GMC advise.

[christopher]

My 82 K20, poped out of gear, dropped down a 40' embankment, and landed in a house. (Not on my watch). However besides a dented tail gate, lens, The frame bent, no too bad truck still drives.

However I looking for a newer truck and here is my question.

I'm in the market for a used truck found one about three hours from my house. It's a 95 2500 4WD, 454, SLT with leather seats. pictures below. The trans was rebuilt a while ago but the truck has 240K miles. From the pictures and the owners description it looks like a good deal. Other issues are cracked windshield, abs brake light on, a/c does not work.

Asking $2700 said he's open to price.

The wind shield ($300) Abs (most likely a sensor) - I'm handy no big deal, the owners states that the engine does not burn oil and has been well maintained.

I just have a hard time getting over the amount of mileage on the engine, is this something I should fear?

Thanks for your input

[bake74]

     Sorry to hear about your truck.  Was somebody else driving it ?
     I have a 2000 GMC SLE crew cab 4x4 with the 454 TBI (Classic Style) for a DD (currently has 175000miles).  My only concern would be the anti-lock brakes being on, it might be more than a sensor.  These trucks are expensive to do brake jobs on.
     The AC, only problem I have had with mine is the nut on top of the unit itself came loose and leaked out the freon.
      I would ask for service records and whether he towed alot (why did transmission get rebuilt, also I am having a problem right now with either my EGR valve or one of my cats(there are 2) is getting plugged up from overheating because of towing heavy loads).
      Is it mostly freeway miles or not (which you can only ask and take his word on it), But one thing I would do first because of the high miles, is either take it to a shop and have it checked out, or at least do a compression check on the engine with those high miles just to be sure (that way you can look at spark plugs and such while your doing compression check).  A 454 can run very high miles and still have great power, but it depends on how it was used and how it was taken care of, a rebuild might be in the near future if not taken care of.
     And of course always start out with a lower price to offer, when people say "open to price" they are not expecting to get full price anyway or else they would say firm.
     Good luck and keep us informed.

[christopher]

Great advise- and I will do, going to look at it today. Thank you

[VileZambonie]

Got pix of your truck that dropped 40' into the house? 

[Jason S]

The '95 has a visor... run away quickly.

If it were me, I'd try to do a very thorough inspection... 240,000 is a lot of miles, so you could be faced with replacing a lot of consumable parts (bearings, u-joints, suspension, brakes, etc.) along with the parts you already mentioned.

Ditto what Bake said, ask for records. 

Consider the scenario that you may be able to buy the truck for $2500; However, you may have to turn around and spend a couple thousand or more on brakes, sensors, ball joints, tie rods, tires, fuel pump, windshield, a/c parts, u-joints, wheel bearings, hoses, belt, plugs, wires, etc. The cost of the parts, labor (yours or an installer) plus the $2500 could have bought you a better truck.

On the other hand, if the truck was well cared for you may be able to address the immediate issues now and drive it for a long time...


 

[christopher]

I kinda like the visor.

First the Bad, (as requested crashed truck photos) A co-worker parked the truck without the parking brake and I guess it was not completely in gear, no the next afternoon, around 1pm it slowly rolled backwards, off a high embankment. The photo is take from the where the truck was parked.  I still am sick about it. The frame bent from the shock mounts the truck still drives well and holds a full load. I went as far a to buy a new frame, but time and budget are more than I want to commit, for the truck. Four years ago I did the body work, two doors etc and paint and it's starting to rust again.


I bought the truck, I was amazingly clean and rust free. To the extent where the inside of the wheel well of the pick up bed were clean. and not power washed clean either.  the brake lines showed a bit of corrosion, but that minor. All the body-mounts were clean, firm show no signs of cracking. Trans fluid a nice red, the oil looked smelled okay. There was a small amount of oil around the pan and cross member, that could be from the oil cooler lines which two new one came with the truck. I drove it 160 miles home with no real issues the steering wheel seems to have some play, could be an idler or pitman arm. (should have really noticed that on the test drive).  The truck shifts great, passing gear is strong. As far as the engine, I don't know why with it's age but aside a bit of smoke when first started. It purred. My wife was be hind me on the highway when I went into passing gear, with NO smoke whatsoever.

AND check this out, the truck still air tight, if the windows are up it's still hard to close the door, when they are down the shut smooth as silk.

SO I paid $2500, and it had 3/4 tank of gas!

I guess I'm writing this to help convince myself that I made a good choice. time will tell,


Thanks for listening.

[zieg85]

Money didn't sound to bad that you paid for it.  I sold a 95 a couple of years back with a tired 5.7 in it with working AC but it was only a 2 wheel drive regular cab and I got $2400 for it. 

[bake74]

     As you said, time will tell.  You probably got a good deal. 
     Sorry to see the pic of the truck in the house.  It looked like it was in really good shape.

[christopher]

     As you said, time will tell.  You probably got a good deal. 
     Sorry to see the pic of the truck in the house.  It looked like it was in really good shape.

It was and actually still is in good running shape it has a rebuilt 350 with a 4 speed just run great. It was never intended to be a show truck. But I have got a good share of compliments on the paint job. P
Now I have to put it up for sale. 

[VileZambonie]

Judging by the pix it looks like it coulda been worse! As for the one you bought it looks like a great deal. I don't like the visor much but they look better on those years than 73-87's Good luck with it