Rare Rides: Is This 1988 GMC S15 Jimmy Worth $15,000?
There was a time when just about every day of the week you’d see one (or several) S10/S15 Jimmy/Blazer examples driving around, doing middle-class America things because the Explorer didn’t exist yet. But on account of salt, rust, neglect, and the general “use it up” that happens to trucks in this country, that time is no more.
But is our pristine Rare Ride of today worth anywhere near the sucker-punch $15,000 its owner is asking?
First, let’s get some things out of the way. This five-tone Jimmy S15 is from 1988, and has just 57,000 miles on the clock. Most examples of these sturdy vehicles had those sort of miles shortly after Ronald Reagan left office, so someone’s cared for and not driven this one.
The paint is excellent, and I can guarantee if you went into any showroom in America at any day between 1999 and 2017, there would be no new vehicles for sale with such an awesome paint scheme. I suppose the closest thing we have today would be a Gladiator conversion van with ombre paint.
Nor would there be any vehicles with such perfect, polished, salt-shaker wheels.
This Jimmy is fairly high spec as well. Tow package, power equipment, 4×4, and a sunroof. Just about all it’s missing is leather seats, and you wouldn’t want ’80s GM leather at this age anyway.
And it’ll all be reliable, because under the hood is the thirsty-but-sturdy 4.3-liter Vortec V6. But the praise for this Jimmy ends here, because I just caught sight of that asking price again, and I’m filled with rage.
You see, though this Jimmy appeared on Craigslist in the Detroit area with a price tag of $15,000 (previously no price listed), this isn’t the first time it’s had a 4SALE sign on it. Just this past Sunday, the eBay listing ended for this very vehicle. It got bid up to a high-enough-already $5,750 and did not meet the reserve. That’s probably because our listing seller wants nearly three times that amount to sell this obviously-a-flip vehicle.
I’m here to say no. No to $15,000. No to “I know what I’ve got” sellers who price something sky-high looking to make a fast buck off of a sucker. Get real, and maybe you’ll find a real buyer for your Rare Ride. Until then, get outta here.
[Images via Craigslist]
Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.
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This thing is worth $3500 tops. Period.
I am interested in this nice vehicle 1988 gmc s15 jimmy 4x4 in I think I take it in put it in the car garage in it to the car shows too