1993 GMC Sierra SL Regular Cab Long Box 4x4 4.3 Liter V6 from North America
Summary:
Cheap, indestructible workhorse. Enough said
Faults:
Water Pump 178,000 miles.
Front half shafts/joints at 167,000.
Fuel Pump at 201,000.
A/C finally died this past fall.
Heater core at 192,000 miles.
Front Y-pipe is rusting through, causing noisy operation, headed to the repair shop tomorrow.
Cloth seat starting to tear, $30 seat cover from K-mart.
After market cruise control kept shorting out and failing, so I disconnected it.
Rust starting to progress-- oh well, the truck is 15 years old and in the heart of the salt belt.
General Comments:
This truck has served its purpose well over the last 6 years. I am probably part of the less than 3% of the U.S. population that actually needs a 4 wheel drive vehicle. I haul firewood in the fall and have a steep driveway to climb in Northern Minnesota. (For those of you not familiar with the area, it gets cold and snows a lot here in the winter)
This is a bare bones truck with SL trim, the only options when new were A/C and a cloth seat. One of the previous owners added a CD player.
The V6 performs adequate at best. For modernized people is underpowered and slow, but it suits me fine for what I use it for. Put the transfer case into low 4X4 range and you can easily pull something 3 to 4 times the weight of the truck.
The Overdrive Automatic Transmission is designed for a much larger engine. Going down the road, even on small or nearly non-existent hills the transmission is constantly engaging or disengaging the lockup converter.
Fuel economy has ranged from 12 MPG at the very worst to 19.7 MPG on a long highway trip. The 350 V8 was a much better engine choice for this vintage, Fuel economy isn't much worse than a V6.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 17th March, 2008