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Avalanche Moving Closer To Silverado

Ambalanche

Ambalanche

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Joined
Sep 23, 2002
Messages
1,328
Location
Pensacola, Florida
I was at my Chevy dealer the other day for some service to the Ambalanche and noticed on the base 2003 Avalanche the wheels are no longer the Tahoe/Suburban's wheels, but rather the Silverado's Alluminum wheels. I actually think they look better than the Tahoe's, but with the WBH AV comeing, I wonder if it is a sign they will possibly merge with the next redesign, and our beloved AV will be nothing more than a Silverado with an Avalanche option. ??? ??? :B:
 
I wonder if it is a sign they will possibly merge with the next redesign, and our beloved AV will be nothing more than a Silverado with an Avalanche option.

We actually discussed this at length in another thread - sadly I think the handwriting is on the wall that this will be the case in another three to five years.

You can read the excellent thread and thoughts by clicking here.
 
I read it Chief and it was a great thread. I was basically pointing out that since Chevy is already starting to put Silverado wheels on the AV as standard, it looks like the migration has started. Kinda like when a new vehicle is comeing, they try to give the current vehicle's mid life facelift some of the styling cues to get the public ready for the new look. :B:
 
This may be the reason why my last trip to the dealership left me in awe....with the firestones on all the av's instead of the goodyear's.....do the silverado's come the same way standard?...if so ...this could be a tale.tale...sign...like you stated.. :B:
 
Ambalanche said:
I was at my Chevy dealer the other day for some service to the Ambalanche and noticed on the base 2003 Avalanche the wheels are no longer the Tahoe/Suburban's wheels, but rather the Silverado's Alluminum wheels. I actually think they look better than the Tahoe's, but with the WBH AV comeing, I wonder if it is a sign they will possibly merge with the next redesign, and our beloved AV will be nothing more than a Silverado with an Avalanche option. ???? ??? :B:
Click to expand...

They never came with the Tahoe/Suburbam wheels. The wheels aren't the same as the Silverado, even though they do look alike. The wheel is just a bit different.
 
I don't understand that. They already make the extended cab and the quad cab, why would they make the Av anymore like the PU. I would expect the Suburban and Tahoe with the retractable roof would replace the Av before the PU.
 
chevroletavalanche said:
They never came with the Tahoe/Suburbam wheels. The wheels aren't the same as the Silverado, even though they do look alike. The wheel is just a bit different.
Click to expand...
O Contrare, The '02 base Av did indeed come with the Alloy wheels from the Taho/Suburban, the 5 spoke "Turbine" look. And the Base Alloys now are indeed the Silverado LS Wheels. I could tell because there was a New Silverado with Alloys right next to it and they were identical and the same size. :B:
 
Without getting into the with/without discussion, have you seen the new front end on the Silverado? In my opinion :9: From the top to bottom there is about 7 changes in materials and colors. In my opinion, it looks like it was done with spare parts. Again, only an opinion.
 
Some random neurons fired while reading this thread and I came up with these observations. :0: I'm sure a lot of this is patently obvious to all of you but sometimes I need to think these things out when I'm typing them in :)

Wheels: The change may have been made due to supplier issues or to hit a cost/margin price for that model AV.

Silverado's new face: Most manufacturers want a certain "look" for their vehicles. They want you to recognize their vehicles without seeing the name. IMHO, it seems that Chevy sees the AV look as one to promote in the truck brand. Even though they look similar they mount the lights in different spots: the Silverado's lights are the "reverse" of the AV's. Interestingly, the WBH pictures I've seen seem to show it shares the front clip with the Silverado; not surprising when you want to use a standard bumper and keep the costs down.

IMHO I hope that the AV does keep its uniqueness and doesn't become too Silverado or too Tahoe, just AV. :) I know that is counter to saving costs and all, but maybe enough of them will be sold to make it a viable niche to Chevy. To the GM folks reading these, I'm ready to give my opinion in any consumer design clinics (hint hint) ;D

I also second Chief's mention of the WBH thread which was a very good one to read.
 
They can hang whatever they want on the body and put any wheels they have laying around, but they still have to deal with the 130" wheelbase and Silverado don't have one.
 
sparky said:
Without getting into the with/without discussion, have you seen the new front end on the Silverado? In my opinion ?:9: From the top to bottom there is about 7 changes in materials and colors. In my opinion, it looks like it was done with spare parts. Again, only an opinion.
Click to expand...
At first I thought the same thing, however on closer inspection, everything about the front of the Silverado is indeed different. The hood cutouts for the grille are shaped different, the grille itself is different, the powerbar is different, front fenders are different. Personally, while I agree that the manufacturers want a familiar face for their vehicles, look at Mercedes, every one of their cars look alike, just in different sizes, I would have perferred that Chevy use the AV face for the Silverado rather than merge the AV into the Silverado family. Look at the upcoming Colorado, it has parking lights/turn signals on top of the Powerbar, headlights below just like the AV. So maybe there's hope. :B:
 
I don't see any major change happening to the Av for another 3-4 years... at LEAST. And I really don't see it going anyway anytime soon.

Look what happened with Dodge... When that truck first came out in the early 90's.. people either loved it or hated it. It took them up until 2002 or so do do a major face lift on it. :cautious:
 
Well, I posted this thread just a little over one year ago, and what did I do? I bought a WBH!! Arrrgggg! And I love it! I know, I'm Crazy!! I still love the Cladded, but I guess I like both now! :B:
 
;D ;D... have to admit that we've resigned to having a WBH also and luv it :love:...

but.....

It's a nice thing having the best of BOTH AV worlds! :B: :B:
 
When my parents first go their 2004 AV, I was literally sick.  They WBH version too me looks rediculous.  ESPECIALLY in '04, where even the top of the line (which my parents bought) HAS BLACK MIRRORS/DOOR HANDLES AND TRIM!!! NOT EVEN PAINTED, JUST CHEAP PLASTIC.

I had to take my father to the dealer and put his AV next to one with the cladding and point out the HUGE differences in the front ends....

IMHO, Why didn't chevy keep the cool cladding-front end and just remove the cladding if they wanted a WBH model?
 
I like the body cladding... it saves me from door dings.  :D

Also, other people like the body cladding too, it saves them from my dinging their door.  :eek:
 
I agree that it may be a few years before any major changes to the Avalanche. I know some have said they have seen prototypes of the 2006 and they are much different but it may NOT have been a 2006, maybe just a prototype that they are working on for later models.

I think it is the Suburan's turn for the facelift! Take a look and see what I mean, they do not match the newer look of GM. Tahoe's fit in here also. These never got the updated look that the rest of the truck look got. The Avalanche was the first model with the new slanted headlight look and other models were introduced with that look, the Suburan and Tahoe still have that old look!

http://www.chevrolet.com/suburban/

Butch
 
Because Bob Lutz HATES the cladding. ?He also HATES standard side air bags and apparently he hated standard OnStar, but lost that battle. ?The Lutz effect is very clear on the Avalanche as things get snipped, nipped, and cut away. ?I'd love to find someone with a load Z-71 2005 LT and do an item by item comparision on what stayed and what went on the model from 2002 to 2005.

I still firmly believe that given enough time, the Avalanche will become a Suburban EXT or an "Avalanche package Silverado (a Suburban EXT makes more sense). ?GM sales are down as a company and truck/SUV sales are soft. ?If the price of gasoline continues to grow at 30 cents a gallon per year the long term prognosis of big V-8 powered trucks that get 15 MPG combined is not going to be good -

As long as the Midgate remains unique it remains a really good quirky idea. ?Don't get me wrong, quirky sells when you hit the sweet spot - the Avalanche is a success story in quirky. ?As is the Honda Element and the PT Cruiser. ?The Chrysler Pacifica and the Pontiac Aztek are examples of quirky that fell flat on their faces.? Lets face it, what makes the Avalanche the Avalanche?? Well in the case of the 1500 specifically it's the coil rear suspension and the Midgate.? Take away the Midgate and you've got a Silverado with a cushy rear end.? Take away both and you've got a 1500 Silverado.? It's not a leap away to say it was a great idea but...

Sometimes niche vehicles come out, shake things up, sell like wild fire and then collapse. ?The Ford Probe is a great example of this. ?The 1988 released Probe sold over 340,000 units in its first year, Ford/Mazda quite literally could not build them fast enough and waiting lists were upwards to eight weeks - sales outstripped projections by more than three fold. ?The 1989 Ford Probe was a run away hit - and was extremely well built. ?The first year Ford Probe is easily identified as the only model with amber rear turn signals - when you see an older Probe note how many are the first model year still on the road compared to 1990 to 1992 for body style one and 1993 to 1997 for body style two. ?By 1997 Ford couldn't sell 1/10th of that number and some of the quirky innovation that reviewers raved over, like a dash pod that adjusted with the steering column, world class ergonomics and a green house with outstanding visibility for a two door hatchback coupe all went the way of the dodo bird.

The Avalanche has stayed consistent in its sales numbers, if not a tad weaker than from its introduction. ?An MSRP that has swelled more than $6,000 for a base model and more than $10,000 for a full equipped model in less than four years sure doesn't help. ?Gasoline at $2.00 a gallon and more doesn't help either, so the Avalanche is doing a solid job of holding its own and remains a very well thought out and well engineered vehicle.

But can I see there being a 2012 Avalanche? ?I'd say the chances are slim with the direction GM is going, the thought process of folks like Lutz, and the direction of gasoline costs in relation to power requirements.? When GM came out with power sliding doors on minivans in 1997 I thought they were nuts (and my 1998 Montana had a power sliding door and then I thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread).? The GM technology is now licensed on almost every minivan with exception to Chrysler sold with a sliding door - the idea caught on.? We're not seeing the same with the Midgate sans the woeful Subaru, which they can't give away.? Unless others jump on the innovation wagon (the side storage on the Titan is a win for us Avalanche owners) the future long term is grim.
 
ha! That mexican suburban is...wierd! guess im just so used to seeing the "good old" front clip we have in the US!
 
duramaxHD said:
ha! That mexican suburban is...wierd! guess im just so used to seeing the "good old" front clip we have in the US!
Click to expand...

I agree. But, I also like it. Suprising that they don't sell those "north of the border".
 
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