Toomanyhobbies
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- Sep 18, 2017
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In 2015, I bought my ex a new suburban for her 40th birthday (she was 39). When we got separated she let the au pair drive it for a couple years and then the trans went bad and she parked it on the front lawn like a hillbilly and left it there for 3-4 years. Now after six and a half years I am finally divorced and I wound up taking this truck back. I was thinking I would either keep it for a while and let my daughter drive it for the summer or maybe drive it myself, or maybe sell it. Really not sure.
Anyway she dumped it at a local garage that I did not know. He was a nice guy and tried to get power to it and could not get the interior lights or the dash lights to work. He said there was an ECU issue and suggested I take it to the dealer. I bought my 2022 from them and I have a relationship there. They sent me a video that showed that the throttle body butterfly was green and the tech said he thought it suffered a salt water immersion, which is not true to my knowledge or my kids. So I called the service advisor and we discussed it. She said there was "extensive damage" but that the motor turned freely, and that it would be a minimum of $4,000, not including the transmission. So I said "How do you know there is extensive damage, did you bore scope it?" and she said "No, but it needs a battery, a starter and the fuse box is fried and will need to be replaced." So I said "you guys prob charge $300 for a battery, $500 for a starter, so the fuse box is $3200? What else do I get?" Shockingly, she didn't have an answer. I said basically if you don't want to work on it why don't you just say so? She denied that they don't want to work on it and that was that.
So this is where I am. The reason I am writing all of this is because I am considering having it flat bedded into my driveway and working on it. My plan would be to get a battery, figure out the wiring, and then drain the gas, coolant and oil, replace and try and start it. I would worry about whether i would attempt the trans myself after that point. I am pretty good with cars but this vehicle is complicated by my standards especially from an electrical standpoint, but it's not a job I am scared of. I don't have pics but under the hood it does look like it's been sitting a while and it's possible mice or squirrels got at some of the wires. There is some minor pitting on some of the aluminum parts and some rust on the crank pulley and stuff like that but it doesn't look like it was in salt water. The service advisor said that this condition can sometimes happen from sitting on grass for years and that it doesn't require being dunked in salt water to look this way. There is no rust on the frame or body.
So my question is what do you think? I don't want to scrap a truck that is basically 10 years old with 120,000 miles on it, but i don't want to go down a black hole either. We only have so much time and money at the end of the day and I would prefer to waste neither. Any thoughts are appreciated.
Anyway she dumped it at a local garage that I did not know. He was a nice guy and tried to get power to it and could not get the interior lights or the dash lights to work. He said there was an ECU issue and suggested I take it to the dealer. I bought my 2022 from them and I have a relationship there. They sent me a video that showed that the throttle body butterfly was green and the tech said he thought it suffered a salt water immersion, which is not true to my knowledge or my kids. So I called the service advisor and we discussed it. She said there was "extensive damage" but that the motor turned freely, and that it would be a minimum of $4,000, not including the transmission. So I said "How do you know there is extensive damage, did you bore scope it?" and she said "No, but it needs a battery, a starter and the fuse box is fried and will need to be replaced." So I said "you guys prob charge $300 for a battery, $500 for a starter, so the fuse box is $3200? What else do I get?" Shockingly, she didn't have an answer. I said basically if you don't want to work on it why don't you just say so? She denied that they don't want to work on it and that was that.
So this is where I am. The reason I am writing all of this is because I am considering having it flat bedded into my driveway and working on it. My plan would be to get a battery, figure out the wiring, and then drain the gas, coolant and oil, replace and try and start it. I would worry about whether i would attempt the trans myself after that point. I am pretty good with cars but this vehicle is complicated by my standards especially from an electrical standpoint, but it's not a job I am scared of. I don't have pics but under the hood it does look like it's been sitting a while and it's possible mice or squirrels got at some of the wires. There is some minor pitting on some of the aluminum parts and some rust on the crank pulley and stuff like that but it doesn't look like it was in salt water. The service advisor said that this condition can sometimes happen from sitting on grass for years and that it doesn't require being dunked in salt water to look this way. There is no rust on the frame or body.
So my question is what do you think? I don't want to scrap a truck that is basically 10 years old with 120,000 miles on it, but i don't want to go down a black hole either. We only have so much time and money at the end of the day and I would prefer to waste neither. Any thoughts are appreciated.
