Bill in Utah,
I had a 2000 Silverado, 5300 Engine, auto transmission, extended cab. I have to say that it was the most comfortable, best riding vehicle I have ever owned. The 5.3L GM smallblock V8 is the best small block V8 engine on the market, hands down. There is nothing out there that can compete on power, torque and fuel economy.
With that said, I will give you a run down of the problems that had or were developing at the end of my ownership at 5.25 years and 100k miles-
Fuel gauge "waved" at you when the tank was near empty or if you had recently filled up. I'm talking it would show empty, then full, then halfway. For about 65 miles. Then it would settle down. I was probably looking at a fuel pump module to repair this. Fuel pumps aren't known for their longevity in the full size GM products.
One of the ABS sensors was having problems. This meant that a wheel bearing assembly was going to be replaced. The Brake/ABS light would come on the dash at times.
The Trip/Odometer push post had just about stopped working. You had to fuss with it for several minutes to get it to switch ONCE.
The horn had stopped working. It was blowing fuses. I had people all over the place on this one, from spending a few hours finding a short to taking the steering wheel off and dealing with the airbag.
In that vehicle, those repairs alone were estimated at $1500.
Before that, I had a 1998 Z71 Extended cab with a 5 speed. The thing would mysteriously jump idle at a red light to 1500-2000 rpm. No explaination. You could also drive down the road, push in the clutch and put it in neutral and watch the tach go from 750 to 1500 or so. GM didn't have an answer for that besides "They had reset the computer for the transmission."
My wife had a 1998 Lumina. A certified piece of junk. at 75k miles, it needed a lifter and intake gasket. 2k miles later, I was putting a battery in it. (Yeah, I know, maintenance). 2500 miles later, I was putting a water pump on it. A month later it was an alternator. A year before that, it was the blinker switch. A KNOWN failure in these cars, a repair to the tune of $300.
And when we gave it back to the Chevy Stealership, it still had a vacuum leak that caused the HVAC dampers to go from blowing air on the front to the feet when the throttle was engaged. An estimate on that job was in the $600's from a private mechanic.
So, we haul that junker down and trade for a Trailblazer EXT. Oh. What a Frankenstein. Noisy, weak, poor fuel mileage, and 100's of recalls. If you want confirmation, trot down to your local GM dealer and ask for a list of recalls on the 2003 Trailblazer EXT's.
Have fun.
Oh, and I will post a UOA from a 2005 Honda Accord sometime. I might start doing UOA's on it after 50k miles. But I am not really worried about that engine.
You might see a UOA from a 1995 Accord with 150k miles on it before that.
