Buying a 2014 Chevy TrailBlazer in 2021? YAY or NAY?

[RoelfleRoux]

I tested my system on smooth dirt. With all aids turned off, in 2wd, I planted my right foot. Car spins like a real hooligan, the tail steps out and then the diff locks up and the car just shoots forward.
I have a video on WhatsApp where my car is in LR and spinning in a steep rutted track. Then the diff locks up and the car just climbs up the track. I'll see if 1) I can find it and 2) get it posted
https://youtu.be/w19krXhVkBw

[Südwester]

Very happy to report that the TB handled the steeper parts of our Mountain Plateau like a champ. More than enough power to idle up all of the ruts and loose granite rocks without any wheel-spins or any other mucking about. It felt very comfortable in 4-high that it didn’t need any donkey gears for climbing.

..now to find some even ruffer-stuff for 4-low 😈

[Südwester]

This cant be right.. or ?

Been driving the TB for a month now & since then I logged roughly 1500km, of which probably 60% were farm & gravel roads.
Tire pressure sits at 1.8 Bar (on 265/60/R18 Inception S/T Maxx) and yet; both my AVG l/100km on the fuelly app and on the dashboard display a whopping 7.1 l/100km (14.1 km/l) ...

I'm guessing I will have to rack up some more mileage to get a more accurate AVG, but honestly did not expect anything less than 12l /100km for this engine, very surprised.

[WernerDV]

Lots of gravel with lower avg speed perhaps...

[RoelfleRoux]

This cant be right.. or ?

Been driving the TB for a month now & since then I logged roughly 1500km, of which probably 60% were farm & gravel roads.
Tire pressure sits at 1.8 Bar (on 265/60/R18 Inception S/T Maxx) and yet; both my AVG l/100km on the fuelly app and on the dashboard display a whopping 7.1 l/100km (14.1 km/l) ...

I'm guessing I will have to rack up some more mileage to get a more accurate AVG, but honestly did not expect anything less than 12l /100km for this engine, very surprised.

Yip.
Something wrong! Life isn't that fair. You can't have a nice engine and low fuel consumption.

[jaconell]

This cant be right.. or ?

Been driving the TB for a month now & since then I logged roughly 1500km, of which probably 60% were farm & gravel roads.
Tire pressure sits at 1.8 Bar (on 265/60/R18 Inception S/T Maxx) and yet; both my AVG l/100km on the fuelly app and on the dashboard display a whopping 7.1 l/100km (14.1 km/l) ...

I'm guessing I will have to rack up some more mileage to get a more accurate AVG, but honestly did not expect anything less than 12l /100km for this engine, very surprised.

From my experience and the bit of info above - the number should be around 9.5 - 10.5 km@l.

Simply check with calculator when you fill.

[RoelfleRoux]

From my experience and the bit of info above - the number should be around 9.5 - 10.5 km@l.

Simply check with calculator when you fill.

Jaco, do those numbers apply to the 3.6V6 petrol engine?

[jaconell]

Jaco, do those numbers apply to the 3.6V6 petrol engine?

Ahhhh Roelf.....clearly I should not mix insomnia with posting.....

Apologies. In that case there is certainly something wrong with the consumption figures posted by OP.

I will then state 6.5 - 8 km@l.

[Südwester]

thanks gents. I'm sure my avg. will gravitate more towards Jaco's numbers in due course.. l like how Roelf said it, "life cant be that fair"

There is however no denying that the TB handles gravel-pads (especially sandy patches) like a champ, the v6 & gearbox combo seem to work effortlessly together with very smooth gearing. Even our 2.0 vvti workhorse doesn't get anything under 13l/100km on farm & gravel.

[Südwester]

the TB received its first accessory, a roof rack & a RTT.
"now it are time to camp"

.. can you spot the hound?

[jaconell]

the TB received its first accessory, a roof rack & a RTT.
"now it are time to camp"

.. can you spot the hound?

Underneath table.

Man that looks fantastic. I hope you enlarge this pic and put on your study wall.

That TB looks like it was meant to be nowhere else.......

[RoelfleRoux]

the TB received its first accessory, a roof rack & a RTT.
"now it are time to camp"

.. can you spot the hound?

Wow.
What a setting.
I encore Jaco's comments.

[Caracal]

Hi Sudwester,

I am thinking of pulling the trigger on a 2013 3.6 V6 4x4 Trailblazer with 115000km on the clock and a reported full service history. Car looks clean and well looked after on the pics I have received.

Is there anything I should look out for when I view it in a weeks time?

What has your fuel consumption been like with the tent on the roof?

Thanks.

[Südwester]

Hi Sudwester,

I am thinking of pulling the trigger on a 2013 3.6 V6 4x4 Trailblazer with 115000km on the clock and a reported full service history. Car looks clean and well looked after on the pics I have received.

Is there anything I should look out for when I view it in a weeks time?

What has your fuel consumption been like with the tent on the roof?

Thanks.

Hallo Caracal,

So far I'm extremely happy with the car. Last week we returned from a 4000km trip up to the Caprivi. Car was loaded to the brim, we drove through the rather thick sands in the Kwando Core Area(the v6 purrs through the soft sands effortlessly), nasty mudholes in Mudumo Park & plenty of dirt roads (nothing as bad as our southern brain-shakers though) & besides the annoying door chimes it didn't make one single peep nor had any issues. A all around fantastic little "cruiser".

Avg: fuel mileage with RTT & 2 ammo boxes = 12.6 l / 100km (our friends in their 2019 3.2l ranger got nearly exactly the same fuel mileage)

I unfortunately cant give you too much info what to look out as my ODO is sitting only on 50K now. So besides the obvious preventative maintenance one needs to be aware of with higher mileage cars, this seems to be a really solid little vehicle.

If the previous owner(s) didn't change their spare wheel from the original your going to end up with a 16" rim. So perhaps just check that out.

Also I noticed the exhaust rubber brackets seem to have a lot of play and tend to swing around a bit when driving on corrugated roads.

[Caracal]

Hallo Caracal,

So far I'm extremely happy with the car. Last week we returned from a 4000km trip up to the Caprivi. Car was loaded to the brim, we drove through the rather thick sands in the Kwando Core Area(the v6 purrs through the soft sands effortlessly), nasty mudholes in Mudumo Park & plenty of dirt roads (nothing as bad as our southern brain-shakers though) & besides the annoying door chimes it didn't make one single peep nor had any issues. A all around fantastic little "cruiser".

Avg: fuel mileage with RTT & 2 ammo boxes = 12.6 l / 100km (our friends in their 2019 3.2l ranger got nearly exactly the same fuel mileage)

I unfortunately cant give you too much info what to look out as my ODO is sitting only on 50K now. So besides the obvious preventative maintenance one needs to be aware of with higher mileage cars, this seems to be a really solid little vehicle.

If the previous owner(s) didn't change their spare wheel from the original your going to end up with a 16" rim. So perhaps just check that out.

Also I noticed the exhaust rubber brackets seem to have a lot of play and tend to swing around a bit when driving on corrugated roads.

Thank you for that feedback.

At the price, and what you get in the package, it seems like a very worthy buy.

I will be viewing the vehicle in 2 weeks time in Walvis, hopefully its a go with the purchase.

[Gav.S]

Slight twist on the timelines.
Would you buy a 2017 face-lift model in 2022.
A few going for approx R350k
We miss our blazer that we sold, tempted at the last of the range but concerned about support?

[RoelfleRoux]

Slight twist on the timelines.
Would you buy a 2017 face-lift model in 2022.
A few going for approx R350k
We miss our blazer that we sold, tempted at the last of the range but concerned about support?

Support thus far is fine.
Nobody really knows what will happen going forward.
The 2017 facelift is a really nice car to own and live with.

[Gav.S]

Signed the paperwork today. Going to collect next week. I'm back in the Trailblazer ring. Even got the same colour as my last one

[RoelfleRoux]

Signed the paperwork today. Going to collect next week. I'm back in the Trailblazer ring. Even got the same colour as my last one

You'll be happily surprised by the facelift.
Enjoy.

[Gav.S]

Hope so. We were looking at the old MU-X and were fairly disappointed in the specs and their pricing. So we started looking at the new MU-X....and we realized that even in 12months we wouldn't pay those prices so we went back to the Trailblazer. We had SERIOUS regrets after selling the last one. These face-lift ones have some nice specs and the good part is we get that grunt from that 2.8 motor again.