Have you ever noticed that funeral homes seem to come up with a variety of interesting vehicles to claim as business expenses? Not necessarily that they’re buying Mustangs as procession line chase vehicles, but more that they can access this whole world of wagon and limo variants of luxury cars that are put to work as hearses and flower vehicles. In the case of this 1994 GMC Suburban SLE, it was bought to use as a plow truck for the funeral home’s parking lots, which actually makes sense if you have a funeral that day and your guest parking is covered in snow. It sounds like the Suburban has been used sparingly in recent years, and it’s now listed here on eBay with an opening bid of $10,000 and a Buy-It-Now of $19,000.
Admittedly, the first thing I think of when looking at this clean GMT400 era Suburban is the Sopranos as Tony Soprano’s vehicle of choice before upgrading to an Escalade was a Suburban from this era. The 8th generation trucks were instant classics in modern culture, ushering in an era where seemingly every family has an SUV in the driveway. The clean lines, colorful paint options, sharp alloy wheels, and dependable drivetrains made it an instant hit with consumers. However, this was an era of SUV not far removed from their workhorse ancestors, so it was still a heavy-duty truck in many respects – hence why this one was used for plowing duty.
Cloth interiors and not infotainment in sight: a wonderful era of trucks that are still comfortable and capable today with far less stuff to break. The interior looks very clean, and seemingly reinforces the seller’s recounting of how it was used to mainly push snow around. He notes it was “….used in earlier years as a flower/chase vehicle,” but it clearly hasn’t seen much use recently since the last time it left climate controlled storage was 5 years ago. Normally, a plow truck is the vehicle that gets ruthlessly trashed by the business that owns it and is left outside to rot, but that doesn’t seem to be the case here.
The plow attachment hardware is still visible underneath the front bumper, and while there is some surface corrosion on it, the truck doesn’t show much in the way of exterior cosmetic flaws. The engine bay is also clean with only some minor signs of rust on the air cleaner housing. Equipped with the standard issue 5.7L V8, the Suburban delivered 210 horsepower and 315 lb.-ft. of torque. With 87,000 miles on the clock, there’s lots of life left in this SUV, and so long as the undersides don’t show any evidence of rot from its years as a plow truck in Illinois, this former funeral home rig will serve its next owner well. Thanks to Barn Finds reader T.J. for the find.
This Suburban is absolutely beautiful. It doesnt look like a plow truck at all. We had a customer at the gas station yesrs ago who had a funeral business. And he actually had a black Suburban for retrieving bodies from hospitals and peoples homes. It had rollers in the back, and could fit a gurney very nicely. The 350 will run forever, and quite frankly If its as nice in person as it is in the photos it will sell. Theres folks out there that chase these down. Especially with the barn doors in the back. Beautiful color combo love the cloth interior too.
Way overpriced, the seller must have been price comparing against the same generation 2 door Blazers. It’s decent, but they are still a common sight in the San Francisco Bay Area, they might have more miles, but are rust fee and about $14,000 less.
Steve R
I’m chuckling to see one of two earmarks visible that are so typical of the beloved Suburban. One is the dented rear bumper and the other not seen here as the headlights aren’t on, but I would bet ‘dollars to donuts’ one or both of the front driver lights is out. Amiright?
Yes, it’s worth that price! Absolutely 💯 you don’t find 32 year old vehicles that look new very often. I ordered 1994 Chevy pickup with the sport pkg. Great truck! It was the stepside, styleside or whatever they called them in 94. Great year of Chevy trucks.
Interesting article as there is a funeral home near me in Western Pennsylvania and the undertaker had 2 Roadrunners. Tucked away beside his hearse is or was a red 68 and a green 69. Both birds are or were in excellent condition. It just seemed weird that an undertaker had 2 classic musclecars. I haven’t seen them in many years and he’d be quite old by now if he’s even still with us.