Worth Buying?

[ClassicJ]

Newbie here and I'm looking at purchasing this Tahoe. What are some of the things I should be looking for to tell if it worth buying or not?

http://raleigh.craigslist.org/ctd/2238990713.html

 

[AtomicHoe094]

It has some prettty high miles, not saying that high miles is bad, but it has to be well maintained for me to buy anything with over 100,000 miles.

By the time you replace all the crap thats bad, your better off buying a truck with less miles and more money IMO

 

[07Burb]

x2 what Atomic said. Unless you know a good, reliable mechanic you can take it to in order to check it out I'd pass. At 180k you never know what might be lurking and how well it's been maintained. Do you know if it's pretty rust free or no?

 

[Jaycenk]

What he said.
To replace it your self: If you figure a long block and all the crap that breaks when swapping plus gaskets and what not you will be around 4k to maybe 4500 for an engine swap. Transmission would be about 2k with Torque converter fluid and all that crap. Rear gear rebuild will be about 1500 depending on gears used. Add another 200 bucks for drive shaft balance and uni's. To re do the front seats and rear seats will be about a 1k, carpet with mats roughly 400. Complete rebuild of the brakes can run from 250 (depending on what is reusable) to about 600 for stock crap replacing calipers and master cylinder and all that. A/C compressor is easy 250, Condenser 100+, evap 100 & it is an absolute MF'er. Great thing about cheap cars and trucks are that if everything works then you can go through them in stages and just do it slow over time and the cost of owning them is about the same as what you would spend if you bought a good condition 10k dollar truck or car. BUT if everything goes at once you have to have some deep pockets to get on top of it, and you will need to own it longer to don't be under the bus if you get sick and tired of it.
My suggestion is to find a mechanic that will spend about an hour going over everything and look at it for a different perspective. Some times as the buyer you get caught up in just wanting to get some wheels so you don't have to deal with the searching anymore. I've done it. and gotten burned. I now take everything I am thinking about buying to a guy who was a gm master tech and let him look over it and let me know what condition he thinks it's in. By the way he charges nothing to do that and even though I do most of my own work I will through him a bone every now and then and have him do work on my cars.

 

[ClassicJ]

I thought that the miles weren't that high, Ive seen vehicles with more. I haven't gone to check it out yet but I plan to. Most dealerships let you take a vehicle to the mechanic so hopefully if mines isn't busy I'll take him with me.

 

[07Burb]

It's definitely worth at least taking a look at so definitely look just don't buy without a reliable and honest mechanic looking at it. On some 180k miles is barely getting broke in but for others that's worn out! It all depends on how the previous owners maintained it.

 

[AtomicHoe094]

For 3500bucks ive seen some nicer ones.. were just trying to help you out and not say yea yea go grab it and its a pile-o-shit truck thats been beaten to hell.. thats all

 

[992dr]

If you have a reputable mechanic go through it thoroughly, then if you feel good about it great. Just be prepaired. There are a lot of things that can go sour that a mechanic would/could not now about, regardless of how hard and how deep they get involved in the inspection.

You could always CarFax it to get a general idea of what the history is.
You can plan on spending a certain amount in preventative maintance work.
You can get GM direct swap motors for around $2k.
I wouldnt worry about the miles.

Good Luck

 

[ClassicJ]

What are some of the problems/issues yall have come across with yours?

 

[07Burb]

Ball joints, AC compressor, radiator(s), valve cover gaskets, wheel bearings, water pump,.... These are just a few I had when I had my 99 Denali. Sold it to my BIL last summer. It too had 180k on it but it was maticulously maintained and should go another 180k if my BIL continues to maintain it.

 

[AtomicHoe094]

also on the vortec motors, the intake gasket is knooooowwwnnn to go!

 

[96ProCompTahoe]

180K doesn't mean its a POS 'hoe. about what mine has one it you would think it had less than 100K.

i agree it should be checked out before you buy it.

 

[Big Red]

Find a local mechanic you trust and have a pre purchase inspection done.

I bought my truck with 136,000 miles in June, it is a '95 ( Low mileage for the yr) the paint had some cancer on it but the interior was perfect and mechanically it was very smooth. I only paid $2200, so look around cause there are definitely good deals especially with gas prices creeping up.