GMC Sierra image from bidcars.com.
After returning my ‘98 Cheyenne pickup to the dealer after a short and troublesome ownership (my Lemon Law chapter), I now needed to replace it. GM had agreed to give me a check for all of my lease payments plus the cost of a bed liner and the window tinting, less a 20% usage fee, per the Attorney General’s guidelines. It was time to go shopping.
This time, however, I did more research. We had decided that on this occasion, there were certain must haves that were not negotiable: a small V8, an automatic, tilt and cruise, power windows and locks, and a nicer interior. Also, some time on the road would be welcomed on any prospects.
Since the brand new 1999 GM trucks were just released, there weren’t any available at rentals. However, I did rent both a Ram and an F150 to check them out.
The Ram was a very nice driving truck; it offered a fourth door and was really quiet. But my research, talking to service people, revealed that the ‘99 Ram was showing problems, including a “near certain” air conditioning failure. So I crossed that one off.
I then rented an F150, but I was not a fan of the swoopy design, and my wife said, “It looks like it needs lipstick!” Now, as far as the drivability, no issues.
So I went into my local Ford store, where a friend’s brother was the top salesman. He and I went over what I wanted and he thought that the XLT trim was the way to go, so we went out to the lot and looked at a dark blue unit. I sat on the passenger’s side, and the salesman was on the driver’s side. As we looked it over, I mentioned that I really wanted the XLT trim. He said, “ This is an XLT.”
Well, he was half right. On his side was affixed an XLT badge and V8 callout. But on my side, it was an XL. Wow, Ford.
So he found me a nice silver unit. It had the 5.4 engine since, according to him, “They were beginning to see engine issues with the V6 and oil burning issues with the 4.6”.
Still, I told him to start the paperwork and that I would be by in the morning.
GMC Sierra image from bidcars.com.
The next day, my father in law Paul came by to drive me to the dealer. As we drove along, I told him about my final decision was and the why. He asked if I’d considered the new Chevys, and I told him yes, but that low stock meant they were asking window plus for them. He hurriedly asked “Does GMC make a version?”
- Yes, I told him.
He then did a 180 in the middle of traffic and pulled into a GMC/Pontiac dealer. Out front, the dealer had done a cool display; they had parked the new Sierras in a fan shape, with the basic work truck on the left, increasing in models and options, to a Choo-Choo custom 3500 dually at the end.
GMC Sierra image from bidcars.com.
In the very center was a burgundy SLE over an oak interior. It was equipped exactly how I wanted, and in fact, the only option was buckets with a console. See, GMC equipped their mid trim extended cab trucks with a small V8 (4.8) automatic and other nice things.
After a test drive, we made our offer. Window price was $26,300 and I offered $23,000. When we were done, I paid $23,500, which included 4 oil changes and tire rotations, plus a bed liner.
So, yes, I did go back to the company that had driven me nuts for 14 months. But, as I’ll write next time, it turned out to be a very good experience.
You sure dodged a mess by skipping that 5.4 Ford!!!
I too bought a ’99 Sierra brand new, mine was an SL (I think) with a 4.8, air tilt and manual windows and locks. It was intended primarily for work, so aside from cloth seats it was pretty basic. I liked the truck and it served me reasonably well for 4 years and 300,00 km, or about 187,000 miles. It never let me down, but I did have a few problems after the warranty expired. The ABS brake controller failed, which was common in the ’99s, being the most expensive. I just pulled the fuse until I could replace it in my driveway. The rest of the stuff was minor and about what you would expect in those days. The 4.8 always was a bit noisy (piston slap?) when cold but the dealer warrantied it to 200,00 km and it never got worse.
I sold it to a co-worker and he ran it out to at least 400,00 km. Not bad for a first year design.
Interestingly, I ended up with a GMC for similar reasons you did. The Chevy dealers in the area just wouldn’t deal and the GMC dealer made it easy and much cheaper.
At the time I was the equipment manager for a fairly large fleet, and I can say you avoided a lot of problems by passing on the Dodge. They had a LOT more problems than just AC failures. We had excellent service from 4.6 Fords, but we changed spark plugs at 120,000 km which probably saved us a few cylinder head repairs on those.
All in all, I felt like I made the best choice of what was available in ’99 and I hope you did too.
I was a Chrysler service advisor at this time. Dodge trucks are not well designed. The trucks of this era suffered from many maladies but the most common was death wobble caused by a worn out front end. The ball joints were as cheap and small as they could get away with and the whole shebag would fail right after the warranty was up.
After my Mopar dealership was downsized, I was a GM service advisor just as these trucks were coming out of warranty. Pretty much all of them suffered from piston slap. It sounded terrible but didn’t have any effect on the running of the motor.
Its the 5.4 v8 in later model Fords, the 3 valve version that has all the issues. The 2 valve 5.4 used in the late 90s/early 00s jellybean trucks is decent.
A lot of people consider this gen GMT800 a far superior truck to the GMT900 that replaced it in 2007-2008. No stupid afm on the old trucks, the motors are a lot more robust. Bunch of other smaller things as well that GM cheaped out on the newer trucks as well
Having owned, or been responsible for in my job, maybe 100 examples of each I can honestly say the GMT900s cost a little less to operate over their life cycle. They didn’t have as many post warranty electronic component failures being the biggest reason.
There is no doubt the GMT 800 had better interior fittings though. The 900s were notorious for things like interior door handles snapping off and seat belt retractors that failed. Things like this can make a vehicle feel junky well before it is mechanically used up. We tried to stay on top of stuff like this but the mechanics in both of my shops got very good at repairing niggly little problems like this. The average owner, particularly if they purchased a high end model instead of the fleet spec units we did, would not be happy.
Similar to my fleet experiences. We had very good luck with both the 800’s and 900’s. Almost all of our 900’s were 3/4 and 1 ton models powered by the non-AFM 6.0L.. Many are still in service.
It’s so small!
It’s a ’55 Bel Air versus today’s ’75 Caprice.
I bought a 1999 Silverado 5.3l V8 it was a nice truck, until the warranty ran out and my troubles began. AC (twice) and rear brakes, anti-lock brakes (twice), center console, CD player, speakers, plastic engine components, batteries. Breaking the front suspension after hitting a pothole, (ok maybe that was my fault) Failing paint, DRL, taillights, I’m sure I’m leaving something out, but around 90,000 miles I bought an Audi A3 to get to work, and it was more reliable than the Chevy.
If we had known then, what we known now. Domestic full-sized pickup trucks of the 1990’s, were notoriously vulnerable to road salt. Not built for longevity. A serious ruster here.
Both of my GMC Sierra sportside regular cab are/were fabulous. My 2000 half ton clocked 270+K in four years, which I sold for 60% of purchase price. I never trade in always sell myself or give away. Now my current 2004 Sierra Southern Comfort sportside 1500 with 157+K is showing age with expected wear in the interior. Both similarly equipped with 4.8 Vortec, four speed overdrive 4L60E transmission and 373 rear differential. My 2004 is my baby. I have been driving this truck for over twenty years!
I was torn between a ’00 Ram and a ’00 Silverado/Sierra. I drove a 5.9 Dodge, the dealer let me take a new one with 8 miles on it overnight, and I liked it fine. The one I was looking at was a blue ext cab 4X4 with grey cloth interior. I decided to look for a Silverado, and had little luck finding one that was either equipped correctly, or didn’t already have junk accessories screwed on with zinc plated hardware store screws. I then went to one of the two local GMC dealers and test drove a 5.3 Sierra ext cab 4×4 and just a short test drive made the decision easy. I had it 3 years until it was wrecked and never right again. My sole issue with it was, other than it came with the awful Firestone Wilderness tires, which I replaced ASAP, was it had what GM insanely claimed was the “Carbon tick”. Why they just couldn’t admit it was lifters, I have no idea. The dealer did the “Top Engine Cleaner” thing for the “carbon” and it did absolutely nothing. Funny how the “carbon” tick disappeared when the truck was shut off for a short time, and would return, getting worse and worse the colder it was and the longer the truck sat. A friend of mine’s 2001 Silverado ticked big time, and after dealing with it for a couple of years, the dealer finally made a 50/50 deal with him to replace the lifters and the “carbon tick” suddenly vanished. The service manager actually seemed surprised it solved the problem!