Input on Silverado vs Tundra purchase decision?

[Dilldog]

Anymore it really just comes down to what makes you feel better. I would say stay clear of the diesels as exhaust after treatment is a nightmare and will destroy your long term reliability and cost of ownership. For me I would go with the GM. Having been around new Toyotas and new GMs as far as general feel of quality and overall fit and finish I think GM has Toyota beat. My 2011 GMC is an amazingly well put together rig, and my dads 2019 Silverado is extremely nice. A buddy of mine has a 2012 Tundra and its nice, but the interior doesn't feel as special if that makes sense. Some of this could be due to trim level differences, but bottom line GM has really stepped up their game, while Toyota is riding on its reputation (they still make a great product, but they are not king of the hill anymore).
Oh I almost forgot one of the biggest reasons I would buy a rig from a US based MFG. Parts. Most US based MFGs you can get any part the next day in the continental US. I do know Ford is the best at this. Their logistics network was based off and for a short time run by Caterpillar, which is the global benchmark for warehousing and parts logistics.

 

[Wile_Coyote]

I guess so.
A buddy of mine has a 2015 Tacoma that has given his substantial problems. I suppose I have a well put together model, as my 17 CC 4x4 LTZ has been rock solid. Granted, I care for it myself, oil change every 5k. I've got 29k miles, which is pretty low for a nice truck. I have run an Elite Engineering Catch Can, since it had 50 miles on it, which should be on all Direct Injection engines. I've looked at the prices for new trucks, and just can't stomach of paying nearly 45k for a Toyota or even a Chevy Colorado, especially when I have mine paid down quite a bit.
well, I could consider my 17 Silverado a very well appointed truck with everything I want on it.

 

[Dilldog]

I guess so.
A buddy of mine has a 2015 Tacoma that has given his substantial problems. I suppose I have a well put together model, as my 17 CC 4x4 LTZ has been rock solid. Granted, I care for it myself, oil change every 5k. I've got 29k miles, which is pretty low for a nice truck. I have run an Elite Engineering Catch Can, since it had 50 miles on it, which should be on all Direct Injection engines. I've looked at the prices for new trucks, and just can't stomach of paying nearly 45k for a Toyota or even a Chevy Colorado, especially when I have mine paid down quite a bit.
well, I could consider my 17 Silverado a very well appointed truck with everything I want on it.

My dads 2019 Silverado ran him 58K, I was floored...

 

[DrivingTacoLoco]

Anymore it really just comes down to what makes you feel better. I would say stay clear of the diesels as exhaust after treatment is a nightmare and will destroy your long term reliability and cost of ownership. For me I would go with the GM. Having been around new Toyotas and new GMs as far as general feel of quality and overall fit and finish I think GM has Toyota beat. My 2011 GMC is an amazingly well put together rig, and my dads 2019 Silverado is extremely nice. A buddy of mine has a 2012 Tundra and its nice, but the interior doesn't feel as special if that makes sense. Some of this could be due to trim level differences, but bottom line GM has really stepped up their game, while Toyota is riding on its reputation (they still make a great product, but they are not king of the hill anymore).
Oh I almost forgot one of the biggest reasons I would buy a rig from a US based MFG. Parts. Most US based MFGs you can get any part the next day in the continental US. I do know Ford is the best at this. Their logistics network was based off and for a short time run by Caterpillar, which is the global benchmark for warehousing and parts logistics.

Tundra's are engineered and built in the US with 70% domestic parts. New version is due in 2021

15 Trucks, SUVs, and Vans With the Most North-American-Made Parts - Motor Trend

Here, we've compiled the top 15 U.S.-market trucks, SUVs, and vans with the highest North American (U.S. and Canada per the NHTSA) parts content.

www.motortrend.com

 

[Artemus]

[things like keyless ignition, dual ac/heat controls, seat heaters, etc. ] if your an off-roader or prepper, the last thing you want is keyless ignition, they are hack-able easily to those in the know... 1st gen of those left me stranded in a rental in Destin till I figured out the fob had a dead battery and got a new one for it at Wall-greens... Never was into butt warmers, had one in a Premium Mustang GT Track Pack, but that car never got driven in the winter , hi hi...

Go with the Items that will "Work" , I have a 2018 Tundra TRD/SR5 ; traded in my Silverado that had 5" of warranty paper work and my Mustang to pay for it easy totally paid off.

 

[Wile_Coyote]

What year silverado?

 

[Dilldog]

Tundra's are engineered and built in the US with 70% domestic parts. New version is due in 2021

15 Trucks, SUVs, and Vans With the Most North-American-Made Parts - Motor Trend

Here, we've compiled the top 15 U.S.-market trucks, SUVs, and vans with the highest North American (U.S. and Canada per the NHTSA) parts content.

www.motortrend.com

True. I will admit that I have never really given any thought to if parts availability is any better with the US Toyotas or not.
But at any rate I have been extremely happy with both my Ford and GM products. While neither MFG has a perfect track record, neither does Toyota.

 

[wahoowad]

I ended up buying the Silverado, a 2019 Trail Boss. The shopping and selection experience was quite an ordeal as I was considering quite a few vehicles...4Runner, Tundra, Tacoma, F150, GMC, even looked at some Nissans as I've always liked Nissans. Ended up going with what I am comfortable with since I was also coming from a Silverado.

I think the major cost is what made it not-fun. Now that I am done with it part of me wishes I could do the search all over and really just enjoy learning about the new features and stuff. Oh well, hopefully this one will fill my needs for many years and I don't have to do it again for a long time.

It's brown, looks black in low light

 

[Wile_Coyote]

Get an Elite Engineering oil catch can on as soon as possible. These new DI engines, if you want them to last, need to have a Catch Can to keep the intake clean.

 

[DrivingTacoLoco]

Looks great. Enjoy!

 

[bmward64]

Great looking truck! Can't wait to see what you do with it.

 

[wahoowad]

Great looking truck! Can't wait to see what you do with it.

It's so darn shiny and new that I'm gonna be looking for wide open trails and pruning back anything that might touch it

 

[Dilldog]

Get an Elite Engineering oil catch can on as soon as possible. These new DI engines, if you want them to last, need to have a Catch Can to keep the intake clean.

Could you explain the reasoning behind this?

 

[Wile_Coyote]

Sure.
Essentially, newer engines are a closed-loop system, where vapors from the engine are captured and routed back into the intake plenum to be burned by the engine. For example, Crank-case fumes are routed via a PCV valve back into the intake plenum so that these fumes will be burned, instead of venting back to the atmosphere, for a cleaner, greener, better system. Well, it's not better for the engine, as you will see in this video, but for the greenies and the environment, it's cleaner. An Elite Engineering catch an is placed after the PCV valve, but before the intake plenum, catching fumes, vapors that will normally be sucked back into the intake plenum.

Here is the crap that I caught within 5k miles. Normally, this crap gets baked onto the top of the valves, causing coking on the valves, and an overall reduction of performance of the engine.

This nasty stuff was caught in my Elite Engineering Catch Can.


Here is a thread on the Silverado / Sierra form on this subject

Oil Catch Can for 2014 EcoTec3 Engines

www.silveradosierra.com

Great video on this

 

[Wilbah]

Hi...new member here. I have had experience with GM's (3 pickups, blazer and Yukon (Tahoe version, not XL/Suburban). Being in the rust belt of New England I well understand the concern about throwing money at a 200K vehicle. My sense on this (and with most vehicles I've owned) is drive them into the ground (which it appears you share at 200K! :) )
I look at it this way- in MA I will pay $2500 in sales tax alone on a 40K vehicle. That $2500 goes a long way in repairs. With older vehicles I always feel like I have a $1K payment....I just dont know when it will come in. But once a year something breaks that costs me $1K (or so, I'm just using that as a round #- most years it was $500 but I think you get my point).

In theory you could do that forever and never buy a new/newer vehicle. At some point the reliability just stands that approach on its head. But to have a beater for short trips where a breakdown doesnt cause huge problems I would say keep the old one. But if you're doing family trips or trips to serious out of the way places (even if not extreme rock crawling etc), then you will want to upgrade from a safety perspective. For that I would go with another GM. And this might be a good time....lots of '19 leftovers it appears as many want the new 2020's and the AT4 etc. Good luck!

 

[Dilldog]

That does make sense.
The pictures you showed are simply what happens when oil is combined with some water at low temperature. Having drained catch cans and crank case filters it's not surprising for me to see that, basically you're just catching oil that was atomized in the intake stream and combined with water and not given the chance to cook out the water. It's what I would expect to see quite honestly.
Now to the issue, carbon on the valves. While driving habits may not solve it, I think with this by far the most important thing to do is not short trip the car, make sure it hits operating temp and stays there for a while, and run it hard. That will help with carbon build up big time. Also a hot engine will have less blow by ( provided it's not worn out) and the oil will have less water and combustion by products in it, thus being cleaner when it is reburned.
Out of curiosity I would also like to know what oil and filter quality combined with oil change frequency would do to help this problem, I bet a lot.
Anyway, thanks for posting that, it does make me think and makes me want to take a bore scope down the intake runners of my 2.4 GM.

 

[Wile_Coyote]

I use Mobil 1 full syn, or Amsoil or recently I used Quaker State Ultimate Durability full syn. I change my oil ever 5k miles, regardless of what the oil-use indicator says.
Filters have been Wix, Bosch, Mobil 1 or Amsoil.
Yup, the water (moisture) in the oil is an issue anywhere the climate has moisture, even here in the high-desert of Santa Fe, NM.
When my wife makes her short trip to work, I tell her to remote start the truck and let it warm up to regular operating temperature to, as you stated, burn off the moisture in the oil. However, with any engine start, there will be some moisture in there, and the Catch-Can does a great job at catching, as the video stated, 95% of this moisture and oil that would have ended up on top of the valves.

 

[Dilldog]

Yeah I know its outdated but I still do oil changes every 3000 to 3500 miles, mostly because my wife drives maybe 4 miles and I drive 8 miles one way on our commutes. I use WIX filters for our GMC and my Ford gets Donaldsons (one perk of working at a shop that services Ford powered generators, high quality filters in stock and cheap). I also usually try to take the GMC out at least once a week and bounce it off the rev limiter a few times.
But like I said, this does make me want to check my intake valves, my GMC is at 77K right now. Maybe next service Ill snag the bore scope from work and pull the air box off...

 

[Wile_Coyote]

I'd be interested to see your results.

 

[Dilldog]

Ill grab pics when I do it, and worst case just PM you the photos though I may make a separate post as others may find it useful.