possible upgrade from 2018 Silverado LT TexasEdition CCSB to 2024 Sierra elevation CCSB

anthonymason59223051 · September 9

the 2018 Summit White Silverado is a 5.3/6L80 4x4 with 104k on the odometer. purchased at 77,500 in february 2021 with a 3yr/30k extended warranty, 2" RC leveling struts and front end completely rebuilt during install (RC upper control arms for correcting joint angle up to 3.5 lift, ACDelco lower ball joints, inner and outer tie rods, moog sway bar links and bar bushings). S&B closed box CAI, custom axle-dump magnaflow exhaust with flapper valve delete, custom tune using HPTuners (done around 90k) to disable AFM, remapped shift points and TC lock-up (no lock up until 5 and 6th gear). pill flip on trans thermostat. grill shutter delete. 1.5" spacers on stock 17' 5spoke wheels with Bridgestone Dueler AT Revo3's in LT265/70R17. service history showed a AFM lifter failure at 22k. all necessary parts replaced long before i purchased. less than a week of ownership, another lifter failure needing camshaft, all afm lifters, oil manifold, and gaskets. 2 rounds of lifter failure before 80k.

the spec of Sierra i am eyeballing is a 2024 Elevation 4x4 in either ThunderStorm Gray or Sterling Silver Metallic with the 3.0L baby duramax and a 10spd, bucket seats with leather. any other options dont really matter to me. the leather buckets already bring all i would add.

the reasons we are highly considering upgrading are:

1. wife has a minor back injury and heated seats would be a lifesaver for her

2. leather is easier to clean than cloth for minor spills and day-to-day dirt. (correct me if i am mistaken)

3. 6L80e i dont have a lot of faith in.

4. the silverado gets 18mpg on the highway where my buddy's 2024 silverado with the duramax gets 24 in the city while pulling a boat.

5. i still owe on the silverado for another 3 years knowing another round of lifter failure can happen any day, and tc can go tomorrow, no warranty. would be cheaper to buy a beater than to repair

6. a new truck would come with warranty, roadside assistance, and a loaner while in shop if ever needed.

7. i want a new, nicer optioned vehicle and imho the sierras looks WAY better than the silverados even though they are basically the same truck

i guess this post is to have you guys weigh in with your opinions, what to look out for, if it is even worth looking into more than a hopeless pipedream, should i keep what i have or any other suggestions?

TNTSierra · September 10

I had the T1 body style, a 2019 High Country, really liked it at first, then realized it was all FLUFF. Until GM offers a new powertrain, and better riding truck, I'll keep my Denali. It rides better, the @$$ end doesn't bounce around like my High Country did. Plus, I get around 3-4 mpgs better in fuel economy with my Denali 6.2L then my HC 6.2L. I will say the only thing that is truly amazing in the new trucks is the 10 speed tranny. It was phenomenal..

Choice is yours, the new Duramax is very nice, but NONE of these new trucks are worth the price they are asking for them! Plain and simple in my opinion.

JimCost2014 · September 10

I am sure you have more reasons than just the 7 listed, pull the trigger and go new, you live once, it is your money (truck), so do what makes you happy.

Enjoy the 24!!!

newdude · September 10

Are you negative on yours or do you have any equity in your trade? AKA how much of the 3 years you owe now will roll into the new truck, assuming trading won't pay it off?

I see no reasons not to trade out of a truck that may give you problems sooner rather than later, just make sure its comfortable on your wallet is all.

anthonymason59223051 · September 11

12 hours ago, TNTSierra said:

I had the T1 body style, a 2019 High Country, really liked it at first, then realized it was all FLUFF. Until GM offers a new powertrain, and better riding truck, I'll keep my Denali. It rides better, the @$$ end doesn't bounce around like my High Country did. Plus, I get around 3-4 mpgs better in fuel economy with my Denali 6.2L then my HC 6.2L. I will say the only thing that is truly amazing in the new trucks is the 10 speed tranny. It was phenomenal..

Choice is yours, the new Duramax is very nice, but NONE of these new trucks are worth the price they are asking for them! Plain and simple in my opinion.

my main concern is with the reliability of the 6L80 and the AFM lifters. my truck has had 2 sets of lifters and the trans is fine for now, i would hate to have either happen and have a repair bill in the thousands and still pay a monthly note...

anthonymason59223051 · September 11

8 hours ago, JimCost2014 said:

I am sure you have more reasons than just the 7 listed, pull the trigger and go new, you live once, it is your money (truck), so do what makes you happy.

Enjoy the 24!!!

there are more reasons for thinking about it sure! at least for the options i am looking for. reason i have to have the buckets with console is i have a baby on the way. rear vents are a necessity and the 40/20/40 split bench doesnt offer them. leather for ease of cleaning. i love my truck and so does my wife. our truck now is our primary vehicle when it comes to trips more than going to the grocery store. her back injury makes it very uncomfortable for extended periods in her 2018 malibu. we live in OKC and my family resides in Tulsa. her family lives closer to Joplin.

anthonymason59223051 · September 11

8 hours ago, newdude said:

Are you negative on yours or do you have any equity in your trade? AKA how much of the 3 years you owe now will roll into the new truck, assuming trading won't pay it off?

I see no reasons not to trade out of a truck that may give you problems sooner rather than later, just make sure its comfortable on your wallet is all.

i have some equity depending on what is offered as trade-in value. pay-off is a little under 14k. i tried to be smart and pay extra when we could afford to do so. our credit union the more you pay, the lower your minimum payments are, but we continue paying what the initial payment was when we got it. KBB shows 18-21k trade-in and NADA shows 20-23k. im not the type to "dont lowball, i know what i have" but i actually know what i have and what it is worth, if a dealer offers around or even a little lower than that i might do it. i have good credit, and i just missed out on a killer deal a little bit ago with the incentives the 10k off MSRP that GM was offering. i just was not in a position to pull that trigger yet. when the incentives roll back in or another deal comes up, i might just jump at the opportunity.

TNTSierra · Wednesday at 01:22 PM

10 hours ago, anthonymason59223051 said:

i have some equity depending on what is offered as trade-in value. pay-off is a little under 14k. i tried to be smart and pay extra when we could afford to do so. our credit union the more you pay, the lower your minimum payments are, but we continue paying what the initial payment was when we got it. KBB shows 18-21k trade-in and NADA shows 20-23k. im not the type to "dont lowball, i know what i have" but i actually know what i have and what it is worth, if a dealer offers around or even a little lower than that i might do it. i have good credit, and i just missed out on a killer deal a little bit ago with the incentives the 10k off MSRP that GM was offering. i just was not in a position to pull that trigger yet. when the incentives roll back in or another deal comes up, i might just jump at the opportunity.

If they have $10k off a new truck then by all means do it if you can afford it!! Here in the Midwest I do not see $10K off. Heck the most I have seen is $4500 at the dealership in town and around the area. GM needs to get with the program with performance, ride quality, seat comfort! Fancy paint and same HP/TQ numbers from 2014 don't do it for me!!! Their new Small Block V8's need to get here ASAP. Good luck with your decision

anthonymason59223051 · Thursday at 12:12 AM

10 hours ago, TNTSierra said:

If they have $10k off a new truck then by all means do it if you can afford it!! Here in the Midwest I do not see $10K off. Heck the most I have seen is $4500 at the dealership in town and around the area. GM needs to get with the program with performance, ride quality, seat comfort! Fancy paint and same HP/TQ numbers from 2014 don't do it for me!!! Their new Small Block V8's need to get here ASAP. Good luck with your decision

they had one a couple months ago on a saturday that i was eyeballing on the lot with 11 miles on it, everything i was looking for but had the 5.3 instead of the 3.0 duramax. leather buckets, thunderstorm grey 4x4 GMC Elevation for under 54k. the next monday, we went back, decided to get it even though it wasnt the engine i wanted. sticker price went to just shy of 64k. salesman informed us of the incentive program that just passed. didnt want to tell us the previous saturday bc his cut was going to be much smaller if we had gotten it. screw that guy lol