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Which generation/year/body style is the most dependable Chevrolet pickup truck yet? This question is just for dependability with routine maintenance overall, not bells and whistles or off road capability. If you wanted the most dependable stock Chevy truck with the least repair cost, which year would it be?
the Chevrolet C/K Series from 1960-2000
Would say the GMT400 with the 5.7 and 7.4 Vortec V-8 would be the best if you want fuel injection avoid the late 80's early 90's 305 TBI at all costs IMO Chevrolet C/K - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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I know 3 different people still driving 1970-72 C/Ks. I had a '72 El Camino and even in 2006 the TH350 transmission rebuild was only $1,200, about 1/3 the cost of a modern EOD automatic.
I bet the newest models will run longer with less maintenance than ANY previous generation. Much of the love of old cars, supposedly reliable, is based on the relative reliability of vehicles of that era. Today's vehicles, especially engines, are vastly better than those of 20 or more years ago.
Our 2003 Suburban with the 5.3 has 227K on it and runs fine. It doesn't use oil between changes, so I'm thinking this generation is goiong to be rumbling around for a long time.
Based on what I've seen of GM trucks in fleet service (my mechanic for many years maintained truck fleets under contract), the 2007-2013 trucks were about the best, overall. By most accounts, the 2014 C-K1500 GM 1/2 tons are not doing nearly as well. I owned or drove GM trucks of various vintages from the early 1970's until after 2010. They were OK trucks, but not without considerable problems. The 1973-1987 bodies were badly prone to rust and the early '70's emission-control strangled engines were gutless and thirsty. Cooling system and radiator problems were pretty bad, too. By 100K, those trucks were pretty worn out. The '88-'01 models often had driveline and suspension issues. Electrical problems were pretty common, too. Quality on that whole '73-'01 range was uneven. One truck would be complete junk and another of the same generation would do great. I had both.
A 2015 Silverado is going to run faster, harder and longer then any of it's predecessors with much more capability and efficiency.
That being said, most of the pre-1988s seem to have rusted aways from being common. Still plenty of 88-07s on the road. I have no doubt we'll be seeing them for a long time to come.
Car design and engineering is not a static thing. Therefore, dependability is going to be relative based on the era the vehicle was designed and built.
One thing about a GM/Chevy Truck I would avoid all their early attempts at diesel engines unless it is the 6.6 Duramax since the 6.2 and 6.5 Diesels were terrible compared to the Cummins, IDI and Powerstrokes found in Dodge and Ford full-size trucks of the same era.
On the upside GM builds some of the better Gasser V-8 around esp. the 6.0 Vortec in the 1500 and the 8.1 Vortec if you can find one in a 2500/3500 HD
I know 3 different people still driving 1970-72 C/Ks. I had a '72 El Camino and even in 2006 the TH350 transmission rebuild was only $1,200, about 1/3 the cost of a modern EOD automatic.
I rebuilt a 2004 GM 4 speed automatic for $1450 a couple years ago.....
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