One of the most arrogant articles I've ever seen about the TB

Capote

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Jul 14, 2014
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Atlanta, GA
CarThrottle is always brutal in their "reviews". I think recently one of us posted an old article of theirs as well about one of the GMT360's IIRC. Yeah it's a dumbass article, with little-to-no hard negative facts. It's a bunch of whiny complaints (95% aesthetics really) about a range of vehicles that at it's core were the same, but had different shells (which is what GM still does today). I mean for god sakes, they complained about the interior design? Saying it wasn't on par with other vehicles at the time? Give me a break! It was about as standard as any other early 2000's interior. Nothing was WOW back then really in terms of vehicle interior design.

The portion about the XUV was another stupid section. Yeah it was totally dumb looking in the end, but there was plenty of oddball design ideas for vehicles back then from GM; for-instance the Pontiac Aztec. Car manufacturers were really experimenting with crossover designs and multi-use vehicles. I remember watching a lot of car-related shows and concept ideas at that time in the early 2000's.

Is it really a big whoop that at first they weren't offered in a V8 form, even the EXT being a LWB? Not really, if you look at how mid-size SUV's today that don't even have half as many balls as an 4.2 i6 GMT360 had. That article would not reign true today, 8yrs later after it was written. The GMT360's became to be a respected class of vehicles. Yeah the 2002 crowd got effed with their engine-related issues, but that was dealt with sooner rather than later by GM. It was one of the most popular SUV's and still lives on strong today.
 
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$ Khalid ! 9130

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Mar 30, 2016
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I mean the first version of any car especially GM will have some issues which get ironed out in later models. The fact that the Trailblazer was the 2nd top selling SUV is a true show of how it was awesome and capable these things are. I think it also mentioned no off-road capabilities, I'd suggest heading over to ortb.com and see what no off-road capabilities these beasts have!

The EXT being offered with the I6 was a total mistake by GM. I had two relatives who went out and got them brand new and ended up having to replace the engines within a year or so.

But I still don't think that article does any justice at all for our beloved platform

EDIT: The funny thing is in another article it acknowledges the fact that the TB was the second best selling SUV

https://www.carthrottle.com/post/8-murican-trucks-packing-engines-from-high-performance-cars/
 
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Capote

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The EXT models still ran great with a LWB having an inline 6. I have driven a friend's wife's EXT a few times. They ride like they are on clouds! Didn't even feel much of a difference from a stock SWB other than the turning radius being different.

And to be fair, TB's weren't on par with other SUV's at the time when it came to off-roading, but that wasn't their main focus as a selling point anyone. As a matter of fact, there was no aftermarket off-road equipment, accessories, or lift kits to turn the GMT360 into an off-road beast in it's early years. @HARDTRAILZ was actually a fellow pioneer in that spectrum along with his other buddies.
 
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Tiggerr

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Jun 6, 2013
1,324
Perrysburg, OH
If they're such bad vehicles why'd they sell shit-tons of them lol!? I must see 50 or more a day on the road between Toledo and Chicago!
AND go price a nice reasonably milaged GMT360... they're still pretty valuable! Especially the later V8 Denali and Rainier...and oh yeah price a TBSS that's not trashed!
But yeah they were junk when they left Morraine....OMFG
 

Capote

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Jul 14, 2014
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Atlanta, GA
If they're such bad vehicles why'd they sell shit-tons of them lol!? I must see 50 a day on the road between Toledo and Chicago!
AND go price a nice reasonably milaged GMT360... they're still pretty valuable! Especially the later V8 Denali and Rainier...and oh yeah price a TBSS that's not trashed!
But yeah they were junk when they left Morraine....OMFG
I find later year LT's for sale close to $9K sometimes on CL. The Rainier's and Envoy Denali's go for even higher. Even with average mileage. Bottom-line is these things run great.
Morraine plant closure really killed off our platform :hopeless:
 

$ Khalid ! 9130

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Mar 30, 2016
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The EXT models still ran great with a LWB having an inline 6. I have driven a friend's wife EXT a few times. They ride like they are on clouds! Didn't even feel much of a difference from a stock SWB other than the turning radius being different.

And to be fair, TB's weren't on par with other SUV's at the time when it came to off-roading, but that wasn't their main focus as a selling point anyone. As a matter of fact, there was no aftermarket off-road equipment, accessories, or lift kits to turn the GMT360 into an off-road beast in it's early years. @HARDTRAILZ was actually a fellow pioneer in that spectrum along with his other buddies.

I have never driven an EXT so I cant comment on that. In terms of off-roading I would disagree, I mean my TB is still completely stock in terms of suspension etc. and have taken it quite a few times into deep mud and sand as well, not anything extreme but it did go a few places where even the Jeeps wouldn't
 
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Capote

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I ran my TB through the deep mud once when it was bone stock and a week in my hands. It bottomed out and bent the small bar going across the mid section. Every time I go under my truck i'm reminded of it lol.
 

$ Khalid ! 9130

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Mar 30, 2016
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If they're such bad vehicles why'd they sell shit-tons of them lol!? I must see 50 or more a day on the road between Toledo and Chicago!
AND go price a nice reasonably milaged GMT360... they're still pretty valuable! Especially the later V8 Denali and Rainier...and oh yeah price a TBSS that's not trashed!
But yeah they were junk when they left Morraine....OMFG

I have close to that amount of TB's in my neighbourhood, nah maybe 15 but even that's a lot. I remember when I went out with my brother and we started calculating the TB's we saw. I guess we saw around 200 in Four hours!!

I find later year LT's for sale close to $9K sometimes on CL. The Rainier's and Envoy Denali's go for even higher. Even with average mileage. Bottom-line is these things run great.
Morraine plant closure really killed off our platform :hopeless:

More like the GMT 800's feeling the heat from the 360s platform

The pricing of these things just go up in value at least over here. Over the past year I have seen the prices of used TB's, Envoys stay exactly where they are or go up when larger SUV's and general car prices are going down.
 

Mooseman

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Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
I think that was just thrash talking the departed. It's not like it's an Aztek or, gag, a Citation.
 

Tiggerr

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Jun 6, 2013
1,324
Perrysburg, OH
I think that was just thrash talking the departed. It's not like it's an Aztek or, gag, a Citation.

Aztek makes the Citation/Phoenix...etc look like a Bentley lol!

At least the skylark and omega were a little better looking.... my mom had a skylark with a 2.8L... was actually a pretty decent car... think we put about 180K on it before she traded it...
 

$ Khalid ! 9130

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Mar 30, 2016
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I think that was just thrash talking the departed. It's not like it's an Aztek or, gag, a Citation.

Agreed! It really triggers me how, people who have never driven a 'real' car seem to know enough to tell the world how a car is. I have opinions as well, but I don't get them mixed over with facts when I try to advise someone.

Example: If you know anything about the Windows Phone platform, I absolutely love it and is my DD, but if someone asks me if they should buy one, I'd say if you want something that has few apps, is fast and different go for it. However if you want apps, games etc. you're better off getting an iPhone or Android.

A little weird but you get the point :bonk:
 

JPutnam

Member
Jun 30, 2017
85
Ft. Bragg
My wife just bought a Dodge Journey that has the 4cyl hamster under the hood. It has all it's fancy electronics and looks, but is a POS to drive. It takes forever just to speed up and the mileage is not that much better. Plus the throttle is controlled by the computer. You might command one position, but the computer gives another to "save fuel". At least ours acts like a cable driven one (when not in reduced power mode). The Journey is stuck in no power mode.

GM had something with this platform and should have stuck with it. I was a big Tahoe/Suburban fan, but after the 400 they are a joke. The 800 is ugly and the 900 looks like an aircraft with all the damn electronics. I thought the Trailblazer was bad till I started to mess with the in-laws Tahoe. No thanks...
 
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shovenose

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Apr 24, 2016
318
SF Bay Area, CA
My wife just bought a Dodge Journey that has the 4cyl hamster under the hood. It has all it's fancy electronics and looks, but is a POS to drive. It takes forever just to speed up and the mileage is not that much better. Plus the throttle is controlled by the computer. You might command one position, but the computer gives another to "save fuel". At least ours acts like a cable driven one (when not in reduced power mode). The Journey is stuck in no power mode.

GM had something with this platform and should have stuck with it. I was a big Tahoe/Suburban fan, but after the 400 they are a joke. The 800 is ugly and the 900 looks like an aircraft with all the damn electronics. I thought the Trailblazer was bad till I started to mess with the in-laws Tahoe. No thanks...

It's a bummer the GMT800 Tahoes/Suburbans/Yukons/Escalades didn't get the rack-and-pinion steering the 2WD GMT800 Silverados got, really the biggest problem with GMT400 trucks is steering performance, gearboxes are just garbage compared to rack-and-pinion. I do agree that GMT400s are the most durable and long-lasting trucks available for cheap. Except for the 700r4/4l60e and 10bolt g80. They ride great, and can handle agressive driving, the steering just sucks.

I do think it's unfair to criticize GMT900s for being complicated and having modern electronics when they are a dream to drive and the interior is a really nice place to spend time... GMT360s are such a pain to work on, and pretty complicated and buggy electronically. Sure, before 2011, the AFM thing sucked, but that's really it. I'd rather work on a full-size than an Envoy/TB any day. I'm not saying I don't like the Envoy, I'm just being realistic.

And aesthetics are so subjective, personally I think GMT900s look great, and as for the GMT800s, I prefer the 99-03 Silverado/99-07 Tahoe/Burb front end over the "cat eye" 04-07 Silverado front end.

As for as the Dodge Journey, I know a friend who's Tacoma is in the shop after a crash, and he's got a Journey as a rental, apparently it's awful, especially the transmission.
 

JPutnam

Member
Jun 30, 2017
85
Ft. Bragg
Appearance wise I really like the 900 series. Not so much the trucks, but the Tahoe's and Suburbans look great. I guess I have just been lucky with my Trailblazer when it comes to the electrical. I have had nothing but bad luck the 900s. Just to many modules to hunt down and isolate.
 
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