problems
Had wet rug once, no repeats :rolleyes:
Had wet seats once, Sunroof was open :-[

Trips to Dealer
Once for FREE oil change, costs $27 ??? ???
Labor Charge :9:
 
dvd_rules said:
This brings up a good question for me. I have seen the little problems people have had , and I have the opportunitity to pick up a rare Forest Green w/ Tan interior.
Click to expand...
Actually, just the paint NAME is going to be rare.

The paint color is the SAME as the newly named Dark Green Metallic.

The NEW colors for 2003 are Arrival Blue, Dark Gray Mettalic and Yellow (Available Jan 2003).
 
I have had mine for 13 months now with 17,500 miles and have never seen the dealer service department :eek:

The last time the wife's Acura went to the shop it had less than 8,000 miles on it and it was there for a over a week :cautious: :cautious:
 
Gabe said:
I am still in the process of buying my new AV. ?My question is after reading some of the many posts on the website, It seems that there is a high level of problems and maintance with this vehicle. ?Chief just posted that he had to bring his in for Four problems. ?Can anyone estimate the amount of problem free AVs out there. ?Is there anybody that has not had to bring theirs back to the dealership. ?I just have no time for that. ?My last truck a 99 GMC 4X4 Ext cab had very little problems if any.

Thanks
Gabe
Click to expand...

Gabe - have to keep in mind the scope of the problems:

1) Split in the drip rail: Probably my fault when I dropped a hard cargo panel on it. HOWEVER the darn rails are really thin and considering they are in a truck cargo area should be able to take some abuse.

2) Broken child seat belt guide on rear passenger seat: the guide was being used when an adult was seated. Nuff' said

3) A/C not operative at idle: Shame on the General! My Avalanche shipped from the factory low on R-134.

4) Squeak: Ugh - this is the pain in my side. I'm 99.9% sure that a shock absorber IS NOT going to fix this problem. Alas I go through the motions (and now have one new shock and one with 13.5K up front). The next step is they'll finally come clean it's a bushing (no duh) and go through the motions of replacing it.

Since I picked up my Avalanche in December it has only been seen by the dealer for warranty issues on the above items. The only vehicle I owned more trouble free than that was my 1989 Ford Probe. Overall I'm happy - my frustration lies with my dealer and the service department and the sloppy handling of the squeak.
 
I haven't had mine back long enough from the dealer to know if I had any problems ?;)

I bought it with 1183 miles on it. ?Problems from the lot:
-Cargo Cover Bag Missing :7:
-Crud and junk in door seal (didn't want it to rust..) ?:6:
-Driver's Head rest snapped back too easily (someone tried to get their wallet!)
-Musty Cargo area
-Couple of Paint chips...
-Steering Wheel not straight when driving straight.
-Some Wise Donkey took the Z66 17" wheels off of it while it was on the lot and put on 16" standard wheels..

I go to pick it up. ?Paint looks better, it is washed up. ?New bag in the back.. They put on a free bug shield (w/ AV lettering) ?for my trouble. ;D ;D ?Tires/wheels replaced :), Tires low on air... :mad:...Salesman told me service was closed, so I had to go somewhere else to fill up the tires.. ?Said Fine, have a good one... ?It was time to go... about to rain...

Went to drive off the headrest snapped back... ?They replaced it with another broken one!! ? :8: :8: :8: :8:

So I get the salesman, and he and I go steal one from another AV on the lot.. >:D ? ?Clouds are building... ?We get replaced...

Time to go again, ?have to go fill the tires.. ?RAIN!!! ?ARGH!! ?

Other than that, truck runs fine.. goes well in the heavy Atlanta traffic (3rd busiest traffic city in the country!) ?Now the small cars get out of my way >:D

Get yourself an AV... NOW!! ?You will love it!! ?Just get a dealer with a good service dept.. ;)
 
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