2002 Chevrolet Avalanche LT 5.3 Liter

Summary:

Comfortable Riding Truck with Okay Gas Mileage

Faults:

Had to get tailgate handle cables replaced around 30k.

Finally got the shimmy out of the steering around 32k.

General Comments:

Great looking ride.

Would be nice to sit a bit higher- not much ground clearance.

Don't like the daytime running lights being below the parking lights. Cars flash me thinking that my lights aren't on when in fact they are.

Grey plastic is fading...bad. Can't seem to keep it shiny looking.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 14th October, 2005

3rd Feb 2007, 22:01

There are all sorts of plastic treatments which will fix the color problem on your plastics. McGuire's products. They work great and can be purchased at you local Wal-Mart/K-Mart/Pep boys/Advance Auto.

2002 Chevrolet Avalanche 5.3

Summary:

Nice truck - GM drive lines suck

Faults:

When I first purchased the truck, it ran fine, but I noticed a dull groan coming from the truck, which I assumed was a wheel bearing. Took it into a dealership, and they said it was coming from the rear end.

Contacted original dealership (truck was purchased 2 weeks prior), and they fixed the right rear axle bearing. Picked up the truck, and the same sound was there. They diagnosed it as an out of round axle housing, which caused the bearing to disintegrate and leak fluid within 2 days after the repair.

Anyways, here's what's gone wrong since they replaced that rear end with a used "certified" rear end from a wrecker;

2 - 3 shift clunks and downshift clunks.

Excessive drive shaft play.

Vibration from at speeds 110km/h - 120km/h.

The dealership rotated the drive shaft 180 degrees, balanced the drive shaft, and replaced both front and rear u-joints.

All clunks and vibrations are still present - now the dealership is good for trying to repair the issue, but they had the truck for more than half the time in the first 5 weeks of ownership. They also will let me bring the truck back, but at a loss of $1500 for depreciation.

Anyways, regarding the Avalanche or should I say GM in general, any drive shaft back lash/play including 1 -2 or 2 -3 shift clunks is considered normal by GM. There are TSB's that advise dealerships not to do anything about it.

I love the truck, but hate the problems associated with them. Great truck if you can afford gas, because they are quite thirsty (considering it is built off the Suburban chassis).

I wouldn't recommend a GM vehicle to anyone, since they cover their butts with their TSB's. I thought Chrysler was bad, but GM is actually worse. And this issue is common to all GM trucks with the 4.8/5.3 litres.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 10th October, 2005

23rd Sep 2006, 15:36

I wonder just a bit if you have an Avalanche since the first year model was a 2002... I have a 2002 Z71 and have never had a single thing go wrong (not even a burned out lightbulb anywhere). I'm a stickler for maintenance, most of which I do myself. I get 19mpg on the highway and about 15 around town. Because of the gas crunch, I now only use my truck for hauling and in the mountains, having bought a 32mpg commuter car. When I bought it in Feb 2002, I paid less than $30K (Sticker $42K) and will find myself hard pressed to get a nicer vehicle for the money!

26th Dec 2010, 11:17

My homekeeper has the Chevrolet Avalanche for almost a couple of years, and it takes a couple of crankings or more to get it to start good.

21st Feb 2013, 15:00

I don't believe for a minute that anyone is getting more than 16 MPG on any avalanche. I have had 2 Suburbans and an Avalanche now for 11 years. Great truck. 112,000 miles on it. I stand by my comments on gas mileage on all of the trucks I owned. I think the math is questionable.

18th Jun 2013, 11:29

On a road trip to Tennessee we got 21 MPG in an Avalanche with high miles.

My 2000 Suburban got about the same on a 350 mile road trip with 200+k miles (doing 60-65mph and A/C off).

My 97 F250 diesel got 25 MPG on the same trip last month.

I know how to do math and it is correct. It's all in the way you drive it.