It’s hard to believe that it took seven generations of the Chevy Suburban before they finally offered four doors. This is a big hauler and you want at least four doors in this beautiful blue beast. The seller has it posted here on eBay in North Royalton, Ohio and they’re asking $32,900 or you can make an offer. For the record, Hagerty’s #1 Concours value is $30,900.
The seventh-generation Chevrolet Suburban was made for the 1973 through 1991 model years and they came in both two-wheel-drive C10 (1/2 ton) or C20 (3/4-ton) and also four-wheel-drive K10 and K20 models. This example has to be one of the nicest ones left, and it only had 52,934 miles on it. I don’t really see a flaw anywhere inside or out on this beauty.
Having grown up in the upper Midwest with five months of snow and ice and winter every year, I can’t imagine driving a rear-wheel-drive Suburban. But then again, most of us had rear-wheel-drive cars in the 60s and 70s and we somehow lived through those years. This one is too nice to drive in the winter anyway. They say that it had the same owner until 2017 and they have provided dozens of great photos, including several underside photos.
Speaking of the underside, check out the photos and let us know if that’s factory undercoating or what is sprayed under there. I’ve been seeing a lot of ads for companies who clean and coat the undersides of vehicles lately, is that what it is? Who knows. The interior looks as nice as the exterior does, as expected. The back seat looks like it’s never been sat on and the rear cargo area could carry enough luggage for a whole family to travel the country without running out of space.
The engine is Chevrolet’s 350-cu.in. V8 with 185 horsepower and the following year in 1987, fuel injection would replace the carburetor for most models. The seller says that everything works down to the air-conditioning, which has been converted to R134a and blows ice cold. Would any of you have a need for a rear-wheel-drive Suburban like this one? If so, what’s your best offer?
Nice truck. THIS is what America is known for, the biggest dang( US) station wagon made. The Europeans were slogging along in Multiplas and VWs, we sailed along in air conditioned comfort at 80 mph on 4 lane interstates,,AMERICA!!! Ahem,,anyway, kind of odd, Suburban had the market cornered here. Biggest problem I see here, is it should be a 454, but 350 is okay, as long as you don’t pull anything, that is. By the looks of it, this truck pulled something, brake control shows it was more than a fissin’ boat, and with a 5 digit speedo, this truck could have FIVE hundred grand, but with it’s condition, the mileage is probably correct. Again, nice truck, the absolute best we had to offer and I’m proud to say, it was built right here in Janesville Wisconsin!!
We had neighbors who had one like this,although it was
much more plush,& sat lower.They used it to tow their Airstream
with.I almost wish I’d bought it when they sold it.
Without a doubt the Suburban is the best all around vehicle ever made. Fold the seats down and haul big loads or leave them up and haul people coast to coast in great comfort. Had my 05 for over 15 years and love it. Been the most bullet proof truck I’ve ever had. The 5.3 is stupid reliable in the 160K miles that I’ve driven it. Recommend them highly.
I bought a 1986 from a family friend in Amarillo where it had lived it’s life. No rust at all, low mileage and a great driving vehicle also 2WD. I would like to have another for what I paid for that one.
Last years of the dependable Chevrolet to bad its not a 4×4
Hi , have a 99 burb , paid 1300.00 for . Already did 6 LA TO VEGAS TRIPS . Co workers wife got tired of it . A definite keeper in my fleet . ( 13 cars ) ,next to my 66 vetted ,it’s my daily driver . DAMM GOOD VEHICLES . CURRENTLY has 206 miles and climbing .
I too a 99, and ya, it impresses me often.. sometimes, as i walk away from it, i turn and thank it =)
I call it ‘hero’
292k and sometimes literally climbing
Had a ‘89 GMC 1500 series. 350 engine was strong, but rear end, and trans couldn’t take towing a 4,000 lb trailer!
Brings back some great memories. Owned an ’85 K20 Chevy and a ’90 C10 GMC. Great to see that undercoat. Looks like the “factory sprayed” that was applied at the dealer before delivery. These were great road machines.
That is nice. Too rich for my blood but I remember when these were all over in these colors.
I sure miss the two tone paint and nice cloth interiors like this vehicle has. Well kept and well worth preserving.
Hands down worst vehicle I’ve owned in my 68 years.
Had an ‘86 Suburban 4×4, Diesel. Bought it in 1994. Got rid of it four years later.
It was rust free with less than 50,000 miles on it when I bought it.
Even after babying it, garaging it, maintaining it by the book and washing it top AND bottom it constantly fell apart and I could hear it rust to the point that I could stick my foot through rust holes in the rear quarter panels.
Two fuel injector pumps. Two 700R4 transmissions. Three starters. Two sets of front hubs. Two alternators. Multiple front end alignments. Rear A/C leakage. Two power window motors. Gauge failures and no mater how many connectors and grounds were checked for continuity and bulbs were replaced, I always had to smack or kick the left front fender to get the headlights to work whenever it rained.
It finally dropped the oil pump pickup tube at interstate speed and self destructed at 83,000 miles.
I sold it to a guy down the road who stuck a gas 350 in it and a third transmission. He drove it for another three years and multiple breakdowns until a tie rod broke at speed while he was towing his dirt track car. That was quite a mess.
A couple years later I was in a local salvage yard looking for a VW HVAC controller and happened to notice a familiar vehicle. It was my ‘86 Suburban sans doors and glass with a Craftsman ten drawer tool chest and an oxygen acetylene rig in the back.
I asked the kid at the desk what the story was on the Suburban. His reply was that it had become a “junkyard dawg” about a year before and recently blew the 350 engine. But a few days before it blew up an employee nicknamed “Stupid” snuck it out and drove thirty miles to South Bend and got extremely drunk and headed back to the junkyard with no lights, doors or windows. And at high speed. Two county law enforcement agencies, two city police departments and a couple state troopers chased Stupid back to the junkyard whereupon Stupid went through the now closed gates and hit the office trailer.
Sounded like the old Burby had one last whoopee night…
When the kid told me they were going to crush it later the next week I waved a five dollar bill at him and asked him to call me the day before they’d crush it.
I got the call and took the next day off and showed up early that morning with a lawn chair, a couple cold breakfast beers and a couple McMuffins.
When Burby went in the crusher it was a moment of mixed emotions as I remembered all the times I’d spent with her… especially the starter change in a Walgreens parking lot low spot during a torrential downpour and escaping gunfire near Cabrini Green apartments in Chicago by driving down sidewalks and carefully through a playground.
It was big enough to invade multiple Central American countries simultaneously and die under it trying to find the rusted out brake lines.
Did I mention that it was hands down the worst vehicle I’ve ever owned?
Then there was the self destructing VW Turbocharged Jetta…
Good story! Other than the trans, and rear end, I had no more problems with the ‘89.
Glad to hear that Jack! GM must have built mine to stress test the market and get the problems worked out by ‘89.
Well Doc, your story is not “Suburban” exclusive, I had the worst luck with a Jeep Cherokee, but wouldn’t call it the worst vehicle because of that. To be the “worst”, it has to have many design flaws and shoddy materials and assembly. The Suburban had none of those. It was the best vehicle we made, bar none. All the things you mention, could have happened on ANY 80s vehicle, and did. The diesel was a poor choice from the get go, and ALL cars rusted. It was a ploy so vehicles would have to be replaced,,I figure, and no car was immune. I think we’re spoiled today, our cars have gotten to the point, they perform for years without a glitch. Statistically, the Suburban probably has more dependable miles driven than any other vehicle, mostly because of what it was designed for, taking families great distances for years. It’s been my experience, just about every vehicle has its naysayers, and not always the vehicles fault.
Also, you didn’t buy it new, and who knows what atrocities it went through from ’86 to ’94. Also, it’s been my experience, a “replacement” anything is usually not near as good as the original.
Howard. I’m wondering if you actually owned one? I grew up in a Steel Worker family. Dad was a scarfer at USS for 42 years. He explained to me that cars and trucks were designed to rot so we had food on our table and a roof over our heads.
The diesel had not yet been proven to be the turd it was.
I bought it from my nephew who inherited it from my brother so I knew exactly what Burby’s life had been and it had been pampered from day one much as I had pampered it.
It WAS poorly designed in its earlier iterations and many materials were indeed of poor quality.
During my undergraduate years I was an ASE certified drivetrain mechanic and automotive machinist at a relative’s automotive repair business.
Nor was I expecting 2022 engineering standards back in the 1990’s as you inferred.
The Suburban simply failed in many ways with low miles.
I’m not getting into a Ford VS GM VS MOPAR argument but I bought a used ‘97 Ford F150 1/2 ton pickup when I got rid of Burby.
It’s out behind my shop, everything still works, has only had minor repairs of mostly wear items and it has 312,000 miles on it. My son has a ‘96 Chevrolet 1/2 ton pickup with 272,000 miles on it and it’s had only minor issues. I’d say that those two vehicles were better sorted out from the design phase on…
Burby may well have been a fluke, the only lemon of a production seventh generation run of 1973-1991. But I doubt it. Eighteen years was more than enough time to not only build good performing vehicles but more than a few lemons as well.
I personally never had a call for one, but the old man had several to pull our campers. We went through a plethora of vehicles, due to the old mans negligence, most failed, except the Suburbans. His abuse proved what good trucks they were. We can discuss the merits or pitfalls of the diesel, we have many times, in case you are kind of new here. A personal friend of mine,who comments here regularly, worked for a GM dealership, and had a lot of experience with the diesel. I happen to know many that got HUNDREDS of thousands of miles on them in a field service application, and others in a city, that for various reasons, didn’t fare so well. I’m not calling you out, but with a vehicle that has sold millions over the years, almost 50,000/year, it remains one of the industries top sellers. .
I have a 1988, Scottsdale parked away for the winter. It came out of San Antonio, Texas. No rust, you can eat off the undercarriage. Very simple truck to work on. It has all the desirable options buyer crave. Armstrong power windows, hand powered tailgate window. One at a time finger powered door locks. I can carry full sheets of plywood anywhere you want without a fuss. Brochures back then call it the “Texas Cadillac” and so does my family.
I have owned two Suburbans, a ’73 C10 and a ’96 K10, both have given us many years and many miles of pleasurable driving. The ’96 Vortec 5.7 motor was definitely an improvement over the earlier 350. The ’96 is still in my stable and remains rust free and dependable to this day. A I had more of a need I would buy another. I don’t think they can be beat for long distance driving.