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At A Crossroads

runninfool

runninfool

New Member
Joined
Nov 23, 2012
Messages
6
Location
ChocolateTown Pa (Hershey)
What to do: My 03 has rust under the panel driver side between the rear tire and back door and half way up the rocker. Plus above the tire on Pass side. Got 4 estimates 2 above $5k and 2 above $6k. Do I put $$ into it or look for another truck. 152k miles needs a/c fixed, brake lines done. Could use new springs/shocks. Owned for 9 yrs and still love it. And the price of trucks today is just stupid! So perplexed....
 
Unfortunately that is a question only you can truly answer. Lets say you spent $10,000 to completely restore your AV you would have a basically new truck that could last for decades and like you say, less then cost of a new truck. The only way to make it last is to then keep up with periodic and preventative maintenance. You also would have to accept living with an older truck and parts will get harder and harder to find unless the AV reaches collectors interests like a Mustang or Corvette.
Good luck with your decision.
 
Vaeagleav said:
Unfortunately that is a question only you can truly answer. Lets say you spent $10,000 to completely restore your AV you would have a basically new truck that could last for decades and like you say, less then cost of a new truck. The only way to make it last is to then keep up with periodic and preventative maintenance. You also would have to accept living with an older truck and parts will get harder and harder to find unless the AV reaches collectors interests like a Mustang or Corvette.
Good luck with your decision.
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Yea. The quotes for the rust repairs was only for the back half of the truck. To repaint the whole thing would be about $5k more. That is my biggest thought, of the “collectibility”. Part of me says to hang on to it but the other part says that nothing beyond 1985 is gonna be of interest to anyone. 😂😂
 
Too many other rust free AVYS in the south to think yours would be valuable collector truck later in life

Look think how much to repair to what you want it to be.
Factor in you know the truck
Mileage and parts in near future needing replacement. (suspension parts, hoses, belt etc.

Now compare to anything new or used... for same money...
Which do you want?

Then check more money trucks?

no right answer only whatever you decide to do...
 
I'm in the same boat as you. I plan to save the coin to fix it up in the next year two. My reasoning is that I love the versatility of the Avalanche. Nothing else compares. I also don't care for all the gadgets and gizmos that are thrown on new vehicles today. For these reasons I plans to keep my '03 Avy and '01 Bimmer around as long as I can, even if that's another ten or twenty years. I figure I can fix the thing five to eight times over before I hit the cost of a new truck.
 
My plan is to drive both my 2003 Avalanche Z-66 and my 2004 EXT for as long as possible.

Since rust is not an issue here, that will certainly extend their potential lifetime.

I spend what I need to make sure my vehicles are mechanically sound.

My EXT is currently suffering from a lame engine and is currently sidelined, but my plan is to repower that truck at some point.

I wouldn't even consider that except for the fact that the rest of the truck is in exceptionally good shape.

I could not replace that truck with something near as good for the cost of a new engine.

My biggest concern is getting in an accident that causes a good deal of body damage since these trucks are getting quite old and finding good body parts may be getting nearly impossible.

It will be a shame if some decent body damage would ruin an otherwise good vehicle.

But if that happens, I will most likely move on and start the process again.
 
FWIW, both Hoovie and The Car Wizard love the GMT800 platform- and with good reason. The design of the Avalanche is Bill Mitchell-level. Sure, the 4L60E will have to be rebuilt. Some of your electric gizmos will crap out- permanently. You’ll have to buy FluidFilm or similar in quantity to keep the rust off your truck. But if you can live without all the “modern” “features” that the manufacturers are expecting us to pay 50+ large for, the answer is simple. I fully expect my truck to be the last one I ever buy. I’m serious.
 
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Having owned over 20 vehicles the AV is truly my favorite, except for the gas mileage. After the test drive and hearing how its 215k motor ran and seeing no rust, I knew it'd be worth investing both time and money into compared with shelling out ridiculous money for a new one.
A friend is paying 789 a month in his 2018 f150. It's a nice truck but isn't worth the expense to me.
 
ygmn said:
Too many other rust free AVYS in the south to think yours would be valuable collector truck later in life

Look think how much to repair to what you want it to be.
Factor in you know the truck
Mileage and parts in near future needing replacement. (suspension parts, hoses, belt etc.

Now compare to anything new or used... for same money...
Which do you want?

Then check more money trucks?

no right answer only whatever you decide to do...
Click to expand...
I guess I'm lucky. I live in South Mississippi and very recently bought a 2004 Avalanche w/ 175,*** miles on it. I absoutly love this vehicle. Yes, it has the normal wear and tear of a 18 year old vehicle but has held up incredibly well. Unless you have exposed metal or back your vehicle into salt water....say to launch a boat, our vehicles here are pretty clean. Not California, high desert clean....but rust is not a big factor here.
 
I was really lucky finding mine. It was originally a California truck before it was relocated to Texas a few years before I bought her. There’s not even a brown tinge on the frame… she is spotless! I spent 16 years turning wrenches in my previous life, and I was always amazed at how quickly vehicles from up north rust away. I feel for y’all up there…
 
Yes I've decided all my next vehicles will be from Cali. I have family in SF so that makes it easier.
Now that the snow has started to fly up here, they started salting the highways and de-icing sprays in town and you can hear the cars rusting
 
2SmokinBarrels said:
Yes I've decided all my next vehicles will be from Cali. I have family in SF so that makes it easier.
Now that the snow has started to fly up here, they started salting the highways and de-icing sprays in town and you can hear the cars rusting
Click to expand...
I spent a year working in Illinois, part of it through salt season. I was amazed that a couple of months after I came home, the frame of my work truck was brown, and there were small rust streaks running down the back bumper where the sensors were 😳.
 
Honestly, I'd put the money into your current Avy and get it fixed up. Normally I'd say that decision is a tougher one, but there is nothing normal about new or used vehicle prices right now. It used to be putting $10k into a vehicle wasn't a smart call as you could buy a used one in good shape for that price. Not anymore. I think to get a decent used vehicle here your looking at a minimum $20,000, and new prices are well above $50,000. I don't know about you OP but there's no way I'm paying that kind of money for a vehicle.

I'd put the money into fixing your current Avy. That will get you a few more years out of it. Then when it starts needing a lot of work again you can evaluate things at that time.
 
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