2013 Tahoe PPV Purchase

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foggyrooks

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Hello all!

First time posting here, been lurking thru some threads here and decided to make this thread to get some opinions on a vehicle purchase I have been considering.

A few weeks ago I saw a '13 PPV listed for sale in my area thru a small local dealership that bought several govt vehicles thru auction such as CVPIs (owned one of these bad boys before, absolutely loved it!), etc. Truck was listed at asking price of $8990, 173k miles, former Sherrifs Dept vehicle in Spartanburg, SC.

For a while now I've been doing research on PPVs and Tahoes in general to see if this price is right for the kind of high mileage. I did a test drive the other day and poked and prodded around the engine bay and got underneath to inspect the undercarriage.

No significant rust outside of normal wear for a 10 year old truck, the rotors look a little rusty too but not terrible, tires are fresh, new battery, upgraded 2nd row leather bench seat, rest of interior looks good outside of the plastic trim on the B pillars hacked into to remove the partition, on the drive itself it runs smoothly and has plenty of giddyup!

There is some cosmetic damage (I'll include photos) namely the hood has faded paint, the grill is cracked in one corner, and the trunk hatch has a weird smudge/mark from heat (?) I messaged the seller about a Vehicle History Report and waiting to hear back. I saw in another thread a great recommendation to call the department that owned it previously to inquire more about previous maintenance, etc.

Now here's where I'm a little stumped on. The dealership selling this truck closed its doors a couple weeks ago. So moving forward, this sale is considered private party. The owner just got the rebranded title back from the DMV. How could this impact the potential sale? I know right off I'm gonna be responsible for tax/tag/registration.

Secondly, my friend who works as an estimator told me to pass on the truck and look for something else. Should I look elsewhere? I really love the look of this truck and what its capable of. It'll be a daily driver for me but I only commute a short distance to work everyday. The tow package is also desirable to be able to haul a trailer if I so choose.

Lastly and most importantly, given the circumstances, how low of an offer should I pitch? I don't want to go so low the guy tells me to go ***** off but he may be trying to sell his remaining inventory quickly. I've arranged for financing thru a local credit union that should approve me for a loan at a decent rate.

I'm sure there's things I haven't considered yet that someone will bring up, or questions I should be asking. I really appreciate any and all advice y'all can offer me!

TL;DR: '13 Tahoe PPV at 173k, priced at $8990, private party sale, worth it?
 

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Joseph Garcia

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The truck looks to be in good shape, but with that mileage, you need to plan to spend additional money on it to replace parts that typically wear out by that mileage. If it were me, I'd budget about $4000 to be spend over the next 12-18 months on these maintenance items. As long as you go into the sale with that in mind, I think that you are in good shape.

Other folks on this Forum will chime in with their thoughts and recommendations.
 
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foggyrooks

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The truck looks to be in good shape, but with that mileage, you need to plan to spend additional money on it to replace parts that typically wear out by that mileage. If it were me, I'd budget about $4000 to be spend over the next 12-18 months on these maintenance items. As long as you go into the sale with that in mind, I think that you are in good shape.

Other folks on this Forum will chime in with their thoughts and recommendations.
Thanks for the response! My main worry is the transmisson going out, that alone is a 4k job between parts and labor. I was looking into chevy's extended warranty and auto repair coverage but those both seem to be dead ends. Ideally my payment and insurance will be around $300 a month, I suppose saving an extra $100 a month in preparation for that would be smart. Is there anything preventative I could do in the mean time?
 

Dropfire93x

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That Tahoe you are looking at brings back memories. Had one that was same model year and color. It was a great vehicle that was very reliable but I received a 2018 model and didn’t keep it past 65k miles. As Joseph Garcia said, have some funds available for a possible new transmission, rear A/C, radiator, and rear differential. My apologies if I forgot something, but these seemed to be the regular culprits. Our batch of 2013 Tahoe’s seemed to all start having these issues around 125k miles. If it happened to one, it wasn’t long before the others experienced the same issue. I can say a few of my co-workers still swear by their 2013 Tahoe’s once the normal items that seem to break were repaired. Several have passed on newer Tahoes when offered. If a severe duty preventative maintenance schedule was followed , the Tahoe you are looking at should be good with the aforementioned caveats.
 

Miami-Dade

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Welcome from Miami&NYC.

Moved you over here.

Looks to be in overall good shape..Hopefully the interior is in good shape with the console in there with the cup holders.

I would try to get the service records and have a independent mechanic check it out from top to bottom before anything.

Hopefully it was a take home vehicle with only 1 driver and not a pool vehicle that others used.

If you happen to be in the NYC-NJ-Connecticut area for some reason there is someone who sells these PPV's [generally used by supervisor] and they are in overall in very good condition. He is located in Paramus New Jersey.

Seems your in North Carolina. Whenever I drive through North and South Carolina I notice all the patrol vehicles seem to be in overall excellent condition.
 
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foggyrooks

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Welcome from Miami&NYC.

Moved you over here.

Looks to be in overall good shape..Hopefully the interior is in good shape with the console in there with the cup holders.

I would try to get the service records and have a independent mechanic check it out from top to bottom before anything.

Hopefully it was a take home vehicle with only 1 driver and not a pool vehicle that others used.

If you happen to be in the NYC-NJ-Connecticut area for some reason there is someone who sells these PPV's [generally used by supervisor] and they are in overall in very good condition. He is located in Paramus New Jersey.

Seems your in North Carolina. Whenever I drive through North and South Carolina I notice all the patrol vehicles seem to be in overall excellent condition.
Thank you for your response! There is a gap where I assume a radio console was installed but now is empty, I've found a few different sources for replacements.

I will certainly take your advice on a mechanic giving it a shakedown. I did walk around and checked it out myself but a more qualified opinion would be helpful.
 

RichardCranium

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I'll be that guy. If it drives good, overall looks good to you, buy it. You probably won't lose any money, in fact you can probably take it home and fix a few things cosmetically and make a couple quick grand off of it. Even with the title being weird, etc. Good thing about NC is electronic titles though, so it doesn't take long when you are dealing with them.

Post some interior pics if you get it, or if you have any now. Feel free to ask questions, plenty of knowledgeable folks around to share info with you here. :)
 
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foggyrooks

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I'll be that guy. If it drives good, overall looks good to you, buy it. You probably won't lose any money, in fact you can probably take it home and fix a few things cosmetically and make a couple quick grand off of it. Even with the title being weird, etc. Good thing about NC is electronic titles though, so it doesn't take long when you are dealing with them.

Post some interior pics if you get it, or if you have any now. Feel free to ask questions, plenty of knowledgeable folks around to share info with you here. :)
If everything checks out with this mechanic I'll do like you said and fix the booboos, I have auto body experience so that'll be no problem. I'd be happy to take pictures and share them with y'all! If U do get it I'm probably gonna hang onto it for quite a while.
 

Sparksalot

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If everything checks out with this mechanic I'll do like you said and fix the booboos, I have auto body experience so that'll be no problem. I'd be happy to take pictures and share them with y'all! If U do get it I'm probably gonna hang onto it for quite a while.
I was about to ask if you’d pulled the trigger yet. Nice looking truck.
 

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