# Vote here: Is the Chevy Avalanche dumb and ugly, or is it kewl?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vote-here-is-the-chevy-avalanche-dumb-and-ugly-or-is-it-kewl/87379
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [October 14, 2001, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vote-here-is-the-chevy-avalanche-dumb-and-ugly-or-is-it-kewl/87379 "2001-10-14T18:35:26Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2001, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vote-here-is-the-chevy-avalanche-dumb-and-ugly-or-is-it-kewl/87379/1 "2001-10-14T18:35:26Z")
The Chevrolet Avalanche, for you other non-car people (like me), is supposed to be something called an “SUT”, which stands for Sport Utility Truck. [Here’s](http://www.chevrolet.com/avalanche/model_z71.htm) a picture of one that we saw on our way home from church, which sparked a brisk discussion (well, okay, “argument”) between the Better Half and Bonzo, who at age 14 feels he knows enough about cars to disagree with his dad (he’s wrong, of course, but… 😃 )
Anyway, as we sat there at the stoplight, I noticed this “vehicle” and said, moderately, “What in the world is that?” and the Better Half said, “Ugly, ain’t it?” or words to that effect, and he added a number of distressingly condemnatory remarks about General Motors in general and Chevrolet in particular, whereupon Bonzo chimed in with, “Hey, those things are _kewl_…”
Discussion ensued. I personally thought the vee-hickle in question was a tad ugly, but then, I’m the one who thinks the last really good-looking car Detroit ever came up with was the old Mustang (and no, children, I don’t mean the 1970’s “old” Mustang, I mean the _real_ “old” Mustang, the original Pony Car).
And I also personally think that a “truck” oughta be a “truck” and a SUV oughta be a “SUV” and never the twain oughta meet. One’s for hauling manure, one’s for hauling soccer gear.
So that’s two votes for “dumb and ugly” and one vote for “kewl”. What say the Teeming Millions?
P.S. And if you go [here](http://www.chevrolet.com/avalanche/multimedia/midgate.htm), you can play with the Virtual Convert-A-Cab Demonstration, which is fun. Just like Fisher-Price Dream Dollhouse, open and close the little doors…
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### Author:  [@Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanna)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2001, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vote-here-is-the-chevy-avalanche-dumb-and-ugly-or-is-it-kewl/87379/2 "2001-10-14T19:19:02Z")
I like odd looking vehicles. The odder, the better. I wouldn’t want to drive something everyone else does, like a Ford Taurus or a Honda Accord. I posted this before but the board ate my post. One vote for.
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### Author:  [@Tattva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tattva)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2001, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vote-here-is-the-chevy-avalanche-dumb-and-ugly-or-is-it-kewl/87379/3 "2001-10-14T19:49:16Z")
Actually, I really like it. But that may be because I’ve seen one up close and inside and stuff.
My boss owns one. He’s typically a truck kind of guy, but his family can’t fit in a pick-up any more (well, they could fit in a king cab).
I don’t know if he got a lot of option packages, but his Avalanche has leather seats, On Star and GPS tracking, heated seats, CD player, etc…
But it’s good for hauling stuff and people. Kinda gimmicky, but I guess it’s good.
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### Author:  [@Ikujinashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ikujinashi)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2001, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vote-here-is-the-chevy-avalanche-dumb-and-ugly-or-is-it-kewl/87379/4 "2001-10-14T19:55:34Z")
I’ve never had the chance to drive one so I’ll just cast a vote for I have observed… heck yeah is it UGLY.
Dumb, I dunno. I like my vehicles pretty spartan and **Tattva’s** description makes it sound sorta cushy, but if it’s good for hauling…
It might not be that ugly when you swivel the bed down, fold the hood, rotate out the cab and pop up the head. My guess is that it’s a Decepticon.
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### Author:  [@utah\_boy2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/utah_boy2)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2001, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vote-here-is-the-chevy-avalanche-dumb-and-ugly-or-is-it-kewl/87379/5 "2001-10-14T20:07:20Z")
My vote is for ‘kewl’. I still think they are odd, but I agree, who wants a car (such as a honda) that 50 million other people have. And I’m sure chevy wants everyone and their dog to drive this truck, too.
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### Author:  [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2001, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vote-here-is-the-chevy-avalanche-dumb-and-ugly-or-is-it-kewl/87379/6 "2001-10-14T20:50:46Z")
I’ll take “Dumb and Ugly” for $300, Alex.
To top it off, there is a The North Face edition, telling you exactly the sort of adventure traveler wannabee they are targeting. (I own TNF gear, it’s fine, but to get a vehicle with that branding is just silly.)
The Avalanche is a 4 door pickup with an unusual tailgate and lots of body cladding.
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### Author:  [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2001, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vote-here-is-the-chevy-avalanche-dumb-and-ugly-or-is-it-kewl/87379/7 "2001-10-15T02:08:59Z")
I kinda like it. They basically took a Ford Explorer Sport Trac and made everything all foldable and removable, and a tad bigger.
I generally like these new ‘weird’ truck/SUV’s. I like the Sport Trac mentioned above, as well as the ‘sport utility wagons’ such as the Outback or Pontiac Aztec.
(But I’d still rather have a Nissan Frontier over any of 'em, though. (I think it’s that rack on the cab that gets me so excited. And the folding rack on the tailgate…drool…))
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### Author:  [@Deej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deej)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2001, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vote-here-is-the-chevy-avalanche-dumb-and-ugly-or-is-it-kewl/87379/8 "2001-10-15T02:39:52Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Duck Duck Goose \*
> \*\*And I also personally think that a “truck” oughta be a “truck” and a SUV oughta be a “SUV” and never the twain oughta meet. One’s for hauling manure, one’s for hauling soccer gear.
>
> \*\*
Hmmmmmm…
I’ll have to go take the chainsaw, gas cans, oil jugs and fire wood out of my Explorer and go buy some soccer gear to keep it happy. Don’t know what I’m going to do with soccer gear, but if that’s all the vehicle is made for, I guess I have no choice. No more hunting with it either. I guess if I were an SUV and had my choice between 6 dead deer and a few soccer balls, I’d choose the soccer balls. It’s never hauled manure, but do 3 piglets count? They left some manure, so I guess it might. We would have hauled them in the pickup, but it was too cold the day they needed to be transported to their new home. Not all SUV owners are soccer moms. I know alot of people that own SUV’s but I don’t know any soccer moms.
As far as the Avalanche, it looks like it wouldn’t have a big enough bed in truck mode to be worth having if you truly need a truck. All those little flippy panels and doors to change over from SUV to truck just make me think that there’s more things to break.
I like the Pontiac Aztec. We had one as a rental when we were in FL in May, and they’re roomier than they look.
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### Author:  [@SouprChckn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SouprChckn)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2001, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vote-here-is-the-chevy-avalanche-dumb-and-ugly-or-is-it-kewl/87379/9 "2001-10-15T03:27:06Z")
I don’t even see why the issue over its looks would be any different than any other automobile. The styling is hardly a polarizer like an Aztek or PT Cruiser or something. Sure its got gimmicky stuff all over the place, but it still looks pretty much like a truck.
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### Author:  [@techchick68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/techchick68)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2001, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vote-here-is-the-chevy-avalanche-dumb-and-ugly-or-is-it-kewl/87379/10 "2001-10-15T06:29:32Z")
As a former Chevy owner, I fell in love with the Avalanche when I first saw the prototype on the tube.
I signed up on their email list so I could get all the updates and they even sent me a mini Avalanche in the mail. Not made by Hot Wheels but it’s 'sposedly to scale.
I was at a meeting the other day and outside the office was an Avalanche. Honestly? I was drooling, wish I had an extra $30,000 to drop into a new Av. I am taking donations and you can get a ride in it if I can buy one.
You can say I dig it!
\< BTW, it’s not wimply like the Ford or Nissan versions, it’s more or less a full size vehicle \>
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### Author:  [@Atrael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atrael)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2001, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vote-here-is-the-chevy-avalanche-dumb-and-ugly-or-is-it-kewl/87379/11 "2001-10-15T19:44:20Z")
I actually like it too. We need something that can comfortably seat 4 - 5 people, without jamming them together. And also let me put stuff in the back for the various home improvment projects that we do. So this would fit all our needs. Although I’m a tad leery about paying $30K for **anything**.
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### Author:  [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2001, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vote-here-is-the-chevy-avalanche-dumb-and-ugly-or-is-it-kewl/87379/12 "2001-10-15T20:28:11Z")
I vote for dumb.
I also think that Nissan “I wanna be hard-core” SUV thingie is dumb.
FWIW, these cars always seem to be advertised with shots of whitewater kayaks on them, interspersed with river shots. I’ve got a little secret to share with you all–in the whitewater community, nobody drives those vehicles. They don’t have the roof-rack capacity that is needed. Virtually all serious whitewater boaters drive one of the following:
–Subaru Outback (sometimes Forester)
–Pickup (throw your boat and your stinky gear in the bed)
–Crappy old sedan or hatchback with Thule racks on top.
I don’t usually judge people by their cars, but frankly, if I saw someone at the put-in with an Avalanche, I’d assume they were a real yahoo.
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### Author:  [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2001, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vote-here-is-the-chevy-avalanche-dumb-and-ugly-or-is-it-kewl/87379/13 "2001-10-15T21:46:05Z")
the opinionated gatopescado says dumb and ugly.
i guess for the urban, yuppie who never hauls anything dirtier than something that can be found on Martha Stewart, it may be cool, but i think for the real world (that’s where i live!) this is the stupidest thing on the road. the first time you take that rear window out you will find yourself and the entire cab area full of dirt, straw, horseshit, sheepshit, kid shit and remnants of whatever else you may haul around on a regular basis. personally, i want a nice barrier between me and the shit. i’m looking at the Nissan Frontier crew cab or maybe the Explorer thingy with 4 doors and a truck bed, but the beds are too small on both of these! wife and i wanted to avoid full-monster-sized trucks (already have 2 of those) but we need 4 doors.
i’ll figure something out…
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### Author:  [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2001, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vote-here-is-the-chevy-avalanche-dumb-and-ugly-or-is-it-kewl/87379/14 "2001-10-15T22:09:30Z")
I’m still trying to get over the fact that the GM Marketing Department thought that “Avalanche” was a good thing to name a vehicle.
“Beware the pine-tree’s withered branch!
Beware the awful avalanche!”
This was the peasant’s last Good-night;
A voice replied, far up the height,
Excelsior!
– Longfellow
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### Author:  [@Mr.Cynical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Cynical)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2001, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vote-here-is-the-chevy-avalanche-dumb-and-ugly-or-is-it-kewl/87379/15 "2001-10-15T22:50:15Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Atrael \*
> \*\*I actually like it too. We need something that can comfortably seat 4 - 5 people, without jamming them together. And also let me put stuff in the back for the various home improvment projects that we do. So this would fit all our needs. Although I’m a tad leery about paying $30K for **anything**. \*\*
Good luck buying a house!
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### Author:  [@pegleg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pegleg)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2001, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vote-here-is-the-chevy-avalanche-dumb-and-ugly-or-is-it-kewl/87379/16 "2001-10-16T00:00:48Z")
Another vote for UGLY!!!
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### Author:  [@Infidel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infidel)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2001, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vote-here-is-the-chevy-avalanche-dumb-and-ugly-or-is-it-kewl/87379/17 "2001-10-16T01:09:02Z")
Ugly.
I think G.M. is having an ugly contest between the Chevy Avalanche and the Pontiac Aztek.
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### Author:  [@Dale\_The\_Bold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_The_Bold)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2001, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vote-here-is-the-chevy-avalanche-dumb-and-ugly-or-is-it-kewl/87379/18 "2001-10-16T01:58:09Z")
There once was a truck that was ostracized by other pickup trucks. It was a truck that had all of the normal anatomy of a truck, but inside it couldn’t deny it’s attraction to members of another species, the SUV. One day, this truck had an emotional breakdown and hid in the mountains, only to discover a similar vehicle living in isolation and rejection for it’s bizarre tendencies. Of all things, it was an SUV with an affinity for pickups. Together, the two vehicles found great comfort and found themselves growing closer and closer until that day when they cast aside their inhibitions and engaged in a passionate lovemaking fury that erupted the very top of the mountain, resulting in a landslide. Nine months later, a car show revealed the very first of a new breed, the Avalanche.
My vote “Dumb and Ugly,” but it’s no PT Cruiser, that’s in a category of it’s own…“Fugly.”
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### Author:  [@Booker57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Booker57)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2001, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vote-here-is-the-chevy-avalanche-dumb-and-ugly-or-is-it-kewl/87379/19 "2001-10-16T02:21:47Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Dale The Bold \*
> My vote “Dumb and Ugly,” but it’s no PT Cruiser, that’s in a category of it’s own…“Fugly.” \*\*
I vote ugly and dumb. If you need a Swiss army knife, buy one. It’s made by GM, by the time they get all the glitches uot of it they’ll stop selling it.
The reason for the quote is I love the word “Fugly” 🙂
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### Author:  [@Dale\_The\_Bold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_The_Bold)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2001, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vote-here-is-the-chevy-avalanche-dumb-and-ugly-or-is-it-kewl/87379/20 "2001-10-16T02:48:03Z")
There once was a truck that was ostracized by other pickup trucks. It was a truck that had all of the normal anatomy of a truck, but inside it couldn’t deny it’s attraction to members of another species, the SUV. One day, this truck had an emotional breakdown and hid in the mountains, only to discover a similar vehicle living in isolation and rejection for it’s bizarre tendencies. Of all things, it was an SUV with an affinity for pickups. Together, the two vehicles found great comfort and found themselves growing closer and closer until that day when they cast aside their inhibitions and engaged in a passionate lovemaking fury that erupted the very top of the mountain, resulting in a landslide. Nine months later, a car show revealed the very first of a new breed, the Avalanche.
My vote “Dumb and Ugly,” but it’s no PT Cruiser, that’s in a category of it’s own…“Fugly.”
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