2019 GMC Sierra 1500

2019 is the launch year of the fourth-generation (T1XX) Sierra 1500, and the volume gas configuration — SLE/SLT crew cab 4WD with the 5.3L EcoTec3 V8 — is rated 355 hp. The model-range maximum is 420 hp from the available 6.2L V8; unlike 2020, there is no 3.0L Duramax entry because that engine's introduction slipped a model year.

The volume 5.3L V8 peaks at 383 lb-ft, mid-pack for a half-ton. The 2019 torque leader is the 6.2L V8 at 460 lb-ft — and for this model year that is the only way to reach 460, since the 3.0L Duramax that matched it for 2020 was not yet on sale.

Instrumented results for the 5.3L V8 crew cab cluster between 6.7 and 7.0 seconds, so 6.8 s is taken as the corroborated mid-point rather than any single outlet's run. Quick enough for a half-ton V8, but it lands low in the truck band, which is anchored at its fast end by sub-4-second electric trucks.

The 5.3L and 6.2L small-block V8s deliver the lag-free, linear low-end torque that defines a half-ton — Cars.com's launch drive called the 5.3L 'punchy, smooth and never lacked for grunt.' What holds 2019 to the middle of the upper band is the newly introduced 2.7L Turbo four, strong off idle but coarse and buzzy at higher revs in its pre-TurboMax 310 hp / 348 lb-ft form; the V8s' Dynamic Fuel Management cylinder deactivation, audible at light throttle; and the carry-over 4.3L V6's ordinary manners on the base truck. It rates marginally below the 2020 truck because the unusually smooth 3.0L Duramax inline-six that broadened the range for 2020 is absent here.

The 2019 Sierra fields three automatics and the good one is the rarest: the 10-speed is restricted to the 6.2L V8, the revised 8-speed handles the 2.7L Turbo and the DFM 5.3L (L84), and the dated 6-speed is still fitted to the 4.3L V6 and the AFM 5.3L (L82). Reviewers single out the 10-speed as responsive, but the 8-speed most volume buyers actually get carried the previous generation's reputation for hesitant and occasionally harsh low-gear shifts into the new truck, and owner complaints of rough or delayed shifting followed.

Properly equipped, the 2019 Sierra 1500 tows 12,200 lbs — 100 lbs more than the 2020 truck and well into the upper half of the truck band. The volume 5.3L DFM crew cab 4WD is rated 9,400 lbs on the 3.23 axle and 11,200 lbs with the 3.42 gears and the Max Trailering Package; the 2.7L Turbo is the weak point of the range at 6,500–6,900 lbs.

Maximum payload for 2019 is 2,240 lbs, achieved in a work-oriented regular cab long box — competitive but unexceptional for a half-ton, and the crew cabs that dominate Sierra sales land nearer 2,070–2,140 lbs. GMC's 2019 trailering guide carries no payload table, so this comes from published model-year specifications rather than a manufacturer document, and the regular cab long box was a late-availability configuration for 2019.

2019 is the model year GMC's ProGrade Trailering System arrived, and it landed as one of the most complete factory towing suites in the segment: Hitch Guidance with Hitch View and hitch-area lighting, the industry-first Auto Electric Parking Brake Assist, an in-vehicle Trailering App with trailer profiles, pre-departure checklists, trailer electrical diagnostics and a trailer light sequence test, a companion myGMC mobile app, HD Surround Vision, a Trailer Camera Package with mirror-mounted rear-facing cameras plus an accessory camera, trailer tire-pressure monitoring, and an available integrated trailer brake controller. It sits a few points under the 2020 truck because the enhanced 15-view camera system with Transparent Trailer and the power-adjust/fold/extend vertical trailering mirrors were 2020 additions, and because the brake controller and camera packages are extra-cost rather than standard.

Four-wheel drive is offered on every 2019 Sierra 1500 trim from the base truck to Denali and is standard on the new AT4, using a genuine two-speed transfer case with 4-Low; the Traction Select System adds drive modes and an auto 4WD setting on higher trims, and a locking rear differential is standard on AT4 and available elsewhere. It falls short of the top of the band because 4WD remains an extra-cost option on the mainstream trims rather than standard equipment.

The AT4 launches for 2019 and gives the Sierra genuine factory off-road credibility: a 2-inch suspension lift, off-road-tuned Rancho monotube dampers, skid plates, a standard locking rear differential, hill descent control, the Traction Select System and red recovery hooks, with either V8. It sits below the top band because 2019 predates the AT4X (2022), so there are no Multimatic DSSV dampers, no front locker and no 33-inch mud-terrains from the factory — reviewers at launch framed the AT4 as a capable premium off-roader rather than a Raptor rival.

2019 offers four distinct engines — a 4.3L V6, the new 2.7L turbo four, the 5.3L small-block V8 in two calibrations (L82 with AFM, L84 with DFM) and a 6.2L V8 — a respectable conventional menu, but narrower than the 2020 truck's. The 3.0L Duramax inline-six was announced for 2019 and cancelled out of the model year when its introduction was delayed, so there is no diesel option, and nothing in the range is electrified.

The volume 5.3L V8 4WD crew cab returns 17 MPG combined — a point worse than the identical 2020 configuration, which EPA recertified at 18, so the launch-year truck is the thirstier one. Dynamic Fuel Management is not enough to separate it from the 4.3L V6 or the 6.2L V8, both also 17; the only meaningfully more efficient 2019 Sierra is the 2.7L Turbo at 20–21 MPG, because the 3.0L Duramax that transformed this picture for 2020 was not offered.

15 MPG in town is where this truck costs the most to run, and it is the same figure EPA gives the 6.2L V8 — the 5.3L's cylinder deactivation buys nothing in the city cycle over the bigger engine for 2019. The 2020 version of the same configuration was rated a point better at 16.

21 MPG on the highway sits in the lower third of the truck band, which runs to 31 MPG. Dropping to 2WD is worth three more miles per gallon, and with no diesel available for 2019 there is no configuration that materially changes the long-haul picture.

EPA publishes total range directly for this configuration at 408 miles — adequate for a half-ton but in the bottom third of the truck band, and about 25 miles short of the same truck a model year later. Switching to two-wheel drive or the 2.7L Turbo is the only way to extend it meaningfully in 2019.

EPA puts annual fuel spend for the volume 5.3L V8 4WD configuration at $3,650 — high in absolute terms, in the upper half of the truck band, and $200 a year worse than the 2020 truck. A Denali or AT4 ordered with the premium-only 6.2L V8 runs $4,550, near the top of the band.

The volume 5.3L V8, the 4.3L V6 and the 2.7L Turbo all make their rated output on regular 87-octane unleaded, and several 5.3L six-speed configurations are additionally E85 flex-fuel capable, which adds a cheap-fuel option where E85 is sold. The score is held below the top of the band because the 6.2L V8 — standard on Denali and available on AT4 — requires premium, a penalty EPA prices at $900 a year over the 5.3L.

The all-new 2019 T1XX Sierra 1500 Crew Cab — the volume body style and the configuration this scorecard describes — takes 4 stars overall in both 2WD and 4WD, held down by a 4-star frontal result (4 stars driver and 4 stars passenger) against 5 stars in every side test. The Sierra fares slightly worse than its Silverado twin across the range: GM's Chevrolet Extended Cab earns 5 stars overall while the identical Sierra Double Cab manages only 4, leaving the Regular Cab as the single 5-star body in the GMC lineup.

The 2019 Crew Cab is Good in driver-side small overlap, moderate overlap front, the original side test, roof strength and head restraints, but only Marginal in passenger-side small overlap — the T1XX structure allows significant intrusion on the side it was not optimized for — and only Acceptable in the updated side test. With Poor headlights on all three configurations there is no Top Safety Pick and no way to build one, which keeps the truck just under the 'mostly Good with some Acceptable' band.

Standard active safety on a 2019 Sierra is a Rear Vision Camera, Teen Driver mode, Rear Seat Reminder, Tire Pressure Monitoring with Tire Fill Alert and StabiliTrak — nothing else, on any trim including Denali. Everything the top band asks for sits behind two stacked option packages: Driver Alert Package I (PQB) carries blind-zone, cross-traffic and park assist, and Driver Alert Package II (PDJ) carries forward collision alert, Low Speed Forward Automatic Braking, lane keep assist, pedestrian detection and IntelliBeam — and PDJ explicitly *requires* PQB, so autobrake costs two packages. Package II is confined to SLT, AT4 and Denali, which means the volume SLE and the Elevation cannot be ordered with automatic emergency braking at any price, and a Denali is not equipped with it unless the buyer ticks both boxes. Adaptive cruise is not offered on the 2019 Sierra in any form, so one of the five features the top band names does not exist on this truck.

When the truck is actually equipped, the hardware performs above its billing: IIHS rates 2019 front crash prevention Superior vehicle-to-vehicle, with the collision avoided outright in both the 12 mph and 25 mph runs, even though GMC markets the system only as Low Speed Forward Automatic Braking. What holds it to the middle band is that IIHS published no pedestrian front crash prevention rating for 2019, and that the system is two-package optional equipment restricted to the upper half of the lineup rather than something most 2019 Sierras leave the lot carrying.

The redesign at least put these features on the order sheet — Lane Change Alert with Side Blind Zone Alert and Rear Cross Traffic Alert arrive together in Driver Alert Package I, available from SLE up, where the previous-generation Sierra offered neither at any price. But the package is optional on every trim, Denali included: a loaded Denali leaves the factory without blind-zone coverage unless the buyer adds PQB or the Denali Ultimate Package. Coverage is alert-only with no steering or braking intervention, there is no safe-exit function, and no trailer-aware blind-zone extension — the version that actually matters on a full-size pickup towing something longer than itself.

Lane Departure Warning with Lane Keep Assist exists only inside Driver Alert Package II, so it is unavailable below SLT and requires Driver Alert Package I underneath it — the volume SLE Crew Cab has no lane assistance of any kind. Where fitted it is a reactive torque nudge applied as the truck drifts across a line without a signal, not a centering system that holds the vehicle mid-lane. GM's actual lane-centering hardware, Super Cruise, is three model years away from this truck, and the Sierra has no adaptive cruise to build it on.

The 2019 Sierra 1500 has fixed-speed cruise control and nothing more — adaptive cruise is not offered on any trim, in any package, at any price, which is a conspicuous omission for a ground-up redesign launching against an F-150 and Ram 1500 that both had full-speed-range ACC with stop-and-go. The nearest thing on the order sheet is the Following Distance Indicator, a Driver Alert Package II readout that displays the gap and does nothing about it. There is correspondingly no highway assist. GMC adds camera-based ACC for 2020 on SLT, AT4 and Denali.

No hands-free option exists on the 2019 Sierra 1500 at any trim or price. Super Cruise was still effectively a Cadillac exclusive in 2019, expanded to the full-size Chevrolet and GMC SUVs for 2021, and did not reach the Sierra 1500 until the 2022 model year — and this truck lacks both the adaptive cruise and the lane-centering hardware such a system would be built on.

GMC's one advantage over its Chevrolet twin here is that LED headlamps are standard on every 2019 Sierra, base trim included, so there is no halogen-reflector penalty at the bottom of the range — but IIHS rates all three LED-reflector configurations Poor regardless, faulting visibility as inadequate in all four curve tests. No trim, package or price buys out of it, and IntelliBeam auto high beam is itself Driver Alert Package II content restricted to SLT, AT4 and Denali, so the volume SLE gets Poor headlights with no beam assist to offset them.

Class-typical full-size pickup sightlines, with the T1XX redesign trading in both directions: GM raised the front seating position for a more commanding view, but the taller, blockier body and long flat hood leave a large forward blind zone behind thick A- and B-pillars. A Rear Vision Camera is standard on every trim and the HD version is standard on SLT and Denali, which is the meaningful baseline — but every aid beyond it is gated behind a chain of packages: front and rear park assist need Driver Alert Package I, and HD Surround Vision plus the Rear Camera Mirror are Technology Package content that itself requires Driver Alert Package II on top of Package I. 2019 also predates the power-extending vertical trailering mirrors and the wider trailering camera suite added for 2020.

The Crew Cab supplies the space — 43.4 in of rear legroom and 40.1 in of rear headroom behind a near-square door opening and a flat floor, so rear-facing seats and multiple installs fit more easily than in most family vehicles. The hardware is the weak part: IIHS rates LATCH ease of use Marginal, faulting lower anchors buried too deep in the seat, tether anchors in hard-to-find locations and other hardware that can be mistaken for an anchor. Only the two outboard positions carry complete LATCH hardware — the centre seat has no lower anchors — so a genuine three-across install means belting the middle. The Double Cab gives most of this back at 35.2 in of rear legroom.

The volume 2019 Sierra 1500 SLE Crew Cab keeps a 40/20/40 split-bench front seat, so it carries six — the top of the 2–6 truck band. Buyers who step to AT4, Denali or an SLT with buckets drop to five.

43.0 inches sits at the very top of the 38–43 in truck band — the fourth-generation T1 cab, all new for 2019, is unusually tall inside and publishes the same figure as its Silverado twin.

44.5 inches is near the top of the 41–45 in truck band and clear of the 2019 F-150's 43.9 in and the Ram 1500's 40.9 in — the T1XX redesign's headline interior gain.

40.1 inches of second-row headroom sits in the upper half of the 38–41 in truck band, a shade behind the 2019 F-150 SuperCrew's 40.4 in and ahead of the Ram 1500 Crew Cab's 39.8 in.

43.4 inches in the Crew Cab is limousine-grade space for a pickup — near the top of the 33–45 in truck band and more than most large three-row SUVs give their middle row. Choosing the Double Cab costs more than eight inches of it.

The volume Crew Cab short bed measures 69.9 inches of floor length — mid-band for the segment and the trade a buyer makes for the 43.4-inch rear seat. Longer boxes exist only with a longer wheelbase or a smaller cab.

62.9 cubic feet was the best-in-class figure for a 5-foot-8 box at the T1XX launch — the new roll-formed high-strength-steel bed is far wider between the wheelhouses and deeper than the 2019 F-150's 5.5-ft box at 52.8 cu ft. Volume rather than length is where this bed wins.

2019 is the year the segment's one genuine storage innovation arrived — the six-function MultiPro tailgate, which folds into an inner gate load stop, a primary and secondary step, a standing workstation and a load-assist surface, and which no Silverado could be ordered with at any price — joined mid-year by the industry-first CarbonPro composite bed on AT4 and Denali. Around it sit 12 tie-downs rated 500 lbs per corner, available movable upper tie-downs, an available 120-volt bed outlet, LED cargo lamps, CornerStep bumper footwells, a 40/20/40 front bench with under-seat storage and a flip-up rear bench that clears a flat load floor. It rates below the 2020 truck on the same hardware for a launch-year reason: for 2019 MultiPro is standard on SLT, AT4 and Denali and is *not orderable at all* on the SLE or Elevation (2020 at least opened it up as an Elevation Crew Cab option), there is no power tailgate option anywhere in the range, and CarbonPro reached dealers only in summer 2019 on a limited CarbonPro Edition.

Adequate rather than plush on the volume trim, and clearly better once you pay. The SLE arrives on a cloth 40/20/40 bench with manual adjustment — the 10-way power driver's seat, power lumbar and heated front seats all live in the $2,200 Convenience Package — and launch reviewers found the seats 'wide and accommodating' but not special, offering little support for anything beyond highway cruising. Higher trims answer it: heated 10-way power leather front seats are standard from SLT, and Denali adds ventilated fronts and heated rear outboard seats. The Crew Cab's rear bench benefits from the enormous new legroom and a comfortably reclined backrest.

The weakest part of the launch-year truck's comfort case, and the criticism was consistent enough that GM retuned the suspension for 2020. Autoblog's Denali first drive found overall comfort and ride quality poor even with Adaptive Ride Control; Cars.com reported the simpler passive SLT actually rode smoother and quieter than the electronically damped Denali; Edmunds told buyers to take the 18- or 20-inch wheels rather than the 22s specifically in the interest of ride; and Consumer Reports recorded the ride as stiff and snappy. Two things keep it from the low band — the Sierra is the only GM half-ton offering continuous-damping Adaptive Ride Control at all (standard on Denali, an option no 2019 Silverado 1500 had at any price), and KBB and J.D. Power rated the highway ride composed. No Sierra offers air springs to answer the Ram 1500.

The strongest single element of this truck's comfort case and a deliberate engineering priority for the T1XX launch — Consumer Reports calls the cabin very quiet with road and engine noise impressively muted, and J.D. Power describes a serene, compliant highway demeanour. The 5.3L V8's Dynamic Fuel Management transitions are the main intrusion at cruise, and the new 2.7L Turbo an SLE can also be ordered with is the coarse one. It stops short of the top band because acoustic laminated glass and the quietest cabin treatments are upper-trim content rather than SLE equipment.

The content exists and reaches further up the range than the Chevrolet's, but on the volume SLE it is all packaged: dual-zone automatic climate control, heated front seats, a heated steering wheel, keyless ignition and the power driver's seat arrive together in the $2,200 Convenience Package, and remote start is separate. From SLT up, heated power leather front seats and a heated wheel are standard; Denali adds ventilated front seats and heated rear outboard seats. Against it: there is no separate rear climate zone anywhere in the 2019 range — second-row occupants get vents only — and a plainly specified SLE has manual air and no heated anything.

2019 is the launch year of the fourth-generation (T1) Sierra, and GMC still fielded a genuine work-spec base trim, so the nameplate opens near $31,000 delivered — cheap against the $25,000–$80,000 truck band, but roughly $1,300 above the mechanically identical Silverado 1500 Work Truck. That entry configuration is a stripped Regular Cab that barely reaches retail; Sierra volume sits two trims higher. The destination charge is derived rather than pulled from a GMC price sheet in this run, hence MEDIUM.

Sierra volume lands on SLE and Elevation Crew Cab 4WD — $43,500 MSRP for the SLE 147", or $45,095 delivered. The 2.7L Turbo is the standard engine on SLE and Elevation for 2019, so reaching the 5.3L V8 this scorecard describes as the volume powertrain is a paid option, and normal package uptake (SLE Value/Convenience, X31 off-road, trailering) carries a representative truck to about $48,000 — roughly $1,100 above the equivalent 2019 Silverado LT Crew Cab for the same hardware, and essentially flat against the 2020 Sierra SLE.

Estimates diverge because they count different things: CarEdge's $3,193 is scheduled service and modelled repairs only, while RepairPal's $727/yr for the 2019 Sierra 1500 is unscheduled repair alone and excludes routine maintenance — adding the two gives roughly $6,800, and a V8 four-wheel-drive crew cab sits above that model average. The cost drivers are identical to the Silverado twin: cheap routine service on the pushrod 5.3L, offset by this generation's Dynamic Fuel Management lifter failures and 8-speed torque-converter shudder. It lands slightly above the Chevrolet because GMC dealer labor rates run higher and the Sierra's content mix adds wear items the Silverado LT does not carry.

The 2019 truck reached its five-year mark in 2024, with used full-size pickup values off the 2022 peak but still historically strong — better than the nameplate's structural norm. Industry aggregates bracket the Sierra 1500 at 57–62% retention over five years, and the Sierra depreciates marginally slower than the Silverado, which is why this sits a point above the Chevrolet twin's estimate for the same model year. Retention is quoted against as-equipped MSRP, not the stripped base price. The evidence genuinely conflicts: KBB places the 2019 Sierra in the worst quartile for depreciation among 2019 pickups, which argues lower.

GM's standard new-vehicle limited warranty, unchanged for the T1 launch year and identical across the 2019 GMC line and to the mechanically identical Chevrolet Silverado 1500. It matched Ford, Ram and Toyota in 2019 but sits at the industry floor and at the bottom of the framework's 3–5 year band, well behind Hyundai/Kia's 5-year/60,000-mile coverage. GMC's premium positioning buys no extra warranty.

Five years or 60,000 miles is the Detroit-three baseline and the bottom of the framework's 5–10 year band; nothing about the all-new T1 platform bought buyers extra coverage in its launch year. It trails Nissan's 5-year/100,000-mile Titan coverage and is half of Hyundai's 10-year/100,000-mile term.

2019 is the model year GM cut the perk: GMC had covered two visits over 2 years/24,000 miles, and from 2019 models onward it covers only the first required maintenance visit — one dexos full-synthetic oil and filter change, a four-tire rotation and a multi-point inspection, redeemable within the first year. What keeps this mid-band rather than low is the surrounding coverage: 5 years/60,000 miles of roadside assistance and courtesy transportation through the powertrain term, plus short OnStar and GMC Connected Services trials. That is a token service visit rather than a maintenance plan — behind Toyota's 2-year/25,000-mile ToyotaCare on the Tundra, level with Ram and with the Chevrolet twin, and ahead of Ford, which included no scheduled maintenance on the 2019 F-150 at all. GMC's premium brand position buys nothing extra here.

$48,000 volume-trim price minus its estimated resale value after 5 years (64% retained, or about $30,720) leaves about $17,280 in depreciation. Add the projected $7,100 in 5-year maintenance and repairs, and owning this vehicle for 5 years costs about $24,380 in total.

2019 is the launch year of the fourth-generation T1XX Sierra — an all-new body, frame, cabin, electrical architecture and two new powertrain calibrations at once — and the ownership data reads like a first-year truck. Consumer Reports rates it below average for the model year, and owner-report aggregators flag the same two expensive defects as the mechanically identical Silverado: Dynamic Fuel Management lifter collapse on the 5.3L L84 and 8-speed shudder/hard shifting. The one genuine counterweight is J.D. Power, which rates the 2019 Sierra 1500 86/100 for Quality & Reliability — the best of the light-duty full-size trucks in its study — and that measures the first 90 days, which is precisely the window before the lifter and torque-converter problems surface. Strong initial quality over a weak durability record nets out below average, not mixed.

The cohort-matched measurement is the J.D. Power 2022 Vehicle Dependability Study, which surveys three-year-old 2019 vehicles — this exact build — and put GMC at 192 PP100, dead level with the industry average and 21 points behind sister brand Chevrolet's 171. GMC beat Jeep (201), Nissan (205) and Ram (266), so it is not a bottom-of-class brand in the truck-buying set. Consumer Reports pulls harder the other way, ranking GMC 22nd of the brands it covers in its 2019 survey and keeping it in the bottom tier through this period — noticeably worse than Chevrolet despite building the same vehicles. An average-at-best brand record, a notch below where Chevrolet's 2019-cohort result sits.

Ten NHTSA campaigns reach the 2019 Sierra 1500, and several are fleet-wide GM actions shared with the Silverado that involve fire, stalling or loss of a primary safety system rather than trim defects — seat-belt pretensioners that can vent hot gas and ignite carpet fibers, an alternator battery-cable connection that can arc and cause a stall or fire, Electronic Brake Control Module software that can disable stability control and ABS, and unsecured front-center seat-belt brackets. The Sierra also carries its own roof-rail airbag campaign in which the inflator end cap can detach or the sidewall rupture and project fragments into the cabin. Layered on top are the generation's two systemic bulletin families: 8L45/8L90 torque-converter shudder, with a long TSB trail (18-NA-355, January 2019, following PIP5337) and class-action litigation alleging none of the repairs fixed it, and the DFM collapsed-lifter misfire bulletins covering these 5.3L engines. Repeated safety-critical campaigns plus unresolved driveline bulletins put this well below mid-band.

The scored 2019 volume configuration is the 5.3L EcoTec3 V8 (355 hp / 383 lb-ft) with the 8-speed automatic — the L84 with Dynamic Fuel Management, which arrived on SLE/Elevation and above for 2019 while the base trucks kept the older AFM L82 and a six-speed. That is the generation's least fortunate pairing and 2019 is its first model year, before any of GM's later mitigations. The small-block architecture is proven over decades, but DFM can deactivate any cylinder in any combination, so all 16 lifters are deactivation lifters — a wider failure surface than the eight-lifter AFM system it replaced, and a collapse takes pushrods and the camshaft with it. The 8L90 carries a documented torque-converter shudder and hard-shift defect with class-action litigation behind it; GM's own remedy history ran through a fluid change before the bulletins stabilized. Two known weak points on the same truck in their debut application outweigh the architecture's pedigree. Only the 4.3L V6 six-speed builds and the 6.2L/10-speed Denali escape the pairing; the 3.0L Duramax was postponed to 2020 and is not in the 2019 lineup.

GMC positions the Sierra above the Silverado and the cabin does sit a step up — Edmunds found it well built and sturdy, with firm leather seat material, and SLT and Denali add genuine open-pore wood, stitched surfaces and better switchgear. But the bones are shared with the Silverado, whose interior was the most criticized part of the 2019 redesign and the reason the 2022 refresh exists, and Edmunds was explicit that it was not enamored with the design or the quality of materials. The volume SLE/Elevation is largely hard plastic with soft-touch areas that feel thin, and in a model year when Ram had just raised the segment's bar it reads as mid-pack rather than premium — an awkward result for a truck sold at a premium price class.

Structural assembly is sound and short-term quality is the Sierra's best reliability data point: J.D. Power's 86/100 Quality & Reliability score is a 90-day measurement and topped the light-duty full-size trucks, and reviewers reported no squeaks or rattles in the new body. What holds this at mid-band is launch-year component and electronics quality rather than panel gaps — 90 NHTSA electrical complaints for the model year, infotainment and connectivity faults, and a raft of first-year niggles around the new MultiPro tailgate mechanism and trim. Solid bones with a persistent band of first-year assembly and electronics complaints, marginally ahead of the Silverado on the strength of GMC's trim execution.

GMC sells through the combined Buick-GMC channel, which is materially smaller than Chevrolet's roughly 2,900-3,000-store network — a real difference in the rural markets where half-tons sell hardest, and the reason this sits below where the mechanically identical Silverado lands. What GMC gets back is service quality: it consistently scores above the mass-market average in J.D. Power's Customer Service Index and ranks near the top of the truck segment specifically, essentially tied with Chevrolet. For a 2019 truck carrying ten recall campaigns, several of them fleet-wide, a nationwide franchised network is also what made those remedies practically obtainable at no cost. Good coverage and better-than-average service satisfaction, short of the densest networks.

Mechanically the Sierra is a Silverado, so it inherits the deepest parts channel in the industry after the F-150: the 5.3L small-block is the powertrain every independent shop already knows, and the T1XX platform is shared with the Silverado, Tahoe, Suburban, Yukon and Escalade. Seven model years on, the 2019 truck also has a mature used, reman and aftermarket supply that a current-year truck does not. RepairPal puts Sierra 1500 annual repair and maintenance at $727 against a $936 full-size-truck average, ranking it 3rd of 17 in the class. Two things keep this out of the top band: repair severity is above average even though frequency is low — the repairs this year actually needs are the $6,000-plus DFM lifter/camshaft and torque-converter jobs, not brake pads — and the Sierra-specific body items (MultiPro tailgate mechanism, CarbonPro bed, GMC-only trim) are dealer-channel parts priced above the Chevrolet equivalents.

Eight inches is standard from the SLE upward and is also the maximum available on any 2019 Sierra 1500 — the 13.4-inch display does not arrive until the 2022 refresh. That puts it at the floor of a truck band calibrated against today's 12-to-17-inch pickups, even though it matched the 2019 F-150 and only the Ram 1500's new 12-inch Uconnect beat it that year.

One of the better-liked systems in the segment at the T1XX launch: quick, plainly organised tile menus, customizable user profiles that carry radio and vehicle preferences, dual-device Bluetooth pairing, and — increasingly rare by 2019 — real volume and tune knobs with separate hard-key climate controls beneath the screen. Reviewers listed the responsive touchscreen among the new truck's strengths. It falls short of the top band because the graphics already looked plain next to the Ram 1500's new 12-inch Uconnect 4C, the 8-inch panel limits how much is visible at once, and launch-year owners logged infotainment glitches that later software updates chased.

Wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard on every 2019 Sierra 1500 including the base truck, which is the good half of the story. The wireless versions are not offered on this model year at any trim or price — GM enabled wireless projection on these trucks only from 2021 — so a 2019 buyer plugs in. That is squarely the wired-standard, no-wireless middle band.

Functional and unremarkable. Built-in voice recognition is a command-and-menu system rather than a natural-language assistant, and most owners default to Siri or Google through phone projection. Embedded navigation is better placed than on the Chevrolet twin — the Premium GMC Infotainment System with Navigation is standard on Denali and available on SLT, with Connected Navigation delivering live traffic over the OnStar connection — but the volume SLE ships with the plain 8-inch system and has to option nav. There is no Google built-in integration on this generation.

A competent spread with one genuinely novel option. The volume SLE runs a six-speaker system; the Bose Premium Audio System with RichBass woofer is standard on Denali and available on SLT, and GMC introduced a dealer-installed MultiPro Audio System by KICKER that integrates into the tailgate for outdoor use, which nothing else in the class offered. It rates a little below the 2020 truck on otherwise identical hardware because SiriusXM with 360L — the satellite-plus-streaming upgrade — was not available until 2020. The Bose setup is a mid-tier branded system rather than a flagship.

There is no full digital cluster on any 2019 Sierra 1500 — every trim uses an analog speedometer and tachometer with a driver information display set between them. The volume SLE does get a colour 4.2-inch Driver Information Center as standard, and an 8-inch colour DIC comes with the Technology Package on the upper trims, but nothing in the range is a reconfigurable full-width screen of the sort rivals were beginning to fit. Partial digital at the volume trim with no full-digital option at any price belongs at the top of the low band.

Thin, and thinner than the 2020 truck's. The 2019 Sierra predates GM's Global B / VIP electrical architecture, which debuted on the 2020 Cadillac CT5, so propulsion, chassis and driver-assistance modules all need a dealer visit. What the truck does have is infotainment-side updating over OnStar data or home Wi-Fi — GMC states OTA update functionality covers select 2017-and-newer vehicles, and map updating runs over the connection — but GM's first documented substantial multi-module over-the-air campaign for these trucks (Bluetooth, projection, SiriusXM, radio display, cluster and head-up display) was published for the 2020 model year, and nothing has been delivered over the air to a 2019 Sierra that added a feature. That is bottom-of-the-middle scope at best.

The myGMC app plus OnStar covers the core set competently — remote start with climate, remote lock/unlock, vehicle locate, fuel level and oil life, a 4G LTE Wi-Fi hotspot and OnStar emergency services — and 2019 adds a genuine first: the myGMC app gained trailering functions, letting an owner check trailer light diagnostics and tyre pressures from the phone. Two things hold it mid-band: the remote commands ride on the Remote Access Plan, which lapses into a paid subscription after the included trial, and there is no digital key or phone-as-key on the 2019 truck. On the volume SLE, remote start itself has to be optioned before the app can use it.

Better than the 2019 class average, but almost all of it is optional on the volume trim. The fourth-generation cab was among the first pickups to fit USB-C alongside USB-A; second-row charge-only USB ports come inside the SLE's $2,200 Convenience Package, wireless phone charging is optional on SLT and standard on Denali, and household power is available as a 120-volt bed outlet for tools. A plainly specified SLE gets a modest port count and no wireless pad, and there is no onboard generator-grade power in the Pro Power vein, which keeps this out of the top band.

Middle of the band because the volume trim has to buy in, though 2019 is marginally the better year of the two. Keyless Open and Keyless Start are bundled into the SLE's $2,200 Convenience Package along with remote start; both are standard from SLT upward, and the base Sierra still uses a conventional key. Where 2019 beats 2020 is that the keyless-access buttons on the rear doors are still fitted — GM deleted them across these trucks for 2020 — so proximity unlock works at all four doors. The gaps: there is no phone-as-key of any kind, and no configuration offers a power or hands-free tailgate, because the 2019 Sierra does not offer a power tailgate at all.

Good hardware buried behind a long option chain. An HD rear vision camera is standard on SLT and Denali and a rear camera on every trim; HD Surround Vision and the segment-first Rear Camera Mirror arrive only in the Technology Package, which itself requires Driver Alert Package II on top of Driver Alert Package I — three boxes deep, and confined to SLT, AT4 and Denali. Front and rear park assist sit in Driver Alert Package I, which the volume SLE can at least order. It rates below the 2020 truck because 2019 predates the 15-camera-view suite with Transparent Trailer and the power-extending vertical trailering mirrors, and because the Technology Package cannot be combined with the Trailer Camera Package. There is no automated parking of any kind.

A head-up display exists and GMC marketed it as first-in-class for a pickup, but for 2019 it is both smaller and harder to get than the unit the 2020 truck offers. The 2019 item is a multi-color 3-inch by 7-inch projection — the 15-inch diagonal HUD is a 2020 change — and it can only be had inside the Technology Package, which requires Driver Alert Package II and is therefore restricted to SLT, AT4 and Denali. A volume SLE Crew Cab buyer cannot order it at any price, which is the 'HUD limited to top trims' definition, placed at the bottom of the middle band by the smaller projection and the package stacking.

Raw space is the family case here: a near-square rear door opening, a flat floor, 43.4 inches of rear legroom that takes a rear-facing seat without shoving the front seat forward, a flip-up rear bench that clears a wide load floor for strollers, and — unlike the 2020 truck — keyless access buttons still fitted to the rear doors, which matters with hands full. The hardware and the geometry are the compromises: IIHS rates LATCH ease of use Marginal, faulting lower anchors buried too deep in the seat and tether anchors in hard-to-find locations, only the two outboard positions carry complete anchor hardware, and the step-in height of a 4WD half-ton means small children have to be lifted in.

The weakest part of this truck's case and it lands hardest exactly where families shop — and 2019 is worse than 2020 on the same structure. Automatic emergency braking, forward collision alert, pedestrian detection and lane keep assist all live in Driver Alert Package II, which is restricted to SLT, AT4 and Denali *and* requires Driver Alert Package I underneath it, so a volume SLE or Elevation Crew Cab cannot be ordered with AEB at any price and even a Denali arrives without it unless two boxes are ticked. Adaptive cruise control is not offered on the 2019 Sierra at all — GMC adds it for 2020. Underneath the packages, the Crew Cab rates only 4 stars overall with NHTSA, IIHS finds Marginal passenger-side small overlap protection, and every headlight configuration is rated Poor. A rear seat reminder is at least standard.

Genuinely quiet and genuinely spacious — the all-new cab gives second-row occupants more legroom than most large SUVs, on a comfortably reclined backrest, and Consumer Reports records road and engine noise as impressively muted. The subtractions are real and the launch year adds one: there is no separate rear climate zone (vents only), no factory rear-seat entertainment beyond a dealer-installed accessory DVD system, family luggage either rides in an open bed exposed to weather and theft or stacks on the rear floor, the front seats were described at launch as accommodating but short on support beyond highway cruising, and the pre-retune 2019 suspension is stiff and snappy over broken interstate concrete.

Undemanding in the ways that matter in traffic: the 355-hp 5.3L V8 pulls cleanly from idle with no turbo lag, the steering is light and accurate at low speed, the commanding new seating position helps in queues, and the infotainment keeps real knobs. Working against it — the launch-year ride is stiff and snappy over city pavement, Dynamic Fuel Management's cylinder transitions are audible at light throttle, the 8-speed behind the volume V8 drew widespread complaints of rough and delayed low-gear shifts, the column-mounted shifter is agricultural, and adaptive cruise — the single most fatigue-reducing commuting feature — does not exist on the 2019 Sierra at any trim or price.

Expensive per mile even by half-ton standards, and a notch worse than the 2020 truck on the same engine. The volume 5.3L V8 4WD Crew Cab returns 15/21/17 MPG city/highway/combined with an EPA estimated $3,650 a year in fuel at 15,000 miles, and there is no diesel escape hatch for 2019 — the 3.0L Duramax that returns 24–26 MPG combined was cancelled out of the model year. Regular 87-octane, some E85 flex-fuel capability and the sheer commonality of small-block parts help at the margins, but 17 MPG combined in stop-and-go traffic dominates the cost.

A full-size crew cab is a poor urban tool and this one softens it only slightly: roughly 231.7 inches long on the 147.4-inch wheelbase with a 46.3-foot curb-to-curb circle, stretching to about 241 inches and 49.5 feet if the buyer takes the standard bed, plus a tall flat hood with a large forward blind zone. Camera help beyond the standard rear view costs money and sits three packages deep — HD Surround Vision is Technology Package content that requires Driver Alert Package II on top of Package I, so SLT and above only — though unlike the Chevrolet twin the volume SLE can at least add front and rear park assist through Driver Alert Package I. No self-parking system is offered.

This is what the truck is for and the launch year delivers with headroom to spare — fractionally more than 2020, in fact. Properly equipped the 2019 Sierra 1500 tows 12,200 lbs with the Double Cab and 12,100 lbs with the Crew Cab, with the volume 5.3L DFM Crew Cab 4WD rated 9,400 lbs standard and 11,200 lbs with the 3.42 axle and Max Trailering Package, and payload reaching 2,240 lbs. The bed is the class volume leader at 62.9 cu ft in the short configuration, the V8's low-end torque is unbothered under load, and the new ProGrade Trailering System with an available integrated brake controller backs it up. It sits just below the very top because the 2.7L Turbo entry engine manages only 6,600–6,900 lbs in the crew cab and the Silverado twin reaches higher in a configuration GMC does not offer.

The bones are as fleet-proven as anything in the class — a fully boxed high-strength-steel frame, a roll-formed high-strength-steel bed floor, a small-block V8 lineage with decades of commercial service behind it, and a parts and service network in every town. But this is a first-year truck on a brand-new platform and the record shows it: ten NHTSA recall campaigns including a brake-assist software defect and a rear camera display failure, widespread owner reports of rough and delayed shifting from the 8-speed, and the L84 5.3L's Dynamic Fuel Management already generating collapsed-lifter and camshaft complaints. It also rates below the Chevrolet twin for fleet duty because GMC's work-spec offering is thinner — the vinyl-floor stripper trims are mostly Chevrolet's business.

The best-provisioned half-ton bed of 2019 and the reason a contractor pays the GMC premium. The MultiPro tailgate's six positions turn into an inner gate load stop for long material, a primary and secondary step for bed access, a standing workstation and a load-assist surface — functions no rival offered, and the Silverado could not be ordered with at any price — and the industry-first CarbonPro composite bed arrived mid-year on AT4 and Denali, shedding about 60 lbs and adding roughly 59 lbs of payload while resisting dents and corrosion better than steel. Around them: 12 tie-downs at 500 lbs per corner, available movable upper tie-downs, an available 120-volt bed outlet, LED cargo lamps, CornerStep bumper footwells sized for work boots, the new ProGrade Trailering System, and North America's deepest upfit ecosystem. The gaps are launch-year ones: MultiPro is not orderable on the volume SLE or Elevation at all for 2019, there is no power tailgate option anywhere, CarbonPro was limited to a summer-2019 CarbonPro Edition, and there is no onboard generator-grade power in the Pro Power vein.

A middling mile-eater, and weaker than the 2020 truck on both of the axes that matter. The quiet cabin is the real asset — J.D. Power calls the highway demeanour serene and compliant — but the 24-gallon Crew Cab tank at 17 MPG combined is good for only about 408 miles between fills, the volume SLE's cloth bench was faulted at launch for offering little support beyond cruising, the pre-retune ride is stiff over broken concrete, and the fatigue-reducing driver assistance simply is not there: adaptive cruise is unavailable on any 2019 Sierra at any price, lane keep assist is Driver Alert Package II content on SLT and above, and Super Cruise is three model years away.

A capable adventure platform without being a specialist, and 2019 is the year the credible off-road trim arrived. Four-wheel drive with a genuine two-speed transfer case and low range is available on every trim; the new AT4 adds a factory 2-inch lift, off-road-tuned Rancho monotube dampers, an automatic locking rear differential, skid plates, hill descent control and the Traction Select System as standard, with mud-terrain Goodyear Wrangler DuraTrac tyres available; buyers lower down can order the X31 Off-Road Package, which brings the same off-road suspension, skid plates, two-speed Auto-Trac transfer case, locking rear diff, 18-inch all-terrain tyres and hill descent control. Tow and payload ratings handle any boat, camper or toy hauler a family owns, and the available 120-volt bed outlet plus the flip-up rear seat support camping. It stays out of the top band because 2019 predates the AT4X: no front locker, no Multimatic DSSV dampers, no 33-inch tyres, and standard trims sit on only about 8 inches of clearance.

The open bed is the whole argument and 2019 introduced the best version of it — 62.9 cubic feet in the short box, class-leading for the length, wide enough between the wheelhouses for plywood or a dirt bike, with 12 tie-downs, available movable upper tie-downs and CornerStep access. The MultiPro tailgate's inner gate load stop genuinely extends usable bed length for long gear and its step positions make loading over the side easier. Inside, the flip-up rear bench clears a flat floor for anything that should not ride outside. The limits: MultiPro cannot be ordered on the volume SLE or Elevation for 2019 at all, there is no power tailgate, and a pickup bed is open to weather, dust and theft unless the buyer adds an accessory tonneau or cap.

Secure and predictable rather than engaging, and a step behind the best in the class in its launch form. The fourth-generation truck shed up to 360 lbs and rides on a stiffer fully boxed frame, and Consumer Reports finds handling sound and secure, but Edmunds is blunt about the Sierra specifically — it leans over a lot and turns in sluggishly — and Autoblog found the Denali's body control disappointing even with Adaptive Ride Control. That continuous-damping system, standard on Denali, is the one genuine dynamic advantage over the Silverado, which offered no adaptive damping at all for 2019; a volume SLE rides on conventional passive dampers and modest all-season grip. GM's 2020 suspension retune exists because of how this year drove.

Precise enough but numb — the definition of the middle band. The electric rack is firm without feeling overboosted and tracks straight and untiringly on the highway, and it is light and easy in parking lots, but reviewers consistently report almost no road texture coming back through the wheel. Selectable drive modes firm the assist slightly on higher trims; nothing changes the feedback.

Better than the segment norm in outright performance, held back by pedal feel. KBB's 2019 review describes braking as nicely predictable and linear, Truck Trend credits the new electro-hydraulic booster on this generation for tight, linear response, and Edmunds calls maximum braking performance impressive — but the common complaint about the T1 trucks is that a lack of pedal feel makes precise modulation hard in routine driving. Duralife rotors, standard tow/haul mode and trailer sway control back it up, and SLT and above can be had with an integrated trailer brake controller. One launch-year deduction: NHTSA recalled 2019 Silverado/Sierra trucks for a software error that could disable brake assist and lengthen stopping distances.

The volume 5.3L EcoTec3 V8 is the good part — naturally aspirated, linear, no turbo lag, immediate off idle, 355 hp and 383 lb-ft delivered without drama, and Cars.com's launch drive called it punchy and smooth. Two things keep it out of the upper band, and both are worse in 2019 than 2020. Dynamic Fuel Management, which can run the V8 in any of 17 cylinder patterns, is perceptible at light throttle as the mode changes; and the gearbox behind the volume engine is the 8-speed, with the responsive 10-speed reserved for the 6.2L V8 alone this year — the 8-speed is the unit owners most often fault for rough and delayed low-gear shifts, with complaints appearing on the 2019 trucks from the first months. Auto stop/start is standard and its restarts are noticeable.

Well isolated for a body-on-frame pickup. Consumer Reports records engine noise as impressively muted and J.D. Power calls the highway demeanour serene; the small-block V8's character under throttle is a pleasant burble rather than an intrusion, and vibration through the wheel and pedals is low. It stays below the top band because Dynamic Fuel Management's mode changes produce an audible shift in exhaust note at cruise, the stop/start restart shudders through the cab, and the new 2.7L Turbo — not the volume engine, but one an SLE buyer can be sold — is genuinely coarse at higher revs.

46.3 feet on the short-wheelbase Crew Cab is mid-band for a full-size truck and better than the 2019 F-150 SuperCrew's 47.8 ft, but the buyer who orders the 6'6" bed pays for it with a 49.5-foot circle that makes three-point turns a routine part of parking.

The fundamentals are good and were the point of the redesign: a commanding upright seating position, 43.0 in of head room and 44.5 in of leg room up front, tall door openings, a leather-wrapped wheel standard from SLE, and — increasingly rare by 2019 — real volume and tune knobs with separate hard-key climate controls rather than everything buried in a screen. The subtractions are the flat, manually adjusted cloth bench on a volume SLE without the $2,200 Convenience Package (which is also where the tilt-and-telescoping wheel lives), the column-mounted gear selector Consumer Reports called clunky and old-school, small fiddly climate buttons, and a long flat hood that hides a large area of pavement directly ahead.

Pleasant but forgettable. The 5.3L small-block has real character — an old-fashioned V8 rumble and effortless mid-range that makes merging and towing satisfying — and the new-for-2019 AT4, with its lift and DuraTrac tyres, gives the range one trim with a personality. But no reviewer recommends the 2019 Sierra for enjoyment: the steering is numb, the body leans and turns in sluggishly, the launch-year ride is firm without being sporting, and there is no enthusiast halo anywhere in the range to answer the Raptor. GMC's own pitch is professional-grade capability and Denali luxury, not driving pleasure.

Active safety was the glaring gap in the launch year. Forward collision alert with automatic emergency braking and lane keep assist lived in the optional Driver Alert Package II, and even blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert required Driver Alert Package I — so a ~$48,000 SLE Crew Cab could leave the line with none of it, in the same year Ford made forward-collision warning and AEB standard across the entire F-150 range. The Sierra's saving grace over the Silverado is the six-function MultiPro tailgate, standard from SLE up and genuinely useful rather than a gimmick, plus CarPlay and Android Auto on every trim. But GMC charges roughly $1,100 more than Chevrolet for the same hardware, so measured as content per dollar the base spec is thin.

The Sierra is the more expensive way to buy a truck that is mechanically identical to the Silverado, and on list price the launch-year T1 gave away cabin quality and standard content to both direct rivals — reviewers put it behind the Ram 1500 on interior materials, ride and refinement while charging a brand premium for the privilege. What holds it at fair value rather than poor is content Chevrolet could not be ordered with at any price — the MultiPro tailgate, the CarbonPro carbon-composite bed, and a head-up display — plus capability per dollar that is competitive on tow and payload. Layer on the five-figure discounting GMC ran from spring 2019 onward and the money actually paid bought considerably more truck than the window sticker implies.

A wide, well-spaced ladder — six trims from the vinyl-floor base Sierra to the leather-lined Denali, spanning $29,600 to $58,300, with Regular, Double and Crew cabs, multiple bed lengths, 2WD or 4WD, and the new AT4 off-road trim added for this generation. It sits below the Chevrolet twin's breadth rather than at the top of the band because GMC fields six trims to Chevrolet's eight and one off-road model against Chevrolet's two Trail Boss variants, and the cheap end is thinner. The powertrain menu is also one engine short of the plan: the 3.0L Duramax inline-six announced for this generation slipped to 2020, leaving four engines for the launch year.

A strong seller with a genuinely good trajectory, held back from the top band by a slow launch and a fixed fourth place in the segment. Sierra deliveries fell about 2% in Q1 and 4% in Q2 while the all-new truck was still ramping and dealer stock was thin, then jumped 29% in Q3 as availability caught up — the light-duty Sierra 1500 alone was up 38.2% to 47,743 units that quarter — finishing the calendar year at 232,325 units, up roughly 6% on 2018. That is comfortably a top-ten US nameplate and it grew while the Silverado shrank, but GM Authority placed the Sierra fourth in its competitive set in every quarter of the year, behind the F-Series, Silverado and Ram.

This is where the Sierra earns its premium over the Silverado. GMC's "Professional Grade" positioning and the Denali sub-brand — the most successful premium trim strategy in the truck market — give it real aspirational pull and support transaction prices at the top of the non-luxury segment, and buyers demonstrably pay to step up from the mechanically identical Chevrolet. The launch year also gave GMC the halo features: the MultiPro tailgate was the single most-discussed piece of 2019 pickup hardware, and the CarbonPro bed was an industry first. It stops short of the top band because GMC is a mainstream division sharing showrooms with Buick rather than a luxury marque, and because the generation's cabin materials became the standing criticism from launch.

Scored as buyer benefit, 2019 was close to the best year on record to buy this truck. GMC was running five-figure discounts on an all-new pickup within months of launch — $4,000 in March, $9,531 in June, as much as 20 percent off in July, and 0% for 72 months plus $2,000 cash in December that cut a $58,250 SLT crew cab to $46,600. That reflects a launch that was not selling to plan in the first half, but for a shopper it converted the Sierra's content and price deficit into a real price advantage. It sits a notch below the Silverado's incentive picture only because GMC protected its premium positioning with somewhat thinner cash on the volume V8 configurations.

The best freshness position available: 2019 is the first model year of the fourth-generation (T1) Sierra, an all-new platform with a new mixed-material body, a new 2.7L Turbo four, Dynamic Fuel Management on the V8s, the industry-first MultiPro six-function tailgate, the new AT4 off-road trim and — from summer production — the CarbonPro carbon-composite bed. A buyer faced essentially no redesign risk, and the only near-term product news was additive: the 3.0L Duramax inline-six deferred to 2020. It misses a perfect score only because the cabin was already visibly a generation behind the 2019 Ram's at launch, and the refresh that fixed it was four model years away.

Well reviewed but reliably the fourth pick of its class in the year it most needed to win. U.S. News aggregated it to 7.8/10 and ranked it #4 among 2019 full-size pickups; it was a finalist for both North American Truck of the Year and MotorTrend Truck of the Year, and lost both to the Ram 1500. Reviewers consistently credited the MultiPro tailgate, powertrain breadth and towing tech while marking it down for ride quality over broken pavement, interior materials and optional-only driver aids. It rates a few points above the Chevrolet twin's reception for the tailgate and the Denali's better-received road manners, but there are no comparison-test wins to raise it further.