GM 2025 Chevy ZR2 Duramax

[Fly Rod]

Last March I sold my ‘14 Tundra and purchased my first American car. After owning @ 30 imports of all makes the Chevy ZR2 was the first American truck that appealed to me. I wanted a diesel for towing our small TT. I liked the feedback on the 3 lt Duramax. But after test driving 3 of the chevy’s the suspensions left me wanting more. The last truck I tested was the ZR2. I took it, with the sales person, up to one of our company properties and drove it off road. I was shocked at how good the suspension was. My Tundra had OME suspension and the chevy’s was almost as good with just a little less articulation. I told the sales person my wife would never let me buy a white truck so she needed to call me when she got a “better” color in. In the mean time I found a truck in a color I wanted and got a quote for it. The next day I got a call that the local dealer just got one in with the Cypress Gray color. I asked the sales person to get it prepped and have it next to the white truck and I would bring my wife in to check it out. I told my wife the dealer had two trucks that would work for me and we should go see them. As soon as she saw the white one she said “get the green one!” She didn’t even ask how much. I told the sales person I had a price for another one and if they beat that price I would take it. Of course the manager wanted to know what the price was and I told him that wasn’t needed for him to give me a price. He grumbled something about that’s not how we do things to which I replied I buy a lot of vehicles and that’s how I do things. Five minutes later he came back with a price that was $1,500 lower than the other quote. Sold!

There is a lot on the net about issues with these. Here is how it has been through the 22,800 I put on it in the first 9 months:
Flat tire at 3,450 miles. Goodyear oem cheap tire off-road. Replaced with BFG KO3.
Total brain fart in the computer at 8,900 miles. Popped a bunch of codes. I nursed it to the dealer with compromised brakes and steering. They pulled the codes and shut it down. They couldn’t get it to repeat so returned it and said “let’s hope it doesn’t happen again.” Ok……
At 22,500, Christmas, I went out of town for 8 days. Got back at midnight and went to the truck to go home. Dead. Not enough power to start it. I put a charger on it and nothing. Dealer towed it in charged it and it’s gtg. Battery tested at 975cca. I purchas3d a Noco jump starter just in case.

Over the life of the truck I have averaged 20.6 mpg. That includes 2,000 miles of towing various trailers. When towing I average 13 mpg. On long road trips I average 25 mpg. My best was a 200 mile drive over multiple passes and got 28 mpg. Day to day with my 28 mile round trip commute to work I am averaging 21 mpg. Oil consumption is @ 1 qt / 5,000 miles.

Driving the truck is excellent. The throttle response is instant. The torque is more than enough. Even with the trailer it is usually cruising at 16-1800 rpm. At my normal 75 on the fwy it is turning 1,600rpm. It is also very quiet.

All in all I like this truck more than my Tundra. I told my wife if this one goes tits up I’ll buy another. I really like the motor and the suspension.

Here it is:

 

[PAToyota]

I like that color! It makes for a sharp looking truck! There have been a bunch of grey/green solid colors in recent years, but they are all on the lighter end of the spectrum - like Toyota's Lunar Rock that is everywhere now. I've been wondering why they haven't gone for a darker version. The only darker ones I've seen have been metallic or more of an Army green, but that looks to be a solid?

I've been hearing about electrical problems with the GM vehicles lately. Hopefully they can sort things out for you and not have an issue every 10K miles...

 

[Fly Rod]

I like that color! It makes for a sharp looking truck! There have been a bunch of grey/green solid colors in recent years, but they are all on the lighter end of the spectrum - like Toyota's Lunar Rock that is everywhere now. I've been wondering why they haven't gone for a darker version. The only darker ones I've seen have been metallic or more of an Army green, but that looks to be a solid?

I've been hearing about electrical problems with the GM vehicles lately. Hopefully they can sort things out for you and not have an issue every 10K miles...

Yes it is a solid color. I get a lot of comments on it because it is very rare in our ao. Mine is only the second one I’ve seen here.

The automatic over the air updates have caused some issues for sure. Hopefully they will get smart and break those down to smaller modules so they don’t get stuck in that fail repeat loop.

 

[prepperevolution]

Yes it is a solid color. I get a lot of comments on it because it is very rare in our ao. Mine is only the second one I’ve seen here.

The automatic over the air updates have caused some issues for sure. Hopefully they will get smart and break those down to smaller modules so they don’t get stuck in that fail repeat loop.

That's a nice color for sure brother. Haven't seen that one around yet in that color. I had a 2023 Canyon I bought in Desert Sand Metallic and I loved the way the new gen looked, but man o man did I have problems with that truck. Computer updates killed my battery getting stuck in that loop multiple times. Dealer had to replace the battery. Every time there was an update I had to bring it in. They bricked the main computer doing an update - had the truck for 4 weeks and they ordered the wrong global command module. Then the transmission issues started up, hard shutter going into first gear, progressively getting worse. The lead at the dealer told me it was "cold pressure" built up in the tranny and I looked at him and said I've driven a lot of vehicles including trucks and never heard of that BS before. Changed the transmission control module out and still had the issue. I was driving on 476 and sounded like I hit a chunk of metal in the road, low power mode, check engine lights on. Reset the battery and that seemed to do the trick so I can make it up to my cabin for the long weekend. Drove fine after that, then it started again. Random power loss at lights, then it would rev up and take off. They finally changed the valve body out and it ran smooth after that. Then it started burning oil... lots of oil. 9 quarts in like 2-3 months. They told me to drop it off and get a loaner, so I did, but then charged me for an oil change and told me to take it and drive it for 1k miles and bring it back for an assessment. I told them to keep it (traded it in) and bought a 2025 Sierra v8 elevation. Yeah, I got the lemon out of the bunch, but I'm reading some other people have the same issues with that truck too. First gen model. Should have listened to my fathers advice to never buy a first gen.

 

[PAToyota]

I like that color! It makes for a sharp looking truck! There have been a bunch of grey/green solid colors in recent years, but they are all on the lighter end of the spectrum - like Toyota's Lunar Rock that is everywhere now. I've been wondering why they haven't gone for a darker version. The only darker ones I've seen have been metallic or more of an Army green, but that looks to be a solid?

Yes it is a solid color. I get a lot of comments on it because it is very rare in our ao. Mine is only the second one I’ve seen here.

I've stopped by the local dealer a few times to look at that color in different lighting and it is darker than it shows in your photo - even in bright sunlight. It is still the closest color to what I'm looking for that I've seen so far, though.

 

[Fly Rod]

That's a nice color for sure brother. Haven't seen that one around yet in that color. I had a 2023 Canyon I bought in Desert Sand Metallic and I loved the way the new gen looked, but man o man did I have problems with that truck. Computer updates killed my battery getting stuck in that loop multiple times. Dealer had to replace the battery. Every time there was an update I had to bring it in. They bricked the main computer doing an update - had the truck for 4 weeks and they ordered the wrong global command module. Then the transmission issues started up, hard shutter going into first gear, progressively getting worse. The lead at the dealer told me it was "cold pressure" built up in the tranny and I looked at him and said I've driven a lot of vehicles including trucks and never heard of that BS before. Changed the transmission control module out and still had the issue. I was driving on 476 and sounded like I hit a chunk of metal in the road, low power mode, check engine lights on. Reset the battery and that seemed to do the trick so I can make it up to my cabin for the long weekend. Drove fine after that, then it started again. Random power loss at lights, then it would rev up and take off. They finally changed the valve body out and it ran smooth after that. Then it started burning oil... lots of oil. 9 quarts in like 2-3 months. They told me to drop it off and get a loaner, so I did, but then charged me for an oil change and told me to take it and drive it for 1k miles and bring it back for an assessment. I told them to keep it (traded it in) and bought a 2025 Sierra v8 elevation. Yeah, I got the lemon out of the bunch, but I'm reading some other people have the same issues with that truck too. First gen model. Should have listened to my fathers advice to never buy a first gen.

Damn! That definitely sounds like a POS right. Stories like this are what have kept me away from American vehicles. Unfortunately, the new Tundra was a hard no when it was time to replace my Tundra. I rolled the dice with this truck. I just turned 41,000 miles and, knock on wood, it is still going strong. FWIW, this 3lt Duramax is as close to perfection as you can get for a half ton truck. Really nice motor.