I like both. I traded my 01 Chevy Silvy Z71 on a 04 GMC Sierra because I wanted an extended cab with a long bed, the Sierra had one, and that combination is pretty rare in 1500's. So the Sierra I found had what I wanted at a time I was looking for it ... and I pounced.

I can tell you that aftermarket parts are typically matched to the Silverado and assumed (by vendors) to be 100% compatibile with Sierras of the same year. However, there are minor differences between the brands. For example, aside from obvious front-end styling differences there are minor wiring differences between the Silverados and Sierras that make 1:1 part swaps a poor assumption on the part of vendors. I went through 3 sets of LED tails that supposedly fit my Sierra (and had to be returned because they didn't) ... and finally called a vendor and had a long discussion about wiring. What came out of that chat was that the 99-02 Silverado tails are what the 99-06 GMC Sierrras need due to wiring differences. So I ordered them and they fit/worked perfectly.

Keep that in mind when choosing ... as you'll find aftermarket parts more easily/readily for the Silverados than the Sierras. I know this is true of NBS trucks like mine. I can't speak to it on NNBS (07-12) trucks, but I'd presume it still holds true since on styling differences.

Surreal

 

Here's some useless trivia for you... Being that other than some trim and badging, the Chevy and GMC trucks are identical, do you know why they build both brands?

I will be back in later to post the answer. I am interested in the replies!

 

Personally I like the look of the GMC trucks over the Chevys. As for me I didn't care for the cat eye look. Just didn't have the "Truck" look to me.

---------- Post added at 09:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:50 PM ----------

Didn't the GMC's used to be built on their truck division line? That was the claim to fame I heard when I was young.

 

Here's some useless trivia for you... Being that other than some trim and badging, the Chevy and GMC trucks are identical, do you know why they build both brands?

I can attest to the NBS truck wiring NOT being identical. There are four bulbs in 2004 Silverado tail lights and only three in 2004 GMC tail lights.

 

There have been some small differences like that over the years, but all cosmetic; grilles, headlights/tail lights, turn signals, etc. aside from that, they are the same trucks though.

 

I wouldn't call wiring 'cosmetic'.

When I bought a Sierrra I had expected cosmetic differences. I absolutely did NOT expect wiring differences and learned it the hard way. People need to know that there's more than cosmetic differences...

 

I will admit that I don't know about the new trucks or what they have. I am told that the wiring on the chassis level is identical, but I haven't looked at them first hand, so I am not challenging you. I will go ahead and answer my own question from earlier. The only reason that GM builds GMC trucks is to give non-Chevrolet dealers trucks to sell... For example, Buick and Cadillac dealers that want to sell trucks would sell GMC.

 

That makes sense.

 

I chose my Silverado because I got a really good deal on it and I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it parked on the showroom floor. There's also something I loved about watching them open up the doors and rive it off the showroom out to the front of the dealership for me. Had it been a GMC, I'd have walked away with the GMC. I will say I do prefer the factory grille on the GMC better. However, since I'm planning to get an aftermarket grille anyway, that's not as big a factor.

 

I will say I do prefer the factory grille on the GMC better. However, since I'm planning to get an aftermarket grille anyway, that's not as big a factor.

I agree with you on the NNBS trucks. However on the NBS trucks the OEM Sierra grille is downright awful. Fortunately it's also downright easy to cut out and replace.

 

I wouldn't call wiring 'cosmetic'.

When I bought a Sierrra I had expected cosmetic differences. I absolutely did NOT expect wiring differences and learned it the hard way. People need to know that there's more than cosmetic differences...

I know of the wiring difference you're talking about, and its not cosmetic, but its an easy enough fix. If you trace your tail light harnesses back to the junction box for the lighting under the box on the back of your truck, the only difference is that harness from the junction outward. They can be swapped easily, but harness = $$.

The 2007+ trucks have more significant differences though, seeing as they now have different boxes to suit the different body lines. From a sales point of view though, if GM only ran one brand, they could finally kick ford out of being able to say they're the best selling trucks. For me, I like the styles of both for every generation, but each generation has certain things on each brand that I like better than the other.

 

If I had the GMC I'd consider just painting the grille black, but with the silverado, I'm leaning toward just doing a complete replacement. I haven't completely decided on which one though.

 

For me it depends on the generation. In the 07+ trucks the GMC is much better looking. The fenders and bedsides look like molded fender flares where on the Chevy the whole trucks looks like it is derping (check out derp.com if you don't know what I mean). Luckily Chevy has realized this and made subtle improvements to make it more appealing over the last few years. I still don't know if I could get past the fenders and bedsides of the Chevy. The NBS trucks from 09-02 the Chevy won hands down. The '02 2500HD is one of the greatest fronts ever put on a GM. I hated the cat eye front when it first came out but it can look good with the right grille and lights combination. The 03-06 GMC looked great. I think the Denali fronts took the GMC to the next level though. They should have put it on every GMC truck from the beginning. I loved both trucks in the 88-98 years. 94-98 especially won and they have been the most popular truck models since.

 

I'm a fan of the Bowie and split grille. I don't like the big round grilles of gmc. Especially on the yukon I was looking at one today when I let the shepherds out at the gfs house and was thinking to myself how much I didn't like it

 

I've heard that the gmc trucks were better equipped in the slt trim. I drive a '96 gmc burb in the slt trim and i have leather seat. all the chevy burbs i have seen dont have those leather seats in the slt trim at least.

 

The trims for Chevy is LT and LS. Most LT came with leather. I think Ltz came around in 07? But don't hold me to that

 

As mitchell said, I don't really care for the big round grill. I prefer the split grille and bowtie. What it really comes down to in my opinion is the price. Although if we were talking about SUV's I wouldn't even consider a Yukon. The grille on them with the headlights looks horrible to me, the Tahoe's have a much meaner look and they're cheaper than the Yukons.

 

I never liked the "cat-eye" look on the 07 Silverado I had. As soon as I saw that NNBS style they changed too with the more square look I wanted it, looks closer to the OBS I think. Also see tons of GMC work trucks around here so I always feel like the Chevy is a bit more of a personal vehicle and the GMCs remind me of company trucks. Probably just me though.

 

I would have picked either; but I preferred the GMC a bit more, just had a more "truck" look to it in my mind. Besides, I had been watching this truck on the dealers lot for a while, when they dropped the price again, and this time by a grand, I couldn't beat it; so it became a no-brainer.

 

I like the look of the NNBS GMC's. One of my coworkers just bought a Silvy. And when they are parked next to one another in the parking lot we pick out the differences between the two. There are a bunch of them. On my truck I have the raised middle punch grill in chrome. It makes all the difference in the truck in my opinion. I have always heard that the Seirra was the upscale Silverado. Not trying to start an argument that is just what I was told.

 

I have always heard that the Seirra was the upscale Silverado. Not trying to start an argument that is just what I was told.

That likely has more to do with branding/marketing than anything else. Think about it: if a Caddy dealership wants to sell trucks ... it sells Sierra's not Silverados. That's likely the kind of thing that causes the sort of talk that resulted in what you were told.

Now that said and being a Sierra owner, myself, I agree that the Sierra -is- the upscale Silverado. However, I may be (more than?) slightly biased. :rofl:

 

Potato tomato. There's something I like about that bowtie. I don't know why, I just like it. That being said, as I said earlier in the thread, had my truck said GMC on the front when I saw it on the showroom, I'd have walked out with that too. I am curious to see what they do with the 2014. It would be nice to see a differentiation between the two. I'm not sure how practical it'd be though. We'll see.

 

I like GMC but the Caddilac / GMC dealers in this area just had the upscale ext. and crew cab models, plus had already visited the dealer were I got my truck a couple of times

 

The dealer here sells both Chevy and GMC, I going to look at them side by side today. To be honest, I haven't really paided much attention to the NNBS untill this past week, but I've noticed a few things yall mentioned in this thread in pics I looked at online. I can't wait to compare them side by side.

Thanks everybody for the info.

 

I talked with the head of GMC & Buick a couple of years ago, they have their next generation planned and they will have different body panels between the (now) four main US divisions for GM. Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC. Right now and in years past ... yeah, it's still like better floor mats and changed out wiring for lights and stuff like that. Not so in the future ... so I was told.