Faults:

Parking brake.

Gets 18mpg. Used to be a plus, was the reason I bought it when gas was $1/g. Still gets 18mpg, 90% of my driving is highway... so, I'm not getting rid of it. I have to have a truck for my 3 acres.

General Comments:

Chevy knows how to build V-8's. If you are thinking of buying a Toyota truck, you are throwing money away. I will submit to Toyota building the best truck on the road today, but for the money, they can't beat Chevy.

If gas was still cheap, I'd be looking at another Chevy Silverado. If you have no other choice other than buying a truck, BUY A SILVERADO. Better gas mileage, great quality!

Faults:

Last year I bought a used 2000 Silverado 1500 regular cab, long bed 2 wheel drive with the 5.3 automatic transmission. Family and friends wanted me to scrap my old 1978 Chevy C10 with 334,000 miles, 3 speed manual 305 V8 that I got as a high school graduation present in 1985 for years.

I bought the 2000 model because I didn't care for the look of the 2003+ Silverado front ends. My newer truck does have some get up and go when you push the pedal down, and I do like the look of the body. But, those years had problems with piston slap and transmission problems that my old truck NEVER had. After a cold start in the morning, the 2000 Silverado sometimes make me rethink my decision to "upgrade" trucks. Pinging when its hot, knocking when its cold. there's a noise for every temperature!

Even though the bodies are made of galvanized steel, I've seen many of the '99-02 trucks with rusting out rocker panels and cab corners, AGAIN. The sheet metal is quite thin and dents easily.

I think the old 350 was as good as it gets for durability. If my newer truck had that engine instead, along with the manual transmission, I probably wouldn't be writing this today.

BTW, the 2008 Silverados look terrible. Maybe the $30,000 - $40,000 Silverados can be prettied up more though. I guess I'll keep the old '78 going as long as I can, even if she takes a quart of oil every 1,000 miles, which next to some newer Vortecs - is pretty good.

Faults:

Like a rock it is NOT. The spare tire fell out on the freeway. It just dropped out from under the truck. The Speedometer and instrument cluster stopped functioning at 60,000 miles. The tailgate fell off. This truck is a piece of Crap. Chevy should be ashamed for putting it on the road.

Faults:

Line blew off power steering on my 2nd day of ownership and destroyed the whole front end.

Coil pack went out at 25000 miles.

Water pump at 145000.

Rear end bearings at 130000.

Power mirrors stopped working round 30000.

Transmission went out around 170000.

General Comments:

Although it had some problems, my Z-71 was the best truck I have ever owned. It has been for the most part reliable, and never left anywhere. I thoroughly have enjoyed the excellent towing and driveability of this vehicle.