The 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 High Country finished last in a thee-way pickup truck comparison test with the 2019 Ram 1500 and 2019 Ford F-150. Car and Driver, which performed the comparison review, also levied heavy criticisms at the all-new Chevy, slamming it for having a feeble chassis, harsh ride and cheap interior materials.
We’ll start with what C&D hated most about the 2019 Silverado: its new platform. Its road testers found the pickup to have a rough, unrefined ride that would jostle and oscillate over bumps. “This truck shakes and vibrates so much that, bombing down a rough road, we expected to get a call from OnStar asking if we’d been in an accident,” C&D wrote in its review. One editor even observed a visual difference between the Silverado and the F-150 when the two trucks went over bumps, with the Silverado’s suspension shaking and jostling and the F-150’s absorbing the bumps much better.
C&D editors had critiques for the interior as well, saying the plastics had a cheap look and feel (even in High Country trim) and that the design seemed “phoned in.” By comparison, the Ford, and especially the Ram, felt like true luxury packages. They didn’t like the $70,000 price tag on the well-equipped High Country tester they had, either, saying the truck wasn’t good value and that it felt like a $70k kick in the privates. Ouch.
It wasn’t all bad, though. The 6.2-liter V8 engine impressed, of course, with its burly Small Block engine note and robust torque. C&D also appreciated its fuel economy, which proved to be better than that of Ford’s 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 both with a trailer attached and without. The performance was also good, with the Silverado completing the quarter-mile in 13.9s at 100 mph. Not bad at all for a 5,500 lb pickup.
You can read the full review, along with C&D’s impressions of the 2019 Ford F-150 and Ram 1500, right here.
(source: Car and Driver)
Comments
GM needs to address these issues and explain what the problem is with the excessive vibration, as indicated be Car and Driver. Maybe a better shock absorber set up, to start with, like MagneRide type?
Thosse interior plastic parts also need to move upscale, as well, especially with mid to top level trim levels.
Otherwise, these trucks have many new innovative functional features.
Welcome to the “leadership” of Miss Mary Barra.
Instead of worrying about the “image” of putting in a female, focus on putting right person in to lead a massive company that is responsible for the well being of millions of American workers and others around the world. The right person has nothing to with race, creed or gender. Just has to be the best., period.
When I read this yesterday I felt really bad for the Silverado. This truck was my favorite for years, and now GM Engineering team have F..K it up. GM need to start firing incompetent staff.
To Gm. Your Management and Engineering staff are horribly pathetic, to bring a new truck to market and can’t outshine a 4 year old F-150. I said it once and I will say it again. I want to see how long GM will wait and allow this model trucks to destroy the Silverado’s good name before some sort of emergency improvements or corrections are carried out.
On a positive note. The performance of the Chevy was not bad, but could be improve with equal transmission calibrations, similar to the F-150. I still prefer the Chevy’s exterior to the other two competitors.
Sadly, we can also expect for Consumer Reports to rate this truck as Worst Than Average or Much Worst Than Average, man it truly sucks have g to anticipate that End Result but it surely can’t be ruled out at this point. I beleive the Refreshed 2020 Colorado and Canyon may stand a better chance of good reviews once they get ready to hit the market given the harsh passion that GM is now learning with the new Full Size trucks.
I meant to say harsh reality in my last statement, unfortunately, my edit did not get saved before my statement posted.
It’s not engineers making the decision to swap over an old interior or refusing to upgrade materials. It’s not engineering not putting in magnetic shocks, a technology GM pioneered and owns, on a 70k dollar truck. They could put Bilsteins on base models, think C7, and vastly improve ride quality and handling, but they won’t. This is the product that pays the bills, provides investment capital for pipe dream future EV and driverless tech, their bread and butter product and they bunt it, embarrassing.
In spite of Ford’s advertising about using aluminum in the body to reduce weight by 700 pounds, it still ended up with a truck that was heavier than the Silverado, I thought that was a reflection of stronger steel alloys used in the GM product, but this C&D test seems to imply that GM gave up some stiffness as well to achieve the lighter weight, and if that is true it is not good.
Thanks, for making a real work truck, Chevy. I read the review the other day and it seemed like it was from the point of view of city life. Yea the ride may be a little more bumpy but no brand has been able to hold up under what I put mine thru.
Yeah, but the point of a $60,000-$70,000 High Country trim – which is actually one of our hottest sellers to farmers who actually use their trucks around here, believe it or not – just isn’t luxurious. You get most of the same horrific cheap plastic that you get in a Custom or Work Truck. You get the same tiny touchscreen as a low-end LT. You get the same suspension. You get the same general design. You don’t get everything leather-wrapped or real metal like the equally-priced (and often cheaper) Ram 1500 Limited. It’s a big, big problem on that end of the pricing scale that the truck doesn’t even hold a match to the PREVIOUS generation Ram 1500 Limited.
Ouch!!! By far, the harshest review of the “all-new” Silverado! All this effort to make the lightest and most fuel efficient truck has yielded very little for GM! What makes it worse is that this is the highest trim model!
All GM can do at this point is hope that brand loyalty and some good rebates will continue to prop sales! No quick refresh is gonna resolve these issues: these are simply design/engineering flaws! The aero is one thing, but the horribly unrefined chassis is a whole other matter! Even touching up the interior won’t make much an impact! And woe unto them when the aging F-150, which is still considered superior in several performance measures, is redesigned! Given how much they lauded the F-150 in this test, I’m surprised it wasn’t declared the victor! It’s hardly like C & D to give the worst-performing vehicle the win, but maybe the new RAM is simply that well executed in refinement and road manners…
I still stand by the fact that the new GM twins are good trucks, and each entrant in this segment has something to offer that’ll appeal to every truck lover! Nevertheless, when you consider all GM has vested in engineering their latest trucks, it’s a shame to see them deliver so poorly! Let’s be real! Even the most loyal of GM fans have gotta be feeling some sense of frustration and discontent in all this!
I am a loyal GM fan, but I am frustrated by all of the pickups. Yes, it appears that we have a choice, but do we really? Each manufacturer has tried to mimic or slightly improve on what the best sellers have. That means they are all pretty much alike. Too bad we have the “chicken tax” that keeps different looking trucks sold in other markets from coming here.
I don’t like the design of these new trucks, from the lack of visibility from inside, huge center consoles, massive grills, buttons or other ways of interacting that are not easy to use with gloves on, silly looking swept up rear window frames that are supposed to make bricks look sleeker, fuel tanks that are too small, power tailgates that take forever to open …
Whatever happened to “GM has to get it right the first time”, wasn’t that what the new boss said when she took charge.
I sat in a brand new Denali a few months ago
The new features were cool. But some of the cheap plastics used ( specifically the gear selector) reminded more of my 08 avalanche rather than my 14 LTZ Silverado.
Like the looks of this truck but that is it. They need to address this soon because Ram is going to out sell this truck. GM needs a real truck guy in charge and to stop worrying about share holders getting rich and give the customers a better product.
Well GM told us that they used 7000 people to help approve this truck. And like I said before WHO were these 7000 people and I hope GM sells each one of them this truck. I drove the 2019 Denali with the 6.2. Performance wise it was good to great. I like the GMC look. The GMC tailgate is also very nice. The interior however BLAH. The tough screen is QUICK but small. Seats are OK. Switch locations are good. EVERYTHING just looks BLAH. Design is just BLAH. And $65,000.00 for this Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha. Well lets see, next December it should be $45,000.00 to $50,000.00. I really wish I could go back to a Silverado but NO WAY, just cant do it don’t like the look. Everyone has different tastes so maybe to some this is great. I hope so for GM sake.
We always do learn how the masses like vehicles these days.
car and driver don’t have any clue about pickup stay in a car and let the real man drive the pickup,,
As a GM Loyalist, I’m disappointed.
I like the power, style and the strenght of the Silver, but I just can’t believe a 4 years-old Ford looks sharper and more refined.
Many people today no longer see trucks as Work Trucks, GM.
For a company that says it’s focus is on SUVs and trucks, that dash is probably the worst mistake of the “new” GM.
As the biggest Silverado fan out here I have been saying this all along GM drop the ball on these trucks yes they add some new FEATURES but then they left some out yes they lighting the truck up but it still gets bad fuel economy yes they made it look different but did they do to much or not enough. I have heard some reviewer say the ride QUALITY was okay but where gm could have pick up some points in is in the interior I dont think a lot of the reviews would be so bad if they just didn’t listen to those 7 thousand but also study why people buy other brands to.
Here a honest review of motortrend, what in the world are you thinking buying a Z71 package Silverado and comparing it to a regular ford and ram? Duh it’s going to be riding more like Jeep and less like Porsche, but wait, you arnt smart enough to tell that! The new Silverado has excellent chasis tuning, and the Z71 with off road tread tires and rancho shocs is super capable and floats on trails and dirt roads. If you want a road truck, don’t get the off road package. The ford i an assuming had road shocks and standard tires, which weigh in almost half of an all terrain tire. Motortrend was just as stupid when they gave the traverse last place for a comparison test that it won’t hands down in the numbers, but they said it “felt too much like a truck” they lost their man card in my opinion
I know I keep beating a dead horse for years now on this site but everything I have been saying for years is coming back to bite GM in the you know what. Consumers now want everything and are willing to pay for it.
The GM 1500’s have a steering wheel Mounted shifter still not just on the Workhorse trims but on the higher end ones as well. That is simply ludicrous.
They went with an 8 inch Infotainment screen and they thought that would suffice in todays market?
Fisher-Price must be making a Killing from GM since they must be the Plastics provider to them.
There is no Panoramic roof option. Like what was GM thinking.
Ram is Genius in my mind. They figured out that a lot of people get Pickup trucks because they need them. But a lot of people buy them because they want to and do not need them necessarily. To those people Ram is offering them the world basically at the same prices that GM is selling 10 year old interior Looks and or Tech.
Simply not good enough. The person responsible for the 1500’s should be fired ASAP unless he was pushing for more and was told absolutely not by Cheap GM.
GM needs to quickly figure out that Interior design but especially quality is what todays buyers are looking for along with the latest and greatest Car Tech. If they cannot figure this one out ASAP, we may see GM go down once again.
The Edmunds comparison test was posted on this site on Aug 31. Now this site is posting Car and Driver’s test?
Who’s comparison test is going to be next? How about making it GMA’s own test!
I like craft beer and when another craft beer fan asks me how a particular beer tastes. I do not respond that Joe or Bob does or does not like it, would any one else?
Do your own comparison GMA, or is the temptation to bash GM too irresistible?
…it would give you complete freedom (scary)!
When you sell 800,000 copies of anything you are likely to have conflict of opinion from consumers of the things that matter and the things that don’t. Hell, we see it on this forum everyday. WE are a small representation of the market as a whole.
Ram offers 3 different Center IP arrangements, assigned to different trim levels, to meet the customer expectation at each price range. While GM checked the boxes necessary to appease buyers at the lower end of the market, they completely phoned it in for trucks with huge price tags.
As a casual truck owner who appreciates the functionality of having a truck bed, GM must not forget that the World is my Oyster at the $65,000 price point. I do not need a truck but choose to drive one. I could drive an X5, Yukon Denali, A6 or an Aviator for the same money. How does your interior compare to those models?
While I applaud GM for a plethora of trim levels with differentiated exteriors, the interiors are sorely lacking. EVERY publication has made their jab. Let’s hope GM responds swiftly and doesn’t misstep with the new Tahoe/Yukon/Suburban.
If the Tahoe interior is different, GM needs to add to higher trim Silverado ASAP.
I was afraid I was right. I can’t help but feel let down. It’s not the truck doesn’t look good but the fact that they didn’t try to competitive and isn’t leading in any category. I get the real world fuel economy and I prefer that over epa test check marks. I like the truck is bigger and more room. They made good improvements but instead of trying to best themselves they just good enough.. but your paying premium price for it. That’s why it is getting nailed in comparisons.
The review is exactly what I have said, GM built a third place truck. Look at Ram sales, and when the new F-150 comes out in 2020, it will crush them. The harsh ride and vibration comment was very disturbing. The hard seats comment, which is an issue in my 2015, is very disappointing. I like Chevy trucks, my first new truck was a 1975 Chevy Cheyenne. I was looking forward to buying a new Silverado, now I’m not sure. I think GM let us down with this one.
Ram sales are wholly due to the fact that ram is offering 10-15k off the 2019’s. Chevy has no incentives off the 2019’s at this time. It was the same trend in 2014, for those who don’t remember, ford was outselling Chevy for the first 6 months untill GM kicked in the incentives. In such a high dollar machine, incentives sells. The Chevy also isn’t GM’s finnest. If Motortrend had any brains and in the article quote “each manufacturer’s highest truck, they would have chosen the Denali which would have had a closer price match to the ram and featured low profile tires and the continuously dampened chassis, which would have been the smoothest and quietest truck by far. Magazines always cater to their advertisers, and my guess is ram paid them to set up a test where Chevy would loose to the ram and the ford is too outdated to even show.
Here we go listening to what paid critics are telling us, instead of getting our own asses in these trucks and making our own decisions on how it rides drives stops sets ect ect ect, instead of arm chair bench bashing, my ’14 Silverado Z71 now with real AT tires rides better than those crappy GoodYears SRA did from day one, if I wanted a car I would have bought one I bought a truck and if I suddenly wear this one out I’ll see about replacing it with this newer version.
Until you hop in the 2019 and realize everything about the interior except the increased room and rear vents is a direct downgrade from your 2014. My source? Driving them every day, listening to/interacting with real customers every day.
Just maybe GM will have to take the FCA example and do two or three dashboards. Some TRUCK MEN with HUGE BALLS just want POWER no screen and DIRT CHEAP. 700 HP with a heater and a seat. The middle guy with SMALLER BALLS wants a 8″ screen and just does not want to spend $65,000.00. The high end guy with the LITTLE TINY BALLS wants a 15″ screen with the most quite truck and the roof of glass.
All kidding aside, and having NOTHING to do with BALL SIZE. Truck owners want different things. And sure this truck mite, mite fit in the center of the market, GM will loose on the top end. The interior is just to BLAH. Good enough BLAH but
BLAH nevertheless. And NOT good enough for the top. Just redo the dash from the steering wheel to the right DONE.
GM will do nothing after all GM knows exactly what we want, just ask them.
They just might!
Basically, a completely car-biased article with no discussion of real truck capability at all. Clickbait for armchair designers who thing if they sit in a ram for long enough staring at a 20″ screen it will make them a real man. Sorry, if it hasnt happened already, it aint gunna!
I don’t understand the focus on “big screens” either, although I like the wide but not too high screens appearing on some cars. Touch screens don’t work well with gloves on. I would like to see bigger knobs and buttons. I have spent hours over many days driving in extreme cold and whether the seat or the steering wheel was heated was the least of my worries, given all the scraping of ice, the interior glass fogging and getting my power windows unfrozen so they could be opened. (Although I have not experienced the pleasures of cooled seats in hot and muggy climes.)
I can understand the requirement for smaller windows in military vehicles, but the shrinking glass in trucks kills visibility and makes the cab that much more unpleasant to spend time in.
And the Ram just keeps getting closer and closer to eclipsing Chevy in sales. queue the Jaws music!
Some of you keep whistling past the graveyard. You need to wake up. The situation is really that bad. GM trucks simply aren’t competitive anymore.
I’ve had the privilege of driving both the 2018 Ford F150 and the 2019 Ram 1500 on the street (neither of them top model vehicles). While The Ram was big, comfortable and cool in only a way that a Dodge can be (mainly because of the Hemi V8 sound) The Ford was (in my opinion) a better appointed truck. My main gripe with dodge was that stupid rotary shifter. Other than that it was okay. The F150 had a much better interior and overall layout. My honest gripes with ford are the fact that it doesn’t have a factory dual exhaust like the Hemi does, and it’s high power option is the 3.5L Ecoboost. If Chevy’s 6.2L does better MPG than the 3.5L Ecoboost that proves to me that the 3.5L Ecoboost is not the engine for the job and proves my point that a naturally aspirated V8 is more efficient than a forced induction V6 any day. To be honest, I’d rather see a 5.4L variant of the Coyote Gen-3 V8 dropped in the F150 with a 10-speed behind it. Funny enough, that engine is only 0.1L larger than the smallest V8 in the Chevy truck lineup. the 5.3L and definitely smaller than the 5.7L Hemi V8 and with all of that I’m sure it would best both the Silverado and the Ram in power and efficiency.
I know I’m going to get a lot of negative responses out of this but I truly believe that Ford and GM need to take a page out of Dodge’s playbook. No that does not mean they should go to bed with Fiat but they need to simplify their lineup. Dodge is the only company that sells American style cars and it’s working. As archaic as they may be. Dodge still cranks out 800hp street cars and they still sell well for what they are. Dodge has the Challenger, Charger, Durango and Ram trucks. Honestly a complete Dodge lineup should be the Challenger, Charger, Durango, Dakota, Ramcharger, Ram 1500 & Ram HD. Chevy’s lineup should be the Camaro, Chevelle, Trailblazer, Colorado, Blazer, Silverado & Silverado HD and Ford should be the Mustang, Torino, Explorer, Ranger, Bronco, F150 and F-Series Super Duty. What would be even better would be if all three companies changed their engines up a bit to still keep the classic names and numbers but move into a more modern setting. With Dodge, the engines would change over to a 5.2L DOHC V8 and a 5.9L DOHC V8 along with a 426ci Hellephant pushrod V8 for the top of the line high performance cars, Chevrolet would have a 5.0L DOHC V8, a 5.7L DOHC V8 along with a 427ci pushrod V8 for their top of the line performance cars and lastly Ford would have a 5.0L DOHC, a 5.8L DOHC V8 and a 428ci pushrod V8 for their top of the line performance cars. Truthfully, this really isn’t as radical as it sounds seeing that Toyota/Lexus, Nissan and Hyundai all employ V8 engines which include a 5.0L DOHC V8 in Lexus & Hyundai, a 5.6L V8 in Nissan/Infiniti and a 5.7L V8 in Toyota. All of them DOHC and naturally aspirated. Now of course the 7-Liter class V8 top of the line engines are large but not as out of the question as they may seem. Mopar uses a supercharged 6.2L as does GM and Mopar also has a 6.4L and both Mopar & Ford have been rumored to be working on 7-liter V8 skunk work engines so this is not out of the question at all. Not to mention GM just has a 505hp 7.0L Z/28 Camaro running around a few short years ago so lets be real. I think these engines, along with the Ford/GM 10-speed auto and the Mopar Torqueflite 8-speed would yield better performing setups with more power, more efficiency and it would put them on an equal playing field with the rest of the world, not to mention each of these car should receive a base 3.8L DOHC V6 pumping out no less than 350hp. The V8 engines should start at around 475hp-485hp for the 5.0L Ford, the 5.0L Chevy and the 5.2L dodge, the 5.7L Chevy, 5.8L Ford and 5.9L Dodge should be in the 520-540hp range and of course the 7-liter engines should be in the mid 600hp range.
When it comes to the trucks, me personally, I would like to see a little more “classic” influence. Give us some classic two-tones and trim lines. We need a new 5.8L Ford F150 Lightning, a 5.7L Chevy Silverado SS with the red outlined bowties, another V8 Colorado but this time with a 5.0L & and SS package (btw, the Colorado needs to look more like the Silverado and the SS package should be lowered with a performance cowl induction hood, stripes, red outlined bowties, blacked out grille, blacked out LED/HID headlights & taillamps, side exit exhaust in front of the rear tires, 20″ wheels, hard one piece bed cover, performance interior, etc), a new 5.9L Dakota R/T, a 5.2L Ram 1500 Rumble Bee and a 5.9L Daytona. We also need some luxury performance trucks like the return of the F150 Harley Davidson with a 5.8L or a Silverado Cheyenne with a high performance 5.7L and a Ram 1500 SST sport luxury truck with a 5.9L with all three sporting brembo brakes, 22″ wheels, magnetic ride suspension (or the SRT adjustable suspension for the Ram SST) luxury interiors and all of that kind of stuff. We also need some real off road trucks such as a V8 powered non dune jumping Raptor F150, Ranger Raptor, a Silverado 4×4 Scottdale, a Colorado ZR2, a Ram Rebel and a Dakota Rebel. The Bronco should be ranger based, the Blazer should be Colorado based and the Ramcharger should be Dakota based, all sporting a base 3.8L V6, an optional 5.0 or 5.2L V8, and a V6 turbo diesel setup. The Explorer, the Trailblazer and the Durango need three engine options (3.8L V6 base models and luxury models, 5.0L Explorer GT, 5.0L Trailblazer RS and 5.2L Durango R/T and the 5.8L Explorer Cobra, the 5.7L Trailblazer SS and the 5.9L Durango Super Bee) This is how you make simple and efficient vehicles. No turbos, no forced induction, no hybrids, no electric. For those lineups, Ford has Lincoln, GM has Buick and FCA has Chrysler. I could easily see Chrysler resurrecting the lineup of the 300M, the Concorde, the LHS, the Pacifica and even the Aspen and the LeBaron. Sleek, seductive vehicles just like they were before but all hybrids with smooth, luxurious AWD and twin turbo V6 hybrid enignes pushing numbers of 430-450hp and upwards of 550lb-ft of torque to compete with the Lincoln 3.0L Hybrid and I’m sure GM would do similar numbers with Buick Hybrids to compete with Lincoln. GM has the advantage of having two other lineups in its umbrella being GMC and Cadillac, just as FCA has Jeep. Lincoln needs to expand its lineup to include an actual luxury truck as well as a hyrbid luxury sports coupe and sedan combo with the 3.0L Hybrid 450hp/600tq AWD Grant Touring setup With names such as the Mark-Ten coupe and the Zephyr sedan. Jeep is already doing what it needs to as a brand, bringing back the Grand Wagoneer, the Wagoneer and the Gladiator pickup, now needing a 1500-Series Honcho to fill the void as the Cherokee, Grand Cherokee, Wrangler and Wrangler Unlimited make up the rest of the lineup with the Jeep Compass as well. My thoughts would be to get rid of the Compass, Give the Cherokee the look of a baby Grand Cherokee, along with a hybrid 2.0L turbo 4-cylinder along with a 3.8L DOHC V6 with a RWD platform but AWD only, give the Grand Cherokee the 3.8L DOHC as the base engine with all wheel drive and the 5.2L and 5.9L DOHC V8 options with AWD only, The Wagoneer should get a Hybrid 3.8L V6 and the 5.2L V8, the Grand Wagoneer should get a Hybrid 3.8L and a Hybrid 5.9L and the Wrangler would get the standard 3.8L V6 and a Diesel V6 while the Honcho 1500 would get the 3.8L a Diesel option, a 5.2L V8 and a 5.9L V8. With this lineup, everyone is pretty much on par with the rest of the world, newer tech, smaller engines, more power, lineups for hybrids and electric vehicles, muscle cars, commuters, entry level luxury, high end luxury, luxury hyper cars (cadillac) and trucks and everyone is happy. No emissions scandals or anything else, just cars that will cater to at least someone in every single lineup.
I agree, outside of trucks GM thinks that Chevy buyers want 2 cramped v8 coupes and have the lamest 4-doors in thier class. A sport option on the Malibu also an Alpha-based Impala with engines from 2.0t- 6.6v8 would excite and bring performance buyers on a budget for the low-end. I’d add a Camaro with a “Nomad” wagon rear and a Camaro “El Camino” pick-up rear and since the Cruze is gone a CT4 based Nova will 2.5 4 to 5.3 v8 power . And GM is just leaving money on the table without a Vette based Sedan and CUV to add to the ME Vette and Stingray..
Another thing. I honestly feel that GM, Ford and Dodge should focus their luxury truck lineups to GMC and Lincoln. Seeing that people are willing to pay for a Luxury truck just switch the Luxury truck Focus to the GMC Sierra Denali, a Lincoln Galleon (makes sense) and a Jeep Honcho 1500 Summit. This way, the Silverado, the F150, and the Ram 1500 can focus on being trucks. I could see the Jeep Honcho 1500 being just as luxurious as what FCA was planning for the Grand Wagoneer being and it being more luxurious than the Ram 1500 Limited. Now that doesn’t mean get rid of the King Ranch F150 or the Laramie Longhorn Ram 1500 or anything like that. But the Platinum & Limited F150, the High Country Silverado and the Limited Ram 1500 could all see their efforts put into their Luxury counterparts such as Lincoln, GMC Denali and Jeep. Just saying. They’d still have all of the full beard toughness, just cleaned up nicely.
Apparently, you don’t understand the industry all that well. If people are willing to pay $65,000+ for a mass market branded truck (Ford, Chevy, Ram) – and they are – why wouldn’t they just make the very same top-tier trims they already do? If you want a “real truck”, you can special order a work truck or something. I, on the other hand, am more likely to go with a middle-range to mid-upper range truck because I’d be using it as a daily driver and enjoy the amenities those trim levels bring.
These things can tow upwards of 13,000 pounds these days. Their payloads are incredible. Fuel efficiency in most trucks these days is surprising. Trucks are enjoyable to spend time in because they’re comfortable, easy to steer, track straight down the highway, and have a ton of features. They’re still trucks no matter how you decide to spin it, and you can still get your ass-basic trip back to 1995 if you want it.
On the upper end of trim levels, EG. eclipsing $60,000 as trucks do these days, people are entirely right to expect luxury car trimmings inside. The 2019 Silverado 1500 High Country wouldn’t deliver in its wildest dreams, unfortunately. If they had simply taken most of the materials – eg. that fake but fairly convincing leather-look stuff from the 2014-2018s – and shoved it in these new trucks, it would have done a lot by itself, but not even that was done. We’re stuck with acres of Fisher-Price quality black plastic, poorly fit trim, cheap-feeling buttons, and a screen that looks WAY too small for something that grew in size this much. Not to mention all the features you give up versus a $65,000 Ram 1500 or Ford F150.
Ford F series always was and will be the best. That’s why the best never rest. Ford is always improving to better not like gm improving for cheap cheaper cheapest.
I leased Silverado HDs regularly for decades, changing them every two years up until 2010. After a pause I am now back in the market. In previous times I would get the highest trim that still had bench seats and loaded it with options, including expensive aftermarket Transferflow replacements for the smallish OEM fuel tank. So I am not shy of paying a high price, but for that I would like to get what I want. Enough so that I will likely get one of the new 2500HDs when they are available half way through 2019 – and pay to have an outside party do the interior to my liking. There are companies that will make changes to suspension, increase the engine power or provide higher quality audio. so there may be a market for upgrading the interiors on these trucks. They would not be able to do much about the poor visibility, but the fuel tank could be replaced and everything in the interior could be fair game. I want bigger buttons and knobs, lower profile screens (wider, not so tall), more leather everywhere, fewer controls on the steering wheel, more cameras so I can see up front, a rear power window that goes down totally just as side windows do and bench seats, and am ready to pay for that customization. In 1970 I had a Jeep 3/4 ton pickup and installed Bostrom suspension seats in it that could be adjusted to the driver’s or passenger’s weight (they were fabulous ). Maybe some of the custom limo makers might take on such projects.
GM was told many years ago to stop using focus groups and instead go to your dealers and their people to determine what works and does not work in a truck. I agree with the comment above that a pure work truck does not need a big screen TV in the dash but at top of the line Denali or High Country better look the part. I could go on all day about putting a better quality seat in every truck but when I sit in the top line units I want a lot better than what GM has had for the last several trucks. I can’t imagine how uncomfortable these seats are for big men over 6 feet and 250 pounds. The first thing that came to my mind when I saw this center stack in the last new truck was “cartoon characters” but I really like the look of my Yukon Denali center stack. It’s sad that C&D is in love with fake wood and fake chrome but I think they really miss the mark are many things that GM has always done better than anyone, Ford and Dodge gear shifters have always felt cheap and I have a hard time getting a Ford from park to drive without ending up in low, GM has always been solid on so many fronts. The whole industry has been playing catch up to GM on powertrain, this is the second V8 engine platform since 1955, the 4.3L V6 (should be 4.8L V8 instead) is still based on a block that was designed in the 50s! GM engineering has done some great things but the design team has fallen short. Going back to the focus group….who green lighted the 1990 Impala?
“GM was told many years ago to stop using focus groups and instead go to your dealers”
Dealers are just another closed cell of people that don’t represent the market. You’re right back at square one with another focus group; a focus group that just so happens to sell cars.
Dealers only know how to sell things, but they don’t have a sweet clue what the consumer wants.
Besides, the world won’t have a need for dealers in 20 years from now, just like we don’t need realtors or travel agents; redundant positions that can be done by a computer. Dealers aren’t even required to sell a car in this country, so that kind of a disconnection from the reality of the market should tell you what place a dealer should have in dictating what will become of the car of tomorrow…
cars the people want, not cars that a dealer thinks will be easier to sell. GM is after the consumer’s dollar, not the dealers.
Dealers are not on the cutting edge of anything.
Lastly….
“this is the second V8 engine platfrom since 1955”
The GM small block is currently in its 5th generation, the Mk2 LT block released in 2013, and it doesn’t share a single damn part with the original block from 1955.
I for sure agree with you on the dealers would NOT help in design. I also HOPE it will not take 20 years to get rid of the dealers. GM would be SO SO far ahead if they let the CUSTOMER chose the TECH of there choice. But I will say it again GM HAS ZERO CUSTOMER SERVICE.
As far as design, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. However WHY can’t GM send questionnaires to ALL brands of truck owners.
The grill on this truck is huge do you like that?
What do you like most of the current truck you own?
What feature or features would convince you to try a different brand?
What truck brand did you own before the one you own currently?
Out of all the uses for your truck, what is the most you use your truck for?
GM cant even get that from current truck owners. When I bought mine I received one questionnaire at 2000 miles asking how I like my new truck. Are you serious, at 2000 miles its brand new.
WHO are these people making these decisions for GM, because they are terrible at there job. The same reason you cant sell sedans is slowly coming true of your trucks. You GM are designing products people do not want. Sure GM sell a lot of vehicles but every year it is less % than the year before. It sure is a good thing GM can sell vehicles in China
If you look back at GMs glory days they designed vehicles not by using any sort of focus groups but by talented designers and engineers with the backup of leadership that had vision. Sadly none of that is happening today. I’m not saying that a great many of the employees at the GM Tech Center are not talented. It is just that today you don’t get anywhere in GM by being a political boat rocker. It has become a go along to get along world there and heaven help anyone who steps outside the lines. Especially any of Mary Barra’s touchy feely “new GM” stuff. Heaven forbid someone walk and look at their cell phone but be a great engineer, stylist or technician!
Regarding C&D and fake wood, it is not only them, it seems all the new generation of car and truck writers are fixated on the same things when it comes to the interiors. For some reason “hard plastic” is bad. On the other hand “soft plastic” is a sign they say of new thinking and quality. I wonder what acts they expect to perform in a work truck that would make soft plastic so necessary in places that would normally not be touched. Doesn’t the file cabinet between the seats already hamper making babies?
It’s because, literally speaking, soft-touch plastics tend to hold up better, only cost a relatively little bit more, help hide road noise, and certainly feel a hell of a lot better. Properly done, they also simply look better. They ARE the sign of actually spending a bit of time and money on the interiors where people spend their time.
You need to realize that this article specifically addresses the top end of the truck segment. The $60,000+ profit machines that are the real drivers of these companies’ success. People are entirely right to expect luxury car trimmings inside at this price point. The 2019 Silverado 1500 High Country wouldn’t deliver in its wildest dreams, unfortunately. If they had simply taken most of the materials – eg. that fake but fairly convincing leather-look stuff from the 2014-2018s – and shoved it in these new trucks, it would have done a lot by itself, but not even that was done. We’re stuck with acres of Fisher-Price quality black plastic, poorly fit trim, cheap-feeling buttons, and a screen that looks WAY too small for something that grew in size this much. Not to mention all the features you give up versus a $65,000 Ram 1500 or Ford F150.
The thing is, I hear all these people talking about how much they hate the interior of K2 and T1 trucks, as if it was gospel truth. It isn’t. With my K2 Silverado, I have never once gotten in my truck and thought anything bad about the interior. It simply works and does the job. I don’t want it to do ANY more than that. There are lots of people out there, me included, that like the interior just fine. Perhaps the common denominator is that we aren’t High Country buyers with remorse over spending 60-70k on a truck. I bought my LT 4×4 all star for 37k. This is a vehicle that I use to tow my drift boat to the river and get mud all over the inside, then every few weeks wipe it down with rags and rubbing alcohol and vacuum it out. I had one rattle in 3 years under the dash and I diagnosed it myself, pulled off the under panel and tightened a few bolts, rattle gone. Otherwise not a single issue with a single part in the interior. And I have no sympathy for people who spend twice as much on essentially the same truck (high country) and somehow expect that its going to have a completely different interior. It never will, and it shouldn’t. Except the high end luxury buyers are disproportionately represented on the internet and forums wailing about how their big pricey new luxo-barge doesn’t have enough soft touch plastic and doesn’t have a big enough screen. It’s absolutely comical and for every second they spend doing that, I’m probably out fishing, not thinking at all about how “terrible” my Silverados interior is. Just think, for every comment on this site or any other internet hub crying about the trucks, there is another guy out there enjoying his truck and, life.
You know the Jaws music Edward M Pate mentioned a couple of comments above yours? If they ever make a Jaws Silverado movie, you’ll be the first to die.
Haha. Maybe. If that ever becomes true, hopefully I will have chosen to live my life and drive my truck, not complain about it on an internet form.
19 Silverado looks are under review let’s see how it all plays out, refreshed interior and front end and body side will do it some good and fix vibration and shifting issues Them trucks will I repeat WILL be great and 1# seller!!!!!
General Motors CEO Mary Barra’s solution to this type of criticism is simple, begin building the Chevrolet Silverado in Mexico or China to increase the profit margin on each vehicle sold even further.
If GM was offering their inferior products at a significantly lower “value” price, many of these issues could be mitigated. Instead, GM cuts obvious corners in a thousand different ways, and then prices their vehicles as high as possible. That just makes the flaws that much more obvious. I’d like to read or see an interview with Barra and have someone take her to task for this crap!
Who anointed Car & Driver the Wizards of Smart when it comes to vehicle comparison tests? The level of subjectivity evident in these types of tests is appalling, and results in evaluations and outcomes that – in my opinion – provide only the slightest help to purchasers. If anything, magazine publishers are more interested in the flow of advertising and promotional dollars from all vehicle manufacturers, which usually requires unsubstantiated enthusiasm for second-tier products. Like RAM.
Average annual repair cost:
Silverado: $657
Ram: 599
F150: 779
Tundra: 586
Average number of repairs needed per year:
Silverado-0.3
Ram- 0.2
F150- 0.4
Tundra- 0.3
https://repairpal.com/
Bottom line? Fords are expensive to repair and break down more often. Otherwise, it’s a wash, pick your favorite truck and just drive it.
Wow i’m shocked! Not
Look at payload ratings. “Luxury” trucks have unusable soft suspensions and paltry payload capacities. The Silverado as tested @1590 lbs has a payload 440 lbs higher than the F150 @1150 lbs and 600 lbs higher than the Ram @990 lbs (both of which would have a pretty maxed out payload just by towing a trailer). I’m not the biggest fan of the Chevy redesign (and any luxury truck makes little rational sense), but the Silverado (as tested) would be the choice for those who want a truck…not a man sedan.
I have a 2009 Silver LT 4×4 and I ride her hard everyday. I do about 30k miles a year and am at 175k total. Ive replaced the wheel bearings so far and thats it. I work masonry and the truck def gets used a lot. I remember putting a pallet if mortar on it, thats 2400lbs plus my tools and myself and while she “bounced” a bit like everyone seems to complain about, she made the journey!
In comparison I was given a 2018 F150 rental because my Chevy was in the shop, was backed into. The rental had half the miles and whilenit was a smoother ride in city, it felt like it tried to steer for me in winding country roads and I didnt care for that. Among other things with the Ford, I found myself longing for the feel of my Chevy.
I bought my truck unbiased and had no prefence. And I know Im not talking any fancy edition here, just saying.
There are many good comments that have been made on this blog. I think GM should maybe poll a larger buyer segment of potential and existing truck owners. Really analyze what the buyers like/dislike about the truck. I say give buyers the option to order trucks they want, the way they want them. Do away with these easy order packages, after all the trucks still come down the same assembly line, the only difference is the number and type of options. And, the buyer is willing to pay the cost, so if it costs more to manufacture, GM isn’t paying the buyer is! Regarding the interior, yes refinement needs to improve. What ever happened to push pull headlight switches? What could be easier? What about a high beam floor switch like the old days? The headlamp switch as it is today, is ergonomically bad as one has to bend their wrist in an awkward fashion to operate, which is uncomfortable when turning the switch. I’d like to see the transmission shifter on the console floor. It’s more ergonomically correct and easier to shift gears! The truck definitely looks much more appealing with a floor shifter as well! After all why does the Colorado have a floor shifter? And for those fans who want a nice large console, are you really going to fill it up? And those who argue one can seat 3 passengers across the front seat, I have never seen 3 passengers in the front seat of any make of truck, and who would anyway these days? I challenge any manufacturer to provide a nice colour coded section in the owners manual that easily lists all the required maintenance parts required for maintenance, especially fluids and bulbs. And lastly, why does GM manufacture two identical trucks with two different nameplates? Reduce costs and make ONE GM truck……didn’t Ford eliminate the mercury line? Case closed. And when the heck is GM going to release specs for the new inline Diesel? What are they waiting for? Cheers everyone!
“…they want, the way they want them…” Yes. I was expecting that with the increase in robots and computer controls that a manufacturer would be able to tailor cars and trucks to individuals much better, so we would not be stuck with these “easy order” packages that too often have things in them that we not only do not want, but we despise.
Buyers think differently, I want that middle seat free and the shifter on the column so that my girl can sit there, my dog can sit there, I can get the feeling of more room than if there is a barrier between the seats on the floor, I have a place to put a pack on the floor when I am carrying five guys on a hunting party and don’t want to throw the pack in the bed, … I don’t mind the Colorado with the floor shifter because it is a smaller truck and I don’t expect to have the same feeling of roominess, although I don’t like it in that case either. (Some of the upper trim levels need the center console because electronics are hidden in it. I hate it enough that I would pay to have it removed and bucket seats replaced on my next truck.)
I have the 2019 high country, just had 2017 ltz, 2019 is bigger, quieter, smoother, I love the look, dusk exhaust sounds good. Only dislikes are the shifter is very difficult, kind of hard seats, and tilting steering wheel mechanism. My wife’s Tahoe has the electric tilt button which is so nice, why is that not on the Silverado??? Other than that I’m happy I love it, Looks great I get so many comments.
Have a 2019 RST,thought Gm got it right with the looks of this truck.But I was wrong when this truck goes over bumps the whole truck shakes violently.Feels likes you are going to lose control of the truck when there are numerous bumps in a row.Traded in a 2015 Z71 Lt for this this truck,boy do I wish a had that truck back. If there are no fixes for this issue,this will be my last chevy I buy.Gm should have never let this truck off the assembly line.Had a 1997 chevy 3/4 ton truck that rode rough roads better then this truck.