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View Full Version : O.T. but I need opinions



Mike Evertsen
12-12-2003, 12:53 PM
I need to buy another pickup,,,,,looking around the price of trucks is very high,,I need to buy another full size truck and prefer a 6 cly, and it has to be automatic trans,,,
I found one it is excatly like my 1990 GMC it is a one owner 1994 GMC V6 auto fiberglass cap,,4X4 price 4,500.00 no haggle price I have bought my last two trucks from this guy,,,but what bothers me is this truck has 173.000 miles on it,,,the truck is clean runs good,,,but the miles are what I'm concerned about,,,it's not going to be are main truck we have a ford explorer,, is judging a truck by it's miles as important as it was 20 or 30 years ago? back then if had over 100,000 it was put on the back lot and wholesaled,,,,

mike malone
12-12-2003, 1:17 PM
[font=Comic Sans MS]I need to buy another pickup,,,,,looking around the price of trucks is very high,,I need to buy another and wholesaled,,,,

hi mike
i had an 6cyl 1988 4x4 ford ranger with 360,000 on it and it was still running good when i sold it. your price looks good...but haggle!
best mike

Tom Sweeney
12-12-2003, 1:24 PM
Mike, the days of low mileage vehicles on used car lots is pretty much over. If you find a low mileage vehicle you will definately pay a premium. My Dad had a used car shop for a while about 4 years ago & I worked with him. Very few of the vehicles had under 100,000 miles on them. However saying that - 173,000 on a 4WD truck is definately rolling the dice. the 4WD driveline stuff can be expensive to repair. And a lot of 4Wd trucks are rode hard & put away wet (like mine for example :rolleyes: ). OTOH your getting it for a really good price so even if you had to spend $1,000 to fix something you'd be a little ahead of the game. 4WD is like gold around here. Finding anything for under $5,000 in good condition is difficult at best. I did a quick Kelley Blue Book check & not knowing the trim & options I came up with $6,125 retail value.
You can check it out yourself using the correct trim & options at
http://www.kbb.com Their prices are pretty good to use as a guidline.
You've done business with this guy before & that would go along way to swaying my decision. If he is reputable he should tell you if he knows of any problems with it.

Of course it's a GM product so I wouldn't buy it at any price :D
I'm a Ford guy all the way. :cool:

Ron Meadows
12-12-2003, 3:09 PM
Of course it's a GM product so I wouldn't buy it at any price :D
I'm a Ford guy all the way. :cool:

Tom....I always knew that there was something wrong with you.....now I know what it is....... :D

Tom Sweeney
12-12-2003, 3:21 PM
don't be mad at me just cause you bought the wrong truck :p

Actually I might look at a Mopar - wouldn't buy one mind you - but at least I'd look at it :D


Tom....I always knew that there was something wrong with you.....now I know what it is....... :D

Bill Grumbine
12-12-2003, 4:57 PM
Of course it's a GM product so I wouldn't buy it at any price :D
I'm a Ford guy all the way. :cool:

I'm with Ron on this one Tom. See if you get to ride in my truck again! :D Although I will admit that my friend's new Ford truck is pretty nice. I especially like the heated tailgate option - you know, so your hands don't get cold while pushing it in the winter!

Bill

Tony Falotico
12-12-2003, 7:12 PM
If the truck is repairable, that is, mechanical work needed: If the body and interior are in good shape, you can do an awful lot of mechanical repair for under $4500. My son in law's '93 GMC, 4.3 liter V6 blew up last winter (rod sticking out of the block). We bought a low mileage 350 from a local reputable junk yard, took it down to the block, built it up and dropped it in for under $2000. That included all new exhaust system from headers to tailpipe and many new parts that we probably could have scrapped from the old engine. New rims, tires and he has a truck that he has owned since new that's almost new. My '83 GMC with a perfect body and interior received a rebuilt 305 three years ago, and is just as good as new as far as I'm concerned without mega payments.

Just food for thought, in my humble opinion it don't pay to buy someone else's "wild card" IF you can rebuild what you've owned and trusted.

Jason Roehl
12-12-2003, 8:27 PM
I'm with Ron on this one Tom. See if you get to ride in my truck again! :D Although I will admit that my friend's new Ford truck is pretty nice. I especially like the heated tailgate option - you know, so your hands don't get cold while pushing it in the winter!

Bill

Well, you know, Bill, that GM has been putting 2 hooks on the front of its trucks for a long time--one hook is so a Ford can pull it out and the other is so a Dodge can pull it out. :D

FWIW, Mike, I just test-drove a 97 Chevy K1500 4x4 with a 4.3 V6 in it. It had 122k on it and was priced at $9k (lotta room to haggle, obviously). I wasn't impressed at all--rode and steered like crap. Underpowered and rough.

I ended up going with a '93 F250 supercab 5.8L 2wd (stealth mini-gloat here). 117k miles, and I paid around $6k for it. Definitely a much tighter truck than my '90 F150 was when it had 120k on it.

BTW, if I had my druthers, I'd get an '03 Dodge 2500 Quad Cab 4x4 longbed with a Cummins in it....too bad I don't have $40k laying around to drop on something like that (or $800/mo, either). (My BIL worked on the development of the '03 Cummins engine...the Cummins accountants got ahold of the '04 engine...yikes!!).
When it's all said and done, I personally would avoid anything with more than about 80k on it in the 1/2-ton and smaller variety. They just aren't built as tough as the 3/4- and 1-tons. And, if you think truck prices are high now, just wait until the economy gets back under a full head of steam!! I always keep my eye on prices around here, and they're generally pretty low right now as far as trucks go.

Tom Sweeney
12-12-2003, 8:28 PM
Sheesh - for some reason I can't give you a hard time like I can Ron :D
Yeah your truck was OK I guess - for a GM. It didn't struggle too bad with all that tiger maple in the back ;)

Heated tailgate eh - great idea for those cold nights when you have to get to the tow chain in the bed so you can pull your buddy's GMC out of the mud :p

BTW - Tony might be on to something - you might even be able to get a crate motor & have it installed for just around $2,000.

Tom - "The Ford Guy" Sweeney :D


I'm with Ron on this one Tom. See if you get to ride in my truck again! :D Although I will admit that my friend's new Ford truck is pretty nice. I especially like the heated tailgate option - you know, so your hands don't get cold while pushing it in the winter!

Bill

Mike Evertsen
12-13-2003, 2:10 AM
thanks guys we are going to look at it Saturday,,Jason I wouldn't know how to drive a tight truck,,, I'll drive anything that moves,,,I've had almost every make on the road even test drove a Yugo once,,,,,We have a '94 Ford Explorer with 111,000 that I drive because I can't take pushing in the clutch alot,,,,,,I'll let you know if I get it,,,,

Dennis Peacock
12-13-2003, 1:21 PM
I had a Ford F150 XLT Lariat Supercab that I could NEVER keep fixed.......nuff said....

Bill Grumbine
12-14-2003, 6:10 PM
Jason, I am sorry to have to disabuse you of your misconception, but those two tow hooks are so that any Chevy can pull one Ford and one Dodge out of the mud at the same time! :p

Tom, don't worry, I was only kidding! You can still ride in my truck. I might make you ride in the bed, but you can ride in it. :D :D :D

Bill

Rob Littleton
12-14-2003, 8:54 PM
I just picked up the Cummins 03 2500 RAM Heavy Duty with 8 foot bed and 4x4 etc etc.....nice truck. I did test drive the new ford and loved it and came close to getting the Chevy HD2500 Diesel but ended up with my old favorite. I love that truck. too bad Im in California....smog in 2 years for it :-(