Used 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Custom Crew Cab Review

Full-size pickup trucks have been the best-selling vehicles in America for a while now. They seamlessly blend maximum utility and family-friendly versatility and can be had as a bare-bones work truck all the way up to a decked-out luxury rig. The 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 1500, redesigned from the ground up, represents the continuing evolution of this segment. It has lots of modern tech, a slew of available features, and all sorts of upgraded utility.

Underneath, the Silverado's frame has been built with a variety of steel materials. The doors, tailgate and hood are now made from aluminum rather than steel. So even though the 2019 Silverado is longer, taller and wider than before, it's lighter. The range of choices for under the hood include a V6, two V8s, a turbocharged four-cylinder, and even a diesel six-cylinder that is expected to come later in the year.

Inside, the Silverado 1500 has a familiar look. Chevy reorganized the gauges and switchgear, but most of the buttons and knobs feel as if they've been carried over from the previous generation. We do like that the optional 8-inch center touchscreen gets a new look with updated graphics and improved resolution. Also, the back seat in crew-cab models gets an additional 3 inches of legroom, making space for a cabin full of 6-foot-tall adults.

Despite the 2019 Silverado's familiar fit and finish, it's a very capable truck with more to offer than ever before. The multiple powertrains, varying trim levels and array of cabin configurations mean you can have one in just about any shape or form you want. We'd definitely recommend test-driving a few rivals, though, specifically the Ram 1500 and the Ford F-150. Both rivals are appealing in their own ways.

Notably, we picked the 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 LT Trail Boss as one of Edmunds' Best Off-Road Trucks and the 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Best Gas Mileage Trucks for this year.

The 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 is a full-size pickup available in eight trim levels: Work Truck (WT), Custom, Custom Trail Boss, LT, RST, LT Trail Boss, LTZ and High Country. Like most full-size trucks, the Silverado is available with varying cab and bed configurations depending on trim level.

The Silverado 1500 is available in three cab styles: the two-door regular cab (WT only), the four-door extended (Double) cab and the crew cab. The regular cab seats three and can be had with either a 6.5-foot-long standard bed or an 8-foot-long bed (late availability). The extended cab can seat up to six and comes only with the standard bed. The crew cab adds full-size rear doors and increased rear legroom, and it's available with the standard bed or a shorter 5-foot-8-inch bed.

The base WT is powered by a 4.3-liter V6 engine (285 horsepower, 305 pound-feet of torque) matched to a six-speed automatic transmission. As you might expect, the WT is pretty bare-bones. Standard equipment highlights include 17-inch steel wheels, air conditioning, a tilt-only steering column, a 7-inch touchscreen interface, Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and a six-speaker audio system with a USB port.

Next up in the Silverado lineup is the Custom trim level that adds 20-inch wheels, front tow hooks, power and heated mirrors, deep-tinted glass, cruise control and remote entry. Above the Custom is the Custom Trail Boss trim level, which is four-wheel-drive only and has 18-inch black wheels, a trailering package and the Z71 off-road suspension package.

Building on the standard Custom trim level, the LT gets a 2.7-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine (310 hp, 348 lb-ft) paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission. It also has LED headlights, a tailgate damper, alloy wheels, a steering wheel with audio controls, an upgraded driver information display, OnStar with 4G LTE and Wi-Fi, and an 8-inch touchscreen. Further up the ladder, with the RST, you get a power-locking and power-release tailgate, in-bed lighting, remote start, rear window defrost and dual second-row USB ports.

The next trim level, the LT Trail Boss, is much like the Custom Trail Boss, with a few exceptions. The LT Trail Boss also comes standard with a 5.3-liter V8 engine (355 hp, 383 lb-ft) paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission. And, on top of the standard LT trim, the LT Trail Boss adds some special exterior trim, dual exhaust, the trailering package, and the contents of the trailering and Z71 suspension packages.

Near the top of the lineup, the LTZ also gets the 5.3-liter V8 as standard, along with most of the RST's standard equipment. It also adds a higher-definition rearview camera, power-folding and auto-dimming mirrors, a heated tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel, a trailer brake controller, two 120-volt power outlets, dual-zone automatic climate control, a navigation system, leather upholstery, heated and power-adjustable front seats, driver-seat memory settings, and HD radio.

Right at the top of the heap, there's the High Country trim level. In addition to the LTZ's equipment, it pads on 20-inch chrome wheels, front and rear parking sensors, a power-up-and-down tailgate, chrome side step rails, a spray-on bedliner, a seven-speaker Bose audio system, ventilated front seats, heated second-row seats, a power-sliding rear window, wireless phone charging and lane departure warning, blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert.

Many features on the upper trim levels are offered on the lower ones as packages or stand-alone options. Other available features, depending on the trim level and configuration, include various axle ratios, off-road-oriented tires, larger wheels, tow mirrors, power-retractable side step rails, and a sunroof. Notably, the Max Trailering package features an integrated heavier-duty suspension calibration and a higher-capacity radiator. Also available are trailer monitoring systems that allow for trailer tire-pressure sensors or trailer rearview-camera connections.

Available only on the LTZ and High Country trims is a 6.2-liter V8 engine (420 hp, 460 lb-ft) that's paired to a 10-speed automatic transmission.

A few key packages offer varying safety equipment for the Silverado. The Safety package is available on LT, RST, LT Trail Boss and LTZ models, and it adds lane departure warning, front and rear parking sensors, blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert. The Safety package II is available only on the LTZ and the High Country. It includes everything in the standard Safety package equipment as well as forward collision warning with low-speed emergency braking, lane keeping assist, forward pedestrian detection with braking, automatic high beams, and a safety alert seat. The Technology package (available only on the LTZ and the High Country) adds an in-mirror rearview camera display, a driver head-up display and a 360-degree parking camera.