This Cheap 23 Year Old Chevy May Be The BEST Truck I've Ever Driven: Here's Why! 

I love these classic episodes you're doing. Hope in the future you consider compact trucks, s10, ranger, yota, frontier.

I have a 1996 I found last year, immaculately cared for with only 155k on it and I'm keeping it forever. Has new shocks, fuel pump and starter, runs so good it's unbelievable.

When I was a kid in 90s, this was my dream truck. Before I had a concept of money, I thought I would go and buy a new one when I got my license at 16 years old, lol.

Old chevy trucks are super reliable. Built by the working class for the working class. Thanks tfl!

These trucks will forever hold a special place in our house. Dad ordered a brand new 95 Cheyenne k1500 ext cab to his specs and drove it until it hit well north of 300,000 miles. 305, 5 Speed indigo blue with matching blue interior. Best truck ever made.

When I had a GMC of this generation completely collapse the front corner after work one day, and I fixed it with two adjustable wrenches, a hammer, a pry bar, a lug nut wrench, and a floor jack then drove home 2 house later, I became a believer and loved my truck too.

That's a nice and clean old truck. About that airbag though, that's before the smart air bags, so instead of a hug you'll be getting a punch in the face from Mike Tyson. Those things were brutal!

This 23 year old truck may be the best trucks General Motors ever made. True story.👍💯🇺🇲

Still drive my 95 Suburban Up here in Ontario Canada, bought it for a grand 8 years ago,best old beast ever built

I loved my 95 silverado with 5.7 and a 5 speed stick. Z71 as well. Miss the hell out of it.

Glad to see you appreciate these older trucks so much. I am 47 and have no desire for anything after 1995ish😁

One the best comfort items on older vehicles;No payment book!

My high school car was the luxury version of this, 1998 Tahoe LT. I LOVED that rig

Can we bring back the crotch vent lol

And no flickering LED lights when shot on video.

I know everyone loves the LS engines now, but to me, it's hard to beat the old SBC. Reliable, easy to work on, parts are cheap. And you can make pretty good power with one. I'll always believe that a 350 Chevy is one of the best truck engines ever made.

Favorite body style ever made. I had a 95 for 20 years. Sold last summer with 297,000 miles

Lionel here in California. Great video. I have a 1998 Tahoe 2 door 2 wheel drive, with 26k. It has the 350 with an automatic. People will not leave me alone, because they want to buy it. The reason for the low miles is the Harley is getting all the miles. Best vehicle ever.

I wonder how many Toyota T-100's are still out there running around. Can't remember the last time I saw one, but still see these all the time

I’m glad y’all guys finally bought one of these trucks personally my favorite truck ever.

Although I question how well built they are now, that vintage of Chevy trucks were obviously fairly well built. When the bed cover disappears, do the truck some additional justice and make that ugly contraption on the front of the truck disappear with it. lol

I love my 1997 Siverado K1500 . I bought it new and still drive it almost everyday. i have had 35 people try to buy it and I won't sell it!! I can not wait to restore it in the future. great videos guys!!

My dad bought the 5.7L V8 in 1997. The truck became mine in 2005 and now with over 300,000 mi, it's still a workhorse. It's not without its faults but It's part of the family. For some reason I don't feel that bond with newer cars.

I’ve owned mostly fords but that generation of gm is the best looking in my opinion

Been daily driving mine for over 5 years

I love this year of Chevy I had a reg cab long bed 98 Chevy WT with the 4.3 V6 and I ran it to almost 300,000 with no issues when I finally traded it in on my new truck. I still see it driving around town.

We have two K1500 suburbans and one K2500 454 suburban from this generation at work. One of the K1500's and the K2500 have almost almost 300,000 miles on them with the same engine. Great story, love you guys doing the old stuff.

Those engines were introduced in model year 1996 and that started the Vortec name for the half tons. It was a pretty major update on the 1st generation small block. Different heads and intake plus multipoint fuel injection. I remember seeing advertisements about it where they said something like “pump it up” because they gained 50 hp across the board over the TBI engines of 1995. The head design is wildly considered the best factory head GM ever made for the 1st gen small block. They have a little taller intake ports than non vortec heads so if you ever want to use a set of vortec heads on an older engine you have to get an intake to match. But the 350 (5.7) is hands down better than the 305. The power for the 305 really was improved with the vortec heada and made them a lot better than they were but no comparison to the 350. And the 350 got better fuel mileage to boot.

That is a one of tough truck because no rust on the cab underside. Then it has a bed panels without "metal termite damage". I love it.

It’s funny how you look back at these trucks and say how simple they were, but if you are old enough to have been around when they came out you’d remember how complicated they seemed. No cam driven mechanical fuel pump, sequential fuel injection, auto hubs etc etc

I had a 98 Silverado extended cab with the third door 4x4 in black with red interior and the 350. Loved it. It had a water leak below the windshield that took two weeks to fix at the dealer. Still loved it. Had to trade it in on a POS grand caravan when the family expanded...sad day.

I love those trucks! I learned to drive on one! My dad had a 1991 C1500 Scottsdale. (305, single cab, long box. Blue and silver, blue interior) Good memories!

Got my 96 K1500 Suburban 4x4 love it, 396xxx miles :)

You can turn off the daytime running lights by pushing the dome override switch 3 or 4 times in a row. You will have to do it every time you start the truck though, it's not a permanent way to turn them off.

Love my 98 k2500 silverado with the 5.7, got about 109,000 miles in it.

I use to drive a 96 2500 2 wheel drive with the same engine. Truly miss that truck. Easy to work on, reliable, not to bad on gas.

I have a 1996 chevy suburban k1500 with almost 203000 miles and it's still passes smog with flying colors. Them old chevys are bulletproof.

We have a 1994 Chevy 1500 short bed regular cab with the 4.3 V6 on our hunting property. We have had it for about 15 years. It has over 200,000 miles and it just keeps on ticking like an old reliable clock. And man, that thing will pull through just about anything and all we have done to it is put oversize off-road tires on it, no lift or anything though. And Tommy is right, if we have to get it worked on, it is always nothing major and super cheap. And believe it or not, it rides better than a lot of the modern trucks out today.

Tommy: manual windows will never break My 2003 Silverado with crank windows deciding to straight drop the windows down in -40 windchill

LOOOOVE that series of Chevy trucks. I have a 1992 K1500 I bought used in 1995 with about 27K miles on it. Now it has about 260K miles and still gets me where I need to go.

I paid $500 for a 2WD 89 Silverado with a 5.0 that lasted 5 years with little problems then "upgraded" to an 88 Silverado 4WD with a 5.7. Loved both trucks and wish I could have one again in good condition.

In the early 2000's I had a 1996 Chevrolet K1500 Silverado with the 350. I loved the truck.

That brush guard looks like it goes in a Ford or dodge, it needs to go

I have the same body K1500 in a 1997 with the V6. 336,000 miles on original engine. Trans rebuilt about 100,000 miles ago and still going strong. Very little rust. Needs the front end rebuilt, but us still mostly a daily farm truck. You see more of them around here than most anything else.

Of the three cheap trucks you bought, this one is my favorite. I had a 1997 Tahoe. Sold it a couple of years ago to reduce the “rolling fleet” and have regretted it. Yes, put on some new shocks. The exterior door handles also have a tendency to break. If you have to pull it up more and more to open, it is getting close to breaking. The dome light button you referenced turns off the dome light when you open the doors. It will not turn the dome light when the doors are closed. The dimmer shell does that.

I owned a 1996 GMC K-1500 Sierra for 13 years. It was rarity--a 1/2 ton 4WD equipped with the 6.5 diesel. The 6.5 was pretty gutless and next to useless for towing (I sold the truck when I needed a truck tow a heavy trailer), but it was fine without a trailer. The GMC was fairly reliable--electronic troubles were its main weakness--the major one being the common failure the electronic PMD engine module killed by engine heat because it was located in the "V" of the engine with no heat sink to protect it. On the 4WD side, mine shattered one of the front drive axles while driving down the highway in 2WD! Turned out that the axle had crystalized metal from when it was manufactured, so it was defective from the beginning. The diesel was VERY noisy--even in the my fancy SLE interior trim. The truck, like yours, would be considered "primitive" today, but it was a very good truck for its day. There are times that I'm sorry that I didn't just keep it around.

Those cassettes with the headphone cables were the greatest things ever. We all got portable CD players like Walkman’s but couldn’t play the CDs in our cars. So the tapes were a life saver. BUT, every time you hit a bump on the road the Walkman would skip.

Man, i had a 1998 sierra z71 which at the time was my dream truck! Loved it, had it for over 10 years. Fuel pump went every 100000km but otherwise no issues.

I have not yet watched the video, right now just clicked and hit pause, but I already know because it is a Chevy from the 90's that this is a dope most awesome reliable super truck and that finally you dudes on TFL are going to realize you need not have a lot of fords or other junk on your channel. LOL Bowties forever LOL ]

i had a 96 with the 305 and it was the best truck i ever owned..NEVER should have sold it but i needed asomthing to tow a 10k trailer and sold it to a friend with 305k on it still ran and drove perfect. we still have the wifes 96 suburban with the 350 and i LOVE that truck. surprisingly decent mileage especially with non ethanol fuel. low to mid 20's highway with good fuel high teens with new fuel... just change out the fuel pump every 75k and do proper maintenance and it will never let you down.

Back when a truck was still a truck, great video!

I’ve had several of the GMT400s but my favorite was my 96 k1500 z71 ext cab short bed with 5.7 sfi, AT, 3.73 14 bolt (heavy half ton) g80 with Silverado pkg. That interior was super comfortable for long trips, or Plenty of zip and rock solid body... but of course I sold it because of high gas prices at the time and the insidious Midwest rust in every crack and crevice starting to come out on me… Those trucks lasted even in the Rust Belt a good 20 years if you kept them washed. Definitely an iconic truck!

Had a 89 step side and loved putting it in 4x4. It was awesome.

Love those trucks so much. I have 2 of them and they are so easy and cheap to fix. Both are daily driven and go on frequent roadrips to any given place in the us... They have always gotten me home.

I had a GMT 400 1996 GMC ex cab z71 5.7, I bought it new, had to order it back then, waited I months for it, I am currently snapping a Cummins 12 valve into 1993 GMT 400 K2500 Suburban, I love GMT 400.

I have 550,000km on my 1998 Z71. Its still going strong with the original engine.

Dad had a 95 Chevy 2500 it hauled sand and cement everyday for 430000 miles and was sold still running. It had the 350

Couldn’t agree more. I absolutely love my 1997 2door Tahoe Z71 LT. I drove it off the showroom floor and have driven it ever since. Not a single issue other than standard maintenance, brakes and cracking paint which I remedied a year ago.

recently got a 296k mile 97 gmc c1500 with the 5.7 for only 1k absolutely love this truck

I have that exact truck. It’s green with 157k miles has very little rust but she’s a good truck. I’m not a Chevy guy but these trucks are great

I have a 95 Silverado 6cyl with 190k miles. 21 mpg highway 16 in town. 8 feet bed. Runs great! Also have 91 Z71 with 176k miles. Both trucks are great!

Love my 94 c1500 Silverado grandfather purchased new 305 v8... people hate the 305 however they are bulletproof haven't found a bad 305 yet in all the vehicles I've owned

Literally all of the reasons I bought my 95 with the same configuration. Great trucks, classic and timeless looks, comfortable, easy to work on, really what else could you want? Like A Rock!!

That is one clean truck, especially being 23 years old with 206k on the clock. Is this truck destined for the Yak Ranch? David would love the truck I’m sure.

You will make money on this when it goes to TFLBids

I drove a Yukon from that time over 300K miles before trading it in, they are nice to drive and can handle gravel, dirt roads and off road depending on tires. You can even still sleep in the back of the pickup with a cot or mat the bed is over 6 feet long.

My dad has a 1996 V8 Chevy Silverado with only 150k miles, Paint and interior has been meticulously maintained. Really great truck, never left us stranded and starts up every time. At some point the transmission did blow out and we had to rebuild it. Hopefully it will last another 150k miles!

I have this truck but a 97’ k1500 with the 5.7L. White it color as well! It’s a terrific dependable truck! Once you get the topper and grill guard off of there, maybe some bigger tires to fill up the wheel wells you’re going to have a nice looking truck!

Okay after reading all these cool comments below now it's my time to boast a little about my late dad's gift to me which is my 94 Chevy Country Coaches K1500 4X4 shift on the floor, automatic transmission 5.7 Lt V8 350 engine with all the luxuries for that year and model right down to the working AC Delco am-fm radio with cassette player and i can ride and listen in style and it's my daily driver to work and back home 5 days a week 50 miles a day and I just love that sweet V8 rumble every time I fire it up so with continued TLC and proper maintenance I hope to enjoy it for many more years to come and it only now has 88 700 original miles on it !!!! I hope I didn't boast or brag to much but I do say thank you with much love to my late poppa !!!!

mine is a 1998 k1500 Silverado. it has the 3rd door. 305 5.0 v8. button 4x4. power locks and windows. i love it

I like the new intro "independent and honest". Well done Tommy, thnx.

Like a Rock!

I currently own a square body suburban and a GMT-800 yukon denali. A friend of mine as a GMT-400 sierra. I think as a daily driver, the GMT-400 is the best truck you can buy. I definitely would like to add a clean, black GMT-400 suburban to my fleet soon.

One thing to watch out for with that style of truck is the door handle. Sometimes the handle snaps off if it has been used to close the door regularly. It's a cheap fix but just fyi

My C1500 turned 24 yesterday. Came out of the factory on March 13, 1997. That damned 305 Vortec WILL NOT DIE. Replaced the transmission a couple of years back ... but even at -30, turn the key and away she goes. I only wish it had been a 4x4 instead of RWD. Oh well, even less to break ... but squirrelly on ice!

All the obs guys scanning that rpo for g80

I lived out of the back of an '01 extended cab LS 1500 for several years while I ran ultra-marathons around the country. I was absolutely heart-broken when I had to get rid of it for practicality sake (commute, fuel economy, size, etc.). I had a really special relationship with that truck and this video really gave me the warm fuzzies. Thank you. Love these trucks, love your videos, keep them coming!! RIP Wesley (my '01 Silverado 1500).

Definitely the best truck for its time. My dad had a 1994 wit a 4.3 v6. I always loved the look of these trucks. Yall were lucky to fined one in that good shape. Tfl classics for the win! 👌👍

I love your enthusiasm for that old truck. It's similar to my first truck, a 1995 Chevy C1500 Chyenne regular cab short bed with a 305 V8. It was a great truck after I replaced the 4L60E transmission. Mine was also white.

My 98 C1500 Silverado Extended Cab 3rd door with a 350 starts every time & never lets me down. My mechanic says I drive my cars until they return to iron ore. But be careful with those door handles, they tend to break.

This truck is from the year I graduated high school. l wanted one then and I still want one now. I hope to get one before the end of the year. Thanks for great content and the memories!

Our new 2021 Silverado has been back to the dealer three times since buying it two months ago with a flashing check engine light. I wish I bought one of these instead. My uncle had a '97 K1500 very similar to this that he kept for 15+ years.

I have a 98 chevy cheyenne 3/4 ton with 5.7 Vortec 4x4 best truck i have owned as well and barely broke in with 345,000.0 Kms

That stupid chrome grill guard has to go. When you’re ready to sell this beast call me, I’d buy it in a heartbeat!

Now I really miss my 98 Chev. Now I'll spend the rest of the day wondering why I sold it. Thanks TFL??? lol

I have a 97 Silverado ext cab. Best vehicle I've ever owned.

I love 90s trucks

That era of gm pickups were just a great pickup with some decent styling and easy to work on.

Great timing on this vid, I just picked up one of these and we recently replaced the Trans and it's running great

It would look soooo much better without that grille guard and take off the topper. Add a slight lift and some BFG’s and you’d have a sweet ride.

That was the same truck I was buying before I fall in love with the Corsa. That 1998 k1500 Chevy Is sweet!

Excellent episode Tommy 🙂. The front end bar looks cool and held up very well over 200k plus miles, have a nice weekend Tommy.

That truck in the rust belt would be worth $10,000. Guys buy these things up. They really are great trucks even 20+ years later.

You mentioned how great the seat is. I believe in the early 2000s the big 3 switched from petroleum based foams to a soy based foam. That's when seats turned to crap!

My Grandfather had a '90 K1500 regular cab stepside w/ a 350 in red. It was a clean and sharp looking truck and I loved riding in it when I was a kid...

Had a ‘98 350 w/z71 and it was good with only minor issues. Common intake gaskets, rear carrier bearings (did axle bearings too) idler arm, brakes, and a door handle. And besides the bad rust in the cab corners and rockers, it’s still working to this day with its current owner.

I wish they made trucks so simple like this still

Had a 96 with the third door. Super convenient to get stuff in the back unless your in a tight parking lot. Then it’s a ballet around the doors to get in. Also they tended to rattle on washboards and rough roads.

Loved this on Tommy, great upbeat attitude and I've wanted one of these trucks since I was 12, 33 now so yeah.

The family jewel blower 😂 man I love these trucks!