[lmychajluk]

Well, I would like to vent a little, and I hope someone at GM is listening...

A few months ago, I decided I needed to replace my old truck, and the 2007 Avalanche was looking pretty good. It had been out for about 6 months (on the new platform), and most things I read about it were favorable, so I started delving deeper into the options to come up with a configuration I liked. I decided that I wanted one 'loaded' with the 6.0L engine and Z71 package in the Deep Blue Metalic. After playing with the (poor) configuration tool on Chevrolet.com, digging through the brochure, talking to the dealer, and finally double-checking with other owners on an Avalanche-specific forum, I find out the following:

- The 6.0L is not available w/ the Z71 suspension.
- Deep Blue Metalic, and my second choice of colors, Greystone Metalic, are the only 2 colors not available w/ the Z71.

The only color I liked available in the Z71 was the Bermuda Blue (an extra cost option), and after some readiing, and a couple of test drives, I decide that the 5.3L / 4.10 combo isn't that bad. I go to the dealer, and there aren't any 5.3/4.10 Z71s in Bermuda Blue within 250 miles, but that's ok, I'll just order one. Nope. Seems that March was already too late to order a Bermuda Blue, or Sport Red as well, I believe, as those colors have been discontinued for the model year. Victory Red/White/Black/Silver are the options at this point, but I refuse to go to a 4th color choice for absolutely no reason at all!

Some new incentives are announced, so I start considering a non-Z71 model. I liked the grill on the Z71, and saw it's the same as the LTZ, so I started there, only to find out the LTZ only comes with the 20" wheels, which some may like, but I consider impractical and ugly, and bump the price of the truck up too much. OK, so back to an LT3, which can be optioned out with everything that the LTZ has (save for the Autoride, unless you get the 6.0L, which I start considering again...). Well, at this point, I'm starting to pick up on small nuances of the vehicle, like the fact that I'm buying a truck that has painted bumpers, of which the front grillwork is part of and all one piece! That may be OK out in wide-open God's country, but here in suburban America, we have to deal with a little something called 'parallel parking' in a state that mandates front license plates. I decide that there are too many compromises (color, trim, engine, etc...) being made, and the incentives don't make up for them. Well, I'll wait and see what 2008 will bring...

In the meantime,I attend the NYC Auto Show, where the looks of the Toyota Tundra CrewMax captured my eye and gets me thinking about more traditional pickups. To be fair, I compare it to the Silverado, and later to the Sierra. On the GMs, the 2 different dash configurations are confusing, especially since I liked the newer dash, though it was unavailable with the dual-glovebox or double-console with the locking storage. The Silverado, though the cheaper option, gets eliminated from the running just because the SLT trim forces a painted bumper option on you, and other options (ie, heated seats) are only available with the SLT (the Tundra offers the steel/chrome bumpers front and rear as long as you don't go to the Limited trim). Then, looking closer at the Sierra, it turns out that the Max Towing option is not available with the Z71 - a choice that is available in the configuration tool at GMC.com. Not a huge deal, but why is it that the larger air filter is only an option w/ the Z71 package? Well, as much as I liked the Sierra, due to a few reasons (inlcuding the fact that the CrewCab is the same length as my driveway to the inch), I decide that I will still wait to see what '08 will bring for the Avalanches before making a commitment.

Now, I can see how some options are available only with others, such as the Max Towing Package on the 1/2 ton pickups including the handling/trailering suspension and thereby eliminating the possibility of the Z71 (even in that example, I think it's still possible to order the Z71 combined with the 6.0L engine, but not w/ the 4.10 gear ratios), but how is it that I can't order a truck in a color that I want that is available on that model, even if I was willing to pay an extra fee and wait for as long as it takes? Or, in the case of the Avalanche, order the mostly-cosmetic Z71 package (except for springs/shocks) with the 6.0L engine? Is the assembly line that rigid in that it can't spit out some variation? In searching through dealer inventories, it's ridiculous how many vehicles sit in inventory for weeks and months that are all the same color and have the same options (I could be wallowing in black on black Avalanche LTZs w/ the 5.3L and 3.73 gears if that's what I wanted), yet a willing buyer can't even order one with specific options that should be available to them.

GM, I believe, sells the most vehicles out of any auto manufacturer, right? Is it that hard to grasp that not every buyer of those vehicles wants or needs the same exact thing that his neighbor has? That may work for fleet sales, but for us individual buyers - Come on, GM, give us some options, or at least let us choose the ones that are out there!