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2003 GMC SierraFlashy brother to the workhorse Sierra Base, the 2003 GMC Sierra Denali is one of the biggest boys in the Full-size Pick-up class. A luxury...
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Flashy brother to the workhorse Sierra Base, the 2003 GMC Sierra Denali is one of the biggest boys in the Full-size Pick-up class. A luxury vehicle with a fiery iron heart, the Denali has more power than one would expect until you find its 325 horsepower, 6.0-liter V8. Two other standard features, the 8-wire trailer hitch and the OnStar System give a sense of the dual priority present in the Denalis design. With performance and luxury vying for supremacy as priorities in the design phases, the winner appears to be the consumer.
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5 Reviews from Shopping.com
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Good Workhorse
| Author's Rating: |
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Pros: Handling, power and general utility
Cons: Drive train and steering clunks and sloppiness
The Bottom Line:
I will buy another one in a few years. Every GM vehicle I have owned has been way more reliable than the other brands I have tried.
I bought the Sierra 1500 with the small V8 new in 2003. I use the thing like a horse, consistently overloading it both towing and hauling. I have 67000 miles now and it is working as hard as ever. But there are some downsides. The U joint clunks and the steering linkage is loose. Both have been fixed under warranty but the problems return. The dealer says they have no safety implications. If you are buying one of these trucks used, be sure to take it for a drive and do some starts and stops to see how the U joint reacts. One of the side terminals on the battery ate through, shorted and burned up my radio. Can they put a top terminal battery in? The interior has too much black plastic, but the radio controls are better than most cars. The cloth upholstery is nothing special, but mine has worn like iron after being subjected to water, dirt, and tools in the pocket. It is interesting all the little features they put into the truck that you normally associate with luxury cars: automatic headlights, external mirror fold motor, multiple 12v outlets. Once I put a tonneau cover on the bed, my gas mileage crept up to about 20mpg on the road.
Other than the drive and steering issues the truck is everything an American pickup is supposed to be: tough, reliable and highly useful.
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