2004 Chevrolet Silverado z71 4x4 from North America - Comments

So Far, Nothing major:

Water Pump at 36,000 miles

Blower motor at 20,000 and 40,000 miles

Intake Gasket at 40,000 miles

U-Joints (countless)

Heater Control head at 39,000

I have a problem with the 4x4, with a loud grinding / groaning noise in the front end, only in 4wd. 2wd, vehicle is fine. constant problems with the blower motor making squealing noises. Going on the third one this week!!!

The transmission, noisy, hard shifting... problems coming my way?

The truck is solid. It drives like a dream. I have had countless problems with front end noise, in 4x4 and the transmission shift quality. I have been told that all is normal. If this is the case, then me (a die hard chevy fan) am not all that impressed. I am quite disappointed that I traded in my 98 burban, with 140,000 miles that drove better than this peace of... well lets not go there. I wish that I could get my baby back, but, lets see what GM will do for me...

I had front end noise on my 04 silverado at 30,000. one dealer said nothing wrong and I took it to another dealer. They said it was the front differential. The pulled it apart and replaced a couple of things. They said when they check the drain plug there was a lot of metal shavings. I guess the other dealer ship was to busy with whatever to worry about my truck. I have had a few other problems. But I do like how it drives. Not very quick off the line though.

My First Chevy Pick-up was great. Standard 2001 regular cab 2001 V-6. Bought 2004 4x4 Z-71 extended cab. Problems! First; I had to replace transmission at approximately 18,000 miles due to water leaking into transmission. Now at 26,000 miles, the instrument cluster went completely dead. Get "clunking" noise when shifting gears (Chevy says this is normal). Think Tundra or like foreign model is my next truck.

Reading various message boards across the Web where Chevy/GMC products are discussed, especially their trucks, I keep reading of the same problems over and over.

Then I read of how SOME owners have difficulty getting dealerships to perform warranty work.

It seems that many different types of excuses are used to pacify the owner and send them on their way to live with the defect (s).

Some owners report no problems obtaining warranty work, even mentioning dealers that went out of their way to ensure a defect was repaired.

Then, others are unable to get a defect repaired no matter what they do.

My complaint to corporate GMC was answered by, "Take the truck to the dealer."

Wonderful. I did that. Over and over and over. Left the truck for various intervals, up to five days to give them time to fix the defect.

Same old refrain... "Can't duplicate the problem."

Well, I was able to duplicate those problems and as one who has repaired and maintained mechanical equipment for decades, spending time as a long-haul owner/operator truck driving son-of-a-gun, I KNOW that some basic diagnosing by a competent mechanic would have found the defects leading to a repair.

I can only guess, but I believe it is possible that Chevy/GMC MAY have implemented a cost-saving measure by reducing the cost of warranty work. It is only conjecture, but why else would I, and others, be told the SAME thing over and over, sounding like a rehearsed response... "Can't duplicate the problem."

Well... whatever the reason, I learned my lesson. Future vehicle purchases will be anything, but Chevy or any GMC product.

Sadly, I am an honorable man. When I sell the truck to a private party honor requires I inform the buyer of the defects they will be confronted with, defects present when the truck was under warranty, but the dealerships I went to would not repair the defects.

I will likely receive less than an optimal price when I sell, but I will have my honor. More than I can say for those within Chevy/GMC.