I had just turned 12 years old in September of 2003 when my parents decided 14 years and 249k miles was enough for our 1989 GMC Safari. So off we went to Fiehrer Buick-Pontiac-GMC in Fairfield, Ohio to get a new Safari, or so I thought. My parents decided to fall in with the SUV craze of the early 2000s and we came home with a brand new 2003 GMC Envoy SLE.
Up until then, the vehicles we had and I had grown up with all had manual locks, manual windows, single zone climate control, so imagine going from that into something that had power everything. It was like a spaceship inside. I fell in love immediately and still remember telling my parents that it was my car, which they always laughed about. But sure enough, after college and right before I moved to Florida almost 10 years ago, the Envoy actually did become my car. It made the move to Florida with me, started my career with me, took me all over central Florida while in training for my law enforcement side gig. Even served as a last-ditch patrol car one night when two officers were shot and killed less than 5 miles from my house, I didn't have time to go to the station to pick up a car so just threw my uniform on and my gear in and drove to the scene.
For 20 years and over 123k miles, the Envoy never failed me. I knew every time I turned that key the 4.2L would fire right up. But as the 20 year mark approached and routine maintenance led to having to replace or repair parts that had simply aged to the end of their usable life, I knew it was getting to be that time.
So in February of this year, I ordered a Dynamic Blue Metallic GMC Canyon Elevation. It took about a month and a half for GM to finally accept the order but quickly after that, it was broadcast for production and produced the week of April 17th. It sat at Wentzville for close to a month apparently dodging hail storms left and right and finally got shipped out just before the big one that damaged over 3000 trucks. Took delivery yesterday in a pretty seamless dealership experience which pleasantly surprised me because my first saleswoman was pretty clueless when I first ordered. Employee discount and GM Card earnings were honored without question.
My initial impressions after 30 miles driving back from the dealer, picking up a firearm from my FFL, and going to the post office this morning: this new generation of GM midsize trucks feels and drives like actual trucks. The 2nd gen (I drive a 2020 Colorado W/T for work and my dad picked up a 2018 Canyon SLE) for some reason just felt small, not necessarily cramped but definitely felt smaller than a full size and drove more like a crossover than a pickup. The 2.7T HO that's standard in all Canyons is a little raspy when accelerating but feels powerful and pulls hard. If you listen closely you can hear the turbo whistling. So far I haven't experienced any issues with the new 8 speed transmission, but for that matter I never noticed any problems with the 8 speed in my 2020 Colorado or my dad's Canyon, although he had the dealer perform the transmission fluid flush/replace just to be sure. The interior is a massive leap forward over the 2nd gen truck, it's comfortable and spacious with a lot more tech packed into it. Navigating the menus is easy and smartphone-like, but there are a LOT of menus. It took me over half an hour sitting in my garage last night to go through them all.
I have floor liners ordered through my dealer and I plan on getting the molded splash guards as well. Currently looking into paint protection film for the front because this new water-based paint is awful against rock chips, I already have a tiny one on the hood from the drive home.
Some photos:
-Thought this was cool, 20 years between window stickers.
Up until then, the vehicles we had and I had grown up with all had manual locks, manual windows, single zone climate control, so imagine going from that into something that had power everything. It was like a spaceship inside. I fell in love immediately and still remember telling my parents that it was my car, which they always laughed about. But sure enough, after college and right before I moved to Florida almost 10 years ago, the Envoy actually did become my car. It made the move to Florida with me, started my career with me, took me all over central Florida while in training for my law enforcement side gig. Even served as a last-ditch patrol car one night when two officers were shot and killed less than 5 miles from my house, I didn't have time to go to the station to pick up a car so just threw my uniform on and my gear in and drove to the scene.
For 20 years and over 123k miles, the Envoy never failed me. I knew every time I turned that key the 4.2L would fire right up. But as the 20 year mark approached and routine maintenance led to having to replace or repair parts that had simply aged to the end of their usable life, I knew it was getting to be that time.
So in February of this year, I ordered a Dynamic Blue Metallic GMC Canyon Elevation. It took about a month and a half for GM to finally accept the order but quickly after that, it was broadcast for production and produced the week of April 17th. It sat at Wentzville for close to a month apparently dodging hail storms left and right and finally got shipped out just before the big one that damaged over 3000 trucks. Took delivery yesterday in a pretty seamless dealership experience which pleasantly surprised me because my first saleswoman was pretty clueless when I first ordered. Employee discount and GM Card earnings were honored without question.
My initial impressions after 30 miles driving back from the dealer, picking up a firearm from my FFL, and going to the post office this morning: this new generation of GM midsize trucks feels and drives like actual trucks. The 2nd gen (I drive a 2020 Colorado W/T for work and my dad picked up a 2018 Canyon SLE) for some reason just felt small, not necessarily cramped but definitely felt smaller than a full size and drove more like a crossover than a pickup. The 2.7T HO that's standard in all Canyons is a little raspy when accelerating but feels powerful and pulls hard. If you listen closely you can hear the turbo whistling. So far I haven't experienced any issues with the new 8 speed transmission, but for that matter I never noticed any problems with the 8 speed in my 2020 Colorado or my dad's Canyon, although he had the dealer perform the transmission fluid flush/replace just to be sure. The interior is a massive leap forward over the 2nd gen truck, it's comfortable and spacious with a lot more tech packed into it. Navigating the menus is easy and smartphone-like, but there are a LOT of menus. It took me over half an hour sitting in my garage last night to go through them all.
I have floor liners ordered through my dealer and I plan on getting the molded splash guards as well. Currently looking into paint protection film for the front because this new water-based paint is awful against rock chips, I already have a tiny one on the hood from the drive home.
Some photos: