'14 GMC Sierra: 60 Day/10,000 Mile Review

I traded in a Tacoma back at the end of July to pick up this bad boy. 10k miles in and its time for a review. Hopefully this is helpful to those of you who may be shopping for brands of truck and are yet undecided. I am pretty happy overall.

Out-the-door price on this truck was $26k. I believe I might have been able to get an F150 for a little ess, but its hard to say and too late anyways!

Hope you enjoy.

2014 GMC Sierra 4x4 Regular Cab 8' Bed, 5.3L V8





The first thing everyone wants to know about is the fuel economy, so let's get that out of the way. The EPA numbers are right on the nose. Stop and go in city traffic will get you 16 mpg, and highway cruising at 75 mph will get you 22. As you can see, my lifetime average has been a hair over 18, which is what pretty much everyone should expect with mixed driving. I'm neither happy nor upset with this mileage, I'm just content that the mileage GM tells me I should expect is actually accurate. That's something lots of automakers seem to have trouble with.



The good highway economy means the highway range is excellent. Expect around 700-750 mile tank ranges on highway trips. I can drive Cleveland to Washington DC and back (a trip I make several times a month) on one tank, which is fantastic.

The transmission is a thing of beauty. You never feel it shift, and its always in exactly the right gear. 6 speeds are perfect, and the ratios are well matched to the 3.42 rear axle. People tell me the 3.08 axle option is a real dog in comparison, so I really suggest the 3.42.

I towed 3900 lbs to San Francisco and never used tow/haul mode. For heavier trailers I'm sure you should use it, but without it the transmission learns to compensate within a few miles. You'll easily forget you're towing a trailer.



The engine is powerful but not overwhelmingly so. Its quiet (floor it with the windows rolled up and you can barely hear anything) and very smooth so you won't get that harsh "drag strip" feeling a Mustang GT might give you. You'll accelerate fast, but you'll have to watch your speedometer to know it.

The silent cabin is truly silent. 80 mph into a headwind on noisy concrete and you can still have whisper conversations with your passenger. The interior is also astonishingly well assembled for a GM truck, and you won't have to listen to any obnoxious rattles. It's all hard plastic in this low trim level but it looks good, feels good, and panel gaps are non-existent. The sky blue LED accent lighting makes the interior look like a swanky downtown hotel at night, further enhancing the upscale look. This is not your father's work truck.



Rated bed capacity is 1500 lbs and it handles it great. Almost no leaf spring sag. You can put 2,000 lbs of payload in there if you want - the truck won't notice it. The ride is excellent empty or loaded, and the handling differences are almost imperceptible between 0 lbs and 1500 lbs payload. My regular daily payload is usually 1000 lbs of tools and equipment, all under a tonneau cover. The truck drives nicely regardless.





If you get the plow prep package as I have, you'll get much heavier duty front springs, and the ride will be harsher than the same truck without the plow prep, so be prepared for that. However the upside to that is you can strap a 500 lbs plow to the front and not even notice it.



Cupholders, nooks, and pockets are abundant. It's a contractor's dream - plenty of places to stash garbage, broken tools, balled up home depot receipts and safety gear. Plus the little trays behind the cupholders are perfect for catching the diced tomato dingleberries that drop out of my Taco Bell. Vinyl hose-out floor also means no carpet to dirty up.

 

cool truck, , kinda like it, doesn't seem too big like most full size trucks, since you got the single cab i suppose.

 

Don't be fooled, its still a large truck

 

I have been very impressed with GM's trucks recently. My buddy bought a 2014 Silverado with the new 5.3L. Despite lifting it 6" and running 35" Nitto mud grapplers, he still averages right around 17MPG around town. Plus having that super quiet cab, you hardly even notice the chunky tires (sounds like a prop plane if you drive next to him ha ha).

I'd still like to see some long term tests for reliability, but if I was to buy a full size truck, for sure I'd be going with something new from GM.

 

Well, they didn't change much from the previous generation (2007+), and those have been very reliable with only very minor "common problems", so I expect this truck will be fine. The big " new" thing for the '2014+ models is the 6 speed transmission. So we'll see how they do.

 

I was under the impression the engines were new as well, are they not? I thought GM just started producing the new EcoTec line for the 2014+ models...

 

Great review OP. Looks like a good truck. Definitely a step up from the '00 Silverado that my dad used to have.

 

truck looks great, and that's a good price for what you're getting. very jealous of those MPG numbers. that's better than I get in my tacoma on 32s.

 

The only change has been the addition of Direct Injection. Displacement on Demand (the 2nd feature of the '14+ engines) has been in place in the previous generation for several years.