Silverado Quick Facts
- Original starting price: $30,195 (including a $1.595 destination fee)
- Class: Full-Size Truck
- Competitors: Ford F-150, Ram 1500, Toyota Tundra
- KBB.com Fair Purchase Price
Introduction
The 2021 Silverado is a full-size pickup truck from Chevrolet. Highly versatile and recommendable with a dizzying array of engine choices and configurations, it stands tall in a class of legends, including the Ford F-150, Ram 1500, Toyota Tundra, and Silverado’s General Motors cousin, the GMC Sierra.
The 1/2-ton pickup continues to evolve into a veritable choose-your-own-adventure vehicle. New for 2021 is a multi-function tailgate (like the one that debuted on the GMC Sierra), wireless smartphone connectivity, and Adaptive Ride Control Suspension in its top trim models. The 2021 Silverado can tow up to 13,000 pounds.
Chevrolet CPO Warranty Program Highlights
- Limited Warranty: 12 months/12,000 miles, starting with the expiration of new car warranty or used car purchase
- Powertrain Warranty: 6 years/100,000 miles (whichever comes first) beginning at the first in-service date
- Roadside Assistance: 24/7, concurrent with powertrain warranty
- Buying a Certified Pre-Owned Chevrolet
Key Competitors
KBB Review Highlights
With an abundance of variations and powertrains to choose from, the Chevrolet Silverado is an easy go-to. Solidly made with a rugged outlook, body-on-frame architecture, and classic truck styling, the Silverado comes in an iteration for almost every buyer.
Successor to the vintage C/K truck series, the long-running nameplate has been beloved since 1999. Well-loved in a class with the Ford F-150, Ram 1500, Nissan Titan, and Toyota Tundra, the Chevrolet Silverado has a cult following and with good reason. Typically handling like a smaller truck, the Silverado offers the control you expect and a taut ride, which is lovely in a pickup. The powertrains use gasoline or diesel. They include the base 4.3-liter V6, a turbocharged 2.7-liter 4-cylinder, a 5.3-liter V8, and a 6.2-liter V8, in addition to our favorite, the 3.0-liter Duramax inline-6 turbodiesel. Most gasoline buyers will most likely enjoy the 5.3-liter V8, which has the oomph you need to move the beast and delivers 355 horsepower and 383 lb-ft of torque.
The cabins range from spartan to luxe, aligning with the Silverado’s choose-your-own-adventure nature. The work truck has vinyl seats, crank windows, and manual door locks. At the same time, the top-tier High Country brings premium to the forefront with leather upholstery throughout, heated and cooled seats, and a spectacular Bose audio setup. All come with a 7- or 8-inch touchscreen display with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto integration. Depending on the configuration chosen, seating ranges from a 3-person bench to a 5-person setup. Varying wildly between trims, the amenities available in the 2021 Silverado are flexible and practical, with highlights in each trim. Overall, the interior lags behind the wow factor of the Ram 1500 and the deft elegance of the Ford F-150.
Customization is king in the Silverado’s exterior styling. Buyers can choose from a regular cab and long bed, a double cab with a regular bed, or a crew cab with a standard or short bed. Cosmetic packages range from a lifted Silverado Trail Boss, glam, blacked-out Midnight Edition to camo motifs on the limited edition Realtree edition. New for 2021 is the Multi-Flex tailgate, an option that brings a new level of versatility and offers six different usage positions.
All Silverados have 4-wheel drive as an option, though the off-road prepped Trail Boss offers 4WD as a standard feature.
The packaging of options and features is an ala carte experience. Several standard safety and convenience features at higher trims arrive as options in the lower trims and can vary wildly, depending on the options chosen at build time. Worthy of note is the Safety Confidence package, available on the Work Truck and Custom models. It includes forward-collision alert with pedestrian detection and automatic emergency braking. Additional safety and cosmetic packages can enhance higher trims, including the Safety Package II, which adds adaptive cruise control, lane-departure warning, and lane-keeping assist.
For 2021, Chevy has enhanced the Silverado’s tow capabilities. The turbodiesel has a max of 9,500 pounds. The turbo 4-cylinder has improved to 9,600 pounds with the regular cab/long box and 9.300 pounds crew cab/ short box combination. The 6.2-liter tops out the lineup with 13,300 pounds.
See Kelley Blue Book’s Expert Review of the 2021 Chevrolet Silverado
If you’re ready to shop, see certified pre-owned 2021 Chevrolet models
Related reading:
2024 Chevrolet Silverado Expert Review
2023 Chevrolet Silverado Expert Review
2022 Chevrolet Silverado Expert Review
