The Best Used Truck Under $5K - Here's Why I Bought This 2001 Chevy Silverado and Absolutely Love It

I needed a truck. After progressing from Autocross, to Track Events, and finally to competitive racing in the Spec Miata class, driving the race car to the track was no longer a viable option. This meant I would need a trailer for the race car, and obviously, something to tow it with. Not being a truck guy, I had to rely on advice on which one to buy. Also, being a cheap SOB, something new and shiny was not an option - I needed something dependable and comfortable, with a good tow capacity, for less than $5K.

The guy I trust the most on these matters steered me toward a Silverado, and specifically an early 2000s truck, with an LS motor. He said they were incredibly reliable, powerful enough to comfortably haul a race car, and practical enough to fit everything I needed. He was right. At the local Ford dealership, they have a bi-weekly auction of their trade-ins, and after attending a couple of their sales, this truck finally appeared - a 2001 Silverado Extended Cab LT with the 5.3 LS and in 2WD trim - perfect.

The truck was a little rough around the edges, but the bones were good. It was a local 1-owner vehicle, never up north with the salt, and had what appeared to be a well-maintained 172K miles. The top surfaces were faded, and the dashboard cracked, but the rest of the interior was very tidy, and the CarFax showed a strong service history through the years. It was a silent auction, and I bid probably a bit more than I needed to, but it was mine for $3200. Perfect.

Without doing a thing to it, I hooked it to the trailer a few days later and towed the race rig to Daytona without issue - a 5 hour trip each way. It seemed I had found the right truck. Having great raw material to work with, I started to do what I do best with vehicles - spend money on them. It got all new hoses and belts under the hood, new brakes at the four corners, new springs and Bilstein shocks, Firestone Trailering Air Bags, Plugs and wires, coolant, brake, and oil change. Transmission and differential fluid change, and probably some other crap I forgot. I tinted the windows, painted the top surfaces, replaced the windshield glass and gasket, replaced a bad side view mirror, fixed a bad passenger window regulator, replaced the grill and emblems, put in new tailgate hinges,and replaced the cracked dashboard. I also had our wheel guy refresh the rims. The truck was starting to look good. Later I had the headlights restored, changed out the taillights with new ones, replaced the upper brakelight, and changed out every light in the truck to an LED variant. Getting better.

Inside, I installed a new stereo so I could have a backup camera, found some useful gun storage, added a CB, added a Police Scanner, Upgraded the rear view mirror to a temp/compass model, installed my V1 radar detector, added a front and rear dash cam, tire pressure sensors for truck and trailer, subwoofer, fire extinguisher, and other bits and pieces I probably forgot. All in all, it became a silly project and useful tow vehicle, and much more to my surprise - a daily driver.

I now understand why so many people buy pickup trucks - this thing is big, comfortable, rides beautifully on the highway, and fits anything in it I want to, including people. When the big full framed cars disappeared from the roads, I suspect the people who loved them moved right over to pickup trucks - they got a similar ride, similar space, and an absolutely lovely vehicle to live with. On our lot, there's any number of expensive or interesting cars - Mercedes-Benz products, Porsches, BMWs. Jags, and all that - but there is nothing I enjoy more day-to-day than this old, cheap Silverado. It's a great truck, and a great driver.

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