Critique my new oldish truck!

[Reg]

Chevrolet : Silverado 2500 WORK TRUCK REG CAB in Chevrolet | eBay Motors

I really wanted a supercab but needed 8' box and able to tow an 18' trailer. It also had to be red. What do you folks think it's worth? I paid a premium for it. The chances of me finding one like it locally were slim.

My Bro-in-law is a dealer and I bought it sight unseen (but my Bro-in-law will pick up with cash in hand subject to viewing and a drive).

[ckelly78z]

Why only 9200 miles ? Has the oil and other fluids been changed every year regardless of milege driven ? I also have to wonder about tires, battery, belts, hoses.

It really looks like a good truck for a decent price if don't have a lot of maintenance issues to wade through to make it up to snuff for pulling a trailer.

[Reg]

Good points. It was kept inside by a senior who used it to tow a 5th wheeler.
I was told it was mint so we will see.

[fastfredracing]

You will love the power of the 6.0, and a great overall truck. No 4wd though?

[fastfredracing]

You will however be impressed with how well the locking diff works. I was amazed at the places I got in and out of without ever engaging the 4wd in my last HD truck. These trucks look great in red. There is just the right amount of black trim that really sets it off.

[Reg]

we have a '07 3500 flatbed with the 6.0L
That truck weighs 8000# unloaded and easily cruises at freeway speeds fully loaded or not.

This is replacing a '99 1500 with 4.3L so the fuel costs will be climbing!

[Brian 162]

A co-worker has an 02 Silverado with 4 wheel drive long box and crew cab (for sale by the way).It has the 6 litre as well. We towed a boat back from Florida in 08. Even though the boat we brought back had a centre console (like having a sail behind you) the truck worked perfectly. Gas mileage was horrible while towing (250 km per tank).

[Laneco]

Nice truck!!!

I'm kind of a wimp about aged-out tires. This is a 2003 so the tires are some 10 years old. They obviously have full tread, but I would replace them based on their age.

angela

[Reg]

Angela
My 1500 has 1 yr old Michelins that I believe are the same size. I will prob not get much for this truck anyways so I may swap them out even though they may have 20k on them.
The 3500 gets about 12-14 mpg. Hope this one is better. The newer models have 6spd trans vs 4 spd. That's the only thing I wish this truck had. This model range really drive out nice having already owned 2 of them. We put about 20k on a year so Hoping this will last me 10 years.

[billybek]

I have an 04 with about 80000 km on it and it has been a pretty good truck. The 6.0 starts easy and if you can keep your foot out of it the fuel consumption doesn't suck bad.
I found the 4.3 to be pretty tough on fuel.
If the Michelins on your old truck are LTs and not P rated you will be ok.
Truck looks nice!

[Scott R]

Very nice color.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Looks clean. I agree with Angela, new tires ASAP.

[speeder]

Nice rig, but that thing is going to be stupid expensive to fuel while towing with a 6.0 gas and 4.10 gears. Like running a very large speedboat/mini-yacht.

I'd rather have a Duramax with closer to normal miles that's been maintained for the same $$.

[Reg]

UPDATE:

Bro-in-law and nephew picked up the truck today and in process of bringing it across into Canada.The guy who was selling it on Ebay for the original owner (81 yrs) said it was mint. The ad was not very good but it turns out it was used to pull a 5th wheeler south in winters. It was never driven in winter and was stored in a shed built for it and the trailer. Driving it home he said it seemed almost "too new" and after inspection and drive he called me and said we should go for it.
We'll see once they do a safety inspection how much $ it needs but he'll likley have a good idea after the three hour drive to Port Huron.

Fingers are crossed.

As far as fuel goes, sure it will drink some but we are using it as a company truck and at times will be hauling up to 10k pounds. We do not run it 40 hrs a week so with limited use a diesel may not be a good idea. My ideal choice would have been a 2005-7 Diesel crewcab 8`box but look what $ they are bringing in still & if you can find one it would have been 2X the cost of this truck with 10x the miles. That's alot of fuel. My 3500 has 4:10 rear and it drinks but it has lot's of grunt too. This should be better on fuel than it (I hope). I wonder how hard it is to switch 3:73 or 3:55. I guess that is an option.

I'll post more pics when I have it.

So far nobody's chimed in with a value.

[billybek]

It probably has LT 245 16s on it. Going to a 265 will help a bit and they fill out the wheel well too.

[ckelly78z]

You can effectively change the gearing by mounting taller tires on it. There are some decent tire size/speed/rev calculators out there on the interweb.

[Reg]

Thx - am checking it out the bigger tires. No pics from Bro-in-law but he said allthought it drove like a truck the unit looked 6 mos old. Likely rode rough because of it being unladen, or old tires.

[kaisen]

Originally Posted by Reg

The chances of me finding one like it locally were slim.

The chances of you finding one like it anywhere in the world is slim. To none.

How many ten year old work trucks are used only 920 miles per year?

You paid about three times as much as the average strippo 2003 2500HD, but it has ten times less miles. So if you value low miles, you win!

If you compare it to a one year old 2500HD with 9200 miles (more typical) then you paid way less than half what that truck would cost. So, you win!

Taller tires can help if you find that you are towing at 75mph+. At 55mph the 4.10s are a good choice. Only you know the speeds and loads you encounter.

[porsche4life]

Don't swap the tires from your 1500 on if you are going to be towing 10k, unless they are load range E(unlikely). The 2500s take a more heavy duty tire...

[Reg]

thx for the replies.

Can some of you elaborate on the tires? They will likley pass a safety because of depth. A new set will cost be close to $1000 and it would be a shame to throw these away if still useable.

I know about Load range. My 3500 came with D's and now rides on E's

If it were track tires that had gone hard I get that. From a safety standpoint if no age cracks and they run out nice what gives? If I am luckly maybe PO changed them from age. I will look at the date code. They look like Bridgestones. My 99 Silverado came with Goodyears and the 2007 came on Generals (were junk).