What to watch out for in used trucks?

[String&stick]

There were 3 owners. It’s likely that one of the other owners upgraded the radio. Bottom line, that’s a solid truck with lots of life left in her if it is mechanically sound. I would look at it and consider it. Like I said those 5.3 vortec’s are awesome engines and easy to work on and parts are dirt cheap. Maybe throw a low ball offer on it. I’ve owned 2 pre bailout GM’s with Vortecs. Loved them and they just flat out ran. Put lots and lots of miles on them with no real issues aside from a thermostat and oil pressure sensor. Both cheap and easy to fix.

Ha, this is incredibly true! My 06 Silverado rolled over 260,000 miles today. I'm on my third oil pressure sensor and my dad (previous and only other owner) replaced 3. But taken good care of or used and abused that vortec motor keeps a going. Sadly I live in the world of road salt and she's starting to rust out. Might just become the hunting beater for awhile to see if I can get her to 300,000!

OP I'd at least go drive the pickup and see what you think. The used market had been slowly coming down the last few weeks so there might be some softening to prices over the next few months.

 

[Andrew12gauge]

"Will only accept PayPal or Zelle" is a good sign of a scam!

I’m sure you put cash in his hand he would accept that, everybody just expects you to want to pay with electronic methods these days


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[Coldtrail]

Almost everything I buy is used, I always make sure whatever I spend that I leave a % of $ for padding for any maintenance needs and just assume it needs something. I do tend to shy away from anything that has had multiple owners in under 100K....my concern being that it's possible that it's one of those quirky vehicles that has some intermittent issue that nobody can track down, so it gets driven a bit & sold when the dealer shrugs their shoulders on why the motor stalls for no reason or the check engine light goes on/off or something. Sometimes Carfax shows those issues but not always.

 

[dboone3]

OP I'd at least go drive the pickup and see what you think. The used market had been slowly coming down the last few weeks so there might be some softening to prices over the next few months.

It's still posted, so I'm considering it. He'd have to be willing to come down a little at this point.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

A lot of good points made on here already, but that kinda money for a 2002 is wild to me. Granted everything is crazy now, but still. I would highly recommend you figure out what make/model and mileage you want, and search all over. Last spring I bought a used boat down in Alabama for 25K... mind you I live in North Dakota. It cost me 3 days and $900 (Trump gas & Covid hotel rooms) to go get it. Within the first month of owning it I saw several very similar boats selling in my area for 35-40K. Just something to think about.

Love your handle by the way. Busch diesel all day long in these parts!

 

[Silveroddo]

One other thing to watch for scammers on with those trucks is that ALL of the warning lights come on when you cycle the ignition. I bought an 01 Tahoe a few years ago, ABS motor was acting up evidently, his cover up was to pull the ABS fuse, disconnect the wire at the pump, and poke out the system warning lights. I didn't catch it while I was initially checking it out but later figured out when I saw the wire hanging there while doing an oil change.

That's got the potential the be a good truck, even with the low miles though age gets them just as much as miles will. There's a laundry list of maintenance items on those trucks but If its got a solid body they're worth maintaining. I much prefer those to the next generation.

 

[adam_p]

Check the floormat and more importantly the gas and brake pedal for wear that isn't consistent with the mileage. There shouldn't be too much on a truck with less than 50k miles. Those trucks were easy to keep miles off the odometer. It was as simple as putting a junk yard gauge cluster in it and keeping it out of service stations that report to carfax.