What Are the Best and Worst Years for Chevy Silverado
The Chevy Silverado has consistently been one of the most popular trucks in the industry since its creation in 1998. When you’re looking into purchasing one of these strong trucks, it is important to know the most you can about your future vehicle. With this in mind, what are the best and worst years for Chevy Silverado?
The best year model to purchase a Chevy Silverado is 2012. This model has been highly rated and only had 4 recalls. The model to avoid when purchasing a Chevy Silverado is 2014. This model had 20 recalls and issues with the power steering and electrical.
The Chevy Silverado is a reliable vehicle, but each model has its own little quirks. We’ll cover some important specifications for these models as well as the reason behind the recalls below.
The Best Year Model for Chevy Silverado – 2012
Chevy has always been a go-to truck company, and the Chevy Silverado 2012 is the perfect example of all the greatest things this company has brought us. This rugged, powerful, and strong truck is the best option for you when you’re looking into purchasing a Chevy Silverado.
This smooth-riding vehicle is ready for any task you put it up to. With an impressive towing capacity, you can expect to be taking more camping and boating trips.
This model only had 4 recalls when it was released! This is a low number for a truck. These recalls included:
- Inaccurate fuel gauge indicator
- Compromised airbag (only in select states)
- Compromised inflator expulsion from airbag (only in select states)
- Issues with the electrical system of turning to key to start the vehicle
If you feel your vehicle meets the requirements (correct year and model) and you are worried about one of these recalls, owners are suggested to contact the dealership where you purchased your vehicle, or Chevy directly.
Click here to read the complete account for the recalls.
Chevy Silverado 2012 Specs:
- Price: $34,760
- Engine Type: Flex-fuel (ffv)
- Transmission: 6-speed shiftable automatic
- Drive Type: Four wheel drive
- Range in Miles: 510.0/714.0 mi.
- Horse Power: 315 hp @ 5200 rpm
- Curb Weight: 5488 lbs.
- Maximum Towing Capacity: 9200 lbs.
- Height: 73.6 in.
- Width: 79.9 in.
The Worst Year Model For Chevy Silverado – 2014
Although Chevy is a great truck company, and the Chevy Silverado is known as one of the best truck options out there, the 2014 year model is one you should steer clear of. This model currently has 20 recalls! This is a ton for a truck company.
Drivers have also reported other issues which were not addressed in the recall list. Some include problems with the electrical and the steering. It’s one problem if you can’t roll up your windows, but it’s a whole other problem if you can’t steer.
Some of those 20 recalls include:
- Electrical shock to the vehicle
- Transmission oil cooler line not secure
- Issues with the electrical system of turning to key to start the vehicle
- Airbags may not deploy in the event of a crash
If you feel your vehicle meets the requirements (correct year and model) and you are worried about one of these recalls, owners are suggested to contact the dealership where you purchased your vehicle, or Chevy directly.
Click here to view the complete list of recalls.
Chevy Silverado 2014 Specs:
- Price: $44,570
- Engine Type: Flex-fuel (ffv)
- Transmission: 6-speed shiftable automatic
- Drive Type: Four wheel drive
- Range in Miles: 416.0/572.0 mi.
- Horse Power: 355 hp @ 5600 rpm
- Curb Weight: 5197 lbs.
- Maximum Towing Capacity: 11100 lbs.
- Height: 73.8 in.
- Width: 80.0 in.
How Vehicles Are Ranked and Rated
When dealing with vehicles, companies look at multiple different specifications to properly rate and rank vehicles. Here is a list of common areas of rating which companies use to rank vehicles.
| Area of Rating | How it is Rated/ Why it Matters |
| Safety | The importance of this one is obvious. When testing for safety, vehicles go through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)* where vehicles go through a series of (crash) tests to check the safety. They research not only the vehicle, but the common drivers to rank each vehicle with a 5-star ranking to make it easy for customers to quickly assess the safety of a potential vehicle. |
| Interior | When purchasing a vehicle, the interior can be a very important component to the future owner. You will be spending all your time inside the vehicle, you must appreciate and enjoy the interior. Often, companies will rate the interior based on reviews and the quality of elements they put in the vehicle. |
| Reliability | Reliability is important for a future owner to consider when considering the cost of the vehicle. If it is unreliable, you may have to put more money into your vehicle to fix the problems. J.D. Power** ranks vehicles on their reliability. They give awards to cars that have excellent predicted reliability. |
| Performance | Performance in a vehicle is often measured based on the vehicle’s acceleration, handling, ride quality, braking, and other performance measurements. Obviously, when you are purchasing a car you want to make sure it performs to the quality which it claims to. |
| Critic Reviews | Reading reviews on a product before you purchase is a very smart move on your part. It is no different, even more, important when the product you are purchasing in a vehicle. Critic reviews can often be found on the vehicle’s website and other review sites. |
| Awards | When cars receive awards based on any area of rating, it shows that this vehicle is already a highly rated automobile. Some awards you can look for are Motor Trend Car of the Year and North American Car of the Year. |
| Cargo Towing and Hauling | If you are purchasing a vehicle with the intention to tow and haul something, the capacity your future vehicle has to excel in this area should be very important to you. Cars that have a higher towing capacity are rated and ranked higher. |
| Fuel Economy | When rating cars on their fuel economy, cars are rated upon their gas milage as well as their automatic transmission according to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency)***. |
*Click here to view the NHTSA website.