Good morning! Today we’re looking at old trucks. Not classic trucks, nor anything you’d want to drive daily, but scruffy, nasty, beat-up old trucks that get terrible mileage but will haul whatever you need, without worry of scratching the paint. Think street-legal wheelbarrows.
Yesterday was all about beat-up commuter cars, and I expected the vote to be close because the cars were pretty similar. The Avalon took home a narrow win, but I don’t think you could go wrong with either one.
The disparity in mileage, and interior condition, between these two is what makes the difference for me. Yes, Toyotas “run forever,” but after a while the niceness gets eroded away and you’re left with a listless lump of a car that’s just going through the motions. And yes, GM plastic isn’t the sturdiest stuff in the world, but it all looks intact on that Bonneville, and I wouldn’t feel like I needed gloves to touch the steering wheel. Make mine the Pontiac.
Now then: Ever since we moved, I have been giving my old truck a workout. It doesn’t get driven every day, but every time it does get driven, it’s hauling stuff. There is just so much to go get when you move into a new house, especially one with essentially no landscaping like ours. My wife’s Yukon has hauled its share of things home as well, but when we needed to bring home half a dozen apple trees to plant in the back yard, or a pair of seven-foot-tall bookcases, it wasn’t much help, and the big green Chevy came to the rescue. Sometimes you just need a big ol’ truck, and if you’re anything like me, you don’t want to rent one every time you need it. It makes sense to have something there, parked in the side yard, ready to do what needs doing. Here are a couple of good prospects.
2000 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 – $2,000
Engine/drivetrain: 5.3 liter overhead valve V8, four-speed automatic, part-time 4WD
Location: Ballard, WA
Odometer reading: 167,000 miles
Operational status: “Purrs like a kitten”
The first thing I noticed about this truck is that, while it’s in Washington state, it wears Alaska plates. I’ve never been to Alaska, and in fact all I know about it I learned from Northern Exposure, but I seem to remember that damn near everyone in that show drove a beat-up Chevy truck. (Except Maurice, of course.) I take that to be a good omen for this truck.
This isn’t just any old Chevy truck, though; it’s a GMT800, the truck that took the near-perfect GMT400 series and somehow improved on it. It’s powered by a 5.3-liter version of the Gen III Chevy small-block, colloquially known as the LS, and GM’s often-maligned but generally pretty damn durable 4L60-E automatic. This one also has shift-on-the-fly 4WD. The seller says it “purrs like a kitten,” and I believe it; with only 167,000 miles, this thing is just getting broken in.
This is an extended-cab truck, with a pair of “suicide” doors for access to the rear seats. GMT800 interiors hold up better than the GMT400s did, and this one still looks pretty good. I’m sure some of the plastic stuff is broken, and I bet it has its share of electrical gremlins, but I also bet it’s still mighty comfy.
Outside, it’s beat-up and a little rusty around the edges, and of course it has that one mismatched door. But who cares? The mechanical core is sound, and the bed still holds stuff, and that’s the important part. Pretty trucks are only for people who don’t know how to do stuff.
1992 Ford F-250 XLT – $2,200
Engine/drivetrain: 5.8-liter overhead valve V8, four-speed automatic, RWD
Location: Stanwood, WA
Odometer reading: 259,000 miles
Operational status: “Starts every time and goes right along”
Before the GMT-series Chevy trucks, and Ford’s “jellybean” F-series, all three of Detroit’s big three held on to their truck designs for a long time. This style of Ford truck debuted in 1992, but the basic design dates all the way back to 1980, and hung on until 1997. This is the F-250, the precursor to today’s Super Duty trucks, a burly 3/4 ton beast of burden with an extended cab and a full eight-foot bed. In other words, you’d better level up your parallel parking skills.
The F-250 was available with two different gasoline V8s: a 5.8 liter version of Ford’s Windsor V8, and a big-block 7.5 liter. The ad doesn’t say which one this is, but it looks like a 5.8 from what I can see. The big block is usually a selling point anyway, so the ad would have mentioned it. This truck has a lot of miles, but the seller says it starts right up and runs great.
It’s an XLT, so it has the “nice” interior. It’s holding up well, especially for that many miles. I’m trying to figure out what the tangle of black stuff on the floor is: a cargo net, maybe? If anyone has a better suggestion, please say so in the comments.
It’s a little scruffy outside, but in a good way. These trucks wear their patina well. And of course, it’s a two-tone. Ford trucks of this style should all be two-tone.
I would never suggest that either of these be used as daily transportation. They’re old, rough, inefficient, and probably not as reliable as they once were. But they’re also cheap to buy, cheap to insure, and if you’ve got the space to park one, easy to just keep around for when you need it. One’s got 4WD, the other has a little more capacity. Either one would make a great yard tool. The choice is yours.
(Image credits: Craigslist sellers)
If you’re in the market for a cheap, used pickup, you can’t go wrong with either one of these. Typically, I’m a Ford guy when it comes to trucks. Today, I’m going for the Chevy. 160k miles is a lot less than 260k. I’m thinking that Ford engine has put in some work and probably isn’t far from needing a total rebuild.
There really doesn’t seem to be a wrong answer here. Those Chevs would run poorly longer than most (non-Toyota) vehicles run period and it’s a bit cheaper. The Ford is a tiny bit cleaner and has a higher cargo capacity and were pretty stout in their own regard.
Both are legit reliable workhorses. The Chevy is the better daily, though. I had an 06 with the 4.8 for the last 15 years, before passing it to my college kid last year – it’s a daily for school now, after 50k miles towing a travel trailer, plus mountain roads, commuting, and everything else. I’m sure the Ford would be fine, but probably at half the MPG.
These both seem priced really low, at least compared to what I see in my area. The F250 with the extended cab and 8 foot bed is great, and the two-tone paint scheme seals the deal for me.
Definitely Silverado, never Fix Or Repair Daily
Found on road, dead.
This is the worst week of shitbox showdown cars ever so far. They are all so boring, I haven’t been able to been able to get through the write ups, let alone bother to vote.
Biased voter here. Learned to drive in a ’64 F100, owned an ’87 F250 for a while, and have a ’92 F350 longbed dually crewcab. They both just still run. The ’64 at 350k miles, and the ’92 at 193k miles.
The Ford, because two tone. (The door on the Chevy doesn’t count). Plus all those free phone charging cables in the cab!
Bonus points to the Chevy for the “Yukon” badge on the door though.
I picked the GMT800. Too classically good to pass up. The F250 is actually a bit nicer, and bigger payload, but if it does happen to be big block then I can almost guarantee it has an exhaust leak at the manifold and frozen up studs/nuts that someone already broke off years ago trying to get it off to replace the gasket.
Make mine Found On Road Dead thankyouveramuch.
I gave the nod to Ford, I did a lot of miles in an 87 F350 and my one experience in a GMT800 was off-putting. Personally I already have a dump run truck, although my 2002 F150 is actually nice other than the torn driver’s seat and it’s got an 8′ box.
I’ve had Fords and Chevys of these eras. I currently have a ‘94 Ford with the straight 6. My ‘99 Silverado with the 5.3 was great and I still regret selling it. This one was tough, but that Ford is in too good a shape to pass up.
I have to admit – I am seriously thinking about buying an older pickup truck or van. And I HATE pickup trucks. BUT – I am likely selling my summer place in Maine next year. That means I have some stuff that I really need to get from Maine to Florida – including my ’74 Triumph Spitfire and a big-azz generator and sundry other stuff that won’t fit in my MB wagon. I am finding that it is going to cost a minimum of $3500 to hire that done, and probably rather more if I want an actually reputable moving company to do it rather than renting a truck and driving it myself. So I am thinking that it may well make sense to buy a decent used pickup or cargo van, use it to do a round-trip to Maine to haul the stuff and the Spitfire south, then sell the thing.
Not anything THIS decrepit though, I have my standards and I would rather not be stranded on the side of I-95 somewhere. Just some decent unloved RWD pickup up north (they are lots cheaper and nobody cares about 4wd in FL for this sort of thing.
You’d be surprised what a decrepit old truck can do.
I wouldn’t consider your truck to be decrepit. 🙂 And it’s a proper truck. But I still want something nicer than that if I have to drive the thing that far.
Silverado for me, entirely for the slightly irrational reason that when I, a Brit, had a flat battery in my Nissan Sentra hire car in the wilds of Port Renfrew, BC (some parasitic drain or other) we were rescued by a lovely chap in one of these (two tone brown and gold I think) who drove round and gave us a boost, just because the cleaner who had arrived to ready our Airbnb for the next guests went and asked him to. She didn’t know him and nor did we, but he fired us up and I got him a coffee from the one coffee van in the village and we had a chat while letting the Sentra idle for a while. For some reason I always fancied a Silverado after that.
Cargo net? Nah. Someone has been forced not only to sell their grubby old workhorse truck, but also get rid of their drawer full of Obsolete But Useful Wires.
The Chevy has ~100k fewer miles, 4wd, and an LS. Plus, it’s already a bit shabby, so me decorating it with WV pinstripes and bark-marks will just stories to its character.
I don’t know, every time I look at the pic of the passenger side of the Silverado I am expecting to see OWEN pop out of the truck lookin’ for that shower curtain fella! 😉
Ford for me!
This one is as easy as they come since the 9th gen Ford is my all-time favorite full size pickup.
Interestingly, in 1992 the trim level was officially “XLT Lariat,” a carryover from the 8th gen, though none of the badging had Lariat included. In 1993, the Lariat part was dropped, not to return until the 10th gen as its own standalone top-tier trim level.
I adore the OBS trucks. But if this is a side yard truck I need to start after being neglected for long periods of time, I’m picking the one that’s 8 years newer with 100k less miles.
Plus, you can’t swing a cat without hitting 10 stores with GMT800 parts in stock, so it’ll be easier to maintain.
I already have a 92 F-250 2WD but it’s a single cab and has the 300-6. Love that truck but wish it was 4WD. Even with Grizzly Grip mud and snow tires it can get stuck on flat ground.
So I’m voting Silverado. I’ve had Ford and Dodge trucks, but never a Chevy… yet
Back in the day, I had a 1988 F250 similar to this one. Mine had the 5.8/C6/4WD instead of the this one’s 5.8/E4OD/2WD. Mine was a great truck but it was a gas guzzler – I got about 14 mpg on the highway – this one might get 18mpg. I’d buy another for a weekend jobs truck in a heartbeat.
That GM looks beat to hell, so I’d take the Ford even without 4WD.
I had the same 88 F-250, but mine got closer to 12 mpg (I had the 4.10 gears) – pretty much no matter what it was doing, except it dropped even more towing a trailer. It also struggled to go more than about 75 on the highway.
The 4WD seals it for me.
Both are good options, but I could actually see keeping the Ford around for weekend duty. I wouldn’t use it enough to really need the 4WD, and the interior is inviting. And the body style has that old truck charm, so I’ll pretend it’s a classic and keep it clean while it’s parked on the side.
I love a Silverado, but that F250 reminds me of my grandfathers so that wins out here.
I’ll take the Chevy Silva-raydough. Mileage is good, 4wd, and not especially rusty looking. If the body turns out to be worse than expected or the transmission dies than so be it, I will just use it is a donor truck to swap my 2000 S10. I do love those OBS Fords, but the Chevy is more practical for me.