Once again I have been wasting my time shopping for a new van or pickup truck to serve as my tow vehicle. The best news is that one of the salesmen and I had a good chuckle over the list of "options": intermittent windshield wipers, clock, leather wrap for steering wheel...'fine Corinthian leather' presumably.
Alas I cannot find a Chevy Express van with a locking differential, denoted by a code, G80, on the sticker of codes in the glovebox. This confuses the salespeople to no end: it is doubtful they even know what a 'differential' is.
Think of the insanity of the automobile industry: the locking differential is a $350 option. Most of the customers would pay that much for the #05 Premium Cupholder Convenience package, featuring simulated imported Italian marble. But it is a rare used van that will have the G80 option.
Model year 2017 is the last year for the venerable GM Vortec engine in the van. If you are the kind of person who thinks that used trucks are so over-priced that you might as well get a "new" one -- actually the unsold vehicle on the dealer's lot, left over from last year -- then you should buy your model year 2017 Chevy Express NOW!
In (the current) model year 2018 they degenerate into EcoTec3, with their high pressure fuel pumps and fuel injectors in the combustion chambers -- courtesy of Federal regulators and Congress of course.
In contrast, model year 2013 is the last model year of Silverado pickup trucks with the Vortec engine.
Alas I cannot find a Chevy Express van with a locking differential, denoted by a code, G80, on the sticker of codes in the glovebox. This confuses the salespeople to no end: it is doubtful they even know what a 'differential' is.
Think of the insanity of the automobile industry: the locking differential is a $350 option. Most of the customers would pay that much for the #05 Premium Cupholder Convenience package, featuring simulated imported Italian marble. But it is a rare used van that will have the G80 option.
Model year 2017 is the last year for the venerable GM Vortec engine in the van. If you are the kind of person who thinks that used trucks are so over-priced that you might as well get a "new" one -- actually the unsold vehicle on the dealer's lot, left over from last year -- then you should buy your model year 2017 Chevy Express NOW!
In (the current) model year 2018 they degenerate into EcoTec3, with their high pressure fuel pumps and fuel injectors in the combustion chambers -- courtesy of Federal regulators and Congress of course.
In contrast, model year 2013 is the last model year of Silverado pickup trucks with the Vortec engine.
Comments
Meanwhile, the GM Vortec engine is quite similar to the Ford Windsor engine.