Would you even consider

[Camino LS6]

...buying a truck with 229k miles on the clock?

Here's the spec:

- 2003 2500HD

- Well equipped

- 6.0 gas

- plow prep and towing packages

- good body and no rust

- cap

And the rub:

-Needs reverse band in the trans. (4L80E)

-Needs new cats

-229k miles

This configuration is exactly what I need, but the mileage...

Thoughts?

[Drew Dowdell]

I'd need to know price.

[Camino LS6]

$2,850

[crunksoulbrotha!!`]

Go 4 it, a truck like that is worth getting, and since its the 4L80E it should be a cheap fix.

[ocnblu]

I'd figure it this way: You can buy it cheap, yeah, but you will be spending money on repairs, and with a good chance of continually spending money on repairs, you will still have a truck with 229k miles, worth very little. To someone else, if you find you need to unload it.

[Camino LS6]

I've always felt the same way, Ocn.

However, I am seeing these trucks for sale with 260,280, and even upwards of 300k.

I've even seen one with 400k.

I'm starting to wonder if I need to re-calibrate my thinking about mileage.

[ocnblu]

I am always afraid that with that kind of mileage, several things, somewhere, are on the edge of fritz.

You have the wherewithal to check them out, test them, before buying. For me there is a fundamental difference between highway mileage which is racked up quickly on long, smooth over-the-road cruises, and hard, off-road, stop-and-go slogs through the muck. If an undercarriage is clean and leak-free (weepage is usually inconsequential), if there are no odd rust situations to indicate water immersion (salt or fresh), if the guy has his maintenance records, if he is the original owner, etc. etc.

Another point is: if the truck has that many miles, it must be a good one. Jeez, I am no help here. With my vehicle purchasing history (new, new, new) maybe I have no business sticking my nose in. I personally would not do it because I don't have the tools, nor the inclination, to execute the type of repairs that are likely required.

I would think plowing would be hard on the transmission, brakes, front suspension, steering linkages and frame of any pickup truck.

Edited August 18, 2012 by ocnblu

[Camino LS6]

All of your concerns are valid.

I guess it comes down to a judgement call after examining the truck.

I think it's worth a look anyway.

As far as plowing goes, a properly equipped truck, operated by a competent driver, should have little ill effect from plowing,

And this truck hasn't been plowed with yet.

[A Horse With No Name]

blu, the difference is that you and I prefer to let someone else do the wrenching, Camino has more than one vehicle and isn't afriad to wrench himself.

I say go for it....my friend Mark, one of the guys I race with, just paid almost 5K for an ultra-clean reg cab GMC stepside with 189K on it, similar age to the truck your looking at.

Mark's last truck had 558,000 on it when he sold it.

Neighbors of mine got almost 800K out of an F-150 4WD....

[Camino LS6]

Go 4 it, a truck like that is worth getting, and since its the 4L80E it should be a cheap fix.

Why would the 4L80E make it a cheap fix?

Unless you mean as opposed to the Alison.

blu, the difference is that you and I prefer to let someone else do the wrenching, Camino has more than one vehicle and isn't afriad to wrench himself.

I say go for it....my friend Mark, one of the guys I race with, just paid almost 5K for an ultra-clean reg cab GMC stepside with 189K on it, similar age to the truck your looking at.

Mark's last truck had 558,000 on it when he sold it.

Neighbors of mine got almost 800K out of an F-150 4WD....

Hmm,,, re-calibrating...

[Camino LS6]

I'll give this some more thought, but right now I need to get Arkus to the vet - he's a real mess.

[A Horse With No Name]

Sorry to hear about Arkus....I wish him well.

But here in Ohio Farm country, $2800 doesn't buy much of a 4wd truck....

[Robert Hall]

That's a lot of miles.. I wouldn't trust anything w/ over 100k unless I put the miles on it myself.

[Camino LS6]

Sorry to hear about Arkus....I wish him well.

But here in Ohio Farm country, $2800 doesn't buy much of a 4wd truck....

Arkus is all medicated up and I'll be feeding him pills for weeks...

And yeah, $2800 doesn't buy much here either.

The truck was advertised as being local, but it is currently somewhere in Jersey. The seller has offered to bring it down for me to see if I'm "serious about buying it". I told him that I was serious about looking at it.

We'll see.

[A Horse With No Name]

6.0 would be a big selling point for me if I were using it like you use your truck....WTF happened to Arkus?

[Camino LS6]

6.0 is ok, an 8.1 would make me happier.

Arkus and Zora battled twice recently with Arkus getting the worst of it. Then, he got a "hot spot" on his right hind leg and chewed at it until most of the fur on that leg was gone and it was bleeding ( only took him two days to do that - what the vet called the worst hot spot she has seen in 30 years). Last night, the leg started to swell at the joint pretty badly - so I took him in this morning. He is on multiple prescriptions...

And, The battery in the ROPOS decided not to take a charge any more!

Been that sort of day.

[A Horse With No Name]

I'm living that sort of life, sorry to hear we got trapped in this screwed up dimension together.

Not that I mind your friendship while we mutually suffer....

[Turbojett]

ah yes. Old Man Murphy's been giving me the business as well. I'm fairly certain my (full-time) job is at risk. My boss just got fired this week by our District Manager, and every one of the people he trained--I would fall under this category--is basically being put under a microscope with a bayonet attatched to the end. Granted the DM was just recently transferred to our district and I'm fairly certain he had it out for my boss from the moment he got here, and he finally got him on something (what I don't know, but I have a feeling it's preposterous). hours are starting to be cut, people are getting chewed out left and right. thankfully, there haven't been any more casualties (knock on wood), but I really don't like the look of this.

To top that all off, since hours are starting to get cut, I don't even know if I'll be able to pay all my bills this coming month, even with another part-time job picking up some of the slack.

Edited August 18, 2012 by Turbojett

[balthazar]

I would answer a flat 'no' at the miles..... but the price would make me think otherwise. Worth a look.

Now, if it was a DuraMax..... of course it'd be no where NEAR $2800.

[Camino LS6]

I would answer a flat 'no' at the miles..... but the price would make me think otherwise. Worth a look.

Now, if it was a DuraMax..... of course it'd be no where NEAR $2800.

Yeah, I hear all of that.

But the parts are likely worth more than the asking price, so the purchase itself isn't much of a risk.

It's the cost of present and future repairs that could make it all go bad... a slippery slope.

Once I hang a plow on it, I'm committed.

[balthazar]

Do you kno if it has a plow prep package on it?

[Camino LS6]

Do you kno if it has a plow prep package on it?

It does.

[RjION]

Nope ....................