Used 1999 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Consumer Reviews
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Bought New in 1999
I purchased this truck new in 1999, trading in a 1997 Monte Carlo. The truck has been reliable and comfortable for over 165,000 miles. Within the last month the gear selector and mileage indicator LED failed. Repair requires replacement of the entire gauge assembly. Early on I had to have the ABS manifold replaced, under warranty. Since then, starter at 158,000, drivers window electric motor at 156,000, and I had the front end rebuilt at 159,000. I replaced the orginal rear shocks within the last two weeks (Jan 11). There was no leakage, but rear end bouce was noticeable.
Great Truck
I bought this truck with 136,000 miles and now has 207,000. The motor and transmission has never given me a problem, lots of power and hasn't seemed to have lost any. Still doesn't use oil. The only problems (replaced both front brake lines, front right side spindle, both rear rotors, one of the passenger side manifold bolts broke and caused a small exhaust leak, and had rust fixed on rear lower drivers side quarter panel). This truck has been very reliable, I drive it all over the country and still driving it all over the country, the mileage doesn't worry me at all. 5.3 extended cab, z71. Fuel mileage is 17 on highway and 12 in cities.
1999 silverado
Bought my truck in 2005 with 95k on the 4.8 v8. I now have 176k and still going strong at 19 mpg hwy. Ive done everything with this truck from drag racing and towing a 24 ft ski boat on the weekends to a 78 mile commute each day for work and countless frozen hunting trips up north. It's never let me down or stranded me. Love this rig!
Best Truck Ever
I have owned many vehicles in my lifetime, but this Chevy Z71 takes the cake. Not only does it look great, but the 5.3L V-8 easily get 19mpg hwy and 15-16mpg city. Now that is with the bed filled with very heavy tools that I carry everywhere I go. Also, it rides and drives like a car, but acts like a very tough and dependable 4x4 truck. When I go offroad, it is unstoppable. It has a very rugged and strong motor and transmission. I love everything about this truck. I definitely recommend this truck to anybody!!
Chevy got mine right!
Purchasing Sivlerado new was a very smart move for me. At the time I'm writing this I have 185,000 miles on the thing. I'm on my third set of rear break pads, I replaced the fronts at 173,000 miles. The only currrent issue is a very small amount of surface rust on the rocker panels (rust is expected in Michigan). I've got the 4.8 liter, it just keeps running and getting around 18MPG(average). I had to replace the drivers window motor at 39,000 miles, the instrument cluster and drive shaft replacement were both warrenty work.
Me and Hi Ho Silverado !
Overall has been very good, with a min of repairs/shop time. Starts great in cold weather.
155k and still going
Got this with 80k on it and its at 155k now. I can't find a car this comfortable. Love my captain's chair. 5.3 V8 is a great engine. I've had 2700lbs of cement bags in the back of this. I'm gonna cry when I trade her away. I figure I'm driving this for less than $2000 a year.
Best truck I've had so far
I just recently bought a 99 ext cab 4.3l from my dad and I gotta say I thought when I first drove it this thing had a V8 in it. This V6 powered truck has great power very smooth ride and no issues so far. Nothing is lit up on the dash it has been very well taken care of the only thing I had to do since having it was a tune up and installed an aftermarket stereo which was super easy. I use it as a daily driver and mpg is excellent vs my 01 ram 5.2l I had before this. and even my 08 explorer 4.0 which does not get as good gas mileage as thie chevy does. I am very lucky to have one in such great shape the only thing I don't like is the 3 door concept which is not really an issue for me.
Best Ever
Ever since I got this truck it has been put through the ringer and met or exceeded my expectations (mostly exceeded). I have taken this truck offroading, drove it on the highway and nomatter where it has been it has never let me down. Gets better fuel economy than 2007 Chevrolet Silverado 6.0L with active fuel management. Has out ran people with bigger engines in races.
'99 Chevy
Only regular minor problems - replaced water pump, power steering pump, master cylinder, first brake job at 130,000 miles. Only negative was broke a small plastic piece in both power window drives (regular wear and tar) and the way they are built had to replace the entire motor which was costly.
99 silverado LS z71 330,000 miles and still strong
Best truck I've ever owned original 5.3 v8 engine with 330,000 miles on it and still runs great still hauls and tows everything I put in bed or hook to hitch. Only design flaw is the common lifter tap and having to pull the heads to replace the lifters other tgen that I love this truck and I will rebuild it when time comes
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GM Problem child
Back to the dealership approx. 23 times for different repairs each time. Combined with other GM problem child in my driveway I decided to rid myself of this unreliable headache. From intermediate steering shafts to leaf springs, leaking output shaft seals, frame tears, leaking weatherstripping, engine knock, power window failures, u- joints, interior falling off etc. etc. this is a big reason that the imports consistently score higher when it comes to build quality and dependability. Chevy- if this is "our truck", we in big trouble!
Like a rock
I pull heavy loads of carpet with this mule every week. Bought it with 45,000 now has 120,000 on it. Love the tow haul transmission mode. Got nearly 22 miles per gallon going to Detroit. Very happy with this truck. I've had them all. This is the best by far
This thing has 95k on it?
I have had my "new" truck for almost a month now, and can find very little to complain about. Seeing as how I'm a quality manager and my job it to pick nits, this says volumes about the vehicle. The 5.3 has great power for its size (but could use a tad more low end torque), espicially in a vehicle this heavy. The tranny does what it's supposed to do when it's supposed to, and the tow/haul mode makes life much easier on the transmission when hauling my boat. The gearing is right on for this application and provides good torque multiplication in the lower gears while maintaining a reasonable RPM for highway crusing.
Buy a Chevy
My Chevy Z71 has over 170,000 miles on it, and runs as strong as anything I've seen. I have the 5.3 Vortec v8, and this is such a strong and reliable motor. Not only does it have enough horses under the hood to pull my trailer and camper, but it gets the best gas mileage of any of the full- size trucks! The offroad capability is remarkable. I am an avid Offroader, and have Chevys, Dodges, and Toyotas, and Jeeps, and this Chevy is hands down, the best fullsize offroad vehicle around! Trust me, if you need a very tough, and reliable truck, buy a Chevy or GMC. They cannot be beat!
Great Car, Disappointing Quality
This is my first Chevrolet and first truck. The vehicle has been expensive and troublesome. I really like the car, but don't know that I'd buy another, at least not another Chevy.\ Door and seats have needed rebuilding, the brake control systems have required $1600 in repairs in the last 17 months, and the dealer has often needed multiple tries to fix things.
Chevy Z71
Z71 is very aggressive ride, dont dare to use a Z71 Chevy in the city area with a few pot-holes. Don't let anyone 300lbs sit on tailgate. This tailgate is the only weak spot for all Chevy trucks
Tough, Dependable, Workhorse
Purchased in 2005 with 90k, now over 130k. I have never had a problem beyond standard maintenance with it. Ride height and feel is just right, power is adequate, steering is a little sloppy, but it's a truck not a Porsche. I drive it daily and it sees use both as a driver and a workhorse for my construction business, I average about 15-17mpg loaded in mixed city/hwy conditions. It tows incredably well even with the 4.8L V8 and after being abused by me for two years is running better than when I purchased it.
Great truck
Bought 3 years ago used with 40,000 miles on it. Drove it for almost 5 years and only cost me brakes and rotors until today. New electronic gear shift box, wheel bearings and front differential. Almost $2,000 and 2 years after the extended warranty expired. That's cheap considering I hauled an 8,000 pound camper through the mountains on a regular basis. Traded it for another Chevy but went up to a 2500 DH. Love those Silverados!
Don't buy first year
I ordered this truck new and purchased it based on the new GM design however the build quality is poor and I have already replaced the transmission and ABS system, had brake problems part of my dash lights are out. The dealer service stunk where I purchased the truck. I service ever 3000 miles since this truck is driven all over the Southeast. Sent GM letter about problems never heard back from them.
This is why Gm is going under
I have owned this truck since new and thoroughly regret buying the first year of a new model. Idk if my truck was built on a Friday or what, but it has been trouble laden since new. Fuel pump, ABS module, steering column shaft(never completely cured the rattling tho), seat belts, fuel pressure regulator, all during the factory warranty period. And since the warranty expired, multiple sets of brakes, spider gears in rear diff, no less than six sets of u-joints, transfer case flew apart internally(nobody had ever heard of that problem with this model of course). On the positive side it rides and handles like a car gets decent mileage and literally turns on a dime. Should have waited a few yrs
So much for big expectations
I bought a used 99 silverado 4wd with 80k original mile from a 90 year old man who only used this truck to pull his boat. I had always wanted a full size chevy truck to build up and i thought i knew what i was doing like with other vehicles ive had success with in doing so. I had plans for this truck! and was it ever a mistake. Not huge mistake but more like a $6000 learning curve. I bought the truck for blue book at the time for $8500. The old man wanted $10000. But he took $8500. From there i started buyn lots of stuff online from Summit, Jeggs, Amazon, Ebay, CL etc. Replacing old engine components like power steering pump, new pulleys and belt, higher amp alt, new water pump, interior upgrades like touch screen stereo, speakers and new dash board, new alarm system, new full exhaust system upgrade along with the headache of dealing with broken off exhaust manifold bolts, new shocks all the way around, serviced the entire truck with best quality fluids, new Rhino front bumper, new rims, k&n cold air intake, new plugs and wires, all new brakes, new head lights and bulbs, fog lights, and new tail lights and bulbs, new weather stripping, removed all molding and badges from the exterior of the body and replaced a bunch of little things as well. Along with cleaning up the entire under carriage, full chassis lube and sprayed it with weather guard. I was going all in you understand. I was planning on never selling this truck for the rest of my life. But things didnt work out like that! ...what i failed to realize was how crappy these trucks really were. Like these first generation 5.3 LM engines. These engines were junk. For example, these first gen motors had pistons that had too short of skirts on them so upon start up when its cold the truck would have a terrible piston slap sound. This was something that GM did acknowledge claiming it was not anything that would prevent these engines from seeing 300k miles or more but there was no fix for it. Every truck made from 2000 on GM installed better pistons fixing this problem. And the transmission didnt have over drive. When i took the truck for a test drive before i bought it i didnt take it on the freeway so i had no idea it had no overdrive. Huge mistake on my part. Even though the truck was really quick on side streets even as a 4wd truck, it was horrible on the freeway. Gas mileage was the worst. So when my wife and i had to move to another state i knew there was no way this truck was going to be coming with me because it had no overdrive and awful gas mileage. I wound up selling it for $8500 a little over a year from when i bought it eating the cost of ALL the parts i bought for it and labor and time i spent working on it as well. To be honest, i was happy to see it go not only because of the things i mentioned but, it just seemed like the more stuff i did and have done to it the more the truck didnt like it. Something different was always breaking or malfunctioning constantly. This truck was a total money pit. I wouldnt even consider buying another one of these early years of silverado again. No way ever!. These trucks were not like the square bodies with the 350's no. These trucks were JUNK and ACDelco?! ACDelco is nothing but chinese junk! so.. would i recommend this truck? Uh.. NO. NEVER. these old silverados may look good, but the realty is theyre garbage. i should have done my homework and bought with real quality in mind like with an old square body or a Tundra. Live and learn.
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Z71 rocks
I love the truck it make long drives short.
Not good or bad
I bought this truck with 73,000 miles on it. It worked fine when I test drove it, but days later everything went downhill. The brakes need to be replaced and the tranny is now slipping and the power steering is OUT
don t buy one
since6000 miles theres been a clunking noise coming from the rear end. GM says its a design careristic (FLAW!!) Ive talk to a lot of other chev truck owners there having the same problums,I havent met one one person who is truly happy with there chev truck
locked in
With the doors locked and the windows up if you lose the battery contact on either side negative or positive you are locked in. If someone tries the door handle to free you it will not work. I was lucky the window down at the bank drive thru and had to use the key on the outside of the door to unlock. Something GM didn't tell the 99 silverado owners. Also, the stock battery bolts are to short for a good bite into the threads on the battery. I replaced both with longer thread bolts. A friend of mine put in a sliding rear window for a exit just in case. Checked with local dealer and of course the answer was "I ain't heard of that before".
Bought used
Drives great 4 wheel drive goes anywhere I live in north east Pa..Hills everywhere and I have never been stuck once in the snow or mud and I was just rear ended by a lady on her phone doing 55-60 I need a new bumper and some other minor work, her car is totaled
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Mired in mediocrity
I have had this truck for 5 years on a lease that is about to expire, and I am glad I am getting rid of it, as I feel were I to keep it I would be on the verge of spending a LOT of money in service. Good looking vehicle but beauty is only skin deep in this case. As others have noted, the gas pedal sticks (repeated "fixes" have not fixed it), and the truck has had cooling system problems (water pump replaced at 50,000 mi.) OE tires were nearly bald after 28,000, and the power window motors both had to be replaced. In short, it's a typical American car - shot at about 75,000 miles. I am going back into Japanese models.
Don't get the 99
Many problems, get the 2000 I hear they worked out a lot of problems.
To 100k and beyond!
Bought this truck used in the last year. Never owned a Chevy before, but used them at work. I used this truck for work and play and it is equally suited for both from hauling concrete to the daily drive to the office. It handles and drives well. Tow/Haul is great and I can't wait to pull my boat with it next summer. No problems with rattles, clunks or vibrations that others have mentioned. Throttle does stick when cold, but this has been a pretty standard nuicence on other GM products I've been familar with. Transmission has rough shift on easy accel. no problems on heavy accel or tow/haul. 4WD has been good in snow/ice. Overall a very good, reliable truck.
Watch Out
Would not recomend my worst enemy. The truck now needs its 3rd ABS sensing module. GM knows but don't care about the problem. I traded today and took a loss just to rid myself of the problem. You can't find the part in a salvage yard because if you keep a 1999 silverado you will need one and GM dealer gets $700-$1000 .
1999 Silverado Ls 5.3 4WD
Bought the truck with 130,000 miles and she's 18 years old. Starts up everyday and runs perfectly. Love the power of the 5.3. Interior is excellent with power seats CD player cloth seats and a huge storage in the center council. Only complaint about the truck is the rusty rocker panels, but that's to be expected with older vehicles. Overall great truck and definetly deserved the motor trend truck of the year award it won!
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Good
My new Chevrolet 3rd Door LT 1500 is a great truck. I love everything about it
Silverados are junk
Many small minor problems. Transmission replaced at 58,000 miles. Brakes are junk...have never worked right. Passenger seat belt doesn't work correctly...never has. Engine vibrates badly especially on cold mornings. Eats fan belts. Have work with 2 dealers Terry Lee Chevrolet and Rose Chevrolet. Didn't seemed concerned about my complaints. Never fixed any problem I had...said I had to live with the problems. Have bought GM vehicles for over 30 years but never again!!!!!!
Silverado Nightmare
A big lemon from bad water pump to poor engineering (door stops and parking brakes. Several recalls. GM refuses to fix major items of failure such as ABS computer ($1,200). My next car? You can bet it won't be GM!
Mom's tow rig
We have owned this truck 48 months with a few issues rattling doors, rough ride, ABS box $325.00 the sticking pedal was repaired under warrenty(3rd time). my wife tows a 3 horse trailer 6900 # net and she is pleased I added helper springs to keep the rear end from sagging during towing 2wd no Z71 pkg. would buy this truck again... I like the performance this thing hauls- ___!
Outstanding rating \
I am very pleased with the performace, reliabilty, appearence. I have now 98000 miles and the gas mileage is great, and I repair most on the every day matainence such as brakes, oil change etc. I expect to get long many years from my truck in these trying years with the gas prices.
Loved my truck
This was the first new vehicle I ever purchased. I loved it. Rides like a car. Haven't had too many problems with it. Front pinion seal on rearend was replaced at 20000 miles. I've gone through 2 sets of rear brake pads and still on the original front ones. Have 55,000 miles on it. ABS light is starting to come on. Worst thing is gas mileage. I only get 11 mpg city.
Headache after Headache
Liked the truck initially, but problems plagued me all the time. The power window switch went bad, so they had to replace the entire "modularized" motor and all ($150). Then the 2WD HI/LOW/4WD "modularized" button panel on the dash went out ($200). Then the anti-lock brake actuator/controller (another $1200). Seven separate times now the drive shaft splines have had to be deburred, and the rear seals of the transfer case have had to be replaced. Took it in for tune-up last week to find out that the fuel pump is leaking fuel back into the pump (hard starting)--module needs to be replaced ($400). Also the gear shift lever is really loose--that "module" also needs replacing ($700).
Poor Qualtiy
Liked the truck very much, but entirely too expensive to keep. New transmission ($1500), new antilock brake controller($1000). It appears to me that several failures were coming up. Most expensive vehicle, by far, I have ever owned, bar none. No reason GM can not build reliable vehicles, Toyota can! I drive only Toyota now, and have no plans to ever return to USA brand names!
Great Truck
I bought this truck new. Almost 11 years later still in great shape, rear end shuttered while hauling a load at first, it was just an adjustment with the back axle, covered under warranty. Great reliable truck runs good starts good plenty of power with the v8, great gas mileage for a full size truck, stylish, comfortable seats, only continuous problems are the dash rattles a little bit in the cold weather and the drivers side daytime running light keeps burning out, no big deal though its not illegal or anything its a typical Chevy thing other than that its all around the best truck
'99 Silverado LS
Since purchasing this truck it has been a great help for my family and I. However, it would be very nice if GM could figure out how to stop the fuel pressure regulators from going bad all of the time. I've had two replaced under warranty and need to replace it for the second time since the warranty has expired.
GREAT ALL AROUND TRUCK
I have 70k miles on it and no problems yet but the recalls. sticking gas pedal. overall good gas mileage. My wife loved it so much she drives it now.
Excellent Truck!
I bought this vehicle used (2yrs old) and it has been an excellent truck in nearly every way. What impressed me the most was the overall ride and cabin comfort. The ride is much smoother than others I have driven. I still enjoy walking out to my truck because it is sharp! I would highly recommend this as a part-time or full-time use vehicle. When purchased, the battery and alternator had to be replaced (by the dealership), the AC compressor clutch needed replacing, and I have replaced the brakes and the rear rotors. Other than that, no mechanical issues.
Love it so much...I'm buying another one
This is the hands down best truck I have ever owned. Chevrolet did a very good job "beefing" up their trucks to compete better. I have had no problems with this truck at all. Best of all...the 4.8 liter engine with automatic transmission gets incredible gas milage (even better than our Blazer with 4.3 liter). I would definately recommend this truck.
Best Buy for the Buck
Minor problem with gas padel sticking, dealership cleaned and fixed, Fuel Gauge was also erratic, but dealership also fixed by replacing the fuel pump.
Excellent 1999 Silverado
I am totally pleased with my '99 Silverado 1500 4WD. No problems at all.
1999 Silverado
Had to repair transmission @ 60,000 miles ($1900), ABS system went kaput about the same time (est. $1,000 repair); have since found that this is a common problem that Chevy will not own up to. In spite of all these problems, I still like the truck. It's comfortable driving and fairly luxurious for a truck.
Decent Truck
Bought brand new in '99. Has 149,000 miles to date.Good motor and transmission, very reliable. Dislikes: Tow haul works only half the time, anti lock brake controller died, fuel gage goes to empty when tank is filled, CD skips. Overall, electric devices/sensors could be of better quality, a lot have failed. 4.8L V-8 pretty spunky when not towing or hauling. Very comfortable seating. Lots of interior room. Quiet ride.Truck handles good in the snow with good all season tires and some weight in the back. Overall good truck. Disappointed it is rusting out even with washing and waxing annually. I enjoy driving it.
1999 Silverado 1500
three factory recalls, dealer (not the seller) reluctant to service recalls) recall repair not adequate. repaired sticking accelerator, it sticks now but warranty will not cover it. The auto trans shifts, noticably rough. (dealer, not the seller) said it was germaine to the year model. "whitewash"