2014 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Z71 LT Crew: What's It Like to Live With?
Read the latest updates in our long-term road test of the 2014 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 ZL1 LT Crew as our editors live with this car for a year.
What do you want to know about?
- Introduction
- Fuel Economy Update for July
- Engine Break-in Procedure
- Airbag Recall
- Parallel Parking
- First Road Trip
- A Detail Well Done
- Three Things That Make It a Great Road Trip Vehicle
- Useful Interior
- Three Things That Make It an Average Road Trip Vehicle
- Final Road Trip Mileage
- Five-Star Crash Test
- Track Test
- Seating for Six
- 5,000-Mile Update
- Fuel Economy Update for August
- Love That Bed Light
- Useful Underseat Storage
- Good Side Sun Visor Action
- Hauls Mulch
- Over GVWR
- Hauling a Big-Block Chevy
- Hauling a Camaro Hood
- Sunrise
- Blind Spot Mirror
- Hidden Audio Buttons
- Ancestry
- Fuel Economy Update for September
- Hauling Another Engine
- First Call for Service
- Light Duty Off-Roading
- Shocker: The Bicycle Fits
- Supple Throttle Delivery
- Towing Frenzy
- Inferior Man Step
- Split Heated Seats
- Parking Card Holder
- 7,500-Mile Service
- Satellite Radio Update
- Excellent Interior Storage
- Rear Seat Top Tether
- Rev-Matched Downshifts
- Fuel Economy Update for October
- Highly Adjustable Seat Heaters
- Manual Mode and Column Shifter Death Spiral
- The CornerStep Bumper
- EZ Lower Tailgate
- Great Gauges
- Hauls the Carpet
- Fuel Economy Update for November
- Active Fuel Management
- The Big-Screen TV Fits
- Great Pick for Large Drivers
- Stunningly Comfortable, Easy To Drive
- Touchscreen Visibility
- Ride Quality
- A Piece of Americana
- You'll Be Hard Pressed To Notice the Cylinder Deactivation
- Parking and Maneuverability
- Remote Start Is Handy For Cold Winter Mornings
- Fuel Economy Update for December
- Still Hauling Stuff
- Yes, It's Very Quiet on the Highway
- A Truck I'd Buy
- Seat Heaters = Back Therapy
- Hot Exhaust Recall
- Parking Practice
- Hauling Wheels and Tires
- Car-Sharing Candidate?
- Hitching Trailers with a Back-up Camera
- Fuel Economy Update for January
- Road Trip Fuel Economy
- Road Trip Seat Comfort
- 15,000-Mile Service and More
- Audio System Review
- Fuel Economy Gauge
- Cookie Pickup
- Still Useful for Hauling Even If It Doesn't Fit in the Bed
- Massive Cabin
- Fuel Economy Update for February
- Great Dashboard
- Turning Circle
- For Dirty Jobs
- Utilitarian Rear Seats
- Better in Every Way
- Fuel Economy Update for March
- 500 Hours of Service
- A Bit Big
- Comfortable and Useful
- Track Day Trek
- Flexible Seating and Storage
- Highly Functional Bed
- The Case for a Longer Bed
- Road Trip MPG
- Track Weekend Wrap-Up
- Fuel Economy Update for April
- Bike Rack Success
- Infotainment Theme Video Walkthrough
- Room For Six-Strings
- Hard-Wired for Americans
- Fuel Economy Update for May
- Due for Service at 21,000
- Favorable Dimensions
- Child Safety Seat Fitment
- Seat Heaters
- Fuel Economy Update for June
- Hauling Patio Furniture
- Easy-Flipping Rear Seats
- Pickup Man
- (Not So) Routine
- Trucking to Vegas
- Fuel Economy Update for July 2014
- Truck Stuff
- CarMax Offer
- Sold to CarMax
- Wrap-Up
Introduction
With houses in disrepair, racecars that need towing and an affinity for flat-box shopping and yard sales, there's nothing like having a pickup truck. And when it comes to pickup trucks, nobody does it like America.
Among the Big Three, more than a million new pickup trucks roll into new owners' hands every year, so when one of them releases a new model, it's a huge deal. This year, GM has done just that with the 2014 Chevy Silverado. The styling may be familiar, but this truck is all new from top to bottom.
Think Chevy had a high bar to clear with the C7 Corvette? That was nothing compared to redoing its most popular model. To see how well it pulled off the new truck, we just bought a 2014 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Z71 LT Crew for our long-term test fleet.
What We Bought
There are roughly 950 variations of the 2014 Chevy Silverado, so picking the right one was difficult. First, we wanted a crew cab with the short 5-foot, 8-inch bed. This makes the most sense both for our test fleet and for the types of trucks people are shopping for these days. Next up was the drivetrain. We've had 4WD trucks before and with our SoCal lifestyle they only saw a touch of snow, some mud and a whole lotta dirt. With 2WD, we could do dirt, still do the towing we need and save some money off the bottom line. Done.
Finally, we didn't want to wait. We wanted to get this truck into the fleet ASAP, which means our only engine choices were the new direct-injected Gen 5 5.3-liter small-block V8 or the 285-horsepower 4.3-liter V6. A 6.2-liter V8 will make an appearance later, but we weren't going to wait that long. Besides, we've already ordered something with that same engine .
The 5.3-liter is an $895 no-brainer option that makes 355 hp and 383 pound-feet of torque. Through the standard six-speed automatic, this is good for a combined EPA rating of 18 mpg and 16 city/22 highway.
From there we picked the LT Z71 trim level that includes an automatic locking rear differential, off-road suspension, hill descent control, trailering package, OnStar for six months, Chevy MyLink with a 4.2-inch screen, Bluetooth, bench seat with underseat storage and remote entry. The price at that point was $36,750. Then there were the options.
We added the All Star Edition package for $1,830. This package offers bright-machined (not chromed!) 18-inch wheels, dual-zone climate control, a tilt-and-telescoping steering column, MyLink with 8-inch color touchscreen, rear window defroster, remote start and (a big one for our tight Los Angeles parking situation) a rearview camera.
On top of that we added leather seats for $1,095, navigation for $795, an integrated trailer-brake controller for $230 and then the no-cost 3.42 rear end.
Including the $995 destination fee and minus the $750 "All-Star Edition Discount" this truck carries a sticker price of $40,945.
Supplemental to that sticker price, our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado carries another sticker that shows $606.95 worth of dealer-installed upgrades like $169 door-edge protect, $189 wheel locks, $99.95 worth of nitrogen in the tires and a $149 exhaust tip. Needless to say, we didn't pay $41,551.95 for this truck.
We took advantage of $750 worth of customer loyalty cash and then we got another few hundred off through negotiation. For a brand-new truck that's in short supply, there were limits to how well we could do. When the dust settled, we got this 2014 Chevy Silverado 1500 Z71 LT Crew for $39,342. Nitrogen included.
Why We Bought It
In a year that will see an all-new Corvette, a new Toyota Corolla, a hybrid Ferrari and more, it's the 2014 Chevy Silverado that is the most significant.
Trucks need to be able to work incredibly hard, and in 2013 they need to be fuel-efficient, technologically advanced and comfortable, too.
Chevy has a lot riding on this truck, as do the 400,000-plus people who will buy one this year. As one of those early adopters, we have high hopes. How will this new Silverado hold up over 20,000 miles of city life, racetracks, fire roads and house renovations? Follow along on our Long-Term Road Test page to find out.
Current Odometer: 721
Best Fuel Economy: 14.2
Worst Fuel Economy: 12.5
Average Fuel Economy (over the life of the vehicle): 13.6
Edmunds purchased this vehicle for the purpose of evaluation.
We only took delivery of our new 2014 Chevrolet Silverado LT a couple of weeks ago, so it has barely had time to get broken in. With only 3 or 4 tanks through it so far, it's averaging just over 16 mpg with a best tank of 19.5 mpg.
Don't worry, though, there's a road trip on the agenda for the first week of August, so our Silverado will get another two thousand miles on it in short order. By then we'll know if it's capable of living up to its stated highway mileage of 23 mpg.
Worst Fill MPG: 12.5
Best Fill MPG: 19.5
Average Lifetime MPG: 16.3
EPA MPG Rating: 19 Combined (16 City / 23 Highway)
Best Range: 351.1 miles
Current Odometer: 903 miles
This is the recommended break-in procedure for our new 2014 Chevrolet Silverado. It isn't too overbearing. That is, until you read the first bullet point, "keep the vehicle speed at 55 mph for the first 500 miles." What do you think about that?
General Motors is recalling 843 of the 2014 Chevrolet Silverado crew-cab pickup trucks in the U.S. to replace the passenger airbag. "Less than one percent of the affected airbags in the recall may have this condition," said Alan Adler, a GM spokesman. "Affected vehicles at dealerships will be repaired before being delivered to customers." Read the full recall here.
Our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado is big. It's a full-size truck so it's supposed to be large, and of course, that's not always easy to live with in West Los Angeles. I have a garage to park in overnight, but it's much easier to park on the street if I can during the day, especially if I'm just running in and out of my apartment between errands.
However, many West L.A. residents have no spot to call their own and are forced to look for a spot every night. This made me wonder how much of a hassle it would be to parallel park this big pickup every day.
I found a spot on my block big enough for the Chevy and pulled up for the first attempt. I put the truck in reverse and was pleasantly surprised by the back-up camera, which also has a set of parking guide lines to help you plan your trajectory. The Chevrolet Silverado trumps our Tesla Model S in this regard: The Tesla has a camera, but no guide lines so you have to guess where the bumpers are and what they're going to hit.
Also, the Silverado's lines curve. Our Lexus GS 350 has lines on its rear-view camera display, but they stay straight. On a big vehicle that I was completely unfamiliar with, this convenience made avoiding the curb relatively easy.
While I'm sure I could've parked a jumbo jet in the spot I found for the truck, the fact that Chevy offers this feature at all on the Silverado makes me think that life in the city with a full-size pickup might not be so hard after all.
Our new 2014 Chevrolet Silverado is capable of towing and hauling very large things, but for this road trip it would only have to haul a few people and some luggage. Instead of testing its ultimate capabilities, it would be a test of how it handles everyday driving. Two thousand miles of everyday driving.
The route would take us from Los Angeles to the high country of Colorado, specifically the ski town of Breckenridge. At just over 9,000 above sea level, Breckenridge would be a good test for the power of our Silverado's new 5.3-liter V8. And given that it's over 900 miles from L.A., it would also be a good test for the seats, climate control system, cupholders and everything else that makes a good road trip vehicle.
Here's the route plotted on the navigation system. It's a pretty easy-to-use touchscreen setup with a smart address input feature. Instead of asking for the individual city, state, house number and zip code on separate screens, you just put the whole address in at once and it figures it out. Sounds obvious, but I've used plenty of systems that ask for things in sequence and then get confused when they can't find one aspect of the address.
Look for full mileage figures and more driving comments in upcoming posts.
Here's a good example of some detail work that I've noted on other long-termers in the past. See how the needle on the temperature gauge is sitting dead center? That's no accident.
At the time this picture was taken, the coolant in our Silverado was up to its full operating temperature of 210 degrees. Now that mark could have been anywhere on the gauge — a quarter of the way up, a third of the way up — but the engineers made sure to put 210 degrees right in the middle.
Why does this matter? Because if 210 degrees just happened to be a third of the way up the dial, you might not notice that the needle was starting to creep up to 215 or 220 degrees. As long as it was to the left of center it wouldn't be very noticeable. But when the "normal" reading is dead center, it's obvious when something is wrong.
Over the course of my recent road trip, I encountered temperatures between 46 and 112 degrees in the same day. On the cold side, the engine sat exactly at 210. And when I was trudging up a long uphill grade in the desert heat, I noticed that it only nudged up a few degrees past dead center. A pretty good showing I'd say.
After putting several hundred miles on our new Silverado on the first leg of my road trip to Colorado, here are a few highlights of its road trip capabilities.
It has fantastic seats. They don't look like much at first glance and they don't feel like much initially, but the front buckets proved very comfortable for the long haul. They have a good range of adjustment, firm but not punishing cushions and perfectly placed padded armrests.
Simple cruise control setup. On our Silverado, the cruise control buttons are located on a pad on the left side of the steering wheel. Although I do tend to favor stalk-mounted cruise control setups, I found the four-button pad in the Silverado easy to use without looking. It also bumps the set speed up or down in one-mile-per-hour increments that are shown on the info screen between the main gauges, a nice feature.
It's quiet for a truck. Even at 75 mph, the typical speed limit along my route, there's not much wind noise. Tire noise is also surprisingly low, especially considering that our truck wears the optional 18-inch wheels and all-terrain tires. It may not measure up to sedans in this regard, but I found it more than comfortable at highway speeds.
Our new long-term 2014 Chevrolet Silverado can officially seat up to six people if you make use of its front bench seat. To fit delicate cargo inside the cab, you can fold up one or both of the rear seats easily, without any buttons or hard-to-find straps.
And then there are all sorts of other useful nooks and crannies. In my mind, the Silverado is much more than a cargo hauler.
The front doors have several pockets and cupholders.
And so do the rear doors.
If you include the slots that are only big enough for 12-oz cans of soda, there are eleven cup holders. This has to be the most useful interior in our fleet.
I've already given the Silverado some love for all the ways it's a great road trip vehicle. Here are a few examples of why it comes up short for long trips.
There are no vents for the rear seats. This might not be a big deal in an extended cab Silverado, but ours is a crew cab so it's reasonable to expect that you'll have some passengers back there at some point. Cruising through the deserts of the Southwest with temps well over 100 degrees outside, my rear seat passengers were not comfortable even though I was perfectly fine up front.
The ride is bouncy. I know, hard to fault a truck for this, but that didn't stop my passengers from complaining. As far as I'm concerned this is only a valid compliant if there's an equivalent truck that rides better. In this case, there is: the Ram 1500.
As for the third reason, there isn't one. Anything I could think of was just too petty to mention. There are power points everywhere, great visibility, satellite radio and plenty of range on a tank. If I were to take another trip, I wouldn't hesitate to go with the Silverado again.
So after roughly two thousand miles on the road, here's how our long-term 2014 Chevy Silverado fared in the mileage department.
The trip total was 1,951.8 miles. That distance included mostly wide open desert driving where the speed limits ranged from 65 mph up to 80 mph (yay, Utah). The Colorado portion of the trip was a bit tougher as it involved climbing to the top of Vail Pass at 10,600 feet and then on to the Eisenhower Tunnel at just over 11,000 feet. There was also some around-town driving in Breckenridge which sits at 9,600 feet.
Needless to say, even the Silverado's mighty 5.3-liter V8 was sucking wind at that altitude. Not terribly, though, as it was able to accelerate up both peaks, something many cars and trucks can't do.
In the end, the Silverado averaged 19.5 miles per gallon for the entire trip. The best tank was 21.0 mpg while the worst was 17.6 mpg. With around 3,000 miles on the clock, our truck is averaging 18.1 mpg overall, right where Chevrolet says it should be. Expect to see that number come down a bit as our Silverado deals with more city traffic and fewer wide open highways. Still not a bad showing so far.
The 2014 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and its GMC Sierra sibling are the first pickup trucks to receive the top five-star rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
NHTSA only tested crew-cab models of the Silverado and Sierra, but since GM says the crew-cab models will account for 60 percent of their 2014 light duty full-size pickup truck sales, that's a pretty good representation of GM's full-size truck lineup.
The GM trucks beat out the 2013 Ford F-150, Ram 1500 and Toyota Tundra, which is important news for consumers who are shopping pickups across the truck segment.
Like all of the vehicles in our long-term test fleet, our 2014 Chevy Silverado 1500 Z71 LT had a date with the test track.
How did our big truck with its 355-horsepower, 5.3-liter, direct-injected V8 do? Check it out: Track Test: 2014 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Z71 LT.
My friend Greg, who sat in the back seat of our Focus ST on our trip to Yosemite, is moving. He's upgrading to a bigger, better dining room table and offered me his old table. Along with six chairs and a leaf for the center of the table, I was happy to take it off his hands. The 2014 Chevy Silverado was obviously the best candidate in our fleet, but I felt like the bed was too big for this project, so I flipped up the rear seat and tried to get it all in one trip.
Our Silverado doesn't currently have a bed liner. Without sheets or tie downs, the furniture would've been in pieces by the time I got it home. So Greg removed the legs from the table as I shuffled items around, finally fitting everything inside the massive cabin of the Silverado. For moving, this thing sure is useful around town.
That didn't take long. We bought our 2014 Chevy Silverado pickup on July 15 and in those short six weeks we've driven it over 5,000 miles, including a road trip to Breckenridge, Colorado and back to Los Angeles.
No problems or scheduled maintenance to report yet, but the truck's bed is beginning to accumulate the scars of use. That's a good thing. It's a truck and we're using it as it should be used. But a bed liner may have been a good idea.
It looks like our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 long-term test vehicle is destined for lots of use. We've only had it 6 weeks and the 5,000-mile mark is already out of sight in our rear-view mirror.
Our best tank so far has been 21 mpg over a very long haul that lasted 469.2 miles. Our rear-wheel drive Silverado is supposedly good for 23 mpg on the open road, which makes 500 miles a real possibility if our bladders can stand it.
But EPA combined is a much better gauge of what we can hope for once all the miles are mashed together, of what this thing does day-in, day-out. On that score we've averaged 17.6 mpg, a bit short of our two-wheel drive Silverado's 19-mpg combined rating. But we're within shouting distance.
Put another way, our truck is going through 5.7 gallons every 100 miles to this point instead of the rated 5.3 gallons per 100 miles.
We have 11 months to see if we can edge our Silverado closer to its EPA combined fuel consumption rating.
Worst Fill MPG: 12.5
Best Fill MPG: 21.0
Average Lifetime MPG: 17.6 (5.7 gallons per 100 miles)
EPA MPG Rating: 19 Combined (16 City / 23 Highway)
Best Range: 469.2 miles
Current Odometer: 5,146
I needed to load some equipment after hours a couple of nights ago, and the lot outside our photo studio has no lighting to speak of.
But I had no trouble at all. Our new 2014 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 has a powerful bed light, even though my camera seems to have been set to "moody" for the above image.
Don't kid yourself, it's plenty bright. And handy.
Best part is the switch is front and center where the passenger can easily reach it if the driver forgets to flip it on before hopping out of the cab.
Good stuff.
I needed to tow a trailer with our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado a few days ago, a car hauler. But the trailer's loading ramps were not lockable. They were vulnerable to theft.
Luckily, our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado has room enough inside. And its newly redesigned rear seats flip up to create a vast flat floor area for cargo.
But we've discussed that before. Turns out there's more to it than that.
The rear seat bottoms support themselves near the hinge when they're in the down position. There's no support strut or bracket in sight. As a result the area under the seat cushions is wide open for flat objects up to about 3-inches thick from door to door.
And so I was able to fully deploy the rear seats and return them to regular use without making any contact with the steel ramps stashed below. I can think of all sorts of uses for this space.
My favored front seat position is fairly far back, so I'm frequently bedazzled by sunlight streaming in past the end of sun visors. Don't roll your eyes. This is important. Most of us commute to and from work when the sun is low on the horizon at least part of the year.
Our 2014 Mazda CX-5 is a particularly bad offender. Its too-short visors angle steeply down when pivoted, which makes the job that much harder for the woefully inadequate extendable flaps.
The 2014 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Crew Cab has a much better handle on this issue.
Sure, the Chevy's visors are short initially. But this is a truck with long doors and an upright windshield. It's nothing like a Dodge Dart with the sort of laid back windscreen necessary to give its short visors a fighting chance on their own.
The Silverado's visors can't be so long that they blot out the rear-view mirror when used in the usual forward position. So, yeah, a light leak is inevitable when they're flipped to the side.
But the situation is easy to rectify.
Simply pull back on the visor and the whole enchilada slides back in one go. And there's zero sag, it glides back parallel to the door edge. Full coverage, no waiting.
This is how you do it. Pull-out playing-card sized flaps cannot compare.
There's an old saying: If you own a pickup truck you're never lonely. Or something like that. Owning a truck makes you everyone's best friend. You're the guy that helps them move. The guy that hauls their old couch. The guy that hauls their load of mulch.
And so it was. We drove 325 miles from L.A. to San Jose to see my brother-in-law's new baby boy. We pulled into his driveway, baby toys in hand, and the next thing I knew the two of us and the Edmunds long-term Chevy Silverado are off to the House of Mulch.
"Congratulations on the new baby."
"Thanks. Cool, you drove up in a truck. Mind if you and I go and get some mulch?"
"Um, sure."
The Silverado's 5.5-foot bed took three full buckets of mulch from that big bad loader in the photo. No problem. And the weight in the bed certainly smoothed out the ride.
After the mulch was migrated to the backyard the old fashioned way I figured it was time to crack a cold one and visit my new nephew. Nope.
"Hey, if you have the time, I need to get some old bricks and pavers out of the backyard. Cool?"
Cool. But that's another story for another day.
That's my brother-in-law Alex shoveling small rocks into the bed of our long-term 2014 Chevrolet Silverado. Notice how he graciously put down a drop cloth to protect the Chevy's paint.
Alex just redid his San Jose, CA backyard and asked to use our Silverado to haul "some leftover rocks and stuff to the dump." I said yes, of course, and generously offered my might for the loading and unloading.
And it started small, as you can see in the photo. Just some gravel and a wheelbarrow full of small rocks. But things escalated quickly. By the time we were done packing the Chevy's 5.5-ft. bed it was completely full of bricks, pavers, rocks and assorted trash. Over 1,500 lbs. worth.
According to the vehicle scale at Alex's local trash dump, the Silverado weighed 5,620 lbs. with Alex and I in it, an empty bed and a near full tank of gas. With the bed packed with Alex's old backyard that weight jumped to 7,300 lbs., which is 300 lbs. beyond the Chevy's Gross Vehicle Weight Rating.
That means the Chevy weighed more than Chevy says it ever should and its sagging rear suspension told that tale.
But the ride to the dump was a short one and the drive ability of the truck was essentially unaffected under normal driving conditions. Of course, all of that weight would affect the truck's ability to make a panic stop or an emergency maneuver, so we drove very cautiously and gave other motorists a wide berth. Thankfully, the trip was without drama.
Great truck.
When my father and I decided to recreate his black 1969 Baldwin-Motion SS427 Camaro we knew the car had to have a real 427-cubic-inch big-block Chevy engine, just as his original car did 43 years ago. The problem was under the hood of the car we bought for the project. There sat a 454-cubic-inch engine. Although it was cosmetically correct, it had to go.
With a new 430-horsepower ZZ427 crate engine from GM performance bought and delivered, we pulled the 454 from the Camaro's engine bay and dropped it into the bed of our long-term 2014 Chevrolet Silverado for a short ride to its new owner. The engine will soon be powering a '72 Chevelle project he's building for his son.
A big-block like this one powered many of the Silverado's predecessors, and a fully assembled cast iron big-block Chevy is not light. Although the Silverado didn't seem to mind the 500+ lbs. in its bed, the castors of the engine stand were very hard on the bed itself, leaving behind badly scratched paint and even a dent or two.
You don't realize how big a car's hood is until you unbolt it from its hinges and start moving it around.
I wasn't sure the hood of my Dad's 1969 Camaro project would fit in the 2014 Chevy Silverado's 5.5-ft. bed without hanging off one side, maybe two. Wrong. It fit, as my idol Ace Ventura would say, like a glove.
That box is filled with hood. And, as you can see in the photo, the Silverado's box is filled with box.
Man, it's good to have a truck around.
Sometimes, we have to stop and enjoy the scenery around us. The other morning I found myself in our long-term 2014 Chevrolet Silverado as the sun was rising. I couldn't decide which angle I liked most, so you get them both.
The blind spot mirror on our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado is tiny. See that tiny circular addition to the rear-view mirror in the upper-left? Don't worry, I can't either.
Even with 20/20 vision, I have trouble seeing anything clearly in the tiny piece of convex glass. Our Ford Focus ST (along with the rest of the Ford lineup) got the blind spot mirror right, but in the Silverado I'm going to keep looking over my shoulder before I change lanes.
The 2014 Silverado (at the LT trim level and above) has audio control buttons on the back side of the steering wheel. The left side scrolls between presets and the right side controls volume. They're a good feature that Dodge has offered for a while on many of its vehicles.
That's my neighbor Ed's truck, a Chevrolet Custom Camper, one in the old long-running C/K line (pay no attention to the Solara lurking in the background). Ed told me its year once before, but I've forgotten and I haven't crossed paths with him recently to inquire again. 1968 or '69, maybe. It looks black in the shade, but it's actually a forest green.
Ed also owns a sweet old Lincoln Continental. He's an unassuming guy you'd never take for a classic car buff. And he's not, in the traditional sense. He simply likes classic style. When we talked once, he lamented that he just didn't like the look of many new cars, including the ones I often park in my space. I haven't even seen him to get his opinion good, bad or otherwise on our Silverado. I'm guessing he'd like it, but would probably never consider buying one.
Best thing about Ed is that he drives his cars. He drives the Lincoln to work. He uses the Chevy to help friends move. The Chevy is a little rusty and it's got a nice scrape along the front quarter panel. The best part? It doesn't even have a bed liner.
It's that time again. In the month of September our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado traveled over 3,500 miles. This far surpassed our monthly goal of 1,700 miles. Even though most of these were highway miles, fuel economy wasn't quite enough to beat any of our standing mpg records. Take a look.
Worst Fill MPG: 12.5
Best Fill MPG: 21.0
Average Lifetime MPG: 17.3
EPA MPG Rating: 19 Combined (16 City / 23 Highway)
Best Range: 469.2 miles
Current Odometer: 8,341
I recently used our long-term 2014 Chevrolet Silverado to schlep an engine to Specialty Cars for a bit of fab work. Really, the bed of a pickup truck is the only way to move an engine from one place to another that's any more than a few yards away. In my experience engines are too dense, precarious and awkward to safely transport using any other type of vehicle.
After wheeling the longblock down my driveway (the Silverado's too wide for my narrow driveway, though a mid-size pickup would fit) on the hook of a hoist, I lowered it into the Silverado's bed. One thing is for sure: The beds of half-ton pickups have grown higher and higher over the years as trucks have incrementally grown more capable of hauling ever-heavier loads. I practically had to pump the hoist's cylinder to its max stroke in order to clear the Silverado's tailgate (a midsize pickup's lower bed height would have been welcome).
In fact, the loading height of half-ton pickups has grown so tall that GM now includes a corner step in the new Silverado/Sierra (and a few years ago Ford devised that handy pull-out tailgate step). They're handy, to be sure. I used our Silverado's corner step many times while finagling the engine into position.
Blocks of wood were plopped down to give a bit of cushion between the engine and the bed (unlike the last time an engine was hauled in this truck).
Once the engine was off the hoist, I shoved it and wood up against the tailgate, sandwiching a heavy-duty shipping box and slabs of that expandable packing foam stuff in between. One tie-down strap around the block anchored at the bed's rearmost tie-down hooks was enough to hold the engine in place with complete security. This is by far the best way I've found to secure an engine in a pickup's bed. The second strap over the valve cover is totally superfluous, but I felt better about having it there.
Once in place, I drove the 28 miles to Specialty Cars. Carefully. Easy over the bumps. Not too fast, and with plenty of space between me and the cars ahead in the freeways' slow lanes. The trip was entirely uneventful, which is the only way you want ones like this to go.
A meager payload such as this one didn't faze the beefy Silverado, of course. Even a midsize truck's payload capability still would have easily been capable of accommodating it (are you noticing a trend here?). I like this Silverado, and after this exercise I'm really intrigued by the potential of the GM's upcoming, all-new Colorado/Canyon twins.
After piling on the miles in the first three months of ownership, our 2014 Silverado finally asked for its first service at just over 8,400 miles. At first glance, waiting that long to do the first oil change seems a bit harsh. It's not.
We've had some experience with GM's oil life monitoring systems and it turns out they're pretty accurate. We bought a Pontiac G8 GT with the 6.0-liter V8 and drove it 13,000 miles before the computer suggested an oil change. Then we sent the oil off to a testing lab for analysis. Turns out, the oil was fine.
We'll get our Silverado into our local dealer soon enough. After all, with its two years of free maintenance, an oil change isn't even going to cost us anything.
Our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado is a two-wheel drive machine because, like many of you, we decided we liked the idea of a lower price and higher fuel economy. It doesn't snow here. We're not working a ranch. Towing is our game, and a 4x2 works just fine.
Still, Modjeska and Santiago peaks make up the distinctive hump known as Saddleback mountain that has loomed nearby since I was a kid, and quite possibly before. A network of dirt fire roads and truck trails leads to the top and along the ridges.
It's a tempting destination. The views from up there are amazing. So my buddy Mike hopped in to join me for a trip to the top of Santiago Peak, the taller of the two summits.
The unpaved roads are maintained fairly well, but we came up via Bedford Motorway, one of the less popular of routes. From that direction we encountered a couple of steep sections that were peppered with stretches of those alternating dug-out frame-twist holes, deep ones.
With no 4-wheel drive to engage, Mike and I shook our heads at the first of them — also the worst of them, as it turned out — figuring we'd have to turn back. But a steady application of power, a decent line and a cloud of dust got me through, just barely. Too bad I didn't have a camera outside to record the limit of the 4x2 Silverado's capability, because I found it.
The summit has more cell towers than trees, and we saw a couple of maintenance trucks parked up there. But those were 4x4 trucks because those guys need to get up there in the wet, when it snows, any time the various communications systems need work.
For us it was dry and dusty. The roads are about a lane-and-a-half wide in many places, but it was impossible to keep the broad-shouldered Chevy away from all of the overhanging vegetation. With care I was able to avoid sharp branches. None of the brown traces left behind by passing dirty leaves were permanent scratches.
On this trip the 4x2 Silverado's biggest off-road liability was the low-hanging rubber air deflectors that hang down in front of the tires. They're in the exact spot you don't want them should you encounter a rock, log, or other obstacle you need to put your tire on as you roll over it.
Most of the time, they bend and flap up out of the way. But somewhere along the way the passenger-side one pulled loose. It wasn't the first frame-twist section, because I'd given the truck the once-over after we'd got through. Once I got home it was clear that nothing important had broken. A few minutes with a screw driver was all it took to get it back in place.
The end of this 30-mile dirt excursion was hastened by a long-distance footrace we happened across, a 50-miler with altitude gains in the multiple thousands of feet along the race route. The folks manning one of the checkpoints flagged us down. They had injured runners that needed a lift to the finish line.
So the end of our day was something of a low-level ambulance run with the back half of the Crew Cab full of disappointed competitors with ice taped to their calves. Thirty minutes later we finally hit pavement and dropped them off at race HQ.
The 4x2 Silverado worked just fine on this light-duty off-road trip, but I'd want the 4x4 if I was working the cell towers or helping with running and cycling events for real. The weather isn't always so accommodating up there and the road grader doesn't come by all that often.
Gotta love pickups. No messing around with putting blankets down, dropping rear seats, trying to squeeze a bicycle in through the trunk or any of that nonsense.
With our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Z71 LT Crew, just throw it in the bed, secure it with some tie-downs and you're off to the trailhead.
But...
Because we got the short 5-foot, 8-inch bed, I had to angle my full-suspension 29er slightly to put the tailgate up.
Not the end of the world. But as someone who hauls bicycles and motorcycles, I'd definitely prefer a longer bed.
Everyone's got their hang-ups. And for me, two of them (don't worry, I have plenty more) are abrupt throttles and unpadded armrests.
I'm happy to say our long-term 2014 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Z71 LT Crew has one of the most supple throttle deliveries I've ever experienced.
But here's what's cool about the Silverado's throttle:
It's not just supple when you casually tip-in to the 355-hp 5.3-liter V8 from a stop. It's buttery-smooth even if you stab at the gas pedal for a quick getaway.
Utterly lurch-free.
Yes.
Things happen in threes, they say. But: (1) which things are those, (2) what happens to them, and (3) who are they?
For the purposes of this 2014 Chevrolet Silverado update the answers are: cars, towing and, well, I still don't know who they are, but they got the three part right.
In the space of ten days I found myself needing to tow three cars on one-way trips from point A to various points B. Our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado was the easy choice because it had a hitch and more than enough capacity for the job.
The first car was my 1990 Mazda Miata showroom stock racecar, the first Miata to ever receive a competition logbook and the first to ever win a race. Point A was my garage and Point B was Mazda headquarters.
This was once the white car in the 1990 Miata brochure. Since then it has only been raced, never been titled and has been in my hands since mid-1989, a point in time that predated my employment in the automotive industry. It has less than 7,000 miles on its odometer, only driven on weekends, as they say.
In many ways this car (and others I raced back in the day) is the reason I'm sitting here writing this. The "Hobbies" part of my resume was where I was able to knit my mechanical engineering experience with my participation in SCCA racing events to land my first automotive engineering gig.
A few years back I tore down and restored the car to its first-season configuration in time for Miata 20th anniversary activities. After that it went back into my garage where it gathered a few fresh cobwebs. There's nothing sadder than an obsolete racecar.
I hitched it behind our Chevy Silverado because the 25th anniversary of the Miata is just around the corner. Mazda HQ has a collection of significant cars in its basement and they wanted to add this one to it, and I was looking to open up space in my garage. I'm sure I'll see it again.
The next car to be towed was a 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV. It had just attempted my 105.5-mile "One Lap of Orange County" mileage test loop and was bound for our Santa Monica parking garage where it would be refilled at our metered charge station.
This was not, however, the EV equivalent of the walk of shame. The Spark has a rated range of 82 miles, but it made it around the loop, technically, if not physically.
For safety, I routinely pull over and stop when the range meter gets down to 2 miles. This avoids the dreaded and harrowing intersection stall. It also ensures there'll be enough juice to pilot the test car on and off the trailer under its own power. Why push when you can drive? We're lazy like that.
So the Spark EV's Point A, the spot where the meter clicked down to 2 miles, was just around the corner barely 0.9 miles shy of the finish line. The trip meter read 104.6 miles when I brought in the Silverado at its empty U-haul.
I added those 2 miles back in, so the Spark EV received a score of 106.6 miles. It gets credit for completing the course with 1.1 miles to spare.
The Silverado's final towing chore was the 2013 Fiat 500e, another EV I piloted around Orange County on my 105.5-mile test loop.
The Fiat 500e has a rated range of 87 miles, but it made it back to the start outright with 4 miles left in the battery. But I wasn't entirely sure it would work out this way in the last few miles, so I had the Silverado tail me like a Pilot fish all the way home. Final score: 109.5 miles.
None of these tow-jobs was a challenge for our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 pickup. Our crew cab 4x2 has the 5.3-liter V8 and a 3.42 rear axle, a combination that gives it a 15,000-lb GCWR and an alleged maximum tow rating of 9,800 pounds.
I say "alleged" for many reasons. GM marketing refuses to adopt the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) tow rating procedure that their own engineering staff helped devise. Also, our crew cab 4x2 weighs 164 pounds more than the listed curb weight because of options. I weigh 60 pounds more than the assumed 150-lb flyweight driver. And I was carrying a full-grown passenger instead of empty seats.
With these factors included our Chevy had a true tow rating of 9,400 pounds.
Still, the Fiat 500e was the heaviest car of the three, and it only weighed 2,949 pounds. U-haul's Web site says their Auto Transport trailer weighs 2,210 pounds, so the maximum towed weight our Chevy had to pull was 5,159 pounds. In other words, our Silverado had over 4,200 pounds of tow capacity in reserve.
Piece of cake, as they say. And this time the they is us.
The 2014 Ford F-150 is offered with a large step and assist-pole that extend from the tailgate. It's a brilliant feature I appreciated several times with our long-term Raptor and I wasn't the only one. Nevertheless, as I describe in this Raptor post, Chevrolet decided to ridicule it in a commercial, dubbing it the "Man Step." I don't know about you, but all that did was provide a catchier name than "Tailgate Step" and point out a great feature Chevy lacked.
The all-new 2014 Chevrolet Silverado includes steps built into the corners of the bumper that help you climb up into the bed. They are better than nothing, but they do absolutely nothing when you descend from the bed. You still need to take a leap off the tailgate. In other words, Ford's "Man Step" is vastly better for climbing up and down. When you have to do that frequently, say when moving boxes or multiple bulky items, that makes a big difference.
Our long-term 2014 Chevy Silverado includes the optional heated seats, but like in many other GM vehicles, they go above-and-beyond the norm for this common feature. Note there are two buttons. The one on the right activates three levels of standard heated seats, where both the back and butt are heated. The button on the left activates three levels of back only.
I love this feature. On a long drive or when en route to a morning golf game (as I was in the Silverado recently), a little heat on my back is nice for loosening up my muscles. However, the downside is usually a roasting, swampy backside. The Silverado makes sure that doesn't happen. The only thing better is the new Mercedes-Benz S-Class, which provides heat on your back while massaging it and ventilating the seat bottom.
Sometimes it's the little things. The 2014 Chevy Silverado includes a little slot between the trailer brake controller and headlight knob. Not only does it perfectly hold parking cards (like the ones we need to get into the Edmunds garage and office), but puts them in the perfect location within easy view and reach next to the window. I'd imagine it would come in handy for parking garage tickets as well.
It's a little thing, but a big convenience.
We took our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado to the dealer for its first service. The owner's manual calls for routine maintenance at 7,500-mile intervals. The onboard oil change warning lit up sometime after that.
Our dealer visit itself was easy. We dropped the Silverado off at the Santa Monica Auto Group on Wednesday morning without an appointment. By that afternoon the oil was changed and the truck was ready for pick up.
Our service advisor, Bruce, is a big reason why we keep going to this dealership. Under his guidance our cars always seem to be turned around in an acceptably prompt manner. He has a good attitude. And he seems genuinely into cars, too, which makes for some fun conversations. This trait is refreshing, and not that common at the average dealership.
Total Cost: $47.00
Total Days out of Service: None
This morning I updated the satellite radio subscription in our Silverado which had expired after the three-month promotional period. I entered this code into the Sirius/XM activation page, tuned the satellite radio to channel 1 and waited. All the channels were back in about 10 minutes.
Sure, the 2014 Chevrolet Silverado is huge so it should have good interior storage, but Chevy really did a nice job utilizing every available cubic inch inside this rig. Just check out the front doors: double pockets, double cup holders.
And it gets better.
The rear doors have only one cup holder each but there are three pockets.
There's this large bin in the dash plus double glove boxes in the usual location.
And the center console, which flips vertically to become a center seat back, is also massive.
Our Chevrolet Silverado and all 2014 Silverados with crew or extended cabs have easy-access rear seat top tether anchors for securing child seats. They're basically rubber-covered wire loops. Not every extended cab truck I've driven in the last five years (Raptor, that means you) has offered easy access tethers like this.
Our 2014 Chevy Silverado will execute clean, crisp and effective rev-matched downshifts using this gear selector when in Manual mode. It's a nice feature, especially in a truck capable of towing. More full-size trucks should offer this feature.
In the month of October, our long-term 2014 Chevrolet Silverado spun an additional 2,137 miles onto its odometer and consumed 124.5 gallons of 87-octane fuel. That equates to 17.2 miles per gallon for the month, which is just a hair less than its lifetime average of 17.3 mpg.
These results so far are less than the truck's EPA combined rating of 19 mpg.
Worst Fill MPG: 12.5
Best Fill MPG: 21.0
Average Lifetime MPG: 17.3
EPA MPG Rating: 19 (16 City/23 Highway Combined)
Best Range: 469.2 miles
Current Odometer: 10,477 miles
Note: Cars are sometimes refueled before their fuel tanks are nearly empty. As such, "best" and "worst" fuel economy entries above are not necessarily the result of an entire tank's worth of driving.
Our 2014 Chevy Silverado's seat heaters are awesome. In addition to their three-position intensity adjustment, both driver and passenger can choose between having the seatback or both the seatback and seat bottom heated. Never seen that one in a truck before.
Josh is correct about our long-term 2014 Chevrolet Silverado's execution of manually-selected gear changes. There is, however, one thing about the way GM implements their trucks' manual mode that I've never been fond of.
Note the Silverado's PRNDM display above. You engage the transmission's manual mode by moving the column shifter towards you and then down from 'D' to 'M'. You're now in manual mode, and you can use the '+/-' buttons on the lever to select your gear. This half of the manual mode selection process works fine because 'M' is the last detent. You can just pop the shifter down as far as it will go and then manual-shift your little heart out.
It's exiting manual mode where I have a gripe. Too many times when attempting to go from 'M' to 'D', I overshoot 'D' and wind up in neutral. Then equal care is required not to again overshoot 'D' and wind up back in 'M'.
Smooth roads are generally fine. It's when you're bouncing down any kind of bumpy road where the level of finesse required by the column shifter can result in the aforementioned column-shifter death spiral.
For sure, this is a minor gripe. But there's got to be a better way.
I know not all the editors on staff at Edmunds are in love with the 2014 Chevrolet Silverado 1500's CornerStep bumper, especially compared to Ford's "man step."
But I find Chevy's version easy-to-use with a perfect step-up height and a natural handhold integrated into the top of the bed. Even with the tailgate up this setup still makes it simple to hop up into the bed.
With the tailgate already down, it's beyond easy. While the CornerStep bumper isn't conducive to climbing back down like Ford's step is, I just jump off anyway, whether there's a step or not. That's how you get down from a pickup.
And, unlike Ford's step, with the Chevy there's zero installation required.
What a nice treat to open the tailgate on a pickup, and find out that it's damped and just gently lowers itself down.
Chevrolet calls it the EZ Lift and Lower tailgate, and it's on our 2014 Silverado 1500 Z71 LT Crew.
Unlatch the tailgate, take your hand away and the tailgate lowers itself to the full open position, with no worries about it crashing down to the stops.
Yes, the Toyota Tundra has had this damped tailgate feature for a few years. But I'm saying all pickups should come with it. Period.
I'm a fan of the instrument panel in our long-term 2014 Chevrolet Silverado. To start, I like that the designers didn't try to get too fancy or clever about it.
All the analog gauges that have been in GM trucks for eons make a return here, and they're logically grouped: Two main dials on the bottom and a row of secondary dials up top. It's an attractive layout, and it leaves room in the middle for a very modern and useful digital trip computer display.
The trip computer looks right at home with the analog stuff. Its graphics and font are well matched to the other dials. And the information you find as you page through its various screens supplements the other gauges. There's a speed limit display if you like to monitor that, and here's the transmission temperature gauge you'd probably bring while towing. Overall, this is one of my favorite functional/stylistic elements of the Silverado's cab.
"Strong. For all the rugs ahead. That's what you should title this post," said my better half. (Undoubtedly, you get the reference. But if not, watch this.)
As you see here, we had a bunch of pink carpeting and padding left over from our ongoing home renovation project. It was far more than we could stuff into our dumpster on trash day, but it all fit securely in our long-term 2014 Chevrolet Silverado's 5.75-foot bed (we got the short bed option, as you'll recall).
Our next stop was a local carpet recycling company in Carson, California, that would take all the carpet and padding off our hands for free.
Predictably, you can only drop off carpeting Monday through Friday, so we loaded up the Silverado's bed on Sunday night. It was already dark, so the truck's bed light came in handy. It illuminates the whole bed, and the button to turn it on is right there at the bottom of the center stack.
In the month of November, we added an additional 1,634 miles onto the odometer our long-term 2014 Chevrolet Silverado. The Chevy consumed 92.7 gallons of 87-octane go juice. That equates to 17.6 miles per gallon for the month, which is just a bit higher than its lifetime average of 17.3 mpg.
These results so far are less than the truck's EPA combined rating of 19 mpg.
Worst Fill MPG: 12.5
Best Fill MPG: 21.0
Average Lifetime MPG: 17.3
EPA MPG Rating: 19 (16 City/23 Highway Combined)
Best Range: 469.2
Current Odometer: 12,111
Curious how "active" the 2014 Chevrolet Silverado's Active Fuel Management system is?
You can scroll through the instrument panel for a readout that shows when the 355-horsepower 5.3-liter direct-injected engine switches back and forth between four cylinders and eight.
In the lower right corner of the central IP display it'll either say "V4" or "V8."
Obviously anytime you're into the throttle for acceleration, it's in V8 mode. But much of the time during steady-state highway cruising, even at elevated speeds, it deactivates cylinders to save fuel.
Of note, our average fuel economy for the life of this test with the 2014 Silverado is 17.3 mpg, versus the EPA rating of 19 mpg combined (16 city/23 highway).
I needed to haul a new TV home the other day from Costco, since my old one had blown up. And apparently it's recommended that you transport these LCD/LED flat-screens standing up, as opposed to lying down flat.
To do this, I needed a pretty wide vehicle. Hence, our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Z71 LT Crew.
Turns out the Silverado crew cab is just wide enough to fit a 55-inch TV, with barely any width to spare.
Those easy-folding rear seats were handy, too. I folded them up while loading, but then dropped them down to hold the TV in place during transport.
Overall, a cinch of an operation.
If you've got a lot going on in the girth department, you know that finding a vehicle that transports you in comfort and safety isn't always easy. The main issue is front passenger space. Not all vehicles are suitable for wider bodies, and not all vehicles are built so that larger drivers can sit at a safe distance from the steering wheel. Sitting closer than 10 inches from the steering wheel increases the risk of airbag injury in the event of a crash.
For these reasons and a couple of others, the Chevy Silverado is a strong choice for drivers with a few (or many) extra pounds. The 2013 model was one of the picks in our list of the Top 10 Vehicles for Obese drivers. See the full list here. The 2014 model is similarly impressive, and offers improved materials and build quality within the cabin.
One of the most striking things about our long-term 2014 Chevrolet Silverado is how comfortable and easy to drive it is, even in congested Southern California.
Although our truck is pretty similar in personality to the previous two generations of the Silverado, subtle improvements over the years have minimized a lot of the hassles that come with driving a full-size pickup.
It starts with the 2014 Silverado's composed ride quality. Even with our truck's Z71 suspension calibration, it rides nicely whether the bed is empty or full. That's huge if you're just commuting to work in your truck. Money no object, I'd be more than happy to drive around in a Silverado just because.
The steering and brakes are also quite user-friendly. There's a level of precision to both that I've not experienced in many full-size trucks (though I haven't driven the latest Ram 1500). I'm not guessing at my steering inputs like I have in the past, and there's far less dead travel in the brake pedal stroke.
Finally, there's the rear-view camera. It almost feels like you're cheating, but it's such a timesaver when you're trying to finesse the Silverado into tight spots.
Seeing the touchscreen on our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado is easy. This is notable, because a few of our long-term test cars (such as the Dodge Dart) have great touchscreen interfaces that are wasted by being washed out in the sunlight. Not so with this one.
I can browse and select songs easily and see the Silverado's navigation screen regardless of a rising or setting sun. Chevrolet's MyLink is pretty user-friendly in general, and being able to see the controls, makes it that much easier to use.
I agree with Erin that the ride quality in our long-term 2014 Chevrolet Silverado is fantastic. I've been commuting this week in the redesigned Chevy pickup through West Los Angeles and that means perpetual construction projects, potholes that devour Fiats, steel plates Superman couldn't lift and cracks in the pavement that can be seen from outer space. And in the Silverado, I've barely noticed.
When driving over construction debris, tattered road surfaces and hastily-poured concrete/asphalt transitions, this truck is smooth and unruffled. As a daily driver, it's downright enjoyable. Not everyone has the luxury of owning two vehicles, so if you need a truck for both work duty and everyday driving, the 2014 Silverado has the ride quality to accommodate both.
Travel the world and you'll find the full-size pickup has no better home than the United States. We've got the open spaces, the big skies, the culture and the can-do attitude that makes trucks like our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado just seem right.
With its luxury features and generally soft ride, a modern truck is a lot different than its original forbearers. But the core experience is the same as it always was. Step up, start 'er up, grab a fistful of column shift and hit the road. There's a presence here and a feeling of toughness that you don't get with anything else.
For me, the latest Silverado still represents all that's good about a full-size pickup.
Cylinder deactivation is an increasingly common technology used on bigger engines to help improve fuel economy. The idea here is to shut down half of the engine's cylinders under low demand situations (like cruising), thereby saving some fuel. This can cause extra vibration or noise, though, so automakers strive to make the systems as quiet and quick-reacting as possible.
Chevrolet's had its system (Active Fuel Management) on a lot of its V8s for a while now, and the version on our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 is impressively transparent to the driver.
There's an indicator in the gauge cluster (pictured above) that tells you whether the engine is running in V8 or V4 (four cylinder) mode. And honestly, I rarely notice when the truck is in V4 mode. Sure, if I focus on it, I can tell the subtle difference. In V4 mode there is a little more vibration that can be felt by my foot on the gas pedal, and the engine isn't quite as quick to react to inputs until it switches to V8 mode. But in normal driving, and with your attention paid elsewhere, our Silverado's cylinder deactivation is essentially invisible.
I've had a few people comment on our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 since I've been driving it, and most of them have noted on how big it seems. (Insert your innuendo joke here.) Now, the Silverado isn't really bigger than any other crew cab pickup, but yes, in general, it's kind of a beast if you're used to regular cars.
Still, in terms of parking and maneuverability, our Silverado seems just fine to me as crew cabs go. Of course, rearward visibility over your shoulder is always good in a pickup. But as Erin noted previously, the rearview camera is super useful to snugging up into tight parking spaces, and in general the precise steering and brake pedal feel help out with minor adjustments.
On the spec sheet, the Silverado's turning circle does seem larger than other pickups. Our truck (with the short bed) has a 47.2-foot diameter, while the Tundra is a few feet fewer and a comparable Ram 1500 is just 39.5 feet. This could play out in real life situations, though to the Chevy's credit I've made a couple of U-turns so far and have been able to pull them off without having to make them multi-point turns.
I suspect that full-size pickups, because of their XL dimensions and frequency of receiving suspension lifts, end up getting parked outside an owner's home much more often than a regular car or even a crossover SUV. That means cold winter mornings can be a drag if your truck is your daily driver. But having a remote start feature, like our 2014 Silverado does, can help you out a little.
If you live in a cold climate, you likely know what I'm talking about: scraping frost or ice off the windows, waiting for what seems like forever to get the heater or defrost going, and generally complaining on how dang cold out it is.
Lots of cars these days can be had with remote start, a feature that allows you to start the vehicle remotely using the key fob. The idea here is that you start your car while you're still in your house, giving yourself some extra time to finish up your hot coffee and Pop Tart.
On our Silverado, remote start was an option (part of the All Star Edition package). To make it work, you just push the lock button on the key fob and then the fob's remote start button. Doing so fires up the engine to idle. Depending on how the truck's controls are set and how cold outside it is, remote start will also automatically turn on the heated seats, the defroster and start to apply warm air for the heater once it's available. The truck's doors are still locked, and once inside the cab you just put the key in the ignition, turn it, and your pre-warmed truck is ready to go.
Now, there's still the traditional way, which is just going out to your car and starting it up yourself and letting it idle. And yes, you can make the observation that using remote start can lead to unnecessary tailpipe emissions. But nonetheless, it's a nice little convenience feature that a lot of owners could appreciate.
December was a fairly quiet month for our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado. With no big trips taken, we added about 900 miles through normal driving around Los Angeles.
For the month, we averaged 18.4 mpg.
That 18.4 mpg figure is better than our lifetime average, which stands at 17.3 mpg. But either way, we're still below the EPA combined average estimate of 19 mpg.
Worst Fill MPG: 12.5
Best Fill MPG: 21.0
Average Lifetime MPG: 17.3
EPA MPG Rating: 19 Combined (16 City/23 Highway Combined)
Best Range: 469 miles
Current Odometer: 13,089 miles
Since we're had our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 in the fleet, it's hauled a variety of things, from mulch to an engine. It's still going strong. Last month I helped a friend move house and later hauled a bunch of boxes out of storage. Neither job was particularly taxing, but the convenience of having a full-size pickup is pretty amazing.
As we learned from our long-term tests of a 2011 Honda Odyssey and a 2011 Toyota Sienna, minivans are great for moving stuff, too. But when you're hauling things that are dirty, really bulky, or really dirty and really bulky, the pickup's utility is unbeatable.
If you've seen any recent TV commercials for the new 2014 Chevrolet Silverado 1500, you might have noticed that Chevy is highlighting, among the more typical full-size pickup selling points, how quiet the truck is. In fact, the company is claiming that "there's no quieter full-size pickup." Is it true?
At Edmunds, we subject nearly every vehicle we test to measured sound readings at both wide open throttle as well as cruising speed at 70 mph.
I looked up these numbers for some recent full-size pickups we've tested.
2014 Chevy Silverado (full throttle/cruise): 70.8 db/60.9 db
2013 Ram 1500 crew cab V6: 74.3 db/62.5 db
2013 Ford F-150 crew cab turbo V6: 68.7 db/62.9 db
By these numbers, Chevy's claim seems to hold water, at least at cruising speed. Away from the numbers, though, I really do like how our Silverado is impressively quiet on the highway, and that combines nicely with its smooth ride.
Many of my friends own pickup trucks. I do not. So on more than one occasion, I've had to pester them for a helping hand when I've been in need of a hauling rig. While this truck borrowing is a good way to go, I've also thought it'd be nice to have a truck of my own. Driving our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 certainly makes that idea even more appealing (and has given my friends something to be jealous over).
There's a lot to like about the Silverado. It's got massive towing and hauling capabilities. The ride is comfortable. The interior controls are thoughtfully laid out. Just about every feature I'd want is either standard or available. I also find it to be attractively styled.
Granted, there's a lot of parity in the full-size pickup market right now, and certainly I hope truck shoppers look at the F-150 and Ram 1500 as well. But Chevy's hit the target with its latest Silverado.
Last week I wrenched my lower back. Again. It happened while doing some really routine chores around the house. After shuffling around in discomfort for a couple of days, I checked to see if our long-term 2014 Chevrolet Silverado was available.
See, it has a powerful set of seat heaters up front. And not only will they cook your backside for an entire commute without relenting on the heat (as some other manufacturers' seat heaters do), they have a toggle feature that lets you concentrate the heat on the seat-back cushion.
This combined with the Silverado's supersize-able lumbar made for relatively comfortable commuting until my back healed.
General Motors has recalled some 370,000 2014 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500 pickups made with the 4.3-liter V6 and 5.3-liter V8 engines. The issue is the potential for fire due to overheating exhaust components in the event of extended idling. The 6.2-liter V8 is not part of it.
The release goes on to say that all eight reported incidents that led to fires occurred in areas with "very cold weather."
Overheating and fire in very cold weather may seem odd, but I get it.
I've seen entire parking lots of idling trucks when I ventured north to conduct winter tire tests in frosty Baudette, Minnesota, a remote burg that actually lies north of most population centers in Canada including Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City and Thunder Bay. Winnipeg is less than 100 miles north.
The scene was the local diner, and it was routine to see every single pickup (and car, but there weren't many) left running with steam coming out of the tailpipe while their drivers tanked up on coffee and ate breakfast inside. An hour of this was not unusual. It didn't matter if they were gasoline or diesel-powered.
Even though our winter idling habits are markedly different here in southern California, I wondered if our truck was part of the recall. I assumed the answer would be yes because these all-new 2014 Chevy and GMC truck models were released partway through 2013, so 370,000 may be pretty much all of them except very recent trucks that were presumably built with the fix as soon as it was developed.
Recall letters were mailed out January 16th, so we'll get confirmation soon enough. In the meantime I gave a GM contact our VIN and asked if he could tell me in advance. Yep, he said, "it is included in the recall."
Consumers can get the same question answered by calling their local dealer. It doesn't matter if you don't eat breakfast at diners in Baudette, either. I've seen people idle their vehicles for long periods for all kinds of reasons in all kinds of weather.
The fix is easy. It's a simple engine control software reflash, and it takes about 20 minutes once the technician gets ahold of the truck. Dealers are set up to do it today and there is no charge. We'll get it taken care of next week.
I'm a life-long small-car person. Even when I've bought bigger cars, such as the Acura TL and the BMW 328i, they tended to be smaller big cars. So when I clambered into our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado 1500, which I signed out for a specific weekend hauling project, I figured its size was going to pose some challenges.
But not in driving. The driving experience is pretty nice. Or even parallel parking (although I haven't tried any black-diamond parking spots yet). I am finding, though, that head-in parking is a bit of a challenge.
The Silverado's hood is wide and long and that affects my feel for where I am relative to the width of the stall. Plus, I don't yet have the feel of where to start a turn. I amused a friend to no end as I tried to park in front of her optometrist's office. She counted the forwards and backs, and I refuse to tell you the number. Suffice to say this is the best I could do without turning the exercise into a complete circus.
Mock me if you will (and I know you will), but getting the hang of parking is going to take me some time. Got any hints for the trucking newbie?
The 2014 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 earned its keep this weekend. I checked it out of our long-term fleet so my husband and I could tote a set of Fuchs wheels and two new tires for our 2009 Porsche 911 Carrera S to a tire store for installation. Loading up the new wheels and tires was a snap.
Bringing home the old wheels and tires was just as easy — but dirtier. After that, we put the rear seats of the cab to work, hauling bags of Goodwill clothing donations, dry-cleaning and groceries, all of which the Silverado handled beautifully.
What I know about full-size trucks is based on just a few raw experiences, so it was great to have access to our richly appointed 2014 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 for a weekend of chores and hauling. Also, it amused me greatly to drive a 5,206-lb truck to an appointment at Savvy Chic Nail Cottage or listen to Jane Austen's "Persuasion" via Bluetooth in the cab.
Having said all that, the Silverado is not a vehicle I'd want to use daily. It's more than I need. The 16 mpg I averaged was fine for a truck, but awful compared to my daily-driver coupe.
But I wouldn't mind having access to have a vehicle like this via car-sharing. A quick look at RelayRides reveals several Silverado trucks available in the Santa Monica area, although none are as new or nice as ours.
Another option: a truck or van rental from Hertz via Lowe's. The video showcases a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Van, which seems pretty sweet.
How do you handle your occasional need for a cargo hauler? Have you ever purchased one cooperatively with friends or family and shared it?
Back-up cameras like the one found in our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 aren't just for safety, though that's seen as the main benefit by many people. Turns out they're useful for many other more routine driving tasks that involve alignment and tight quarters.
The list includes routine parking, particularly if you like to reverse into spaces, as I do. Also on the list is parallel parking, which is a bit like playing "Operation" with cars and curbs.
And then there's towing, specifically the part where you're backing up to connect to the trailer before you head out. But all such cameras are not created equal when it comes to this.
The Silverado's guidance line overlay does not pivot as you crank the wheel, but that's actually helpful when one is attempting to align the truck with the trailer, especially when you're still 20 or 30 feet away.
Near the end of the hitching process it's common to overshoot the ball by an inch, at which point it's necessary to shift back into Drive and edge forward a bit. GM understands this and keeps the camera running throughout.
This behavior seems so patently obvious I shouldn't need to point it out. But a Toyota Tundra backup camera will wink out at the precise moment you shift out of reverse due to an overly conservative (and thoughtless) corporate interpretation of laws designed to prevent TV-watching on screens visible to the driver while traveling down the road in a forward gear.
No one is going to drive at 2 mph just so they can watch a DVD. GM's common-sense approach allows their back-up camera to be a useful towing aid. Our Silverado's camera winks out when a very low forward speed threshold is met. I think it matches the one that triggers the auto door-lock function.
Point is, folks that tow need to know that back-up cameras aren't universally suited to this activity.
Try this on your next test drive: Shift into reverse to activate the camera, then go back into drive and take note of when it winks back out. You may want to move on to another brand if it happens as soon as you move the lever out of reverse. If you're like me you'll want to see the image linger for the first foot or two of forward travel.
GM's products are among those that have this part right.
We accumulated 2,059 miles on our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado in January, comfortably over our monthly goal of 1,700 miles. A large chunk of that came in the past week along Highway 10, between our home office in Santa Monica and Phoenix, Arizona. One of our editors drove there for a new vehicle introduction of, appropriately, GM trucks. Stay tuned for more coverage from that event.
Meanwhile, here are the lifetime fuel economy stats on our Silverado.
Worst Fill MPG: 12.5 mpg
Best Fill MPG: 21.0 mpg
Average Lifetime MPG: 17.5 mpg
EPA MPG Rating: 16 combined (19 city/23 highway)
Best Range: 469.2 miles
Current Odometer: 15,145 miles
Recently, I drove our long-term 2014 Chevrolet Silverado from Los Angeles to Phoenix and back. The route itself is quite uninteresting. It comprises one straight, elevation-changeless highway, Interstate 10, for nearly all of the 825 miles.
Traffic was light, so I was able to make good time and keep the cruise locked for the majority of the miles, cruising at the speed of traffic for nearly the entire trip. Despite this the Silverado was still switching into fuel-saving four-cylinder mode with some regularity. Nice.
When all was said and done the big truck had netted 19.6 mpg. While this is (predictably) lower than its EPA highway rating, it's actually a touch higher than its combined EPA rating of 19 mpg. I consider this result a success, considering the truck is facing an uphill aerodynamic battle at these real-world freeway velocities. Remember, drag increases with the square of velocity.
The dull slog of my L.A. to Phoenix road trip gave me plenty of time to fixate on the long-term 2014 Chevrolet Silverado's seat.
More to the point, to fixate on the road butt that caused me to start squirming and shifting in the saddle after about two hours (it's six hours each way) in the seat. This seat could use a more effective seat cushion. But other than that the seat was fine. I experienced no back discomfort at all and had plenty of space to sprawl out, trucker-style.
I also noticed that there's a prominent click originating from somewhere beneath the driver seat. The click occurs when the truck traverses big, rolling humps in the road, and induces what vehicle dynamics engineers call "heave." The driver's butt unloads from the seat somewhat and the click occurs, as if there's a loose seat mounting bolt. Next time I have the Silverado near a set of wrenches and have ten minutes to kill, maybe I'll go on rattle patrol.
Talk about good timing. The recently announced exhaust recall for our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado more or less coincided with a fast-approaching 15,000-mile service. A pair of technical service bulletins had also been announced since our last dealer visit, so we decided to get everything taken care of in one shot. We chose to take the Silverado to a different dealership for service this time around. Read on to find out how it went.
We rang up Bunnin Chevrolet in Culver City to see how long it would take for the service, recall, and technical bulletins. Our service representative was helpful and estimated it would take six hours to get our big blue engine hauler back on the road.
We pulled into the service bay and an attendant greeted us and brought our service rep over right away. He inspected the car, made note of a few minor scratches, and brought us into his office. Here's where things got interesting.
The owner's manual recommends an oil change and tire rotation at the 15,000-mile interval. Four oil changes and tire rotations are covered by GM's 2-year/24,000 mile maintenance program, standard on every 2014 Silverado 1500. Our rep input the type of service we requested and informed us the total charge would ring in at $299 and some change. It's been some time since I've taken a math course, but I deduced that the estimate was more than the zero dollars I expected.
As it turns out, the total included several extra services not mentioned in the owner's manual. Things like throttle body cleaning, fuel injector cleaning, and chassis lubrication. These additional services were part of the dealer-recommended 15,000-mile service. We decided to stick with only the items named in the manual and the total dropped back to $0.
Our service manager told us the work would be completed in "half a day." Since we dropped it off at 8:00 a.m., we anticipated the car would be ready to be picked up around noon. Our expectations proved to be a little high, as we didn't receive a call until 5:00 p.m.
The dealership employees were friendly enough, but a couple of things left a bad taste in our mouths. The estimated "half a day" that grew to 9 hours, for one. And also the confusing language used by our advisor who never quite explained the difference between dealer-recommended and owner's-manual recommended service needs. We would probably use this shop again, but we'd be inclined to use a different advisor.
We got our long-term 2014 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 crew cab in the LT Z71 trim level. Our truck came with a standard six-speaker audio system. That's nothing too deluxe in today's world, but is it any good? Here's my report.
Well, the Silverado's stereo definitely won't please most audiophiles. At about 70 percent of full volume, the speakers reach their bass limit. Turn up the volume from there and all you get is painful, additional treble. There are six preset tone settings that adjust treble, midrange and bass, but they are pretty crude, mostly distorting sound instead of improving it.
The base stereo is good for talk radio, podcasts or even low-volume music, but it leaves you wanting more when you select your favorite album and turn it up to eleven. I'm not sure the $500 optional Bose system would solve any of these problems, but I'd make sure to listen to both systems at the dealership before writing my check.
This picture shows the fuel economy gauge in our long-term 2014 Chevy Silverado. It's a useful little sucker. Especially for me. You see, my commute to work is 53 miles, 52 of which are on the freeway. That means I can see how I've done on the trip when I get there. This was a pretty good run.
Now this is only a small look at a big picture, but it's good to get an idea how I've done on that particular route and it's good for comparing runs. Our best single tank in the Silverado through January is 21.0 mpg. The EPA rates our truck at 23 mpg on the highway.
It's Girl Scout cookie season in Southern California, and this past Saturday our Cadette troop of middle schoolers took delivery of 81 cases of Thin Mints, Tagalongs and other annual favorites from our local cookie warehouse.
So how many cases fit in our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado pickup? Seventy-five cases were stacked safely in the bed, which left six cases stowed in the cabin's rear seat.
Not a bad haul.
Crew cabs are great...if you're hauling people. They're not so great when you need to carry stuff in the bed, especially really, really long stuff.
That doesn't mean it can't be done. Getting these 16-foot-long pieces of baseboard home from the lumber yard in our 2014 Chevy Silverado merely required a little twine and enough faith in my fellow drivers that no one would do anything stupid. The fact that I only had to make two turns to get home helped, too.
At first I figured I would route the boards through the rear window and hang them off the back of the tailgate, but then I realized that our Silverado doesn't have a sliding rear window. So it was on to plan B, and thankfully there were no incidents on the way home.
Every time I climb in and out of our long-term 2014 Chevrolet Silverado I'm struck by how much space there is inside. As obvious as it sounds to call the inside of a full-size pickup "big," I think it's worth noting the areas where you can stretch out.
There's lots of headroom and legroom in both the front and the rear seats. The big, comfortable seats are wide enough to legitimately hold six people. And with all the storage bins, there's no doubt in my mind that this truck takes the road-trip cake. At 5-feet-9-inches tall, I have no problem getting in and out of the front or rear of the truck with ease. No hopping, skipping, jumping or pulling required. I just slide right in.
Friends of all heights (ranging from 5-feet-even to 6-ft-6) have ridden in the Silverado, and all of them have commented on the size and comfort of the cabin. A full-size truck doesn't have to do much to be the most useful vehicle in our fleet, but when it's also got one of the roomiest, most pleasant cabins around, that's saying something.
In the month of February we only drove our long-term 2014 Chevy Silverado about 1,000 miles, most of it in and around Los Angeles. Beyond normal commuting the truck hauled a load of Girl Scout cookies and the usual bikes and surf boards. Not exactly severe duty.
The truck's fuel economy hasn't changed much since last month, and its overall average remains under the EPA's combined estimate. Here are the lifetime fuel economy stats on our Silverado.
Worst Fill MPG: 12.5 mpg
Best Fill MPG: 21.0 mpg
Average Lifetime MPG: 17.4 mpg
EPA MPG Rating: 19 combined (16 city/23 highway)
Best Range: 469.2 miles
Current Odometer: 16,124 miles
The controls on the dashboard of our long-term 2014 Chevrolet Silverado are simple and easy to use. While there are plenty of creature comforts to control from the dash, there are no extra knobs, complicated switchgear or unnecessary styling flourishes. All the controls have a substantial heft to them and none of the surfaces feel cheap or flimsy.
Overall, this feels like a truck cabin that will stand the test of time, both in style and usability.
I like driving big trucks. Towering over the passing traffic is a pretty empowering feeling.
What I don't like is parking big trucks. And our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado is no exception. Our two-wheel-drive crew cab Chevy with a 5.8-foot bed measures over 19 feet long and 6.5 feet wide. That sorta bulk comes with a 47.2-foot turning circle, which often makes tight parking lot maneuvers very challenging.
For comparison, a 2014 Chevrolet Traverse crossover measures 17 feet long and is an inch-and-a-half narrower than the Silverado. But its turning circle is nearly 7 feet smaller at 40.4 feet.
Sure, a Traverse doesn't have the same hauling capabilities as a Silverado, but it's much easier to drive if you don't need an open bed.
I could have put the greasy engine block in the trunk of a car or in the back of a crossover. Heck, almost any vehicle could have transported the 35-year old chunk of cast iron to its destination, but some jobs are just right for a pickup truck. And this was one of those jobs.
I've had the small-block Chevy sitting in my garage for about five years. It once lived in the engine bay of my father's 1969 Camaro. He installed it back in 1979. Nothing radical; 350 cubic inches, cast iron block, heads and manifold, a single four-barrel carburetor and a very mild 8.5:1 compression ratio. It was perfect for the boulevard cruiser Rally Sport convertible and it ran perfectly for nearly 200,000 miles.
And it was still running well (a little smoke) when we pulled it from the Camaro and replaced it with a new 350 H.O. crate motor we bought from General Motors about five years ago.
With delusions of grandeur I commandeered the engine from my father. I envisioned rebuilding it bigger and stronger for my '55 Chevy hot rod. My seven-year-old daughter and I put it on an engine stand, tore it down and shoved it into the corner of the garage. And that is where it has been for five years.
It turns out machine shop work is expensive and I'd be better off financially buying a new short block from GM rather than reboring and rebuilding this one.
Two weeks ago a friend told me that Team C Performance, an old-school style speed shop in Bellflower, CA about 20 miles from our office, buys good small-block Chevy blocks. They only buy blocks with 4-bolt mains and two-piece rear main seals, which is exactly what has been sitting in the corner of my garage. They refurbish the block and then rebuild them into the 383 cubic-inch crate engines they sell.
What the heck. A found $125. Plus I get the corner of my garage back. But first I had to haul the greasy engine block the 20 miles.
"Hey Mike, where are the keys to our long-term Chevy Silverado." Like I said, some jobs are just right for a pickup truck.
I love the 2014 Chevrolet Silverado's rear seats. They're large enough to hold real people and hugely functional.
Possibly the best feature of these seats is that their seat bottoms can be folded vertically with one hand, no release needed. It's a functional design that reveals a nearly-flat load floor.
Eight years ago I took our then long-term 2007 Chevrolet Silverado on a bone-jarring trip to the Race Track in Death Valley National Park. It was 27 miles each way on a washboard road and I felt every bump and stone along the way. And a loud metallic clank came from the rear differential every time it shifted.
That was the last time I was in a Silverado, until last night. I took our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Z71 LT Crew home and was amazed at how similar the truck looked to our earlier truck, but how greatly improved everything else was. There was one thing that really impressed me.
The fuel economy.
Checking back through dusty records I discovered that over the more than 20,000 miles we drove the 2007 Silverado, the truck had a lifetime average of 13.2 mpg. After 17,000 miles, our 2014 Silverado is averaging 17.4 mpg.
Back in the day, the 2007 had a 6.0-liter V8 which delivered an EPA mileage rating of 15 city and 19 highway, which was still better than the competitors, thanks to GM's Active Fuel Management system which shut down half the cylinders under light load. Today's truck has the new direct-injected Gen 5 5.3-liter small-block V8.
At a glance, the 2014 fuel economy of 17.4 mpg doesn't seem that much better than the 2007 fuel economy of 13.2 mpg. But as I discovered by writing The Truth About Fuel Consumption, small seeming improvements on the low end of fuel efficiency save far more than more impressive savings on the high end of the spectrum. In other words, jumping from 13.2 to 17.4 mpg in a truck saves more gas than a bigger looking leap from a 35 mpg compact to a 50 mpg Toyota Prius.
Over 100,000 miles of driving, the more efficient engine (which, by the way, has plenty of power and a vastly improved transmission) saves 1,829 gallons of gas. At $3.75 a gallon, this saves the owner $6,857. For comparison's sake, making the jump from the 35 mpg compact to the 50 mpg Prius would only save 857 gallons of gas and $3,214 over 100,000 miles of driving.
The gas price spikes of the previous decade brought about a wave of innovation and refinement. And this Chevy truck is a great demonstration of those improvements.
During the month of March, we put 1,500 miles on our long-term 2014 Chevrolet Silverado. Over those miles, we averaged 17.9 mpg, and the truck's average lifetime mpg stayed the same at 17.4 mpg. However, we also recorded a new lifetime best at 23.1 mpg.
As you'll note, we've finally matched the EPA's estimate for highway fuel economy, though our lifetime average still falls short of the 19 mpg EPA combined rating for our two-wheel-drive Silverado. Here's how the numbers break down.
Worst Fill MPG: 12.5 mpg
Best Fill MPG: 23.1 mpg
Average Lifetime MPG: 17.4 mpg
EPA MPG Rating: 19 combined (16 city/23 highway)
Best Range: 469.2 miles
Current Odometer: 17,615 miles
Here's a different milestone from our fleet. Our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado just hit 500 engine hours, a metric that reminds us that the truck is made to do more than haul mulch and furniture, such as idle for extended periods while powering accessories on a job site. This may have more relevance for diesels than gas burners, but it seems like a handy number to know along with an odometer reading, especially for resale.
Our 34.3 average mph suggests we're not running power tools from the Silverado for home improvement projects. Instead, we're usually just stuck in Southern California traffic crawl.
Would engine hours be an important consideration if you were shopping a used medium-duty truck?
I have a two-car garage. I can park two, real cars in it. I can even park two minivans in my garage. What I cannot park in my garage is our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado.
In the photo above, you can see the bumper and part of the tailgate extend beyond the track for the roll-up garage door. What you cannot see is the front bumper a mere quarter inch off the wall. At 239.57 inches this truck is simply too long. And because I want to park my vehicles in the garage, I wouldn't buy one. It's as simple as that.
But not all hope of me ever owning a Chevy truck is lost. The regular cab Silverado (a much better looking body style to my eyes) measures 34 inches shorter at 205.57 inches. And don't forget the new Colorado which is certain to be slightly shorter, and narrower, than even the smallest Silverado.
In case you're wondering, the longest Silverado configuration listed (the 3500 HD models don't have the dimension of length listed) is the 2500 HD crew cab long bed at 258.4 inches. That's 21.53 feet. Better leave that truck at the construction site.
Last weekend, I needed a car from the Edmunds fleet that could haul some really dirty laundry. I was running a 10.3-mile obstacle-course race called Tough Mudder, and our long-term 2014 Chevrolet Silverado was the obvious choice for transportation. My friend Dann and I woke up early on a Saturday morning to put ourselves through this torture. Other vehicles might've been plusher along the way, but for me, the Silverado was the perfect choice.
On the way to the event, we used almost all of the eleven cupholders for various water bottles and sports drinks. Once we arrived, the bed of the truck and the massive cabin provided more than enough space for changing into our running gear.
During the day we jumped off a 15-foot high ledge into muddy water (hence the name Tough Mudder), squirmed underground through dark, claustrophobic drain pipes and darted through a spider web of hanging wires hooked up to 10,000 volts of electricity. We also scaled walls, climbed steep hills and crawled under hornets' nests of barbed wire.
After a few hours of this, we needed a place to relax. The 80-mile ride home was painless thanks to the Silverado's powerful seat heaters (great for our sore muscles), soft and supportive seats, hushed ride, and compliant suspension.
It's easy for a truck to be utilitarian, but our 2014 Silverado is so much more than a weekend hauler. It's a great all-around vehicle that's ideal for daily driving or cross-country road trips or anything in between. I'll definitely miss it when it's gone.
We got an invite to a combination car/motorcycle track-day event at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. And yes, we wanted to "double-dip," as they say, drive a car and ride a motorcycle at the same track, same weekend.
Time to load up our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado with two sportbikes and all our gear and head to Monterey.
And don't you worry, we're bringing our long-term 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, too.
Stay tuned for all the updates related to "The Greatest Event in Track Day History." Or something to that effect.
The center console on our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado is neither new nor groundbreaking.
But it is highly utilitarian.
As you can see the seat bottom functions as a large lockable storage compartment. And the seatback doubles as a center console. Like I said, utilitarian.
Our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado isn't the first truck to offer slots which locate a 2x6-inch piece of lumber, but they sure are useful.
Simply cut the board to 64.5 inches and it slides into place. I spent about 10 minutes and $40 to create this makeshift bike rack for a family trip to Arizona. Haven't used it yet, but expect a full report soon.
This photo of our long-term 2014 Chevrolet Silverado shows why, if it were up to me, I would never get the shorty-pants 5-foot, 8-inch bed in a pickup.
For my needs (and hey, this particular update is all about me) I'd like to be able to close the tailgate when I have two sportbikes in the back. Can't do that with this size bed.
Why this crazy desire to close the tailgate?
Because if you're taking a trip to a track day, in this case our car/moto adventure to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca (yep, we brought our 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray too), you're probably going to want to throw some gear in the bed without fear of it falling out the back en route.
Plus, having the tailgate up is a nice precaution just in case something were to happen to the tie-downs for the motorcycles. Definitely don't want one of those bikes crashing to the pavement on Interstate 5 North. The explosion of plastic would be heartbreaking.
Aside from my whining about the short bed, the Silverado performed perfectly during our trip up to Laguna. Even packed with two motorcycles and a cab full of moto gear, tools, chairs and cooler, the 355-horsepower direct-injected 5.3-liter V8 was plenty for the task at hand.
It rides nice and smooth, too, when it's loaded like that.
I drove our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado to Arizona last weekend. Though most of the miles were on the highway, the truck averaged 19.4 mpg over 1,120 miles. The EPA rates the truck at 19 mpg combined (16 city/23 highway).
Its best tank, 20.6 mpg over 287 miles, came during the last leg of the trip which included temps in the 90s.
After frying tires and scorching knee pucks at a strenuous two-day car/bike track weekend at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, what better way to cap things off than with a pit stop at an authentic Mexican joint on the way out of town?
Maybe I was thoroughly starving, but I honestly can't remember the last time I've had such a delicious burrito. Yes, this will be our new post-Laguna Seca food stop from now on.
So how did our long-term 2014 Chevrolet Silverado handle bike-hauling duty for the weekend?
Perfectly. The Chevy was smooth, quiet and comfortable at all times.
Uphills barely registered with the 355-horsepower 5.3-liter V8 and its 383 pound-feet of torque, even with two sportbikes and a Crew Cab's worth of moto gear and tools.
We averaged 16.9 mpg during our trip to the Monterey area and back. Overall, this thing is a great workhorse. Especially because it doesn't feel like it's working.
Eight months ago I tallied up the first monthly fuel economy update for our then-new 2014 Chevrolet Silverado. After 6 weeks and 5,146 miles it had averaged 17.6 mpg.
At the time I supposed that with time and miles our average might edge closer to the truck's 19 mpg EPA Combined rating. Someone would get more than 500 miles out of a single tank. One or more of us would exceed the Silverado's 23 mpg EPA Highway rating.
Two out of three ain't bad, but here at 20,417 miles (yes, this is a 20,000-mile update, too) we've only achieved one out of three. And we narrowly missed a big fat goose egg by the thinnest of margins.
Early in this reporting period — April 1, to be exact — someone managed 23.1 mpg, the only tank that has so far beat the highway rating. But it was only a 211.9-mile run, not even half a tank. It's hard to know if the driver could have sustained that level of thriftiness over the course of a really long driving leg.
If they had made the attempt they would have certainly driven farther than the 469.2-mile single-tank maximum we logged 8 months ago. But they didn't, and neither has anyone else, so that early mark still stands. But that's not to say it's impossible. No driver has added more than 23.6 gallons to the Silverado's 26-gallon tank and most road-trip fills amounted to 21 or 22 gallons. Perhaps bladder size is a larger factor than tank size.
As for our running average, it actually decreased from 17.6 to 17.5 mpg in the intervening 8 months and 15,000 miles. We're actually a wee bit farther away from 19 mpg combined than we were back then.
Why are we falling short, if only by a single mpg or so? It probably has to do with the optional 3.42-to-1 axle our axle ratio is equipped with. The standard ratio, the one that has more to do with the EPA fuel economy ratings, is 3.23-to-1, some 5.6 percent taller.
In isolation, however, this month has been a good one. The 2,798 miles we added in April came at an average of 18.7 mpg, which does in fact, round up to 19 mpg combined.
Worst Fill MPG: 12.5
Best Fill MPG: 23.1
Average Lifetime MPG: 17.5 (5.7 gallons per 100 miles)
EPA MPG Rating: 19 Combined (16 City/23 Highway)
Best Range: 469.2 miles
Current Odometer: 20,417
As I mentioned before I built a makeshift bike rack for our long-term 2014 Chevrolet Silverado. The rack is a simple piece of lumber with two mounts bolted to it. It's cut to fit the bed slots and slides into the front of the bed. It works brilliantly.
My only concern was that the 2x6 might slip out of the slots allowing the bikes to slide forward or backward. Despite a lot of rain followed by hot temps, the wood remained locked in place. Our truck's 5-foot 8-inch bed is barely long enough for these 29-inch-wheeled cross country bikes. Longer bikes would require leaving the tailgate down.
Computers and smartphones have had programmable themes for years. But now as vehicle infotainment systems become more graphically intensive, these themes are showing up on cars and trucks. Here's a quick look at what the infotainment themes look like on our long-term 2014 Chevrolet Silverado.
Please bear with me as I simultaneously pull triple duty as the cinematographer, narrator and hand model. Click through for the short video.
If you're into music festivals at all, you've likely heard of Coachella. It's the annual Woodstock West for contemporary indie and dance music culture, held out in the godforsaken desert east of Los Angeles. It's a popular place for college students to do a bunch of drugs and generally lose their minds.
A few weeks later, the same venue (a polo field) hosts Stagecoach, a sort of cowboy Coachella for a weekend of contemporary live country music. Last year, Toyota even used Stagecoach as a backdrop to show off its redesigned 4Runner to the press. But I'd say the 2014 Chevrolet Silverado is a no-brainer for this kind of gig.
I wasn't on the bill at Stagecoach this year. Their offer was too low and my band doesn't play Tom Petty covers for less than $50,000 a night. But had I been, I would've taken our Silverado. Look at that: four guitars can ride in the cab, along with a large, unnecessary foam cushion (which was, however, necessary for transporting said guitars prior to this photo). Remove that cushion and you've got room for at least one, maybe two, more hard cases.
That leaves enough room for your girlfriend and her friend to ride up front while your lousy bandmates ride in the bed. Your alcoholic drummer stays in the trailer with the rest of the gear.
A sofa, a loveseat (it's in there, but you can't see it), an old desk and chair in the second row, drawers under the seats. This is what trucks are built to do, and it's no surprise that it all fit in our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado. If ours was the 6.6-foot bed model, we probably could've secured the sofa against a closed tailgate (ratchet straps mitigate that minor compromise).
Sure, most people who live in sub/urban density will rarely use more than 30 percent of a full-size truck's ability. Sure, you can always rent a truck on the handful of occasions you need to do big work. You can always get a minivan which can handle most trips to Home Depot.
But that misses the point. Americans are hard-wired for trucks. We settled the west in covered wagons, spiritual ancestors of the modern-day truck. We're wired to build big things, in big spaces that require big tools, big materials and big breakfasts. Or we used to be anyway. Increasingly, we build computer chips, credit schemes and social networking Web sites.
If I lived in Texas or Colorado, with big roads and parking spaces, and even if I built nothing larger than a bonsai garden, I'd drive a full-size truck (or a Suburban, more likely). Those big sky spaces call for a big sky truck. My competitive bull-riding career would also require it.
But as I live in suburbia, the upcoming Chevy Colorado/GMC Canyon would be a better call for my life. A Colorado crew cab only gives up 0.3 inches of maximum bed length to the Silverado crew cab, but the Colorado is 15 inches shorter in overall length and nearly 6 inches narrower (these from GM's preliminary Colorado specs). The Toyota Tacoma and Nissan Frontier prove that even with stagnant designs, a midsize truck is just the right size for many buyers.
It was a quiet month for our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado, in terms of mileage, adding only 650 miles to its odometer.
It did its normal hauling duties, however, carrying bikes, guitars, a sofa, loveseat, desk and chair.
In May we averaged 17.2 miles per gallon, considerably lower than the EPA combined estimate. Our overall lifetime average has not budged this month.
Worst Fill MPG: 12.5
Best Fill MPG: 23.1
Average Lifetime MPG: 17.5
EPA MPG Rating: 19 Combined (16 City/23 Highway)
Best Range: 469.2 miles
Current Odometer: 21,357
Look at that. Our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado is due for service. With just over 21,000 miles on the odometer, it still falls under the General Motors free scheduled maintenance plan for 2014 Silverados. Sadly, the plan stretches two years and 24,000 miles. So next time, it's coming out of our pocket. We'll get the truck to the shop and let you know how it turns out.
I like the way our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado feels in close quarters. Its overall dimensions are not small, especially compared to the wheelbase of your average car. But as trucks go it is quite manageable around town.
I recently found myself having to park in a structure for several days in a row. The truck was fairly easy to maneuver despite the confined space. It fit nicely, albeit snugly, into parking spaces in this lot. It was not too tall to cause overhead clearance worries. And I took full advantage of the rearview camera when backing into each space. What could have been stressful wasn't bad at all.
A pickup that can be used for truck-only needs and then handle errand-running duties around town, to me, is a good find. This Silverado is that truck, even with the crew cab. I can't say the same for our long-term Ram behemoth.
When it comes to the use of child safety seats, our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado leaves a bit to be desired...
I want to be clear. The Chevrolet has all of the means to securely install a car seat. But if you prefer the LATCH system, as I do, you may be disappointed.
The lower tethers in the Silverado are easy to locate and access. But take a look at the loops on the seatback. Those are the upper tethers. They aren't my favorite for a couple of reasons. One, they require removal of the headrests first, which is a hassle. And two, I could not securely attach to them with my particular car seat. Perhaps this will not affect all users. Still, there is a solution. Use the Chevy's seatbelt system to secure the child seat. This approach was quite simple and just what you'd expect.
I have to say that one of my favorite features on our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado is its seat heaters. Am I nuts? Maybe. But here's why I like them...
Primarily, I like these heaters because I can direct heat to my back exclusively. When I have sore muscles, there is usually nothing worse than being stuck in the saddle for a long period of time. The average seat heater offers relief, sure. But typically it comes at the expense of my backside, which gets seared as an innocent bystander. That is not the case in this Chevy, and I appreciate it.
Separation of back and bum heaters is not unique to the Silverado. Other GM products offer the feature, and they are just as good. Yet as much as I like them, seat toasters aren't a stand-alone victory. Add enough of these thoughtful touches throughout the car, though, and you get a winner. The more time I spend in this truck, the more I like it.
There's less than a month to go in our 12-month test of this 2014 Chevrolet Silverado pickup. And over the last four weeks we've driven the Chevy about 1,000 miles, mostly in the urban environment of the Los Angeles sprawl.
During the month of June, the Silverado averaged 15.2 mpg, which is just under the truck's EPA mpg rating for city driving. And its lifetime average over more than 22,000 miles remains 17.5 mpg, which is 1.5 miles per gallon less than the pickup's EPA combined mpg rating.
Worst Fill MPG: 12.5 mpg
Best Fill MPG: 23.1 mpg
Average Lifetime MPG: 17.5 mpg
EPA MPG Rating: 19 Combined (16 City/23 Highway)
Best Range: 469.2 miles
Current Odometer: 22,236 miles
Last Saturday I utilized our long-term 2014 Chevrolet Silverado to accomplish the most important job in the world: getting my wife off my back.
For months she's been asking me to get rid of our old patio furniture and a bicycle our daughters have long outgrown. I believe her exact words the first few hundred times were, "Scott, when are you going to get rid of that old patio furniture and that bike the kids don't ride anymore?" Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
Thanks to the Silverado my backyard is free of debris and my wife loves me again. Summer is here.
I like how supremely easy it is to flip up the rear seats in our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado. No levers or latches to release, just push the seat cushion up. That's it.
When you want to use it as a seat again, just pull it down.
All of which made it simple to transport the rear wheel of my sportbike to and from the shop. With all the rear seat floor space, there was no need to even bother with the truck bed.
Joe Diffie was right. There is "just something women like about a pickup man."
I think that "something" is that if you own a pickup you are suddenly of great help to people when they need to move large objects.
So I wasn't all that surprised when a friend of mine, after learning I had the Edmunds long-term 2014 Chevrolet Silverado for the weekend, asked me if I could help her move some boxes from her parent's house into a storage facility a couple of miles away.
We packed the pickup bed tight with boxes, then loaded up the rear seat, too. It was certainly a heckuva lot easier than the multiple trips she would've had to make with her station wagon.
For the Silverado it was one trip, and it didn't even come close to breaking a sweat. Unlike me. It's been especially hot here lately in California.
With our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado just passing 22K miles, we were due for a service visit. The oil change, tire pressure check and other sundry items were pretty routine. The recall was not.
While our Chevy workhorse was at Martin Cadillac GMC, we also had them perform an inspection related to the transmission oil cooler, GM Recall #14121.
Specifically, and according to NHTSA, "General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2014 Chevrolet Silverado Light Duty Regular Cab, Double Cab, and Crew Cab 1500 series...vehicles equipped with a 6-Speed Automatic Transmission (feature code MYC). The subject vehicles may have a transmission oil cooler line that is not securely seated in the fitting. If the line is not securely seated and transmission oil leaks from the fitting, the oil could contact a hot surface and cause a vehicle fire."
Oh sure, a burning Silverado would make for a fantastic blog photo, but this time we decided to err on the side of responsibility. As it turns out, our Silverado was just fine. Now it's time to tow something.
I needed a vehicle for a weekend road trip to Las Vegas, something that could comfortably carry my four cousins and their luggage. My cousin, Cesar, is a big truck fan and so I figured I'd take the long-term 2014 Chevrolet Silverado to get his take on it. Plus, I've never gone on a road trip in a truck and I wanted to see what it was like.
There was more than enough room in the truck bed for our five roller suitcases, a couple of bags and a cooler for, um, bottled water. If you're curious, I'm the one who over-packed and brought the international size suitcase. We tied it all down with a couple of cargo straps.
The Silverado was involved in a work event, so it wasn't available until late afternoon. As a result, we didn't hit the road until about 4:00 p.m. We hit rush hour traffic that added an extra two hours to our commute. I should've waited until the evening to leave, but I guess I was just anxious to hit the road.
Cesar rode shotgun and immediately started putting the truck through its paces, inspecting every button and opening all the storage compartments. My other three cousins, who are slightly on the husky side, said they were snug, yet comfortable in the back. The one sitting in the rear center complained about the lack of a headrest. Still, it was good enough for all of them to fall asleep a few hours into the trip.
Once the traffic cleared, it was smooth sailing the rest of the way. The Silverado was quiet and had plenty of power to pass other cars that stood between us and our destination.
Temperatures in Vegas were just over 100 degrees, which meant the A/C was in constant use as we drove around town. After we checked out of the hotel Sunday, I filled up the tank. It took 19.3 gallons. I had averaged 16.6 MPG over the course of 320.4 miles. I'm chalking this up to the horrible traffic on the way over.
We made a couple of stops for food during the return trip and had to temporarily move our luggage from the bed to the cabin so that we could lock it up. Everything fit, but it was an added hassle that you wouldn't have to worry about if you were driving an SUV, for example.
I filled up the tank after my drive to work on Monday. For the return trip, I averaged 19.4 MPG over 327.1 miles and filled up with 16.8 gallons. Not a bad number, considering the truck was full of people and cargo.
Both Cesar and I came away very impressed with the Silverado. His top three features were the spaciousness of the cabin, the cornerstep bumper and the intuitiveness of the infotainment system.
I'm now anxious to take the long-term Ram 1500 on a road trip to see how it compares.
Here is the fuel update for our long-term 2014 Chevrolet Silverado during the month of July. This month we added 2,819 miles to the Silverado. Most of the miles were added during a trip Kurt made to the races at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The rest came courtesy of Ron's drive to Las Vegas.
Worst Fill MPG: 12.5 mpg
Best Fill MPG: 23.1 mpg
Average Lifetime MPG: 17.4 mpg
EPA MPG Rating: 19 Combined (16 City/23 Highway)
Best Range: 469.2 miles
Current Odometer: 24,628 miles
With the transmission oil cooler in our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado good to go and World Superbike a mere 325 miles north at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, it was only natural to pile our Chevy full of gear, three people, and tow a pop-top camper up to one of the greatest race tracks in the country.
Oh, wait. I've never towed anything before in my life.
As it turns out, I didn't need to worry because the Silverado made towing a nearly 2,000-pound trailer a total piece of cake. Sure, the motor did work harder than usual, but it was never strained. And the same could be said about the brakes, as they had more than enough capacity to stop the packed truck and the brakeless trailer without drama. I should mention that while US 101 isn't exactly a rollercoaster ride of mountain passes, it's not flat either.
I need to add a paragraph about the Silverado transmission's tow/haul mode. It's really, really well sorted. Of course it holds on to gears a bit longer for every upshift, but as you slow, even if you simply coast, it pulls off some pretty slick rev-matched downshifts to take some load off the brakes. And on longer downhill grades, it activates a grade braking mode that, combined with the truck's barn-like aerodynamics, manages to hold the speed pretty constant. I kept an eye on the trans temps with the multi-function display, but it never exceeded 196-degrees F on even the longest uphill grades even in 96-degrees F weather.
Want to hear about the return trip? It was a carbon copy of the drive up, enough said.
And now for the important part: the Superbikes!
From a spectator's point of view, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is arguably the best track in North America. And while it's getting a bit narrow for the ultra-fast and aggressive prototypes, it's nearly perfect for motorcycles. Fully exposed, their skill, riding style and bravery is on display. If you can get to a motorcycle race this year, be it flat track, the domestic Superbike series, World Superbike or MotoGP, do it. Like you needed another reason not watch an IndyCar race...
Race One winner, Marco Melandri on board the Aprilia.
Race Two winner, Tom Sykes and his Kawasaki.
The very pretty MV Agusta, ridden by Leon Camier.
Jonny Rea on his TenKate Honda
Yeah, that's cool.
A year can fly by when you're having fun. Our long-term 2014 Chevrolet Silverado has been with us for 13 months and we've driven it nearly 25,000 miles. It has taken some of us to race days, towed EVs to our test track, and even helped me transport a new gas grill to my home. But it's time for this city slicker to ride off into the sunset. And the first order of business is a trip to CarMax.
Full-size trucks like our Silverado are hot sellers and only sit on the lot for a few days, said the CarMax sales representative, "maybe a week at most." He added that the Chevy trucks seem to sell more than Fords. This was just anecdotal evidence, but if true, it was interesting, since the opposite happens when the trucks are new.
The appraiser noted a scratch on the rear left quarter panel of our truck. He said it wasn't a big deal and that their body shop could easily and cheaply take care of it. Our Silverado's bed has its fair share of scratches too, but we didn't get dinged for them. It comes with the territory when dealing with a truck, I suppose. I was the first customer that morning and the appraisal was completed in about 10 minutes.
CarMax offered us $30,000. For reference, Edmunds' average trade in value for this truck is about $30,468, so CarMax made us a solid offer. I was being conservative and had predicted (in our unofficial office handicapping) that the offer would be about $28,000 — glad I was wrong. We paid $39,342 for the Silverado when we bought it last year. If we take the offer, the depreciation will be just under 24 percent.
There's not much room for improvement when you look at the private party value. Edmunds puts it at $32,624.
We have seven days to think it over before making a decision.
What would you do? Take the CarMax offer? Or sell the truck on your own?
Once we get an offer for a vehicle we're selling, it's always tempting to think we might be able to improve it. CarMax offered us $30,000 for our 2014 Chevrolet Silverado which seemed right on target since Edmunds.com's trade-in price was $30,468. However, our private party price was estimated at $32,624. Should we create an ad and see if someone stepped up to improve the CarMax order?
To answer this question we took to the online classified ads. We learned three things that quickly helped us make a decision.
First of all, there appeared to be no shortage of used Silverados on the market in our area. Second, we saw that many of the one-year-old trucks had fewer miles than ours, which has over 24,500 miles on its odometer. Furthermore, there are currently incentives on new Silverados which might drive used truck shoppers to the new truck market.
Processing all this, we visualized how a shopper would view our truck when compared to the competition. One look at the miles, and an asking price high enough to allow wiggle room, and they would quickly rule us out.
So, back we went to CarMax to take their offer. As usual, the paperwork was easy, and in less than one hour, we were on our way with check in hand. We were glad to have the deal completed, but we were a little sad to see such a dependable truck leave our fleet. Let's hope it finds a good new home since there's a lot of life left in this truck.
Wrap-Up
What We Bought
Chevy sells more of these trucks than anything else in its lineup, and the Silverado was fully redesigned for 2014. Adding one to our test fleet was a no-brainer. Figuring out which one was a little more complicated.
Chevrolet offers almost 1,000 versions of the Silverado, so we did our best to build a truck with the most popular features available. The end result was a 2014 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Z71 LT Crew with a 5-foot, 8-inch bed and two-wheel drive.
Under the hood was GM's all-new 5.3-liter V8 rated at 355 horsepower and 383 pound-feet of torque. It was hooked to a standard six-speed automatic transmission. The Z71 package added a locking rear differential, off-road suspension and tow package. We also added $3,950 in optional equipment for items we considered worthwhile: 8-inch touchscreen, rearview camera, leather seats, navigation, trailer-brake controller and a 3.42 rear axle ratio.
After negotiations, manufacturer discounts and customer loyalty cash we paid $39,342 for our Silverado. Here's how it fared during its year of service with us.
Performance
"We encountered a couple of steep sections that were peppered with stretches of those alternating dug-out frame-twist holes, deep ones.... Too bad I didn't have a camera outside to record the limit of the 4x2 Silverado's capability, because I found it." — Dan Edmunds
"In the space of 10 days I found myself needing to tow three cars on one-way trips from Point A to various Points B.... None of these tow jobs was a challenge for our Silverado 1500 pickup." — Dan Edmunds
"I need to add a paragraph about the Silverado transmission's Tow/Haul mode. It's really, really well sorted. Of course it holds on to gears a bit longer for every upshift, but as you slow, even if you simply coast, it pulls off some pretty slick rev-matched downshifts to take some load off the brakes. And on longer downhill grades, it activates a grade braking mode that, combined with the truck's barnlike aerodynamics, manages to hold the speed pretty constant. I kept an eye on the trans temps with the multifunction display, but it never exceeded 196 degrees F on even the longest uphill grades, even in 96 degrees F weather." — Kurt Niebuhr
MPG
"When all was said and done the big truck had netted 19.6 mpg.... I consider this result a success, considering the truck is facing an uphill aerodynamic battle at these real-world freeway velocities." — Jason Kavanagh
"Obviously anytime you're into the throttle for acceleration, it's in V8 mode. But much of the time during steady-state highway cruising, even at elevated speeds, it deactivates cylinders to save fuel." — Mike Monticello
Comfort
"Even with our truck's Z71 suspension calibration, it rides nicely whether the bed is empty or full. That's huge if you're just commuting to work in your truck. Money no object, I'd be more than happy to drive around in a Silverado just because." — Erin Riches
"As a daily driver, it's downright enjoyable. Not everyone has the luxury of owning two vehicles, so if you need a truck for both work duty and everyday driving, the 2014 Silverado has the ride quality to accommodate both." — Travis Langness
Cargo Space
"The rear-seat bottoms support themselves near the hinge when they're in the down position. There's no support strut or bracket in sight. As a result, the area under the seat cushions is wide open for flat objects up to about 3 inches thick from door to door." — Dan Edmunds
"There's an old saying: If you own a pickup truck, you're never lonely. Or something like that. Owning a truck makes you everyone's best friend. You're the guy who helps them move. The guy who hauls their old couch. The guy who hauls their load of mulch." — Scott Oldham
Interior
"It has fantastic seats. They don't look like much at first glance and they don't feel like much initially, but the front buckets proved very comfortable for the long haul. They have a good range of adjustment, firm but not punishing cushions and perfectly placed padded armrests." — Ed Hellwig
"The Silverado is much more than a cargo hauler. The front doors have several pockets and cupholders. And so do the rear doors. If you include the slots that are only big enough for 12-ounce cans of soda, there are 11 cupholders. This has to be the most useful interior in our fleet." — Travis Langness
Audio and Technology
"Folks that tow need to know that back-up cameras aren't universally suited to this activity.... GM's products are among those that have this part right." — Dan Edmunds
"The base stereo is good for talk radio, podcasts or even low-volume music, but it leaves you wanting more when you select your favorite album and turn it up to 11." — Travis Langness
Maintenance
"Our rep input the type of service we requested and informed us the total charge would ring in at $299 and some change. It's been some time since I've taken a math course, but I deduced that the estimate was more than the zero dollars I expected." — Cameron Rogers
"Oh sure, a burning Silverado would make for a fantastic blog photo, but this time we decided to err on the side of responsibility. As it turns out, our Silverado was just fine." — Kurt Niebuhr
Miscellaneous
"Full-size trucks like our Silverado are hot sellers and only sit on the lot for a few days, said the CarMax sales representative: 'maybe a week at most.'" — Phil Reed
"Smooth roads are generally fine. It's when you're bouncing down any kind of bumpy road where the level of finesse required by the column shifter can result in the aforementioned column shifter death spiral." — Jason Kavanagh
Maintenance & Repairs
Regular Maintenance:
The owner's manual outlines routine service at 7,500-mile intervals. Its onboard monitor ensured we stuck to the plan. All 2014 Silverados carry a free maintenance plan good for two years or 24,000 miles. No charge at 7,500. Not at 15,000. Not at 22,500. That's mostly true. We paid for the first oil change after taking it to a dealership that didn't handle GM warranty work. Our oversight could not be held against the truck.
Service Campaigns:
Five recalls were announced during our test. The airbag malfunction did not apply to our vehicle. However, our truck was subject to repairs for the exhaust overheating recall (#14008), BCM communication error (#13257), transmission oil cooler line (#14121) and active fuel management recalibration (#13330).
Fuel Economy and Resale Value
Observed Fuel Economy:
The EPA estimates fuel economy for the Silverado at 19 mpg combined (16 city/23 highway). Our test concluded just shy of 25,000 miles, during which time we averaged 17 mpg. The best single tank covered 469 miles and averaged 23 mpg.
Resale and Depreciation:
We purchased our Silverado for $39,342. One year and 24,825 miles later, its private-party value was $32,624 according to Edmunds' TMV® Calculator. When CarMax offered $30,000 we took it. Even at this price the Chevy depreciated just 24 percent. This was a strong showing.
Summing Up
Pros: Good balance of everyday comfort and truck functionality, very quiet interior, plenty of interior storage space, excellent front seats, strong reliability, free maintenance plan, low depreciation.
Cons: Didn't deliver advertised combined fuel mileage, small side mirrors limit visibility, rubber aero flaps hang too low under front bumper for mild off-roading.
Bottom Line: A well-rounded full-size truck that delivered all the capability we needed along with exceptional reliability. Comfortable enough to use as a daily driver, the latest Silverado can also tow a load with ease, tackle rocky back roads and haul all kinds of cargo.
| Total Body Repair Costs: | None |
| Total Routine Maintenance Costs: | None (over 12 months) |
| Additional Maintenance Costs: | None |
| Warranty Repairs: | Reflash for exhaust overheating recall, reflash for BCM communication error, transmission oil cooler line fitment, recalibration for active fuel management system recall. |
| Non-Warranty Repairs: | None |
| Scheduled Dealer Visits: | 3 |
| Unscheduled Dealer Visits: | None |
| Days Out of Service: | None |
| Breakdowns Stranding Driver: | None |
| Best Fuel Economy: | 23.1 mpg |
| Worst Fuel Economy: | 12.5 mpg |
| Average Fuel Economy: | 17.4 mpg |
| True Market Value at service end: | $32,624 (private-party sale) |
| What it Sold for: | $30,000 |
| Depreciation: | $9,342 (24% of paid price) |
| Final Odometer Reading: | 24,825 miles |
Edmunds purchased this vehicle for the purposes of evaluation.