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Review: 2008 Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD -- comfortable even when its capability is overkill
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The Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD is highly capable yet surprisingly comfortable and refined, a good mix for working in
suburban agriculture. However, few people will need to pay luxury-car money for this Silverado's high capability. See more
photos of the Silverado below the article in today's slideshow.
Especially when it’s painted in Utility Company White, this Chevrolet Silverado looks like nothing more than a basic bare-bones work truck, interchangeable with dozens of other basic bare-bones work trucks that General Motors and other automakers have produced over the years.
It’s true, this truck is no luxury vehicle. You don’t really want a luxury vehicle when you’re motoring through a gloppy mixture of mud and manure at the Tantallon Cattle Company in Maryland’s Washington suburbs.
However, for the price, you could indeed be getting a luxury car. The Cattle Company’s Silverado is a 2008 model, but you’d find a sticker price of over $43,000 on an equivalent new 2009. It has a few extra features over the barest-of-bones model – air conditioning, some power-operated controls, and cloth seats instead of vinyl – but those goodies add only about $2,000 to the price.
What really separates the price of this Silverado from the cheapest $20,370 model is its capability. This truck is the 2500HD (heavy-duty) model, which offers a much higher payload (3,622 pounds, more than twice the base truck’s). It also has a longer bed and four-wheel-drive, and a huge 6.6-liter diesel V8 with 660 pound-feet of torque that lets it tow over 10,000 pounds. The engine and upgraded transmission alone are responsible for over $8,000 of this truck’s price tag.
I was not carrying 3,622 pounds in this Silverado’s bed. Nor did I hook it to any trailer. Its only job was to carry stacks of stage flats back to the Cattle Company’s barn, which also serves as the warehouse for the Tantallon Community Players theater group, which it accomplished unruffled. The tailgate would have closed on the truck’s eight-foot bed with some more careful packing, too.
But fortunately – and unlike some other full-size trucks – the heavy-duty Silverado isn’t unpleasant in routine driving.
The ride is stiff over bumps but very well-controlled on smooth pavement, similar to the lighter-duty half-ton Ford F-150, at least with the Z85 suspension package on this truck. (An off-road focused Z71 is likely less comfortable.) The big “Duramax” diesel engine can feel sluggish but builds speed deceptively quickly and acceptably quietly, helped by diesel’s low rpms. The engine is as loud and clattery at idle as any big diesel pickup’s, but the cabin is isolated well from the noise, giving the truck an overall sense of refinement absent even from some lighter-duty trucks.
Also, a bare-bones basic truck is now very pleasant inside. The three-passenger front bench seat naturally offers plenty of space, but it’s also shaped and padded very well. The interior is designed to be functional rather than luxurious, but avoids feeling cheap. The Silverado’s use of the well-designed General Motors “corporate radio” design gives it a shared element with many passenger cars that helps it avoid a theme all work and no play. The Silverado LT’s “premium cloth” seat trim strikes an impressive blend of plush yet sturdy-feeling.
The brakes, however, remind drivers that this Silverado weighs some 5,500 pounds, with a numb and heavy pedal that requires a fair bit of effort to hold down when idling in Drive. Reviewers that have tried emergency stops were not impressed by braking distances either. The Silverado isn’t any more ponderous to drive than other large pickups, however, though none would be fun to back out of an unlit barn.
Another aspect of the Silverado 2500HD that undoubtedly exposes its size is its fuel consumption. It’s too heavy to be rated by the EPA, but the 6.0-liter gasoline Silverado 1500 is rated for 13 miles per gallon in the city and 18 on the highway. The 2500HD has a 34-gallon tank to hold its diesel.
But that comes with the territory in a full-size ultra-capable pickup. You can’t expect to tow over 10,000 pounds and carry 3,600 pounds of cargo and get good gas mileage or a tight turning radius.
But what isn’t expected from this utilitarian Utility Company White work truck is the level of comfort and refinement it offers when it’s nowhere near its capacity. It’s a level of comfort and refinement you won’t find in competing ¾ ton pickups – the Dodge Ram 2500 and the Ford F-250 – or even some half-tons. A redesigned Ram 2500 is due soon and may match that, but for now the Silverado 2500HD leads its class for its blend of capability and refinement.
And according to Edmunds.com, you should be able to haggle its price down from above $43,000 to below $37,000. While that’s still hardly a bargain, if you need a tool like this, you’re getting what you pay for.
Vehicle tested: 2008 Chevrolet Silverado
Vehicle base price (MSRP)*: $20,370
Version tested: 2500HD LT 4WD regular cab
Vehicle price as tested (MSRP): $43,655
Estimated transaction price as tested: $36,768
Test vehicle provided by: Jerry TePaske
*Prices are for 2009 models.
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