What would you do? (GM vs Toyota question)

I personally think this is based on the opinion of hybrid owners, to support the expense. To me... it is more complications to happen. (and keeps you off the initial recall list, sorry, not sorry). As long as it is the SR5 or higher with the full power enabled combustion motor. I pulled my 24' race ready car trailer behind my 22 Limited a few weeks back with an old 65 Chevy II in it with tools and generator, and it pulled like there was no drag behind it. These motors with the gearing in the transmission are far enough for the capacity they are rated for.

Some thoughts (and opinion of a non-hybrid owner).


Mike

 

Cost to trade is certainly a consideration. As far as "trust", despite the drama surrounding motor failures in the generation three Tunda, Toyota still has a better reputation than their competitors for reliability, and more importantly standing behind their product. Manufacturers aside, going from a 2020 to a 2025, has to be better for you, apart from the cost of course. We are living in a warranty world. In the case of the Toyota, you could warranty a new truck for ten years at an "affordable" cost. How old will you be then? That would be my choice. At my age, I won't need many, if any more trux.....Good luck.

 

Agreed, I personally did not want the hybrid. I have no need for the extra power, and I wanted the additional storage. I actually got everything I needed with the SR5 and was able to save an extra $10k by avoiding things I did not want at all (hybrid, leather, moonroof). Plus, the SR5 I got had the TRD Factory Lift on it. No brainer for me.

 

Recall is only 22 and very early 23. So OP wouldn’t be included in recall regardless of what he gets so…..

 

Get rid of that GM before it dies. My 2013 used 2 quarts between 3500 mile oil changes and the lifters crapped out right about 48k. They fixed it under warranty in 2016 but if I had gone another 2000 miles I would have been SOL. Go with a 2025 SR5 Crew. Forget the hybrid, buy an extended warranty, and drive it like you stole it. Nobody really likes to go into debt, but sometimes you gotta do it.

 

This is honestly why I am so divided on what to do. I have contemplated adding the delete, but at 58k miles, am I too late? The super chips one shuts off AFM and Auto Start stop, which I'm inclined to go with. At this stage of my life I would REALLY love to just finish paying it off (less than a year) and run it for a while longer. It's leveled, clear bra, brand new AT4/Ws, bed cover, etc. which ALL adds immensely to the cost of a new one. I also was told to add some Lucas High mileage oil stabilizer by my friend at GM, but...someone also said not to add it, because if GM can tell I did, they may void the rest of my warranty. Thanks for the insight! I appreciate it immensely! It may not sound like it, but my preferred truck is a paid off one so I can get ready for twin young drivers in a few years.

 

5k ish but may just go down to 4500 to be safe and wait a bit before doing anything trade wise.

 

It's never too late as long as it hasn't gone bad yet. Once you lose a lifter, you're done. Engine tear down to the block, heads come off, fix, do the mechanical delete for the AFM, then put back together. I wish I could be that close to be paying my truck off. Like I said, see if you can get the oil situation handled, maybe try another dealer, and go from there. If is 100% unfixable and it bothers you that much, it would to me, then you have to bite the bullet and move on. Any truck nowadays is over priced. You got people paying 3/4ton truck prices for a 1/2 ton. Guy at work bought a Tundra Pro, garbage, dealer cant fix it so it's a lemon. Cost him $92k. Another is waiting on an engine, $55k for that one.

 

Yes, I have a 2024 GMC Elevation with the 3.0 Duramax in it. I bounce back and forth, most of time is spent in HD trucks, but I do own 1/2 tons from time to time. I have 30,800 miles on it and absolutely love it, with the engine being the star. It does not have that initial pop when you step on it like a gas, a smooth diesel take-off. But this thing pulls hard in the mid-range and will move for what it is. I am easy on mine and baby it, but I have averaged 25.8 MPG over the life of it and that is me calculating it, not the dash. I go through about 4.5 gallons of DEF for every 7,000 miles.

I have had absolutely no problems, and the 10-speed is super smooth and dialed. Always in right gear, never feel it shift. I have towed 5-7k behind it a good bit and it handles it very well. GM has went to a new progressive spring in the rear and it is pretty good. The rear of the new GMC's feel a little softer than the Tundra, but are a little stronger and do not squat as much when loaded.

The other thing I love is the GMC dash and infotainment in it. The dash is all-digital even for being a lower trim, and the infotainment in it is great. It is really useful and easy and in my opinion better than the new Tundras. The sound system even for a base model is light years better than the system in my Tundra Platinum.

 

Thank you so much, this is super helpful! Would you go the 3.0 route even if you didn’t tow/push it? Seems as long as I get regens in and freeway it once or twice a week minimum I may still keep the emissions in a good spot? The MPG benefit is huge, but…diesel is .70c more per gallon where I am, so trying to weigh that, plus engine cost, and if it makes sense.

Maybe I kill the DFM/Auto Start stop, monitor the oil, and see where I end up as recommended by several here too. I don’t hate my current truck at all…just concerned.

 

Friend at work has one. It's really a nice truck. To me hands down, GM has the best front ends right now. Yes, for being a lower trim the interior is decked out. He says he gets around 27-29mpg and it tows his trailer fine until a trailer passes him. Be he's pretty weighed down on that trailer. Truck drives nice and it gets up and goes but not like a gas engine. GM really didn't do right by the consumers though with a belt driven oil pump on the 3.0 DM. But I hear good things about the new 3.0 DM. We also have a loaner 24 F150 at work, basic model, p/w, p/l, cloth seat and a 5.0 Coyote w/10speed. That thing moves, wow. It also has a all digital dash. But the truck it self isn't that great to look at, still looks basic to me.

 

Point 1: I've owned 14 Toyotas over the past 45 years. Looking back, there isn't a single one that made me wish I'd gotten an extended warranty. Point 2: The TTV6 has plenty of power, and my SR5 returns 20 mpg pretty easily--more if I work at it. Point 3: I wouldn't spend the extra money on a hybrid, they just aren't worth it. Point 4: That truck you're looking at has the convenience package which includes the 32 gallon fuel tank, a desirable option. Point 5: Best of luck!

 

Not what would I do. But what I did. In 2014 I went from Chevrolet to Toyota. Because of engine problems with truck, haven't looked back.

 

We've all spent money on GM. Like 10 billion dollars of bailout money, so they could build every vehicle possible in foreign countries!

 

I can't tease apart the 6.2 issues. Are the issues common or rare but noisy because they sell so many of that motor? I can't find any stats i.e., 100K bad of those 10% are failing?

 

This lines up with the comments above too, about engines issues happening everywhere with everyone and you just pick your "poison."

 

Since I still have a bit of warranty maybe this is the "smart/responsible" decision, lol. Not the fun one by any means...as my buddies have been preaching about Toyotas for years, but...perhaps the right one.

 

I love my new 24 LZO Duramax High Country. I traded in a '23 Hybrid 1794, that I liked, but the family would get car sick in and I did an oil change at 14k miles and had more glitter on my hands than a night in Vegas....

So, I traded the vehicle off and am enjoying 25mpg+ average fuel economy in the DC area with 70% city driving. Highway is easy 29-31 range depending on speeds out here on the east coast.

I'm no fool...there's going to be some GM quality issues down the line, but none of them are as bad as Toyota not even acknowledging the failed engines in the Hybrid.

 

diesel is WAY more expensive here, especially in the winter, doesn't that hit the gains and mostly wash it out?

The lifter thing on the gassers was concerning , but I was looking at the 6.2 AT4 hard, but the seats were a non starter. They tried to sell me on the diesel ,but I just dint have any interest in it all.

 

In WI, diesel is about the same price during warm months. Now in the heating season the difference is about $.60 per gallon. The break-even point is about a 4 mpg difference. I’m getting about 7mpg better in the winter with the GMC vs the Tundra. DEF runs about 1300+ mpg at $3.99 per so that’s nothing.
Winter months=about $150 cheaper to run the diesel at 5,000 miles driven.
Summer months=quadruple that savings as I typically pull 33-35 mpg daily and can hit close to 40 if I try.
Annually the baby Duramax is about $1000 cheaper to feed. Roughly.

 

I’ve been down this road with the 3.6l LLT in my Saturn Outlook (GMC Acadia); although to the LLT’s credit, it does not have AFM. GM DI engines, in general, tend to consume oil (correct me if I’m wrong in assuming OPs engine is DI)

Watch the oil level like a hawk and keep it topped up to “Full”, or just over. I’m not an expert on the AFM issues, but from I understand, poorly engineered lifters are a problem and tuning/deleting the AFM feature electronically is not a cure for potential problems. My Saturn is just over 160k, and while it has been pretty good to us, GMs, in general, do not wear well on the long run. I’m giving the Saturn to my son hoping the car lasts as long as the set of tires I just had installed, which will probably be right around 200k. His choice if he wants to keep it throwing money at it past that. Despite being in good shape and well maintained, the engines and transmissions do not hold up.

That said, if I could afford to, I would dump the Silverado while it still has some value for a clean 2/2.5 gen Tundra.

 

In my neighborhood, I'm seeing about 30 cents a gallon more than regular. Premium is about 60 cents more than diesel.

 

In my town winter diesel is $.60 higher than regular gas but 10 miles up the road it’s only $.35 more. That’s $5 saved per tank of 20 gallons. Anyway, the difference in MPG is huge and the cost of winter fuel doesn’t eat into the savings hardly at all.