2023 Chevrolet Silverado 1500

The volume 2023 Silverado 1500 configuration — LT/RST crew cab with the 5.3L L84 EcoTec3 V8 — is rated 355 hp, unchanged for 2023. The lineup runs from the 310-hp 2.7L TurboMax (standard on WT, Custom, LT and RST Double Cab) up to the 420-hp 6.2L V8 on LTZ, High Country and ZR2.

The volume 5.3L V8 peaks at 383 lb-ft — mid-pack for a half-ton and, notably, less than the base 2.7L four-cylinder's 430 lb-ft. The 2023 torque leader is the revised 3.0L Duramax at 495 lb-ft.

Instrumented and published times for the 5.3L V8 4WD crew cab sit in the mid-6s — quick enough for a half-ton but well short of the sub-4-second electric trucks that anchor the top of the truck band. The 6.2L V8 is the pace car of the lineup at 5.7–6.4 s.

The 5.3L and 6.2L small-block V8s deliver the lag-free, linear low-end torque that defines a half-ton, and the revised-for-2023 LZ0 Duramax is unusually quiet and vibration-free for a diesel. What keeps this out of the top band is the 2.7L TurboMax, which reviewers consistently describe as strong off idle but coarse and buzzy at higher revs, and the V8s' Dynamic Fuel Management cylinder deactivation, which is audible at light throttle.

The GM 10-speed automatic behind the 5.3L, 6.2L and Duramax shifts smoothly and keeps the engine in its torque band without hunting in normal driving, though low-speed part-throttle shifts can be indecisive. The 2.7L TurboMax is still tied to an 8-speed for 2023 rather than the 10-speed, a step down in both ratio spread and polish.

Properly equipped, the 2023 Silverado 1500 tows 13,300 lbs — at the top of the half-ton class and near the ceiling of the truck normalization band. The volume 5.3L V8 crew cab 4WD is rated 11,000–11,200 lbs with the Max Trailering Package, 9,500 lbs without.

Maximum payload for 2023 is 2,260 lbs, achieved with the light 2.7L turbo four in a work-oriented configuration. That is competitive but not exceptional against the half-ton field, and real-world crew cab trims land closer to 1,800–2,000 lbs.

GM's Advanced Trailering System is the most complete factory towing suite in the segment: an available integrated proportional Spectrum trailer brake controller, tow/haul mode with trailer sway control, trailer profiles and a pre-departure checklist in the in-vehicle trailering app, hitch guidance with hitch view, and up to 14 camera views including a Transparent Trailer view that renders the trailer effectively invisible on the center screen. It falls short of a perfect score only because the brake controller and the richer camera provisions are options rather than standard equipment across the range.

Four-wheel drive is offered on every 2023 Silverado 1500 trim from Work Truck to High Country and is standard on Trail Boss and ZR2, using a genuine two-speed transfer case with low range; an Autotrac automatic 4WD mode is available on most trims, and an electronic locking rear differential is widely offered. It stops just short of the top of the band because 4WD remains an extra-cost option on the mainstream trims rather than standard.

The 2023 lineup carries two credible off-road trims: the Custom/LT Trail Boss with a factory 2-inch suspension lift, Rancho dampers, skid plates, locking rear diff and all-terrain tires, and the ZR2 with Multimatic DSSV spool-valve dampers, front and rear electronic locking differentials, 33-inch mud-terrain tires, rock sliders and roughly 11.2 inches of ground clearance. That is Raptor-class provision short of a dedicated high-speed desert runner.

Four genuinely distinct powertrains — a 2.7L turbo four, two displacements of small-block V8, and an inline-six turbo-diesel — give the 2023 Silverado 1500 one of the widest conventional engine menus in the segment. It cannot reach the top band because none of them is electrified: there is no hybrid or PHEV half-ton Silverado for 2023, and the battery-electric Silverado EV is a separate nameplate on its own platform.

The volume 5.3L V8 4WD crew cab returns 17 MPG combined — thirsty even by full-size truck standards, and the main drag on this category. Buyers who want efficiency from a 2023 Silverado have to move to the 2.7L four (19–20 MPG) or the Duramax diesel (24 MPG in 4WD).

16 MPG in town is mid-pack for a V8 half-ton — Dynamic Fuel Management cylinder deactivation keeps it from falling to the bottom of the class, but stop-and-start use is where this truck costs the most to run.

20 MPG on the highway is unremarkable for the class and sits near the bottom of the truck band, which runs to 31 MPG. The 3.0L Duramax is the only 2023 Silverado powertrain that materially changes the highway picture, at 27–29 MPG.

A 24-gallon tank and 17 MPG combined give the volume configuration roughly 400 miles between fills — adequate but short of the 500-plus-mile range a diesel half-ton or a bigger optional tank delivers. The figure is derived from the EPA combined rating and the published tank size rather than quoted directly by EPA.

EPA puts annual fuel spend for the volume 5.3L V8 4WD configuration at $3,600 — high in absolute terms and well into the upper half of the truck band, though the 6.2L V8's premium-fuel requirement pushes that trim past $4,450.

The volume 5.3L V8 and the 2.7L TurboMax both make their full rated output on regular 87-octane unleaded, and most 5.3L trucks are additionally E85 flex-fuel capable, which adds a cheap-fuel option where E85 is sold. The score is held just below the top of the band because the 6.2L V8 requires premium — a real cost penalty on LTZ, High Country and ZR2 — and the Duramax carries diesel and DEF requirements.

NHTSA rated the 2023 Silverado 1500 Crew Cab — the volume body style — 5 stars overall in both RWD and 4WD, with 4 stars frontal (5 driver / 4 passenger), 5 stars side barrier and pole, and 4 stars rollover. The 4-star rollover is unusually good for a full-size pickup and is what lifts the overall to five.

The 2023 Crew Cab holds Good results in the legacy tests (driver-side small overlap, original moderate overlap, roof strength, head restraints) but fails the two that matter most now: Poor in the updated moderate overlap front test, which measures rear-passenger restraint kinematics, and Marginal in passenger-side small overlap. The updated side test is only Acceptable, headlights are Poor on every tested trim and seat-belt reminders are Poor — so there is no Top Safety Pick, and none of the award prerequisites are close.

Chevy Safety Assist is standard on all nine 2023 trims from WT up — automatic emergency braking, forward collision alert, front pedestrian braking, lane keep assist with lane departure warning, IntelliBeam auto high beams and a following distance indicator — plus an HD rear vision camera. But adaptive cruise, Side Blind Zone Alert and rear cross traffic alert are all premium-trim or option-package content, so a volume LT or RST leaves the lot without blind-spot coverage.

IIHS rates the 2023 Silverado's standard front pedestrian braking Advanced in both the daytime and the nighttime pedestrian scenarios — working night detection is not a given in this segment and it is standard content, not an option. It falls short of the top band because Advanced is the middle tier rather than Superior, and IIHS carries no current vehicle-to-vehicle rating for this vehicle.

Side Blind Zone Alert with Lane Change Alert and Rear Cross Traffic Alert are standard only on the premium LTZ and High Country trims and cost extra below that, with rear cross traffic braking limited to the top trims. The genuinely useful piece for a truck buyer is Trailer Side Blind Zone Alert, which extends the monitored zone along an attached trailer, but it arrives in the same optional Safety Package on LT/RST/Trail Boss.

Lane Keep Assist with Lane Departure Warning is standard across the 2023 range, but it is a reactive steering nudge that acts near the line rather than a centering system — true lane centering exists only inside Super Cruise, which is High Country-only for 2023. Adequate on straight interstate, notably less polished than the centering rivals offer at this price.

The full-speed-range adaptive cruise holds a set gap cleanly in independent testing and forms the base layer under Super Cruise, but it is premium-trim or option content rather than standard, so most 2023 Silverados on the road do not have it. Without Super Cruise there is no combined highway assist — ACC and the lane-keep nudge do not work as one system.

Super Cruise is the most mature hands-free system on sale and it is offered on the 2023 Silverado 1500 — but only on the High Country trim, only with the Technology Package, and only paired with the 6.2L V8 or the 3.0L Duramax. The volume 5.3L V8 gas configuration this scorecard describes cannot be ordered with it at all, and GM had to pause and reopen ordering during the model year.

IIHS rates every 2023 Silverado 1500 headlight configuration Poor — both the LED projector setup on LT/RST/LT Trail Boss and the halogen reflectors on WT/Custom. There is no trim that buys out of it, which is the worst possible outcome for this item; standard IntelliBeam auto high beams are the only mitigating factor.

Sightlines are ordinary for a modern full-size pickup — high belt line, long flat hood with a large forward blind zone, thick A- and B-pillars, and rear head restraints cutting into the mirror view. An HD rear vision camera is standard on every 2023 truck, but the multi-view HD Surround Vision that actually solves the low-speed and trailering blind zones is optional or upper-trim content.

The Crew Cab gives you the space — near-square rear door openings, a flat floor and roughly 43 in of rear legroom, so rear-facing seats and multiple installs physically fit better than in most rivals. IIHS still rates the hardware itself Marginal for ease of use, meaning the lower anchors take digging to reach, and the Double Cab gives up meaningful rear room.

The volume 2023 Crew Cab LT/RST configuration seats 5 with front buckets and a floor console; the 40/20/40 split bench that makes it a six-seater is standard lower down the range and optional at LT. Double Cab and Regular Cab bodies seat 6 and 3 respectively.

Chevrolet-published front headroom for the 2023 Crew Cab, unchanged across the fourth generation since the 2019 launch and through the 2022 interior overhaul. It sits at the very top of the 38–43 in truck band.

44.5 in of front legroom is generous even by full-size truck standards and identical to the mechanically twinned GMC Sierra 1500. Front-row space is not a compromise in any 2023 Silverado cab.

Second-row headroom of the volume Crew Cab is comfortable for adults but a step behind the tallest-roofed half-tons, landing about two-thirds up the 38–41 in truck band.

43.4 in of second-row legroom makes the Crew Cab a genuine four-adult vehicle and is effectively level with the F-150 SuperCrew and Sierra 1500. The Double Cab gives up more than eight inches and is a different proposition.

The volume Crew Cab pairs with the 5'8" Short Box, which sits low in the 54–98 in truck band — the price of the long cab. Buyers who need bed length can order the 6'6" box on the Crew Cab or the 8'2" box on Double and Regular Cabs.

GM's wide, tall Durabed extracts more volume from the short box than any half-ton rival's comparable bed — 62.9 cu ft against the F-150 SuperCrew's 52.8 cu ft and the Ram 1500's 53.9 cu ft from beds of near-identical length.

A strong practical package rather than an inventive one: a deep center console with available wireless charging, a large lockable bin under the rear seat, 12 fixed tie-downs in the Durabed with the CornerStep bumper and available power up/down and Multi-Flex tailgates, and available 120V outlets in the cab and bed. It stops short of the top band because there is no RamBox-style in-bed trunk, no fold-flat work surface, and no Pro Power Onboard-scale generator — the 120V outlets share a 400-watt budget between them.

The 2022 interior overhaul carried into 2023 brought better-shaped front seats with heating from LT upward, and the Crew Cab rear bench is roomy with a usable backrest angle. What holds it mid-pack is that the standard 40/20/40 front bench on WT/Custom/LT is flat and short in the cushion, and power adjustment plus lumbar remain upper-trim content.

The Silverado's rear leaf-spring axle is tuned for load robustness and the unladen ride is the consequence: composed and straight-tracking on good pavement, but firm and occasionally jittery over broken surfaces, and clearly behind the coil-sprung Ram 1500. Adaptive Ride Control softens it meaningfully but is High Country/ZR2 content, not something a volume LT buyer gets.

The 2022 interior overhaul improved sealing and brought active noise cancellation and acoustic front side glass on upper trims, so the 5.3L V8 settles into the background at cruise. Wind rush around the large mirrors and tire roar on coarse pavement remain audible, and the base 2.7L four is noticeably coarser under load.

Dual-zone automatic climate control, heated front seats and a heated steering wheel arrive at LT (partly via the Convenience Package), remote start is broadly available, and rear-seat vents are standard in the Crew Cab. Ventilated front seats and heated rear outboard seats are reserved for LTZ and High Country, and the WT gets manual single-zone air only.

2023 MSRPs rose $1,000 across the entire Silverado 1500 range versus 2022, and the entry point had already climbed steeply — the identical WT Regular Cab Standard Box 2WD opened at $33,195 at the start of MY2022. The 2.7L TurboMax I4 is the standard engine on WT; the 4.3L V6 was gone after 2021. The floor sits about $600 below the mechanically identical GMC Sierra 1500 Pro.

LT Crew Cab 4WD with the 5.3L V8 is the classic Silverado retail volume configuration and lists at $55,790 with destination; typical convenience/appearance packages push a delivered truck to roughly $56,500. That is about $500 under an equivalently equipped Sierra 1500 and in the same territory as an F-150 XLT SuperCrew 4x4, though Silverado's larger fleet and WT/Custom mix means the nameplate's overall transaction average runs lower than this retail-volume trim.

Edmunds' True Cost to Own for the 2023 Silverado 1500 puts scheduled maintenance at $5,633 and out-of-warranty repairs at $1,755 over five years at 15,000 mi/yr; CarEdge's cumulative five-year figure is far lower at $3,491 because it weights wear items such as 20-inch tires and brakes less heavily. Splitting toward the Edmunds methodology used elsewhere in this framework puts the 2023 Silverado near $7,000 — mid-pack for a full-size truck, helped by commodity parts and the largest dealer service network in the segment, hurt by GM's 5.3L V8 lifter/AFM history and 8-speed transmission shudder claims that show up as repair spend once the 3/36 warranty lapses.

Full-size trucks hold value well in absolute terms, but the Silverado 1500 is the weaker half of the GM twins and trails both the F-150 and the segment average: iSeeCars measures 39.3% depreciation over five years against a 36.6% full-size-pickup class figure, and CarEdge projects 43%. The 2023 truck carries an extra residual headwind of its own — GM ran $3,500–$6,000 in cash allowances plus subvented APR through the back half of CY2023, and heavy new-truck discounting resets the used curve it will be measured against.

GM's standard bumper-to-bumper term — the segment floor, matched by Ford, Ram and Toyota but far behind Hyundai/Kia's 5/60. No trim on the 2023 Silverado 1500 buys more coverage; the 10-year/100,000-mile TurboMax engine coverage Chevrolet later advertised applies to 2024 and newer 2.7L trucks, not to this year.

GM's standard 5/60 powertrain term, again the segment floor and identical to the Sierra 1500's. The 3.0L Duramax LZ0 turbodiesel's emissions components carry the federally mandated 8-year/80,000-mile coverage, which is regulatory rather than a Chevrolet benefit.

Chevrolet covers exactly one scheduled maintenance visit — an oil change, tire rotation and multi-point inspection — within the first year of delivery, the program it has run since MY2019 after retiring the two-visit/2-year Chevrolet Complete Care. Around it sit 3 years/36,000 miles of roadside assistance and courtesy transportation, a 3-month OnStar Premium and Connected Services trial, and long-run Chevrolet Connected Access basic diagnostics. That is a single free oil change against Toyota's two years of ToyotaCare on the Tundra, but still marginally more than Ford gives an F-150 buyer.

$56,500 volume-trim price minus its estimated resale value after 5 years (57% retained, or about $32,205) leaves about $24,295 in depreciation. Add the projected $7,000 in 5-year maintenance and repairs, and owning this vehicle for 5 years costs about $31,295 in total.

The signals split badly for 2023. Consumer Reports put the 2023 Silverado 1500 near the bottom of the full-size pickup class on predicted reliability, with owner-reported trouble concentrated in electrical/infotainment (roughly a fifth of complaints — head-unit resets, audio and alert faults, power accessory gremlins) rather than in the mechanicals; J.D. Power's consumer quality-and-reliability rating for the same year is a merely average 80/100. 2023 is the second year of the 2022 interior/electronics overhaul, so the worst launch-year software churn had eased but was not gone, and the volume 5.3L V8's DFM lifter exposure keeps the ceiling low. Below the F-150 and a step under its own 2026 self.

Chevrolet's multi-year dependability record is genuinely mixed rather than bad: J.D. Power's Vehicle Dependability Study has generally placed the brand at or slightly above industry-average PP100, while Consumer Reports' brand reliability rankings have kept Chevrolet in the lower third of mainstream brands, dragged by crossover and EV programs elsewhere in the lineup rather than by the trucks. That split lands mid-pack — the same standing that applies to the GMC-badged Sierra 1500 built alongside it, and well behind Toyota or Honda.

The formal recall record for the 2023 build year is narrower than the generation's reputation suggests: three NHTSA campaigns, two of them software updates deliverable over the air (daytime running lights that fail to deactivate, 22V903000; a brake-control module that fails to warn on low brake fluid, 24V674000). The third is serious — the 6.2L L87 connecting-rod/crankshaft defect (25V274000) — but it reaches only 6.2L V8 trucks, leaving the volume 2.7L TurboMax and 5.3L V8 configurations untouched, and a separate 2023-specific cracked-block program on the 2.7L (customer satisfaction program N232415060) covered roughly a dozen trucks across three nameplates. What holds this to mid-band is the TSB side rather than the recall side: long-running bulletins for 10-speed torque-converter shudder, DFM lifter noise, and infotainment faults are the ordinary ownership experience for this generation.

The 2023 volume configuration is the 5.3L L84 EcoTec3 V8 — the small-block architecture is proven and every independent shop in America knows it, but the Dynamic Fuel Management version at the heart of this engine is the generation's documented weak point, with collapsed lifters scoring camshafts and, in the worst cases, destroying engines. The 10-speed Hydra-Matic paired with it carries persistent shudder and shift-flare bulletins. The 2.7L TurboMax alternative sidesteps DFM entirely and got a real 2023 output bump to 310 hp / 430 lb-ft, but the diesel-derived internal upgrades (rod bearings, ring carriers, piston rings) that materially improved its longevity did not arrive until the 2024 model year, so the 2023 four-cylinder is the pre-upgrade version. Only the 3.0L Duramax inline-six — not the scored gas configuration — has a clean durability reputation here.

2023 carries the 2022 cabin overhaul, which reviewers agree rescued a genuinely embarrassing early-generation interior: a real dashboard architecture, better switchgear, and a 13.4-inch touchscreen with a 12.3-inch cluster from LT upward. The caveats are consistent across reviews, though — Edmunds calls the buttons and dashboard plastics carryover from the previous truck, sturdy but cheap-looking; the WT and Custom trims that make up a large share of Silverado volume keep the smaller screens and the plainest surfaces; and Ram's 1500 still holds a clear materials advantage. Competitive for the price rather than class-leading, and a visible step under the Sierra Denali sold from the same platform.

Second-year production of the refreshed interior at Fort Wayne, Silao and Oshawa is structurally sound — panel gaps and trim alignment read as segment-normal, and NHTSA carries almost no structural or assembly complaints for the year. What drags the score is electronic and trim-level quality rather than sheetmetal: infotainment systems cutting out and resetting, power-tailgate malfunctions, speakerphone echo and assorted cabin rattles recur through 2023 owner reports, and J.D. Power initial-quality results place GM's full-size pickups around the segment average, behind the F-150. Solid, not tight.

Chevrolet runs one of the two largest franchised dealer networks in the country at roughly 2,900–3,000 locations, so factory service for a Silverado is close at hand almost anywhere — a material advantage over the Buick-GMC channel that supports the mechanically identical Sierra, and decisive in the rural markets where these trucks sell hardest. For a 2023 truck the network is also the warranty backstop for the DFM and 6.2L campaigns above. Service satisfaction, which J.D. Power's Customer Service Index puts around the mainstream average rather than at Ford's level, is the only thing keeping this out of the top band.

As the second-best-selling vehicle in America in its model year, the 2023 Silverado 1500 sits behind only the F-150 in aftermarket depth, and the 5.3L small-block in the volume truck is the most familiar powertrain in any independent shop in the country. Parts commonality with the Sierra, Tahoe, Suburban, Yukon and Escalade keeps OEM supply deep and fulfillment quick, and by now a three-year-old truck also has a mature used- and reman-parts channel that a current-year truck lacks. Routine maintenance runs at or below the full-size-pickup average; the real cost exposure is a DFM lifter job out of warranty, not the price of ordinary parts.

The 13.4-inch landscape touchscreen introduced with the 2022 interior overhaul is standard from LT upward and is the largest screen offered — there is no bigger option. It is a big display in absolute terms but only mid-band against a truck field that now includes 17-inch-plus EV pickups.

The Google built-in system on the 13.4-inch screen is quick, legibly laid out and — importantly for a truck — leaves physical volume and tuning knobs and hard climate buttons in place rather than burying them. It is held out of the top band by trailing menu depth for vehicle settings and by the fact that WT and Custom buyers get an entirely different, much smaller and older-feeling interface.

Wireless Apple CarPlay and wireless Android Auto are standard with the 13.4-inch system, which covers LT and every trim above it — the trims most buyers actually order. It falls short of the top band because WT and Custom, on the 7- and 8-inch screens, are wired-only, so projection is not wireless across the whole lineup.

Google built-in gives the 2023 Silverado Google Assistant natural-language voice control and Google Maps as the factory navigation — the best combination available in a mainstream truck, because the maps are the ones owners already use and they update themselves. It is short of the very top only because the connected services behind it run on a trial-then-subscription model.

A six-speaker system is standard in Double and Crew Cabs and is adequate rather than good; the optional Bose Premium system adds seven speakers and a Richbass woofer and is a clear improvement without being a showpiece against the Ram's 19-speaker Harman Kardon option. The Regular Cab WT ships with just two speakers.

A 12.3-inch reconfigurable full-digital driver display is standard alongside the big touchscreen on LT and above, and it is crisp and genuinely configurable including trailering layouts. WT and Custom keep analog gauges with a small driver information center, which keeps this out of the top band.

The fourth-generation Silverado's VIP electrical architecture supports over-the-air updates covering infotainment, maps and some vehicle modules, so the truck can gain fixes without a dealer visit. It is a maintenance channel rather than a feature-delivery channel — 2023 predates the Ultifi rollout that broadened OTA scope, and owners saw no meaningful new capability arrive over the air during the model year.

The myChevrolet app covers remote start, lock/unlock, vehicle locate, diagnostics and trailering profiles competently, but the useful remote functions sit behind the Remote Access plan after the included trial rather than being free for the life of the vehicle. There is no phone-as-key on the 2023 Silverado 1500, which is where rivals were already pulling ahead.

USB-C data and charging ports are provided front and rear in the Crew Cab, wireless phone charging is available from the mid trims, and 120V household outlets can be ordered for both the cab and the bed. Two things keep it mid-band: the outlets share a single 400-watt budget, and a documented 2023 supply constraint shipped Custom, LT, RST and Trail Boss trucks with non-functional 120V outlets that had to be retrofitted later.

Keyless Open with push-button start is standard from LT upward and remote start is widely available, and the power up/down and Multi-Flex tailgates add genuine hands-full convenience at the back of the truck. It stays mid-band because WT and Custom still use a conventional key on the volume work configurations and there is no phone-as-key option for 2023.

GM's camera provision is the deepest in the segment: up to 14 distinct views with HD Surround Vision, a bed-view camera and the Transparent Trailer view that renders an attached trailer effectively invisible. It is held below the top band because an HD rear camera is all that is standard — surround view and front/rear park assist are Safety Package or premium-trim content on the volume LT and RST.

The 15-inch diagonal multi-colour head-up display is large and informative, projecting speed, navigation and safety alerts with adjustable height and brightness — but it is top-of-range content, so an LT or RST buyer cannot order it at any price.

The Crew Cab is physically one of the easiest vehicles anywhere for car seats: 43.4 in of rear legroom, a flat floor, and wide near-square rear door openings mean rear-facing seats and three-across installs fit without negotiation. Two things pull it back — IIHS rates the LATCH hardware itself Marginal for ease of use, and the high step-in height means small children need to be lifted in or given a running board.

The 5-star NHTSA overall rating for the Crew Cab is real, and Chevy Safety Assist puts AEB, front pedestrian braking and lane keep assist on every trim including WT. But the IIHS picture is poor where it matters for families: Poor in the updated moderate overlap test, which specifically measures rear-passenger restraint, Poor headlights on every trim tested, and blind-spot monitoring absent from the volume LT and RST unless the Safety Package is ordered.

The Crew Cab second row is genuinely spacious for four-plus adults with rear vents standard and heated outboard seats available high in the range, and the bed swallows any amount of luggage. The catch is that the bed is open and unsecured unless a tonneau or cap is added, rear amenities beyond vents and USB are thin, and the firm unladen ride works against multi-hour comfort more than the Ram's does.

Low-speed manners are better than the size suggests — the 5.3L V8 pulls cleanly from idle with no turbo lag, the 10-speed is unobtrusive in traffic, and the commanding seating position makes lane-changing easy. Against that, the auto stop/start is a common owner complaint, adaptive cruise is not standard on the volume trims, and the sheer footprint means constant spatial attention in traffic.

This is the Silverado's weakest use case. The volume 5.3L V8 4WD Crew Cab returns an EPA 17 MPG combined and an estimated $3,600 a year in fuel at 15,000 miles — roughly double what a commuter-appropriate vehicle costs to run. The 2.7L TurboMax only reaches 19–20 MPG combined; the 3.0L Duramax at 24–26 MPG is the one genuinely economical option and it carries a price premium.

A Crew Cab Silverado is roughly 232 in long and 81 in wide with a 46.4 ft turning circle, which puts it over the line in most urban garages and parallel spaces. The standard HD rear camera and the available surround view genuinely help, but no camera shortens the truck.

Work is what this truck is built around and it has capacity to spare: 13,300 lbs of conventional towing when properly equipped, up to 2,260 lbs of payload, and the largest bed volume in the half-ton class. Four distinct powertrains let a buyer match the tool to the job, with the revised-for-2023 Duramax adding 495 lb-ft for heavy trailer work.

The fleet credentials are close to unmatched — the Silverado is perennially among the best-selling vehicles in the US, the small-block V8s and the fully boxed frame are long-proven, and vinyl floors and cloth seats are orderable for abuse. What keeps it out of the top band for 2023 specifically is a steady stream of owner reports of transmission and electrical trouble on this generation, plus the mid-year 120V outlet defect that shipped trucks needing a retrofit.

The bed is well provisioned for real work: 12 fixed tie-downs in the Durabed with movable cleats available, the CornerStep rear bumper and available power up/down and Multi-Flex tailgates for access, a bed-mounted 120V outlet, and an upfit ecosystem — racks, toolboxes, service bodies, plow prep — as broad as anything on sale. It is short of the top band because the onboard power is a 400 W shared budget rather than a jobsite generator, and the useful bed features are options rather than standard equipment.

Roughly 408 miles of range from the 24-gallon tank on the volume 5.3L, a quiet-enough cabin at cruise and a commanding driving position make it a competent tourer, and the Duramax stretches that toward 576 miles. The fatigue-reduction tech is where 2023 disappoints: adaptive cruise is premium-trim content, there is no lane centering outside Super Cruise, and Super Cruise for 2023 requires High Country plus the Technology Package plus the 6.2L or Duramax — it cannot be ordered on the volume 5.3L gas truck this scorecard describes.

A genuine adventure enabler with unusual depth to the off-road ladder: 4WD with a two-speed transfer case is available on every trim, the Trail Boss adds a factory 2-inch lift, Rancho dampers, skid plates and a locking rear diff, and the ZR2 brings Multimatic DSSV dampers, front and rear lockers, 33-inch mud-terrains and 11.2 in of clearance. Add 120V power, a big bed for dirty gear and 13,300 lbs of trailer rating for boats and toys.

Bulky, dirty or oddly shaped gear is where a pickup simply wins — the wide Durabed takes 62.9 cu ft in the volume short box, more than any half-ton rival's comparable bed, the rear seat bottoms flip up for weather-protected cargo, and a hitch and bed racks are a catalog order away. It is not a perfect score because the bed is open to weather and theft without a tonneau, and there is no underfloor or in-bed lockable storage of the RamBox kind.

The 2023 Silverado 1500 is a carry-over of the fourth-generation T1 truck: independent front suspension, a rear leaf axle and a fully boxed frame that track straight and hold body roll better than the size implies. Mid-corner bumps are its weak point — the leaf-sprung rear skips and unsettles the truck where the coil-sprung Ram stays planted.

The electric power steering is light-effort, accurate on-centre and stable at highway speed, which makes the truck easy to place — but it transmits essentially nothing back through the rim. Precise enough, entirely numb.

Four-wheel discs give linear, progressive pedal feel with no regen blending to complicate modulation, and stopping distances are unremarkable but adequate for a 5,000-plus-pound half-ton. Pedal travel is longer than in the Ram, and repeated hard stops with a trailer bring on noticeable softening.

The volume 5.3L EcoTec3 V8 with GM's 10-speed automatic is well calibrated — crisp tip-in, unobtrusive shifts, and abundant low-end torque that never asks the transmission to hunt. Dynamic Fuel Management cylinder deactivation is audible at light throttle, the auto stop/start restart is one of the most-criticized traits in owner reviews, and the 2.7L TurboMax's 8-speed is a step down in polish.

The small-block V8s produce a pleasant muted rumble under throttle and go quiet at cruise, and the revised 2023 LZ0 Duramax is unusually smooth for a diesel inline-six. The mid-band placement reflects the base 2.7L four, which reviewers consistently describe as coarse and thrashy at the revs a loaded truck actually uses, and the faint driveline shudder some owners report at light-throttle DFM transitions.

About 46 ft to swing around is mid-band for a full-size truck — tighter than an F-150 SuperCrew's 47.8 ft, marginally wider than the Ram 1500's 46.2 ft. The longer-wheelbase Crew Cab Standard Box pushes past 50 ft and is noticeably harder to place.

A commanding H-point with excellent forward sightlines, and the 2022 interior overhaul that carries into 2023 fixed the previous cabin's worst sin — the 13.4-in touchscreen and 12.3-in cluster on LT and above sit high and legible, with real knobs and hard climate buttons retained. Held back by a high step-in without running boards, thick pillars, and power seat adjustment plus lumbar being upper-trim content.

The volume LT/RST 5.3L is a competent, comfortable workhorse rather than something an enthusiast seeks out on a back road — the V8 soundtrack is the main source of character. The lineup does contain genuinely entertaining machines in the 420-hp 6.2L and the Multimatic-damped ZR2, but neither is what most buyers drive home.

The 2022 refresh's headline interior — a 13.4-inch center touchscreen and 12.3-inch reconfigurable cluster — is standard from LT upward (LT, RST, LT Trail Boss, ZR2, LTZ, High Country), which in 2023 undercut GMC badly: the mechanically identical Sierra restricted that stack to Denali and Denali Ultimate. Chevy Safety Assist (automatic emergency braking, forward-collision alert, lane-keep assist with lane-departure warning, following-distance indicator, IntelliBeam, front pedestrian braking), wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto and LED headlamps are fleet-wide. The knock is the bottom of the ladder: WT, Custom and Custom Trail Boss still carry the pre-refresh dashboard with a 7-inch screen and a 3.5-inch monochrome DIC, so the truck's best value story doesn't start until roughly $48K.

Against its own twin the Silverado is the value play — the same T1XX truck, the same engines, and the big screen three rungs lower down the ladder for several thousand dollars less than an equivalent Sierra. The 2023-specific TurboMax upgrade to 430 lb-ft makes the standard four-cylinder a genuinely credible base engine rather than a price leader, and heavy in-year incentives improved the real-world equation further. Working against it: MSRPs rose $1,000 across the board for 2023 on top of a very steep 2022 increase (WT Regular Cab up from $33,195 to $37,395 in two model years), and interior materials on WT through RST remain plainly behind a Ram 1500 at the same money.

Among the broadest lineups in any segment: ten distinct configurations from WT to ZR2 Bison (WT, Custom, Custom Trail Boss, LT, RST, LT Trail Boss, LTZ, High Country, ZR2, and the new-for-2023 ZR2 Bison), three cab styles (Regular, Double, Crew), three bed lengths, four powertrains — 2.7L TurboMax I4, 5.3L V8, 6.2L V8 and the new 3.0L Duramax LZ0 I6 turbodiesel — and 2WD or 4WD throughout. MSRPs span $37,395 to $78,490, a $41K ladder with no meaningful gaps. Only the F-150 matches this configurability, and the AEV-developed ZR2 Bison adds a factory hardcore off-roader Ram and Toyota had no answer for in 2023.

Silverado sales rose about 6% in CY2023 to 555,148 units, second in the full-size class behind the Ford F-Series and comfortably ahead of the Ram 1500, GMC Sierra, Tundra and Titan. It was also the 16th best-selling vehicle in the world in 2023. Only the F-Series' much larger volume keeps this out of the top band — the Silverado's own trajectory was positive on normalizing supply.

Chevrolet is a broadly accepted, heavily cross-shopped mainstream truck brand with deep loyalty in its base, but it lacks both the F-150's default-choice halo and the premium cachet GMC extracts from Denali. That gap shows up in money: Sierra 1500 residuals run a couple of points above the identical Silverado, and iSeeCars puts Silverado depreciation below the full-size class average. Owner sentiment is positive but not glowing — 73% of KBB reviewers recommend the 2023 truck, with build quality the most-cited weakness.

2023 was a good year to negotiate a Silverado. GM ran escalating national cash allowances through the model year — roughly $3,500 in September and up to $4,750 in July, $5,250 in October and as much as $6,000 in August on select configurations — frequently stacked with 0% financing and deferred payments, plus extra allowances for choosing the 2.7L TurboMax. Meaningful money on the hood without the desperation pricing that arrived in 2024 (Silverado discounts hit $10,000–$10,500 by spring of that year), and clearly better buyer benefit than the same-year Sierra.

2023 is year five of the fourth-generation T1XX Silverado launched for MY2019, but only year two of the substantial 2022 refresh that brought the new dashboard, 13.4-inch screen, available Super Cruise and revised suspension — so the cabin buyers actually shop was current. 2023 adds real content of its own: the TurboMax I4 up to 430 lb-ft, the new 3.0L LZ0 Duramax replacing the LM2, and the ZR2 Bison. Exterior sheet metal was aging by 2023 and the base trims still wore the pre-refresh interior, which is what keeps this out of the top band.

Solidly reviewed but consistently a runner-up: U.S. News ranked the 2023 Silverado 1500 fourth among full-size pickups at 7.8/10, and comparison tests generally gave the F-150 the win on towing, payload, powertrain choice and cabin quality, with the Ram taking ride and interior comfort. Reviewers credited the improved 5.3L/eight-speed calibration, the class-leading 13.4-inch screen on mainstream trims, available Super Cruise, and the ZR2 Bison's genuine off-road hardware; the recurring criticisms were hard interior plastics on lower trims and mixed build quality. No NACTOY or Truck of the Year honors for 2023.