Is the 2015 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 LS the Perfect Truck?
I drive a lot of trucks. As a member of the Texas Auto Writers Association, and contributor on sister site Ford Truck Enthusiasts, I live and breathe trucks these days. As you’re all surely aware, pickup truck prices have skyrocketed. Average transaction prices are higher than ever, and it seems like the days of an affordable truck are over. Or are they?
Chevrolet sent me a 2015 Silverado LS 4WD Double Cab to spend a week in. While it’s not a work truck stripper model, it was only moderately equipped with things you’d probably want. All in, the MSRP was $39,210. I imagine that with incentives, you could probably get that under $35k easily.
So what do you get for your money? The double cab setup is a neat approach to an extended cab. It’s not as big as a crew cab, but they give you four doors that work like doors. No need to open the front doors to get the back to open. Sure, you don’t get the cabin space of a crew cab, but adults could fit in the back for short trips easily.
You also get four-wheel drive. The setup in this truck is a bit of old school engineering, but probably a boon in reliability. There is no electronic shift-on-the-fly transfer case. You actually grab a mechanical shifter and move metal to engage four-wheel drive. The $770 Trailering Equipment Package also includes an automatically locking rear differential.
Powering this truck is GM’s tried-and-true 5.3L ECOTEC3 V8 making 355 horsepower and 383 lb-ft of torque. Compared to the 5.0L in the F-150, it’s down a bit on power and just a tiny bit on torque. The nice thing about ordering the 5.3L is you’re getting a V8. There’s a feeling of driving a V8 that other engines can’t duplicate.
The 5.3L ECOTEC3 is also a fuel efficient engine. Over the week, I averaged around 20 miles per gallon, and was able to far exceed that during my fuel economy test run.
If you want more power, there’s a 6.2L V8 available for the Silverado making 420 horsepower and 460 lb-ft of torque. But, as with many truck options, once you start checking boxes they get pretty expensive pretty quickly.
My review truck wasn’t spartan either. Interior fit and finish is typical GM these days, which is to say pretty good. I do personally prefer the Ram 1500’s interior a bit better, but there’s nothing I didn’t like about the Silverado.
The stereo equipped in my review Silverado supported AM and FM, SiriusXM, and Pandora. Strangely, Bluetooth was there only for phone and Pandora connectivity, and not for just streaming music from your phone. Of course OnStar was on board with navigation options and 4G LTE connectivity.
The Silverado was a nice truck to drive. The steering was very good for a pickup truck, and it was comfortable going over bumps in the road. Also, being an inexpensive truck, it was still pretty quiet inside. Overall it was a pleasant driving truck.
I wish it had a rearview camera, as I do find them useful on trucks, but that’s really the only thing I wish it had.
I asked earlier if that Silverado 1500 LS is the perfect truck. That’s unfortunately something you need to figure out on your own, but the 2015 Silverado is a good truck at a reasonable price. If you add on the 2 years of free scheduled maintenance you have yourself quite a bargain.
What do you think? Chime in with your thoughts over in the forums!
