Rare Rides: Is This 1988 GMC S15 Jimmy Worth $15,000?

Corey Lewis
by Corey Lewis
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]

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  • SoCalMikester SoCalMikester on Mar 24, 2017

    the only 2 types i could see buying it are people that had one and loved it at the time, or people that always wanted one but couldnt get one but now they can. or reliving their youth, etc... in that case, yeah, they could get full price. theres a butt for every seat if they look hard enough

  • Budda-Boom Budda-Boom on Apr 28, 2017

    This thing is worth $3500 tops. Period.

  • Del My father bought GM cars in the 60's, but in 1971 he gave me a used Datsun (as they were called back then), and I'm now in my 70's and am happy to say that GM has been absent from my entire adult life. This article makes me gladder than ever.
  • TheEndlessEnigma That's right GM, just keep adding to that list of reasons why I will never buy your products. This, I think, becomes reason number 69, right after OnStar-Cannot-Be-Disabled-And-It-Comes-Standard-Whether-Or-Not-You-Want-It and Screw-You-American-Car-Buyer-We-Only-Make-Trucks-And-SUVs.
  • 3SpeedAutomatic Does this not sound and feel like the dawn of ICE automobiles in the early 20th century, but at double or triple speed speed!!There were a bunch of independent car markers by the late 1910’s. By the mid 20’s, we were dropping down to 10 or 15 producers as Henry was slashing the price of the Model T. The Great Depression hit, and we are down to the big three and several independents. For EVs, Tesla bolted out of the gate, the small three are in a mad dash to keep up. Europe was caught flat footed due to the VW scandal. Lucid, Lordstown, & Rivian are scrambling to up production to generate cash. Now the EV leader has taken a page from the Model T and is slashing prices putting the rest of the EV market in a tail spin. Deja vu……
  • Michael Eck With those mods, I wonder if it's tuned...
  • Mike-NB2 I'm not a Jeep guy, but I really, really like the 1978 Jeep Cherokee 4xe concept.
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