The Chevrolet Silverado is the second best-selling vehicle in the U.S., so you could say this truck is pretty important not only to Chevy’s bottom line, but to the hundreds of thousands of pickup buyers who choose the Silverado each year. Like its major rivals in this hotly contested segment — including the Ford F-150, Toyota Tundra, Nissan Titan and Ram 1500 – the Silverado has an option sheet that can make this a mudslinging work truck or a 21st-century luxury office on wheels.
In terms of cab length, there are three choices — Regular, Double and Crew — along with the available Short, Standard or Long cargo bed. Engines range from a 4.3-liter V6 and a 5.3-liter V8 up to a range-topping 6.2-liter V8. The Silverado can be ordered with a choice of two- or four-wheel drive, and transmissions include both a six- and eight-speed automatic, depending on choice of powertrain and trim.
Research the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 on MSN Autos
Changes for the 2018 model year include the standard fitment of a rearview camera, along with a Tire Fill Alert system that lets the driver know when the correct pressure has been reached. A 7.0-inch touch-screen stereo system is also now standard equipment on the base Silverado.
Ratings suffer slightly for the Silverado in Crew Cab format. Driver-side protection in the front small overlap test drops to “marginal,” while the headlights and available LATCH system both scored “poor” ratings.
Ratings may differ for Silverado trucks from other model years, so be sure to visit the NHTSA and IIHS websites to review ratings on the specific vehicle you’re researching.
At the time of this writing, the 2018 Silverado is not listed as being part of any ongoing recalls.
Is the Silverado reliable?
J.D. Power most recently reviewed initial quality in the 2017 Silverado 1500 — no ratings are available for the 2018 model year. At the time, it gave the Silverado five out of five possible stars — a rating referred to as “among the best” — for overall quality, overall quality mechanical, body and interior quality mechanical and overall quality design.
Lower three-star ratings, listed as “about average,” were recorded in several categories: powertrain quality mechanical, powertrain quality design and body and interior quality design.
