Good morning! Today’s platform of choice is the mighty GMT800, which, though GM executives and engineers may not want to hear it, may very well have been “peak truck.” Or at least peak GM truck; they haven’t really improved on these in the past twenty years. These friendly beasts of burden regularly top a quarter-million miles without breaking a sweat. They’re also comfortable, easy to live with, and devoid of the gimmicky bullshit that ruins so many modern trucks.
Yesterday’s platform of choice was not nearly as beloved, or durable. I know K-cars are no one’s favorite, but you were all good sports about it. As I suspected would be the case, the newer Dodge Spirit took the win, despite some reservations about its brush with a bad mechanic.
Between these two, I think I’d rather have the LeBaron, actually. It wouldn’t be my first choice of K-car convertible; I’d rather have a Dodge 600 ES with the turbo 2.2, but it looks like a nice comfy car. It’s a bona-fide piece of automotive history as well; it’s the car that brought convertibles back to US showrooms, which is kind of cool.
I know some people don’t want to acknowledge this, but a full-size pickup or SUV is a damn handy thing to have around. Yeah, the fuel economy sucks, and you have to be mindful of your edges in parking lots, but it’s just nice to know that if you need to haul something, or tow something, you can just do it, without worry. Which shape you choose depends on what you need it for. Need lots of seats? Pick an SUV. Need to haul messy stuff? Get a pickup. Either way, you can’t go too far wrong with a good old GMT800. Today we’re going to look at one of each shape, and you can decide which one works better for you.
2005 Chevrolet Suburban LS – $4,995
Engine/drivetrain: 5.3-liter OHV V8, four-speed automatic, 4WD
Location: Salinas, CA
Odometer reading: 219,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
The Chevy Suburban is a big vehicle, no doubt about it, but the funny thing about it is that it doesn’t really feel excessive. It’s an easygoing vehicle, completely unpretentious, but massively capable. If you can do the work, you don’t have to go around shouting about it. It’ll haul eight people, tow five thousand pounds, and slog through snow or mud with its part-time 4WD system, but it will also do everyday grocery runs with no trouble at all. No wonder these have been popular for decades.
The beating heart of this big beast is a 5.3 liter V8 making a healthy 295 horsepower and 335 pound-feet of torque. It’s not even the biggest or most powerful option that was available, but I think you’ll find it’s plenty. It drives a 4L60E overdrive automatic and a part-time 4WD transfer case with a low range. It’s being sold by a dealer, so we don’t get many details, but it sounds like it runs and drives just fine.
Suburbans come in a few different interior configurations. This one has a split bench seat in the front, and a third row of seats, for a full eight-passenger capacity, just like your grandma’s old Country Squire. It’s in very good condition, especially for the mileage, but I know the electrical systems in these things, and I would imagine a few things have stopped working over the years. Luckily, all the stuff to fix them is still available.
I specifically chose California cars for today, because GMT800s do have a tendency to rust. You won’t find one of these with intact rocker panels and rear quarter panels here in Michigan (except the Yukon in our garage, which came from Oregon). I see one dent on the tailgate, but everything else looks really good.
2005 GMC Sierra SLE 1500 – $3,350
Engine/drivetrain: 5.3-liter OHV V8, four-speed automatic, RWD
Location: Santa Clara, CA
Odometer reading: 200,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
The pickup version of the GMT800 came out a year ahead of the SUVs, in 1999. At first, only regular and extended cabs were available, like the previous GMT400 trucks. But eventually, two different four-door cabs were offered: one with “suicide doors” and no B-pillars, like a Honda Element, and this crew cab version, with traditional rear doors. You lose some bed length going for the crew cab, but you gain the ability to use it like a normal car, which is why this bodystyle has become the de facto truck shape.
This truck has the same 5.3-liter V8 and 4L60E transmission as the Suburban, but it’s only rear-wheel-drive. That’s not a big deal in most situations, and it makes maintenance and repair a whole lot more straightforward. The pickup version, whether 2WD or 4WD, also has a different rear suspension than the SUVs; it has traditional leaf springs in place of links and coil springs. The seller says it has been worked hard, but it’s still going strong. It just passed a smog test, too.
Work trucks see more wear and tear than family SUVs, and that’s the case here. The seat boslter is worn through, the armrest is delaminating, and there are some scuffs and scratches here and there. But it’s only a two-owner truck, and the seller says neither owner smoked in it, which is not always the case with old work trucks. My truck smelled like an ashtray inside when I first got it.
It’s a little banged-up outside, but stuff happens when you’re working a truck hard. It’s nothing that will keep you from using it as a truck, of course, except maybe the missing tailgate handle. Those seem to break easily on these trucks, but they’re cheap to replace. It has a custom dual exhaust, which I’m sure sounds good; the 5.3 has a nice rumble to it anyway.
Big trucks like these don’t make great only vehicles, due to the size and fuel consumption, but they are awfully handy things to have around as an extra car. Older ones like these are particularly useful, especially if you can buy them for cash and keep minimal insurance on them. And if you’re looking for such a truck, I highly recommend any flavor of GMT800. Which one of these would fit better into your life?
I voted for the Suburban based on the interior. I presume the dealer might have spruced it up a bit, but it is hard to imagine a truck with 200k+ miles looking like this if it was abused. Also, Suburbans are great – it is hard to find a more versatile vehicle. Fuel economy isn’t even that terrible. Plus, these are ridiculously comfortable on road trips. I had a GMT400 Suburban – it was like driving a sofa down the highway. The ‘Burban was also about as roomy as the living room of the apartment I lived in at the time.
The Sierra is a good choice for someone who needs/wants something with an open bed, though.
Slight correction for you on that Suburban: it’s actually 9 person capacity. The standard suburban with the front captains are 8, but with the front bench you have 3×3=9.
It can also tow 8,200 pounds, not 5,000 pounds.
https://www.edmunds.com/chevrolet/suburban/2005/features-specs/
Suburban all day every day.
I finally gave in and bought a well-used Suburban in 2017 and frankly, I don’t know how I lived without it. My particular use case is hauling high passenger counts with gear that needs protection from the elements into remote places, plus some towing. There’s simply not a better tool for the job and I have unquestionably maxed out the capabilities of the vehicle with respect passenger count, packing it to the gills for moving jobs, towing 7000 pounds in 4WD, and bad-roading/mild off-roading (the geometry is so bad that it’s just not meant for Moab/Rubicon treks). My only problem is that I use it so hard I’m continually breaking things. Thankfully parts are widely available.
The 5.3/4L60 combo is adequate to the job as I’ve found but I wouldn’t have minded a bit more engine and a 4L80.
Really, it’s hard to beat the utility of these beasts. For people hauling dirty loads and things that exceed the size of a Suburban cabin a pickup may be a better choice.
That is the absolute perfect use for one, and everyone who owns a Suburban or Ford Expedition wishes they were you. (Well, except when it’s raining and the campstove won’t light.)
Broadly, in this sort of thing, I’d take the truck as having more marginal use gain over my wagon, but in this case. the ‘Burban wins. If I ever get a truck, it won’t be 4 fucking doors: that’s what my car is for. And since the only reason I want a truck is to use the bed, the extra doors just make it worse. And and that’s one rough interior, which doesn’t exactly matter, but it doesn’t help.
Beyond all that, a good friend of mine has a Suburban of about this vintage, and it makes him so happy that I feel warmer towards it than I used to.
PS he has a great, arguably perfect, garage: Suburban, Miata, Tesla 3, Wrangler. Plus various 2 wheel options. Oh, and when his daughter got her license, he found her a Volvo 240 with a stick. The man doesn’t miss.
Hate Stealerships generally, especially the BHPH lots, But the RWD nature of the truck would take it out of contention for me, I would have to move to California to want to deal with just 2 rear wheels, and in all reality one rear wheel pushing the thing down the road in a state that might see snow. I grew up that way and we made it work, but I don’t feel like I need to do that any more. Both of these however are in the good years for the LS 5.3. that alone is worth about a grand running these days, even with the miles, and of course it looks through the oil fill cap like the motor has at least had some oil changes. The Burb is rarely my choice, but since it has the 4wd, I would take it here.
Years ago several coworkers told me once you’ve owned a Suburban, you’ll never not want a Suburban.
Of course these were company vehicles, with a relatively cheap monthly cost to the employees to cover personal use (that somehow magically matched the car wash expenses on the monthly expense reports), and all the gas went onto the corporate credit card. I think the company covered the insurance, too.
Alas, my position didn’t rate a company vehicle, so I never had the opportunity to experience this life lesson. Guess now I could find out what all the fuss was about.
Suburban all day. We had one as our family car when all the kids lived at home and were driving carpool. That split bench has a seat belt in the middle. It’s a true 9-seater. And no car we’ve even had has come close to being as comfy as a long road trip car. Our was just 2WD, and yes I drifted it once. It was sublime. I will share no further details.
Also (come at me GMC fans), but the GMC version of these trucks ruined the face. There was a certain balance to the nose that was ruined when you stretched the headlights up the hood.
Good lookin’ ‘Burban gets the vote.
I think you are trolling David. Yesterday he posts about his rusty Jeep sitting unsold in Michigan and how he “knows what he’s got”. Turned down $5,000.
Today you show us what $5,000 buys in a truck or BoF SUV.
It’s been about 1 year since I sold my GMT400 Suburban and I still have some regrets. It was the perfect extra vehicle, but right now we are house shopping and if I find something that has extra parking space you can bet I will have another full-size truck/SUV.
The only reason I voted today was that the beat up Sierra is a 2wd. Ergo, it’s acceptable to drop it. Problem is, I used to get tailgated by both of these all the time, before, a few years ago, they all started returning to the Iron Oxide from whence they came.
More than 20 years ago I owned a GMT400 Suburban Diesel. That was the best car I ever had (ok, at today’s fuel price in Germany it would be a pain in youknow).
That Suburban makes me think I should’ve flown to Cali for a family hauler instead of buying what I could find here in Ontario.