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Longest Lasting? GM Trucks and SUVs Top Lists Of Most Driven Older Vehicles


Gorehamj

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That may be true, but you don’t need too. My 04 Z71 went 180K miles without needing the hood open except during oil changes. Most vehicles now days are that way. I can remember a 74 nova I had by 1977 I replaced the radiator, gas tank, exhaust, belts, hoses, and it started getting surface rust on the roof. It was my wife’s car, who was a stay home mom. It was garage kept and never saw bad weather. Didn’t think anything of it, they all were doing the same thing. I can remember my dads caddy rusting behind the rear wheels in just a couple years. Chevy trucks under the doors and just above the wheel openings. It was normal and not really thought about. It wasn’t until Honda showed up we thought it wasn’t normal, if memory serves.


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After '72, things really started going downhill quality wise. By 1980, all the sheetmetal was nearly half the thickness. Same with control arms, frames, and such.

 

My maternal grandfather had a '76 Comet. Budget car. It ran pretty good, but was alot like the Nova, needing all kinds of stuff over the years. Paint spiderwebbed after 4 years ... and we live in MA, where it's winter 9 months out of the year, lol. Not much UV exposure. I remember my dad doing a rear brake job on it in the driveway, using the shitty scissor jack that came with the car. Thing bent and fell over, landing on the drum! Our '76 Torino had a nice, strong bumper jack. Sure miss those. No crawling around on the ground to see where the jack might bend the floor into a pretzel ...

 

I'd take that over my failing LMG any day though! I'm at 94k - thing started burning oil at 50k, and the ticking at startup is getting louder and longer. If I get 120k out of this engine without major valve train repairs, I'll be doing damn good. Lucky for me, I have the '86 Grand Marquis and '93 Volvo 940 - I can drive either one, and only use the truck for towing / hauling.

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I will always own a GM truck, no other brand for me.

My 93 Silverado was bought used with 40 k miles. 

I put 200 k miles on it.

Parked outside.

Daily construction work truck for over 20 years.

Towed boats, trailers. Trips to Lake Powell towing a 20 foot boat through the mountains. 

Live in Colorado.

 

My 1977 was a good truck also.

 

I have never had a GM truck that I would call a POS.

Always bought used.

Regular maintenance and not beating it to death is all I did.

I didn't try to go 70  mph over the mountain passes while towing.

Yea, they used some oil after the miles racked up. Not a big deal.

 

:)

 

 

 

 

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I hear that - so do I! Cars I hated back then - like the Comet, or Pinto - I'd love to drive today. It would be an absolute joy. Plus, they look so different now with modern cars everywhere. Even our Grand Marquis stands out in a crowd - noticed that starting about 10 years ago.

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2 minutes ago, diyer2 said:

I will always own a GM truck, no other brand for me.

My 93 Silverado was bought used with 40 k miles. 

I put 200 k miles on it.

Parked outside.

Daily construction work truck for over 20 years.

Towed boats, trailers. Trips to Lake Powell towing a 20 foot boat through the mountains. 

Live in Colorado.

 

My 1977 was a good truck also.

 

I have never had a GM truck that I would call a POS.

Always bought used.

Regular maintenance and not beating it to death is all I did.

I didn't try to go 70  mph over the mountain passes while towing.

Yea, they used some oil after the miles racked up. Not a big deal.

 

:)

 

 

 

 

My '94 K1500 was the best truck I've ever owned as far as reliability goes. Sold it with 266k on the clock. OE u-joints failed at 222k miles! I think the '88-'94 trucks had the most reliable driveline they ever made.

 

 

Old truck -- New truck 002.jpg

Edited by Jsdirt
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I’ve had lots of trucks, starting with a 1970 Ford. It had a 6, three on the tree. Later 289, hurst on the floor, cherrie bomb exhaust. Ending with a 2014 GMC. The one I kept and probably the last one.e09029f82764fc9fa0cfa4e6b3d09f4e.jpg


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I'd definitely hang on to that one - she's MINT! 

 

I used to have a '71 C20 as a winter beater. It was already all rusted out when I bought it. Thing rode and drove perfect, but the body was falling off the thing. Still should've kept it - a few new panels and she's be ready for another 40 years.

 

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I’d rather have the older one. My dad had the 70 CST with the 402, hugger orange, three on the tree, posi. It had a black top of the cab. Can’t remember if it was painted or vinyl. Then a 72, el Camino SS, then a 74 ranchero GT 351C. I’d almost kill for anyone of those. Good old days.


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The S-series had some quirks, plus they had their Wednesday, and Friday-before-Christmas trucks ... but their drivelines were every bit as good as the full sized trucks. I've owned many, well over 200k miles. The 4.3 was 2/3rds of the tried and true 350. One of the best engines ever made.

 

I did have a '00 Jimmy once - biggest lemon I have ever seen in my life, let alone owned! Everything that COULD go wrong with a modern vehicle, went wrong with this one. Cost me a bundle. It's gutted shell still sits out back here, 10 years later.

 

That said, my first vehicle was an '88 S15 - I beat this thing worse than any vehicle in my life, and it never once let me down. Redline in every gear, took it off-roading where no 2WD vehicle had any business going, and launched it off steep roadways over railroad tracks getting at least 4' of air. My dad used to wonder how the hell I burned through a set of brand new shocks and tires in 10k miles, LOL - in those days, that was 6 months of driving!  I bought it in '90 with 17k on the clock, and sold it with 55k a couple years later. Carfax showed that it lived until sometime after 2001, at which time it had 140k on it. Given the way I abused this thing, that is a genuine miracle! I did always change the oil religiously, every 3k miles.  Used to get a case of Sunoco 10w-30 for less than $12. Sure miss those days. GM doesn't build anything close to this these days. I wouldn't dare abuse a vehicle this bad today - it would break the first month!

 

Had a '91 S10 Blazer for a few years. This thing was beat when I bought it - had 210k on it. 4.3 TBI, auto. Digital cluster!  Squeaked and rattled down the road worse than anything I had ever owned. Body was trashed, but the previous owner did some half-assed body work, and laid on some fresh paint, so it looked pretty good. Pop the hood, and the rusty air cleaner told the real story. Got rid of it a couple years after I bought it, once the rockers started blowing out - seemed to get bigger holes by the hour. 

 

Bought a '89 S10 Blazer in '09 to replace that lemon '00 Jimmy. Got it for $800, but only got a year out of the engine. Vehicle came out of suburban NYC, so no wonder. Someone had rewound the mileage - read 77k on the clock - everything on the truck told me 277k. Put about 15k on the engine, then got tired quick of dumping a quart of 20w-50 in during the dead of winter, every FIFTY miles, lol. I ended up dropping the '00 Jimmy engine in, minus all electronics. Threw on an Edelbrock intake and carb, and stabbed an HEI distributor in, and ran it another 50k miles or so, before that body started blowing out. Decided to dump her before the holes started spreading ... and they were spreading FAST. That thing was a TON of fun to drive. Would hang right with the Silverado, and blow it's doors off, off the line. Got just under $2k for her when I sold her. Wasn't too bad, since I got the engine for free.

 

Currently own a '94 S10 pickup - 4.3 TBI, 5-speed. I use that as my plow truck. It's rough - lots of rust!  I pole-vaulted the ass-end 3' in the air  a couple years back with the exhaust, LOL!  It dropped right off the cat. Then, the cat rotted right off the Y-pipe - first time I had ever seen or heard of that happening. She's pretty loud now! Handles SCARY over 30, lol. Low miles though - less than 110k.  It's had it's issues, but the driveline (minus that stupid assed clutch line) is bulletproof. Has the TBI 4.3 (the POS CPI was an option that year! God help the people who chose CPI ...). I just used it today as a matter of fact - a huge oak came down on the wires, and blocked my whole street. I yanked the thing off the wires with the truck, then used the plow to push all the huge chunks off the road once I sawed them up with the chainsaw. :thumbs: Thing has a ton of power - always surprises people when they get in.

 

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Edited by Jsdirt
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  • 3 months later...

I have a 2017 Chevrolet Tahoe that has less than 20K miles and my check engine light came on but vehicle still drove ok. I parked it at a friends house while I went shopping came back hours later to leave. Cranked it up it was missing and sputtering real bad and flashed a “reduced engine power” error on the dash. I killed it and cranked it back up it was fine but light stayed in. Got it to the dealer and 2 injectors (5&6) are out. I’m concerned is this going to be an ongoing problem in the future?

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Seems to be the way GM builds things these days - source parts from the lowest bidder, and pray it makes it through warranty. Although with their business practices, I doubt there's any praying going on up there ...

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16 hours ago, Kadkins said:

I have a 2017 Chevrolet Tahoe that has less than 20K miles and my check engine light came on but vehicle still drove ok. I parked it at a friends house while I went shopping came back hours later to leave. Cranked it up it was missing and sputtering real bad and flashed a “reduced engine power” error on the dash. I killed it and cranked it back up it was fine but light stayed in. Got it to the dealer and 2 injectors (5&6) are out. I’m concerned is this going to be an ongoing problem in the future?

Interesting. I had injector #8 clog up on me after a trip to Utah in January and #5 after a 3900 mile trip through the Rockies towing a 25 ft travel trailer in April. As I mentioned in an earlier post, my service advisor at Chevrolet thought the clogged injector was caused by poor gasoline. I think it was defective components. Keep an eye on it. More may fail.

 

All of the Chevys that I have driven have been utterly reliable.

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I believe it was too because I don’t drive any where or pull anything even though I have the 4WD Z71 package but I just take my kiddos to school and work which is less than 30 miles a day. It was already in the shop for loosing power it was only a few months old and I had it in the shop less then 5K miles on it becuase it was loosing power. I would be on the freeway and constantly having to hit the gas due to it decelerating and just not having the power to get up and go without punching the gas constantly. Of course no check engine light to “tell them how to do their job” so they couldn’t’t figure out the issue. I never get gas anywhere else besides the Valero/ Stripes coming into my neighborhood. I think there definitely cheap same as everything else now on vehicles. Yes I’m gonna watch it I believe if 2 went out others will misfire and go out to. 

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