I stumbled upon this ad for a showroom condition 2001 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 extended cab the other day. Is this a future collectible, or an older used truck that happens to have a lot of life left in it? Based on the asking price ($36,950), the seller seems to think it is the former.
I’ve seen low mileage trucks bring some serious coin on Bring a Trailer lately, but those have all been older examples (from the 80s and 70s). At 20 years old, this 2001 Silverado won’t be eligible for AACA shows for another five years and isn’t out of “used car” territory just yet.
It has been a long time since I’ve seen one of these first-generation Silverados without cloudy headlights, graying black trim, and rusty flanks (apparently the Chevy pickup generation numbers reset with the Silverado name change in 1998). Check out how clean the bed and wheel wells are. I just figured they came from the factory pre-rusted.
The odometer indicates 2,309 miles, but honestly, it looks like even less than that. Really, the only visible clue as to the vehicle’s true age is some sagging beginning to appear in the upholstery as the seat cushions inevitably begin to flatten and deteriorate.
For 2001, Chevrolet offered just three trims on the Silverado, unimaginatively named Base, LS, and LT, which seems kind of quaint now in this age of Platinum High Ranch King model proliferation. The featured truck is a mid-range LS model, which includes such goodies as cruise control, power windows, air conditioning, a cassette deck (a CD player was standard), and something called “LS Decor,” which apparently is a fancy term for “hard plastic.” This truck has most of the LT goodies as well, like alloy wheels and 10-way power leather seats. Honestly, it is very hard to tell the difference between the LS and LT, as all of the LT kit was also available on the LS as an option, which makes me wonder why Chevrolet bothered with the LS and LT models in the first place.
It is getting hard to remember a time when four doors weren’t the norm for half-ton pickups. Ford broke the ice in 2001 with their F-150 SuperCrew, and by comparing this Silverado extended cab from the same year, it is easy to see why the SuperCrew was such a hit. At first glance, the extended cab seems pretty cool. Suicide doors! Just like a 1960’s Lincoln! Virtually unrestricted access to the inside, with no pillars or obstructions, as shown in the picture above.
Only in daily use do the limitations of the extended cab become obvious: There are no exterior door handles to open the rear doors, and the rear doors do not operate independently of the front doors: The person sitting in the front must first open their door in order to admit anyone into or out of the back seat. And despite Chevrolet’s reassurances, I would always worry about side impact protection with this setup.
The standard powertrain on the ’01 Silverado was a 4.3 Liter V6 with a 5-speed manual transmission. Most, however, would have been sold like this one, with a four-speed automatic and an aluminum head LM7 5.3L “Vortec” V8 pumping out a respectable-for-2001 285 hp and 325 lb-ft of torque. By my reckoning, this one should be just about due for its first oil change.
I can’t quite make out the date code on the tires, but suffice it to say you are going to want to replace them before going on any long trips.
The frame even still has the grease pencil inspection markings from the factory.
The asking price of $36,995 is a little too dear for me for a truck that likely needs every fluid and belt replaced. But if you’ve always wanted a brand new truck without the hassle of a full warranty, you can pick it up here. (link still active as of writing).
I had a 1999 LS. I had a lot of problems with it. At around 150,000 miles I was tired of it and regulated it to part time use because I lived on 6 acres. Bought a 2009 Audi A3 for commuting which turned out to be much more reliable. Go figure.
The price of this thing is about twice what I paid new for mine.
I just bought one of these (see my recent COAL) but significantly more stripped out and with 94k. There are a lot of really good things to be said about this generation of Chevrolet pickup. Folks say this is the last truly “trucky” truck in terms of size and simplicity – but that’s just a matter of perspective.
Regardless, $36k isn’t far off what you’d pay for a new one to similar spec – *IF* you can find a new one for sale. As an owner, I do follow the market for the GMT800. I think this seller is only off by about $10k (!). At $25,995 it would probably sell within a week.
Evan I agree. $25k. This truck could be listed on BAT and depending on the week, get a bid of $20k or $30k, IMO.
Asking $37k does not mean they won’t take less.
Right now, a ‘base’ Colorado (with is not base) crew cab, 4wd, stickers for $35-37k.
There is not warranty on this. This will use more fuel. Whatever soft parts touch fluid (gaskets, seals) might be fine–or might need replacement within the next 12,000 miles.
That said, if one needed a vehicle to use as a truck, this is a more useful truck than a Colorado, and even a Silverado. By 2001, GM had addressed most of the teething problems of the new for 1999 GMT800.
I think the price depends on your point of view for the truck. If you view it as a 2001, yeah the price is way out. But if you look at that money on a new truck, it might buy you an absolutely bare bones stripper vs a fairly well equipped daily driver.
Me personally? I could do a lot of tires and fluid changes for the difference I’d have to spend to buy a comparably equipped 2021.
I just priced out a comparable new Silverado – Doublecab, 4z4, LT, Leather, Z71 package and came up with an MSRP of $50,020. Given the current (but unlikely to be permanent) difficulties in actually getting one at a discount, even if paying full sticker that $14k premium doesn’t seem horrible considering the vastly improved list of features not to mention the warranty as well as better economy, every day becoming more important as gas prices are double those a year ago.
Actually drive them for five years though and I’d posit that selling them then would show the new today truck to show a vastly better return, likely easily making up the difference in initial outlay.
All that being said, I do like this truck, it’s pretty much how I’d equip one if had the opportunity to buy one back then, down to the color.
My 2001 71 4×4 all original except radio an wheels hood scoop an bed cover with 260000 on it going strong
Looks like the choice here is buying this “new” 2001 truck or a new 2021 truck for about the same price. As this is a garden variety 2001 Chevy Silverado with limited collectible appeal, not to mention no warranty and 20 year old tires, belts and fluids, good luck getting half the asking price.
People are watching too many Mecum and Barrett-Jackson auctions and are delusional about the value of their vehicles.
This is the kind of vehicle that a collector would like to stumble across. Provided that it was priced only a bit higher than a comparable normal mileage example. It is a novelty with the low mileage, once it accumulates more miles it will just be a very clean used truck and not worth any premium. As an alternative to a new truck it’s not that appealing as it has twenty years of depreciation waiting to instantly devalue it. If it were an actual vehicle with collector interest like a sports or muscle car, or fancy luxury model like a Mercedes or Jaguar it might be worth paying a premium for. The old truism that it is always best to buy the best example of a particular collectible car that you can afford is true. It is easier to maintain something already in good condition than to restore it to it’s former glory.
These were very good trucks and there are still a lot in DD use here. The popularity of the lsx engines made them very tunable, unlike the modular ford’s or even the dodge hemi. I might even call them the last exceptional half ton, definitely out of Chevy, as they were durable and inexpensive to repair.
We do run a newer Chevy that one of my guys drives, it has the same durable drive train (4.8, 4l60) but the interior is much more low rent… outside trim/door seals/etc are all much cheaper too.
All that being said, the four speed is anachronism. Two more gears really makes a big difference in drivability.
I think one important thing to consider when comparing it’s price to a new truck, is loan value and depreciation. There isn’t any loan value, so this would have to be a cash buy. With interest rates currently lower than inflation, that makes this even more expensive, relatively. It would make a lot more sense in the $20k range, but in this market, who knows.
That’s a throwback to an earlier time in my life.
This bodystyle of GM truck was going to be my first new vehicle purchase. I picked up brochures, checked out options, hit a lot of dealers. Never saw what I was looking for on a dealer lot, so I prepared to special order one. I wanted a short box 4×4 Z71 Fleetside that was optioned to my specs.
I was also shopping around for better price than the full retail my two hometown dealers wanted, so I was driving and calling… and found out that the sales staff at the high volume dealers really didn’t want to do a special order, and one kept trying to sluff off something they had in stock on me. Then I found out that I couldn’t get the LT interior in a regular cab, no 6.0 liter available in my configuration, as well as no trans temp gauge (I can’t stand looking at blanking plates). I pretty much settled on a burgundy/silver (same silver as this one) two tone, but then after looking at paint chips in different lighting conditions, the colors look a bit too earthy and muted. Then I asked about special colors, which a dealer told me I could only get if I ordered at least 10 trucks. I finally came to my senses and decided that I wanted a 1981-87, and spent another 9 months waiting for the right one to come up. I had that one shipped from South Carolina to Montana, and still own it today. Though I really do like the GMT800, I’m very glad I got an older truck.
Oddly enough, shortly after I gave up on the new truck, a load of precisely ten Chevrolet pickups showed up at Karl Tyler Chevrolet in Missoula, MT, painted in a bright orange color like I was trying to get them to order. None looked like fleet spec models, and I know at least one was sold to a private party. I don’t think my prodding was what led them to get these… presume it’s a coincidence… but who knows. One thing for certain is that I’ll never buy a brand new vehicle. These trucks were among the last that held my interest. An ’02-05 Quadrasteer would be pretty cool, though.
Looks quite honest and civilezed to me.
Much different from the modern agressive looking american trucks that try to emulate tanks, when indeed american soldiers have to piss off and flee from the countries they had formerly occupied. Like Afghanistan for example.
Rare doesn’t always mean valuable.
Why would someone buy a truck and use it so little?
Some people will like it because it doesn’t have cylinder deactivation.
My ex-boss’s dad bought a similar one “for the company” and traded it quickly because he couldn’t get used to the restricted rear visibility compared to a normal cab.
LOL thats the kind of moonbeam money getting asked for clean examples over here which once the postage and compliance is paid still represents profit.
I’d be concerned at the internal mechanical condition of a vehicle that sat so long and had so little use. Was it regular use (gosh, who does a hundred miles a year?) or did someone do 2300 miles and then leave it sit in a barn for the next twenty years? The backstory could make a huge difference -get out the borescope. Either way it’ll need tyres, belts, and likely hoses as well.
Looks great though. Are new trucks better or just different?
I had a 2000 Sierra, which is basically an identical truck. It wasn’t bad, but it had some annoying issues that make it a not so “pleasant memory”.
Suicide doors froze shut in the winter. Actually, the front doors froze shut and you couldn’t get in, or out, very easily. No matter how much lube we put on the doors and gaskets, if there was an ice storm, I had to run the heat at full blast and remote started it about once an hour, and that would take care of it. One time at work, I tried to leave one morning and had to wait about half an hour for the doors to open up.
Rear ABS problems. This drove a friend who had a Chevy and I crazy. We lived very close to each other and there was one street we both traveled on almost daily. It had been dug up and then patched several times due to problems underneath, which turned out to be an underground tunnel long abandoned from the old Street car era. We always wondered why the still in use train tracks were raised up so high. A book about the street cars told the story. Anyway, hard braking on those patches caused the rear ABS to completely lose any and all braking power, it would just machine gun the pedal and the only way to stop quickly was to “pedal it” like a Top Fuel car that’s shaking. As fast as you can, take your foot off the brake pedal, and slam it back down. This problem continued until the next gen of GM trucks.
And the “Carbon” nonsense claim by GM about ticking. It was lifters. Some of the 5.3’s, like my friend’s above, would clatter like an old semi starting up, especially when it was cold out. Mine was a little better than most, and only clattered more than about 10 seconds when it was under 20 degrees and it had sat overnight. GM claimed it was “carbon”, but my friend’s truck had to have a head gasket checked and all the “carbon” was scraped off, and the next morning, it clattered like it always did when it was cold, about 40 seconds. Warmer temps, less clatter.
And those awful Wilderness tires. I took them off the first day, and put Michelins on my Sierra. I put those junk tires on the curb and even the trash pickers avoided them. I still had them in 2017 when I was moving out of my house.
The seller is dreaming. He is trying to position this truck as a future classic. Maybe far off in the future it could be worth $36,000 but not now. He essentially wants all the upside, if there is one, now which leaves very little to the buyer.
No different than me being approached by people to buy one of my cars. They don’t believe when I say it would cost too much and when they hear a price they pause. Flippers always try to get a low price on a collectible, from the unknowing, so they can mark it up. I say buy it and hang on to it for 10 years but for now all profit goes to me.
From my point of view this truck is over priced by at least a factor 4x. He sees a classic now and I see a 20 year old truck.
I believe it’s worth asking price, but, only to a buyer serious about owning a like-new truck of this vintage. The alternative would be to restore one.
The asking price would not cover the purchase and restoration costs of getting even a decent example to near-new condition.
Just a “correct” paint job is probably 10-15 grand. Then, costly details in plastic and rubber that are bad on almost every one. Powertrain, interior, wheels… no end to it.
Finding that serious buyer might be tough yet, could be a couple years before they’ll fight over one like this, but they will.
The question for the collector is: why this particular one? Is it especially rare? Does it have high performance? Does it have a rare and cool option package? Is it an unusual and desirable color? Is it a cultural icon ala the Wayne’s World Pacer? Otherwise, as JimDandy points out, you are stuck waiting for the unicorn for whom this particular truck in this particular trim, has special emotional meaning, especially when the same general model was in production for several years and a ton of them were sold.
My 71 Alfa Spider is a low mileage special model with a particular engine (the 1750) only available in that model for one year. However it is only now, 50 years later, that generally similar later year models are getting thin enough on the ground for my car to -start- to appreciate. They made a lot of Spiders in later years and most people still prefer to pay less for a similar model from a less special year. A comparable example would be a 69 Chevelle. Most people are willing to settle for a 70 -72 and won’t pay the premium for the special year.
So, to return to this truck: I don’t see it, unless you can find the one guy who drove to Prom in it and got lucky….
Or I can order a brand new Chevy Work Truck with the trusty 4.3 V-6 and auto for much less. With a warranty and an infotainment system that will work with Android or iPhone for calls, music and navigation. I won’t have to replace all 5 tires (don’t trust the decades old spare), all coolant hoses, fluids, vacuum tubes and door seals. Plus some parts will be unobtainium with the current supply situation and chip shortage. Expect brake calipers to need work and maybe replace the brake lines and master cylinder too. Plus the 21 year old ethanol gas in the tank, fuel filter, fuel pump and lines. This will be the least reliable ‘new’ truck ever!
If it gets used at all, that pristine paint will be rock chipped or door dinged in no time. It’ll have to be a show queen, trailered to every car event with a cover to prevent the aforementioned chipping.
Depending on where the buyer lives, he will have to pay sales tax on his ‘classic’. Tax in Arkansas on used vehicles is 6% so this would have a $2,217 surprise at the end of the buying journey!
Well I must say I have the exact same truck down to the year although my father bought this with fabric on the seats and such wich still to this day after I vacuum and detail the interior it’s about 97% just as nice as it was in 2001 when he bought it new. I put a set of BF Goodrich KO2 all terrain tires , love them , and of coarse over the years we have done our fair share of work on her as far as upper and lower intake gaskets every single electrical component that has anything to do with the engine running well I put new from headlights to taillights, and change the oil every 3000 no matter what sometimes sooner if I was just enjoying the day cleaning it and polishing it. Since the. I had just recently lost my father, even though I was the only one driving it for the past 10 years it still feels like I had just recently had it passed down to me. I’ll tell ya, that truck has allways got the asses where they needed to go and what ever job at hand done with no problem so to that certain person thats one day gonna stumble upon it Let me tell you its like anything you WILL get out of it what you put back . Mine is about to turn 300,000 miles and she still pulls 40 – 45lbs of oil press/ at idle and 70 lbs on the throttle and no bull you could eat of the inside of that engine, there isn’t a sign of build up or wear anywhere in it and she still starts and does what I ask of her everyday. We we’re looking at a 49 chevy pickup somebody has just sitting in the yard in front of a barn and it hasn’t moved for at least the past 11 years and other then different wheels its just sitting there all original and my dad would tell me to go over there and trade it them even up the 2001 for the 49 just because back in the day my pop had all the cool shit no matter what make or model he always had a cool one or make it cool so I’ve always wanted to build one with him and then hand him the keys to cherish and rip around and show off his truck like he did when me and my brother were babies 44 years ago Well anyway they are good trucks and good luck to who ever turns out to take the path and see where it goes. As for me I might just take dad up on his idea and see if those fortunate folks who have obviously enjoyed there time with that 49 hell they still have it but man how I would love to just jump in and see if our idea is something those kind folks would consider and I will show this town what Dad would have had a whole lotta fun trying to tame.
I have one 2001 only paid 5,000 for mine, but had 230,000 miles on it. In great shape and looks like this one without the extended cab. If taken care properly they can and will go forever. Mine is by my Mechanic’s observation has been taken care of really well and should go at least another hundred thousand miles. I adopted this old girl and give her the pampering she so deserves. And while she does have a few issues she is still doing a great job going down the road. I for one would not pay that because as someone already said you could probably get a new one close to that price or maybe a little more I’m not willing to pay that kind of money for any vehicle! I hope he gets what he’s asking for it.
Very good trucks, I have a LT, and the motor has 384,000 miles, transmission rebuited at 322,000 miles, front disc brakes at 122,000 miles.
I love the truck, I’m driving one jus like it