i've finally been able to take a trip with the new Alpha this past weekend..as you all remember this was the new Alpha I upgraded to in the GM buyback offer. We've had the new truck for about 3 weeks now and it seems to be all we could ask for. Over the weekend, we drove the H3 up to Northern AZ (all freeway and in major elevation changes and deep canyon roads) snow too! The Alpha had far superior muscle and energy coasting up the mountain inclines than the old I-5. Don't get me wrong the I-5 held its own just fine - but the Alpha EASILY managed the terrain and inclines and never made the angry engine sound to get into the highest gear like the I-5. Also, we managed 190 miles on just half a tank of gas... better gas mileage? too early to tell but I know the engine wasn't working nearly as hard.
The only sad news was that upon finishing up at the car wash today (lots of snowdirt melted to mud, gunk, pebbles in tires) I noticed lots of tiny scratches on both driver and passenger side doors (all four had hundreds of scratches) In the sun it's very noticeable and makes me sick that the beautiful black paint job is compromised. The only thing I can think caused this pinstriping is we don't have mud flaps on the tires...i tried to buff out the different scratchs but to no avail.
will the mudflaps help in keeping these scratches minimized? Overall, the Alpha made us happy H3 owners again and glad we pursued the upgrade.

 

Congrats on the new Alpha. Your impressions of the drivetrain power are similar to what mine were. The 5.3 L shines.

The mud guards will help but won't eliminate debris hitting the side of the vehicle. Mine stopped about 75% of the dirt buildup on my doors and fenders. I would install a set of muguards and take the truck to a pro detailer to repair the paint. Those folks can do wonders with a power buffer if the scratches are superficial. I have a PC7424 and I'm sure I can remove a good percentage of minor scratches and swirls.

 

patches,
how funny you were the 1st to respond... I took the picture of your H3 into the dealership and said "I want this exact truck"!
thanks for the idea on a prodetail... the scratches are definitely superficial and now I'm optimistic they'll be buffed away

 

What can I say - great minds think alike!

Enjoy!

 

We love our H3 Alpha also. The scratches should polish out without much trouble.

 

I'm GLAD everything worked out and you're HAPPY in your new Alpha!! Congrats!!!

 

Some of us had no problem getting the sctraches out if you do a search on this site you can find all the info you need.

 

That reminds me of my first outing back in 06. We went to Big Bear, my H3 was still so new it had less than 500 miles on it and I was still cruising at 55 to break it in. We got up to Big Bear and I decided to go thru one of those drive thru car washes at a gas station. As I pulled in I noticed all the brushes in the car wash had little pieces of ice on the tips, at that point I figured OH SH*! but I couldnt pull out because the car wash machine already started to move around me. So all those ice tipped brush's spun around at 500 rpm's and just whacked the crap out of my paint and chrome. I didnt notice all the fine scratchs until a day later in the sunlight. Most have since buffed out but you can still see some. Needless to say I was pretty pissed off[:@] and have not been to a car wash since.

 

Glad to hear you like your Alpha.....I also like mine.....especially in the power department....and yes the Alpha seems to get better gas mileage than the I5 that I had. As far as scratches...I have mudflaps and I put the heavy duty 3M paint protector on my rear fender flares....they seemed to take the beating the worst.......You should be able to buff out those little marks with no problem.....

 

thks s.f.
where'd u get the mud flaps