You Can Finally Buy A Diesel-Powered Silverado Or Sierra

Aug. 31, 2019 1:35 PM ET by Jared Rosenholtz Trucks / 18 Comments

After a delay, the diesels have arrived.

There has been a lot of hype surrounding the recent addition of a diesel engine to the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500 lineups. The diesel engine in question is a 3.0-liter inline-six Duramax unit producing class-leading output of 277 horsepower and 460 lb-ft of torque going out through a 10-speed automatic transmission.

This powertrain sounds great for buyers who tow a lot but don't need the capabilities offered by an HD truck. But GM has struggled with delays and according to Automotive News, the diesel Silverado and Sierra are just arriving at dealerships.

Jessica Lynn Walker via Chevrolet

Marek Glaser via GMC

The three-month delay was mostly related to the EPA's emissions certification process but the trucks are finally showing up at dealerships as 2020 models, not 2019 models as initially planned. Shipments began on August 12 but GM spokesman Monte Doran says filling orders could take three to six weeks. "They are out. They are moving, and we're getting them to dealers as quickly as we can," she said.

GM initially planned to have both trucks arrive in dealerships back in May of this year. "The emissions certification took longer than we had expected, so rather than launching them for one month as '19s, we decided to launch them as 2020," Doran explained. "That just made some logistic sense."

Jessica Lynn Walker via Chevrolet

The 2020 Silverado 1500 starts at $42,385 while the Sierra costs $43,285. This is $3,890 more than what you'd spend on a GM truck with the 2.7-liter four-cylinder engine and $2,495 more than a truck with the 5.3-liter V8. The Ford F-150 and Ram 1500 will also be available with diesel engines but GM's Duramax achieves class-leading EPA ratings of up to 33 mpg and excellent towing capacities of 9,300 for the Silverado and 9,100 pounds for the Sierra, though the Ram has better towing at over 12,000 pounds. GM's trucks are arriving right in time to compete with Ford and FCA.