Fishfinder401 said:
What problematic stuff are you thinking of leaving out?
Spend a day or two reading through this forum and you should get a pretty good picture of the things that seem to be the most problematic.
There are a ton of great features in these trucks.
But there have been, over the years, some features that have shown to have some issues that need to be addressed.
I am talking mostly about things that others have experienced and have made note of in this forum.
The features that I would most likely drop from a new model would be those that are most commonly discussed here and especially those that some owners try to disable in an attempt to not have to spend huge amounts of money to repair properly.
I.E. the AFM system, the auto leveling rear air suspension and the overly complicated 4WD system, the A/C system that blows hot or cold air opposite to what the driver wants, the heated seats and any number of other commonly discussed problems.
Too many things like this for me to list in my post.
So, I suggest to simplify all systems to a more reliable and longer lasting state.
There is no point in having "all the buttons" if all the buttons are prone to break, over time.
How many of us have something broken on our trucks that we are not willing or able to afford to have repaired properly?
The big gizmos are most often the items that owners are looking for cheap alternatives when faced with a repair.
How many owners are looking at doing a major repair to address the AFM system or the auto leveling system, often looking to disable or replace those systems in an effort to not have to deal with those in the future?
Without all of the whiz-bang electronics, I believe they could deliver a more longer lasting and reliable vehicle at a reduced cost that would then appeal to a larger customer base and then make the truck more competitive in the marketplace and therefore give it a chance to survive.
In my opinion, the Avalanche and EXT started out may too fancy and continued that trend until they just priced themselves out of the market.
A niche vehicle that was priced way too high for the average new truck owner and one that suffered from system breakdowns over time that left a bad feeling for the used owner market, at times.
By the time I was able to buy my EXT, it was well worn and required a pretty big investment, on my part (and still does), in an attempt to maintain it in a near-to-new state.
Since there is no way I could afford a new AVA or EXT, this was my only option.
If the less fancy-from-the-factory, yet capable, vehicle was available, I feel that I would be able to purchase a slightly less old used truck that was not as broken as the older used and broken trucks I can now afford.
Those are just my thoughts on the matter.