2021 Ram 1500 Laramie vs 2021 GMC Sierra Denali

[392DCGC]

TIA,
Manny.

How do you go from a Big Horn to a Denali? Not exactly equal price points there. Anyway, the Chevy/GM redesign was a failure. Whoever was in charge of that project was hopefully fired. They look and ride like a truck from a decade ago. RAM has raised the bar. If anything, a new F150 might be a decent sidegrade (better in some areas, probably worse in others). But I don't see why you're wanting to dump your RAM over this? The eTorque warranty is much longer than 3/36 because it's an emissions component. Aside from that, every total redesign has growing pains for the first few runs. The trucks being built now are going to be better than the ones that first rolled off the assembly line. I think you'd be better off in a RAM Limited if you're wanting to upgrade. Otherwise, just let them fix the truck and be on your way. That failure isn't common... eTorque issues are pretty rare it seems.

 

[MannymanX]

I too like the gmc and Chevy looks on the outside. The inside though is much much smaller I’m only 5’6 and the Chevy made me feel cramped could not even stretch out my legs because of the way Chevy does the floorboards on the drivers side.
On paper the interior shows just to be a little bit smaller but once you get in you feel it.
Also the interior is freaking horrible!!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Yeah man, I felt that too! I'm 5'11, It wasn't as spacious as my Ram...
Thanks for your feedback!

I really like the outside look of the Chevy and GMC. I’ve never been a big fan of the interior. I recently drove a Chevy a couple thousand KMs for work and man was I ever happy to get back into my RAM.

Haha true, i also missed my truck while driving my friends 2019 Denali..
Thanks!

How do you go from a Big Horn to a Denali? Not exactly equal price points there. Anyway, the Chevy/GM redesign was a failure. Whoever was in charge of that project was hopefully fired. They look and ride like a truck from a decade ago. RAM has raised the bar. If anything, a new F150 might be a decent sidegrade (better in some areas, probably worse in others). But I don't see why you're wanting to dump your RAM over this? The eTorque warranty is much longer than 3/36 because it's an emissions component. Aside from that, every total redesign has growing pains for the first few runs. The trucks being built now are going to be better than the ones that first rolled off the assembly line. I think you'd be better off in a RAM Limited if you're wanting to upgrade. Otherwise, just let them fix the truck and be on your way. That failure isn't common... eTorque issues are pretty rare it seems.

I can now afford upgrading to a higher trim so why not?....
Can you find anything that says eTorque has longer warranty than the 3/36?
Of course this is not the only issue i've experienced with my truck, This truck was sitting at the dealership service dept for more than a month in total. And now it will probably sit there for 2-3 more weeks(No ETA, so... i'm praying for 2-3 weeks!!!)
It wasn't a bad truck, I just like to change stuff every now and then.. I always look for different things in my life and trying new things, definitely makes my life better, And not just cars............
I get bored pretty quickly and i like to try everything i can, I mean... 1,000,000 Ford trucks being sold every year is not something we can just not think of, maybe they're doing something better?

ANYWAY; no one has good deals on new RAM's at the moment anyway so i guess i'm gonna have to wait to the end of the year.. They'll want to get rid of the 2020 Limited and i'll probably get them for today's price of a bighorn...

 

[Brutal_HO]

Different truck class, but the GM and Ford guys are showing up at HDRams in droves. They all have issues.

 

[spiG]

My father-in-law has a 2020 1500 Denali 6.2 w/10spd and it's a beautiful truck. BUT, I drove it while in NY visiting and I was highly disappointed in the transmission shifting. The motor, i'd take in my RAM in a heartbeat! But the transmission would shift hard while downshifting and feel like it was chasing gears. ZF transmission is leaps and bounds better.

The interior of the Denali also to me is no where near as nice compared to my Big Horn, can only imagine the Limited (never sat in one) being 100x better. Ford I can't comment on as I'll never buy one. They might sell a million a year but they do have a die hard fan base that will buy them no matter how much they cost or issues they have.

Buddy also has a new GMC AT-4 1500, again beatiful truck, but he also has issues like leaking rear window and all they did was take the rear upper spoiler off, glob a bunch of clear silicone around the window and then put the spoiler back on after scratching it and not telling him till he drove 30 mins home and noticed it.

All makes have issues, but I wouldn't trade my Ram for any other current 1500 out there right now. In a couple years, who knows could be something else but have to wait and see what they come out with.

 

[SCasey89]

The eTorque system is covered by an 8 year/80,000 mile warranty.

 

[UnloosedChewtoy]

ZF transmission is leaps and bounds better.

Yup. That is the comment I see repeated over and over with most reviewers that have actually driven the trucks. The 10-speed Ford/GM tranny (co-developed) looks great on paper, and diagram-wise it looks very similar to the ZF (or so I am told). However, the ZF is a better transmission overall.
I read (but have not confirmed) that Ford did most of the development for the 10-speed for the trucks/big SUVs, and GM did most of the work on a 9-speed (also "co-developed") for smaller vehicles. There were even some reports that they abandoned the "co-develop" part of this half way through, and went slightly different directions on their own.

I also agree with others about the looks of the new GMCs on the outside. I like my Ram better, but the GMCs look nice. The Chevys are ugly, I really dislike those things.
And yes, interior wise, Ram for the win by far until the new 2021 Fords hit the lots. I need to sit in a 2021 F-150, as I've read they are now roughly on-par.

My exterior truck ratings (best to worst):
Ram
GMC
Ford
Nissan
Toyota
<insert a lot of extra space here>
Chevy

 

[fsjosh]

Every time I see a Sierra on the road, it catches my eye. I love that AT4 and would jump all over it. Then I sit in it and remember why I'm buying a Ram. Doesn't matter how the outside looks. Most of the time you'll be looking at it from the inside.

 

[ChadT]

Every time I see a Sierra on the road, it catches my eye. I love that AT4 and would jump all over it. Then I sit in it and remember why I'm buying a Ram. Doesn't matter how the outside looks. Most of the time you'll be looking at it from the inside.

I think the GMC AT4s look awesome!

I think this is a hotly competitive segment, and the end winner is us, the buyers.
To me, I'm a V8 guy when it comes to fullsize trucks. Not interested in small displacement boosted gasoline engines, in a full size pick up.
There are people who love them, they have their reasons, it's not for me. I am a V8 guy.

If you made me look at other trucks on the market, and you told me I could NOT pick Ram no matter what?
GMC AT4, with the 6.2, and a lighter wallet than had I gone the Ram route.
I wouldn't necessarily feel like I got more truck, but I also don't think I'd hate owning it.

 

[Calsun]

I sold my Silverado last month and plan to buy a 2021 Ram. I wanted the 33-gallon fuel tank as the GM 1500 trucks come with 24-gal gas tanks and you cannot buy a larger aftermarket gas tank (can still get them for diesel). I also wanted the rear coil springs as I will not be carrying heavy payloads in the future with the new truck. I am also not inclined to buy another Chevy truck as my 2011 had a recall notice in effect for the air bags and as of 2019 the parts were still not available from GM and so I ended up disabling the passenger air bag not wanting to die from shrapnel after a collision and air bag deployment.

For maximum payload I would go with Chevy as it is easy and inexpensive to upgrade the rear leaf springs with a set of SuperSprings. Tougher to do this with coil springs.

I would favor the two available Chevy V-6 engines over the e-Torque V-6 from Ram which provides no real benefit and is expensive to repair and if it fails the truck is dead in the water.

The 4WD and Off-Road Group offering with the electronic locking differential at $795 is a much better deal than paying $6,000 for the Chevy off road package requirements. Also the Chevy off road package requires a V-8 engine option which in turn forces the 3.23 gears on the buyer. The only way to get lower gears is to buy the diesel engine option On the plus side the GM locker is mechanical which I would expect to be more reliable than the electronic one from Ram. Chevy also with the diesel engine removes the engine oil cooler in favor of a block heater and eliminates the 20" wheels and the transmission cooler and Chevy puts on Mud-Terrain tires which for those in the west is the worst possible tire to run on dirt or sand or snow.

Ford my have a better setup but their online build configuration tool is so poorly done that I would need to spend a couple hours with someone at the dealer to do a build. Chevy gives too little granularity for options and with Ford it is the exact opposite with too many option dependencies.

 

[Cudapower]

I drove a Chevy around a large parking lot doing slow and go and the stupid transmission would jerk your head off.

 

[wallyuwl]

I have a 2018 F150 XLT 302A with 5.0 v8, nothing but problems. Off throttle rattle, drank oil for two years until an engine flash update Ford came out with fixed it, dash warp (class action lawsuit started in FL on this) that I got replaced now it rattles. Awful transmission shifting characteristics (software related,, I think the 2020s are fine and would think 2021 will be). Crappy rear shocks that I had to replace. Clock spring rattle in cold,, but too intermittent to even bother having dealer try to diagnose for replacing. No auto 4wd option on XLT. It is GREAT at "truck stuff" but that is it.

I am still not wowed by the new 2021 Ford truck. I also don't like the shifter in the console, takes too much space.

I drove a GMC SLT, not quite a Denali but a higher trim. Way underwhelmed by the interior. It also rode very rough (much more than my f150 and that is rough) and steered like a bus. Engine was not underpowered with the 5.3 but it was not nearly as fast as Ford or Ram (Denali would probably get you the 6.2L though).

I am going to get a Laramie in the next week or so, just trying for the best deal still with a few dealers still in the running.

 

[SpeedyV]

I have a 2018 F150 XLT 302A with 5.0 v8, nothing but problems. Off throttle rattle, drank oil for two years until an engine flash update Ford came out with fixed it, dash warp (class action lawsuit started in FL on this) that I got replaced now it rattles. Awful transmission shifting characteristics (software related,, I think the 2020s are fine and would think 2021 will be). Crappy rear shocks that I had to replace. Clock spring rattle in cold,, but too intermittent to even bother having dealer try to diagnose for replacing. No auto 4wd option on XLT. It is GREAT at "truck stuff" but that is it.

I am still not wowed by the new 2021 Ford truck. I also don't like the shifter in the console, takes too much space.

I drove a GMC SLT, not quite a Denali but a higher trim. Way underwhelmed by the interior. It also rode very rough (much more than my f150 and that is rough) and steered like a bus. Engine was not underpowered with the 5.3 but it was not nearly as fast as Ford or Ram (Denali would probably get you the 6.2L though).

I am going to get a Laramie in the next week or so, just trying for the best deal still with a few dealers still in the running.

Sounds like you’ve had some tough luck. Hope the Ram treats you better!