At $17,000, Is This 1999 Chevy Tahoe An Off-Roader That’s On The Money?

According to its ad, today’s Nice Price or No Dice Tahoe makes 322 horsepower at its 33-inch mudder tires. Let’s decide if that makes its price a clean deal.

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According to the Greek philosopher Herodotus and pop legend Billy Joel, only the good dies young. The 2007 Saturn Sky we looked at yesterday was a model that many think went to the grave too early, and was pretty good while it was around. Our Sky is still kicking, and at its $10,000 asking fully 75 percent of you wouldn’t kick it to the curb. That Nice Price win proved that there is plenty of life after death.

Speaking of death, we’re not told in the ad what killed the original engine in today’s 1999 Chevy Tahoe Sport. Maybe it was just a wild hair the owner encountered that caused it to be yanked and spanked and summarily replaced by an LQ9 6.0-liter third-gen LS V8. I guess we don’t need to know when there’s so much else going on with the truck in its current, swapped state.

According to the ad, this is one of 1,367 Sports manufactured in 1999 wearing Storm Grey paint. I don’t know if that’s a significant statistic, but at least we’re all now prepped for party trivia. Another fun fact provided by the ad is that the freshly rebuilt big block has been imbued with a hotter cam and strengthened valve gear. That’s all apparently good for 322 horses at the wheels with more in reserve.

The seller says the swap has about 3K under its belt and that the truck overall sports a stout 173,000. The engine isn’t the only part to have been refreshed along the way. Per the description, it also has new diffs front and rear, a rebuilt and strengthened transfer case, and a reasonably fresh transmission that the seller says does just fine. There are plenty of other ancillary updates as well, and nothing looks to have been cobbled together or overlooked. Even the A/C and heat are working.

The whole thing rides on gold-hued aftermarket wheels fitted with BFG knobbies. The bodywork is clean (except in the pictures where it’s not) and it appears that all of the trim is intact. On the downside, the seller says that the aftermarket lights don’t fit all that great and that while the paint is nice, it’s 23 years old and shows it in places.

The interior is in decent shape, only suffering some cracking and splitting on the driver’s seat squab. Honestly, I don’t think there’s one of these left that doesn’t wear that as a badge of honor. The headliner is new and there’s some Cadillac Escalade trim sprinkled throughout the cabin.

An Alpine head unit holds court in the dash and plays through upgraded speakers in the doors. The interior has been Dynomatted to keep other sounds down. It also has the desirable barn door back end.

The seller says the truck carries a clean title and current California tags. They also say that it’s “kinda loud. And Rowdy.” I think we all like that sort of description. The question is whether we like it $17,000 worth.

That’s the asking price which the seller says is firm. Of course, they then say they will go lower but parts of the truck will be removed from the deal. What do you think, should it go all-intact at that $17,000 asking? Or, at that price is this a Tahoe that you’d say ta-ta to?

You decide!

Los Angeles, California, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.

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