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Desperately need advice from AV owners

CtownBrown

New Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2017
Messages
4
Hello there, longtime AV fan first time buyer here who finds himself in a pickle. I have long enjoyed the AV?s looks, features, pretty much the whole package. I find myself in need of a new vehicle before Monday the 4th. My current vehicle isn?t reliable enough to get me 45 minutes away for work with the winter coming. I will be working seven 12 hr shifts for most of December and need something I can rely on 100%.

I pretty much have my heart set on an AV, I just don?t know which one yet. My hesitations come from the fact that I will have to spend 20k+ to get a vehicle 5 years old at the youngest while having close to or over 100k miles. But I have a few possibilities lined up.

A few miles away a reputable dealer has a black 2009 1500 LS with 64834 miles on it with a sticker price of $21990. This is the color I prefer but it dosent have all the features I was hoping for but considering my time constraint, the rarity of the truck, and the competitive pricing, it seems like this is a fair asking price for the lower mileage.

About 30 minutes away another dealer has a blue 2013 LT Black Diamond edition with 69,093 miles on it with a sticker price of $24,250. The truck is a little bit louder than what I was after ( visually ) & more expensive than what we wanted to buy, but has all the features I want, lower miles ( than comparable AV?s ) & is the BDE.

Should I stay closer to my budget and get the closer, older AV? Or should I talk the wife into looking more closely at the 2013? We?re just nervous about spending 20-24k on a truck that?s 5-8 years old with close to 100k miles on it. From your experience will one be a more reliable purchase than the other?

 
First welcome to the site,
Unfortunately without knowing the true condition and accident/maintenance record of each AV it can be hard to choose between two used AVs.
Mileage is not a great difference between your two examples so unless one has "harder" miles on it with poor maintenance it can be a wash on that area. Also 60,000 miles on an AV if well maintained is not much mileage and you can find sections on this site where members have driven 200,000 -300,000 and more miles on their AVs.
What you may want to consider is that the 2013 AV is 4 years newer and will have 4 years less exposure to road salts and other things that can deteriorate the AV assuming they were exposed to the same conditions. So if you plan to keep your "new" AV for many years spending the money now for a newer AV may delay you having to deal with wear and tear of an aging vehicle.
Only you know your budget but when you consider what a monthly payment would be between the two AVs you may find that you could afford the higher priced AV and you may also learn to like the louder color too. Don't get locked into a cosmetic feature such as one color since you have time constraints in your search.
You may feel more cmfortable on pricing levels if you check a site like www.edmonds.com or www.kbb.com to get the fair market pricing for each AV based on local market and conditions of the AVs.
As a side note don't believe sights like CarFax since they have some record of vehicles but only list damage,repairs and recalls to any vehicle that is reported to them so if a small independent shop or the owner made repairs etc. it woun't show up on their reports.
Good luck with your search.
 
I would always rather take a newer vehicle with higher mileage than an older vehicle with lower mileage.  Outside of extreme cases, a lot of wear on a vehicle is due to age.  Parts also become harder to source over time.  So as a general rule always go newer.

With that being said, these are great vehicles to customize and once you get in to one, it's not hard to add the bits and pieces that are missing. 

One consideration is towing.... take a look at the rear end gearing if you ever think you want to tow.  Those 3.23 gears are pretty much useless for that.
 
JohnnieMo said:
I would always rather take a newer vehicle with higher mileage than an older vehicle with lower mileage.  Outside of extreme cases, a lot of wear on a vehicle is due to age.  Parts also become harder to source over time.  So as a general rule always go newer.

With that being said, these are great vehicles to customize and once you get in to one, it's not hard to add the bits and pieces that are missing. 

One consideration is towing.... take a look at the rear end gearing if you ever think you want to tow.  Those 3.23 gears are pretty much useless for that.



Thank you for that advice! Yes towing is on the table, I have a 16? crestliner that I plan on towing occasionally so I will certainly look into that thanks again.
 
I would get the 2013 no question.

3k difference for 4 years newer and more features?

Have the dealers for both pull car faxes for you on both and insure they don't have issues with them and also make sure you check engine size etc...

Pull the codes off the tag in the glove box and check what the truck came with from the factory to compare the two and don't just listen to what the dealer tells you.

Just have to make sure they don't have any major issues. I am surprised on the pricing for the 2013. My GF's truck is a 2013 LT Silverado and blue book on it is high 20k. But then again she has about 40k miles on hers.

Also wondering why you think your truck won't do 40 miles? My '03 has 270k on it and I wouldn't be scared to drive it at all. Although I HAVE put like $4k into it the past year for repairs. (Compared to the ~$4k- ~$6k per year it would cost for a $24k truck for payments...)



 
redheadedrod said:
I would get the 2013 no question.

3k difference for 4 years newer and more features?

Have the dealers for both pull car faxes for you on both and insure they don't have issues with them and also make sure you check engine size etc...

Pull the codes off the tag in the glove box and check what the truck came with from the factory to compare the two and don't just listen to what the dealer tells you.

Just have to make sure they don't have any major issues. I am surprised on the pricing for the 2013. My GF's truck is a 2013 LT Silverado and blue book on it is high 20k. But then again she has about 40k miles on hers.

Also wondering why you think your truck won't do 40 miles? My '03 has 270k on it and I wouldn't be scared to drive it at all. Although I HAVE put like $4k into it the past year for repairs. (Compared to the ~$4k- ~$6k per year it would cost for a $24k truck for payments...)


To answer your question, I currently don?t have a truck. I have an 07 G6 with a little over 108k miles on it. It has been a good reliable car for me to date, other than the rims. The rims alone would prevent me from ever owning one again or recommending them to anyone. One of the rims is already bent ( pounded back out by the tire place ) and it wobbles on the freeway. Iv had the car for about 6 years rode it hard and put it away wet. My wife and I have been talking for a little bit about me getting a new vehicle lately, and since I need to tow my boat on occasion I decided on a truck. Also the winter is coming and i have put that car into a ditch before on this same commute I?m about to restart. We also have a six month old who I would feel is more safe riding in a truck than my current car. Thank you for your response I hope I answered your question.
 
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