Hope for the future - SILVERADO High Desert

[FullLock]

my exhaust has been cut off right before the muffler for 2+ years and I am pretty positive I don't get fumes int he cabin.

Mine has been short dumped on both my 1st and 2nd gen AV's for a combined roughly 9 years of ownership, and just like Wyo I've never had any issue with exhaust in the cabin.

Really, I figured it would've been a 50/50 chance there would be fumes or not..... May have to give it a shot then.  Thanks guys!

 

[EXT4ME]

Not to throw a damper on any of this, but since most of the deadly gases in automobile exhaust, especially carbon-monoxide are colorless and odorless, how sure are you that the system you have is not allowing some of these gases into the cab?

Probably not in deadly amounts while the vehicle is in motion, but how many times have you been sitting in traffic longer than you wanted?

I would be curious if anyone has ever placed a carbon-monoxide detector inside the cab of their truck just to test.

I had a serious event happen to me many years ago with a faulty floor furnace exhaust vent, so these things kind of get my attention.

And knowing the condition of those little rubber flapper valves for the water drains in the bed of my truck, I would hesitate to dump out my exhaust anywhere under the truck.

Just wanting you all to be safe out there.

 

[Calicak89]

but how many times have you been sitting in traffic longer than you wanted?

Pretty much every day living in Pittsburgh, 25-35 minutes in traffic to get 2.5 miles and through a tunnel into the city each morning

I would be curious if anyone has ever placed a carbon-monoxide detector inside the cab of their truck just to test.

I never have, but I'm going to try it now just to see what happens

I guess if we all bought new High Deserts we wouldn't have to worry about it

 

[Z66Modder]

I guess if we all bought new High Deserts we wouldn't have to worry about it

I would have to be High myself before I did that! Of course it's legal here in Washington.  

 

[igotzzoom]

Midgate is what makes the Avy an Avy therefore this doesn't equal Avy...

Agreed. I think this is what really makes the Avalanche unique. The midgate is somewhat fiddly, but I think it's what really offers a level of versatility and configurability that you can't find anywhere else. I would LOVE to see a true new Avalanche. At this point, I think the earliest it would come is with the new truck in 2019, possibly following the 1500 and HD debuts, maybe in 2020. I'm hoping this isn't just an idle tease.

What gives me hope is that the Camaro was out of production for about eight model years, and came back, better and stronger than ever. So far, the Avy has only been gone for three years. Also, although not exactly the same type of vehicle (and I'm not making that analogy) is the Honda Ridgeline. It was initially popular, but interest kind of tapered off to the point nobody bought them. Honda believed enough in the concept to do a second generation.

The fact that Chevy did make a second-generation Avalanche makes me think they believed strongly in the concept. Although I have no hard evidence to back it up, I think the third-gen Avalanche might have been a casualty of the bankruptcy reorganization. In '08-'09, the second gen had already been out a few years, and typically, development starts on the next-generation vehicle as soon as the previous model goes into official production. I don't know if GM would ever admit it or share anything, but I'd love to see renderings or sketches of the third-generation model. Would love to hear everyone's thoughts on this.

 

[Vaeagleav]

You can find lots of opinions from reading older post since the topic or hope of a new AV has been discussed since it was learned that 2013 was to be the last year of AV production.
As with everyone else having an opinion my .02 is that the versatility of the AV is what killed it off. It was the "Swiss Army knife" of  vehicles and did many things well but not the best of everything.
For people hauling it was OK but a Suburban carried more, it did well at towing  but if you need more capacity look at Silverado and it's various sizes and motors, for off-roading OK but Hummer was better.
Then you have marketing issues where Chevy had problems with deciding how to promote the AV (just a few "change for a dollar" commercials). And when magazines or TV shows are doing articles on the best SUV or the best Pickup the AV was left out since most used the Suburban for SUV and Silverado for pickup. Then you have the dealerships where the salesmen really didn't know all the features of the AV and many dealerships only had a couple AVs on the lot but many more Silverados. The AV was more expensive so an unknowing customer walking the lot would see the sticker price and probably go to the Silverado.
Again just my .02 but the Camaro had a definite place in car buying and it was for someone who wanted a sporty car but could NOT afford a Corvette. So when they stopped making it there was a hole in the lineup.

 

[Z66Modder]

I think your theory of the bankruptcy restructuring holds a lot of water. They had to trim some fat somewheres and how do you do that? You scrap vehicles  with low sales volumes and high cost. And yes there was very little advertising done  of the Avalanche ever by GM. You also don't see any advertising of the Escalade version either.  I never really thought about it because I already had one, and it's been 13 years. With so many versions of the Silverado available, GM may never see a hole in their lineup like the Camaro (and yes I want a Camaro myself).



I wonder if an email campaign would help sway their decision to bring on a 3rd generation? 

 

[igotzzoom]

I think your theory of the bankruptcy restructuring holds a lot of water. They had to trim some fat somewheres and how do you do that? You scrap vehicles  with low sales volumes and high cost. And yes there was very little advertising done  of the Avalanche ever by GM. You also don't see any advertising of the Escalade version either.  I never really thought about it because I already had one, and it's been 13 years. With so many versions of the Silverado available, GM may never see a hole in their lineup like the Camaro (and yes I want a Camaro myself).


I wonder if an email campaign would help sway their decision to bring on a 3rd generation? 

Yeah, I've talked to some GM employees that were with the company through the bankruptcy, and they said there were some really dark days, as in at one point, they were within hours of turning off the lights and padlocking the doors. There were some definite painful sacrifices made to keep the business viable going forward. Priority had to be put toward mainstream, high-volume products, or products that were considered too iconic to cut (i.e. Corvette, Escalade, Silverado, Sierra). I'm frankly surprised Buick survived, and I think that's only because of its popularity in China. As cool as it was, the Avalanche, in the greater scheme of things, was a niche product, and unless buyers were totally committed to that model, could probably be talked into a Silverado or Suburban.

In terms of a petition or email campaign...I think if GM were planning on bringing back the Avalanche, it would already be in the works by now. Either we'll see one in 2020 or 2021, or we won't. My fear is it would be too expensive to make much sense to most buyers. Heck, good luck driving a Tahoe off the lot now for less than $65k!

 

[PerfectReign]

My fear is it would be too expensive to make much sense to most buyers. Heck, good luck driving a Tahoe off the lot now for less than $65k!

You've got a point.

I just looked at the Chevy site. A new Tahoe base price is $48,690.  I took that back to 2001 (when the AV was released) and showed an inflation adjusted price of $35,000. 

However, a base Tahoe in 2001 only went for $24,000.  Wonder why they cost so much more.


My avalanche costs me $0. 

 

[AirJunky]

Without the midgate, it's just another Silverado.

 

[TheSpartanKnight]

Without the midgate, it's just another Silverado.

Aye, my thoughts as well.

It's really too bad they don't employ Avalanche people to sell em... I'd steer 90% of truck and SUV buyers to the Avalanche. I've literally talked several people into buying an Avy, and I've made just about everyone I talk to look at them completely different.

"It really is the best of all the worlds. A normal, everyday person, why do they buy a truck? For the four wheel drive and bed right? But how often do they even use those things? Maybe 5-10% of the year? But when they NEED that four wheel drive or cargo capability, they need it. There's no going around it. It HAS to be there. So they waste those features, their money and inconvenience themselves 90-95% of the time in order to have those things.

Then take the SUV, why do people buy those? For the seating and a more usable cargo area. They rarely use that third seat and the cargo area is laughable compared to the truck.

Otherwise they get a four door car, but they sacrifice the traction, the towing and the cargo.

With the Avalanche? We have a compromise for them all. Still has great city manners, the bed is essentially a big truck, but when we need those quintessential truck features, they're there. We convert it to an 8 foot bed. We still can tow, and tow well. We have that four wheel drive.

But it's compact and is perfectly at home in the culdesac as much as it is in the mountains."

Just tooting my own horn.

 

[MyBigToy]

But it's compact and is perfectly at home in the culdesac as much as it is in the mountains."

I wouldn't exactly call an almost 20' long truck "compact"!  

 

[AirJunky]

I wouldn't exactly call an almost 20' long truck "compact"!  

You ever park next to the likes of a 4 door Silverado or a Dodge mega-cab? I can park in a standard size 2 car garage. Suppose either of those other rigs can?

 

[MyBigToy]

You ever park next to the likes of a 4 door Silverado or a Dodge mega-cab? I can park in a standard size 2 car garage. Suppose either of those other rigs can?

I no longer have my Avalanche - I defected to a 2015 F150 Supercrew FX4 with 5-1/2' bed - so yes, I am well aware that they are longer than an Avalanche. And no, it will not fit in my standard, builder-grade 20'X20' garage; the garage needed to be about another 6" longer. I could make it work if I wanted to set up a "header" and remove the 2X4's from the rear wall but it's not worth the trouble as I will likely be moving within a year.

 

[4x4dreamer]

FWIW,

You can "officially" build and price a Silverado High Desert on Chevy's website..

I built a 2017 LTZ with the High Desert Package and the LTZ plus package for just under $59k.....

The High Desert upgrade itself is $6,995 

I do like it though.. I won't lie...

Maybe the price will come down in the next few years... I doubt we will see many of them on the road with an option package that expensive.

I just wonder how many will hit dealer lots without being special ordered? After all, it's just an add-on, and not a model of its own.

 

[wyotonka]

FWIW,

You can "officially" build and price a Silverado High Desert on Chevy's website..

I built a 2017 LTZ with the High Desert Package and the LTZ plus package for just under $59k.....

The High Desert upgrade itself is $6,995 

I do like it though.. I won't lie...

Maybe the price will come down in the next few years... I doubt we will see many of them on the road with an option package that expensive.

I just wonder how many will hit dealer lots without being special ordered? After all, it's just an add-on, and not a model of its own.

we could wind up seeing a few... some people have more money than brains 

 

[ohiobellboy]

we could wind up seeing a few... some people have more money than brains 

quit hatin' 

 

[4x4dreamer]

quit hatin' 

When are you getting the bed insert for yours? 

 

[ohiobellboy]

When are you getting the bed insert for yours? 

When they offer it a la carte.

 

[wyotonka]

I have actually had to fully convince 2 people (assuming not the brightest) this week that my truck is not brand new. I'm fine with keeping the real deal. The new Silverados are EVERYWHERE

 

[4x4dreamer]

When they offer it a la carte.

Sounds good! 

 

[wyotonka]

When they offer it a la carte.

I didn't think about you already having the new Silverado, I would think they would offer it on its own, unless they're going to add it as a trim level with custom seats etc