2008 Chevrolet Avalanche User Reviews

Pros

Good fuel economy, Good Tow Vehicle, Very Versatile, Onstar Nav Standard!

Cons

Restricted vision to rear, Somewhat high off ground for 2WD

Purchased As New

Bought it several months ago as a leftover 2008 model. Friend has had a 2003 since new and had always claimed it was the most versatile vehicle he'd ever owned. We have found that to be true. The only other vehicle with the same midgate design is the Caddy version for much more $ (Hummer has a similar system but much less bed room). Due to the long Suburban wheelbase, makes a very good tow vehicle. The 5.3 engine is adequate but frequent trailer towers will prefer the 6.0. We looked at the Ridgeline but found it to be too carlike to be a serious tow vehicle plus the lack of a midgate makes it a totally different type of vehicle. We got rid of our 2004 Conversion van (also Chevy) for the Avalanche. We had a very good experience with the reliability of the virtually identical drivetrain. We get about 16 MPG in town, 20 on the road, 10 pulling our 25' travel trailer. We got the lower trim LS as it has a much better three-across front seat that is sacrificed in the uptrim bucket seat models. Onstar navigation is great! You can Mapquest a complicated route at home on your computer and upload it to your truck. Radio mutes when the instructions come up, also displays on dash....read morehide

Pros

Versatilty, power

Cons

Don't know with mine

Purchased As New

Great roomy interior with a smooth ride. I get over 400 miles on one fill with the Avalanche.

Pros

Solid, confident, quite ride. MPG OK, good looker

Cons

Not looking forward to high gas prices when they come.

Replaced my '04 Avalanche with an '08 on 12/09/08. Hated to do it because '04 was a good truck w/ over 84K miles. The '08 rides like a Cadillac. IRS provides for 100% write off in '08 for small businesses was primary reason for sale otherwise I would have kept '04. I opted for 2WD instead of 4WD for fuel economy this time. Build quality is outstanding. Long-term I see trouble-free 200K miles. 5.3-liter engine and tranny combo in these trucks are very solid and comparable to old 350 that I favored. I had zero problems with '04....read morehide

Pros

great ride and appearance

i've owned this vehicle since february. really enjoy driving this truck. gas mileage since ive owned it is approx. 17.5 mpg. i think this is great for a truck. got 19.0 mpg on my last trip. great options. alot of my friends that have ridden in my truck can't believe how smooth the ride is....read morehide

Pros

Comfortable, Roomy, GREAT Performance, Versatility is unmatched, Well designed interior...

Cons

NONE!!!

I've owned 15 other vehicles in my life and I'm only 27. I am very hard to please with regards to vehicles, but this is the best vehicle I've owned. Power, Versatility, Looks, Comfort and good gas mileage for the size. I am EXTREMELY impressed!

Pros

Plenty of Interior Room, Great Sound System, Heated Wiper Fluid, Retractable Running Boards

Cons

Fuel Economy could be better

I really enjoy this truck a lot. I had never considered the Avalanche, went to buy a Silverado and ended up with an Avalanche LTZ with the White Diamond paint scheme. This truck rides like a Cadillac, hauls like a pickup truck, and has on more than one occasion been the envy of friends who also had recently purchased new vehicles. The truck was a bit more expensive than what I had intended to spend, but I certainly have no regrets about buying this truck....read morehide

Pros

Best "All in One" vehicle ever.

Cons

Of course..we always WANT better fuel economy

I own a BMW also. So i can appriciate true quality. This truck is a well hidden secret. It rides like a cadillac, performs like a truck, and is roomy and efficient on the interior like an SUV/SAV. Mostly, what i say is OMG! We love to drive this vehicle and upon reading these reviews i completely concur with ALL of the positives that i read. I didn't expect fuel economy...so that isn't a disappointment. The backing could be a problem buck with the rear backup assist it's a piece of cake. The navigation system and touch screen is very user friendly and is much less complicated than the high end bimmer nav. Way to go chevy! Makes saying.."America=baseball,apple pie, and chevrolet truly believable....read morehide

Pros

exstreamly comfy truck !! all sorts of creature comforts

Cons

none

i would recomend this truck to anyone , its great ,love the locking feature with the bed and side tool boxes , the exstened bed feature is awsome one can carry anything a regular outdated style truck can carry !! absolutly a 5 star truck !!

Pros

Roomy, very comfortable, smooth ride, covered bed, locking tool box

Cons

none

I went from a Durango, which I loved, to the Avalanche because I needed a larger engine to pull a bass boat. I love the interior becuse it is spacoius and has plenty of room in the cab to store items. The covered bed comes in helpful when traveling. Your items are covered and protected from rain and sun as well as thieves. The tailgate locks when you lock you doors. No need to remove your items from the truck or worry about them being taken. The gas milage is pretty good for a full size truck. We average 17 MPG in the city and 13 MPG pulling the boat. Better than other trucks I looked at. The ride is very smooth, we barly feel the bumps in the road. The locking side tools boxes are a great place to store all the tools. No need to mess up the interior like in the SUV. It has alot of extras I don't need but sure are nice to have. My son likes the rear radio. He doesn't have to listen to what we are and we don't have to listen to him complain. Great for long trips. I have been pleasently suprised with the Avalanche. It is diffently worth considering when looking for a new full size truck....read morehide

Pros

Comfort, Safety, Amazing handling

Cons

I want better gas mileage

we just traded our 2007 Avalanche for a 2008 Avalanche. The problem with our 2007 was that it had high kilometes! We drove it a lot (90,000 km). So we are even more pleased with our 2008 Avalanche. This is an incredibly smooth ride. My husband was loading up things and left his coffee cup on the rear bumper. As soon as we drove away he wanted his coffee. When we stopped, there it was! still on the rear bumper. True story! I feel incredibly safe driving in this vehicle, even if it is snowing and icy and there are no vehicles on the road due to poor weather conditions. In northern BC we get bad weather a lot. This is a great vehicle in the winter! I find it expensive but well worth every penney when we have the best winter driving vehicle and onstar. Thanks Chevrolet. There are two things I would like is standard rear view camera on the LS but we will probably add our own as backing up is impossible to see very much. The other thing is better gas milage but considering it is a truck I am pretty happy with the avalanche....read morehide