Posted on 08/26/2012 6:00:09 PM PDT by Chickensoup
OK FR Men! My Son Wants to Buy a GMC One Ton Diesel C3500 with 140K on it and New Brakes.
It is big. It is heavy. It goes vrooom vrooom. He wants it to upgrade with some friend's help. Near as I can figure out from the Net this thing must get about 10 miles to the gallon. It does not have the double wheels in the back. If that is the case it is 9.00 every time he drives to town. 2+K to insure and at least 4k annually to feed.
Price 3K. Edmunds says it is worth 2400. He has other transportaion, his school commuter car is Taurus that I chose after FreeperSummit on used cars.
The kid says he wants to mow lawns, we have other means and the reality is that he wants a toy. Vroom Vroom. He has worked all summer to save towards something special. I just didnt expect this would be it. He has no regular job, and is in school at a voc where many other kids have dads who own excavating companies or rigging companies and the kids drive a company truck.
What is a mom to do?
$3.95 here in Ga or more in town.
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4.15 here
You didn’t mention what year it is.
The early Duramax engines had head gasket failure issues and high injector failure rates. (like 1 in 8) I haven’t shopped DM injectors recently but they were crazy high last I looked.
You can send an oil sample off to Blackstone Labs and it will tell you if there are injector problems right now.
Do you really think you’re gonna get a Duramax for 3 grand?
The Allison trans is worth almost that much for core charge.
Have a serious talk to your son about how expensive it will be if repairs are needed for this type of vehicle. You may have already done this
Have it checked out by a mechanic, unless you’re acquainted with these types of trucks, it could save you, or at least prepare you, for a financial hit.
Who is paying for the insurance coverage?
If he’s earned the money himself, if he’s going to pay for things out of his own pocket, I’d reluctantly give the go ahead.
FWIW, I’d gone through this with 3 sons. They always think bigger than you’re prepared for!
Don’t, its a fad thing. Its a new trend to get a diesel truck, mount an eight or ten inch exhaust stack through the bed and a performance chip.
And the young men love to stomp on the gas and watch a huge plume of soot land all over everything, seriously its a fad.
Now I speak with some experiance, first off I am a diesel mechanic, I own a 2002 Silverado dually with a gas engine that is 496 cubic inches, it cost me over $70 a week to commute to work only 13 miles away. The diesel will get unaltered better gas mileage, the diesel is superior when it comes to long distance driving and towing, the diesel cal out live most engines.
I also have a 2001 Silverado 2500 with the 6.6 Duramax, awesome engine but that yaer had a reansfer case weak design, they would break off the transmission.
The Allison transmission is a beast, strongest tranny I have seen in years.
Tell you kid to get a smaller diesel, preferably in a Toyota.
Diesel fuel will skyrocket soon what with a refinery blown up in central America, a gulf hurricane, a west coast refinery problem.
But I have been a diesel mechanic for many years and yet I drive a gas engine, why? Because when the diesel breaks it will break your bank account.
Try parenting. He needs to understand that this truck is going to become a money pit very quickly that will eat virtually every dime he makes. If you tell him that and show him what the REAL cost of ownership is, he might make a better decision.
New brakes are nice but, what about the engine, the transmission and the drive train? How about the A/C? And the tires?
A vehicle like this will quickly nickel and dime him to death plus the fluctuating price of gas (including diesel) make this a very expensive vehicle. Why else would the current owner want to sell it?
If you explain all of this and he is still determined to get this money pit, let him. But, when he brings it home, make sure he knows that the bank is closed. If his truck is broken or out of gas on a Friday or Saturday night, make sure he knows that he won't be borrowing your car to go out on his date.
Mom, are you saying he wants TWO cars? Or are you going to sell the Taurus? If you decide the truck is ok, make him get a JOB and pay for it. DO NOT buy it for him. When he gets a job, make sure he saves one-third for long term needs (the future rainy day), one-third for his new toy plus insurance, and spends one-third on girls. Does he really need that muscle truck? Frankly, sounds like a huge money pit with no return. Stick with a safe econo-box for basic transportation. That will teach him an even better life lesson — you don’t always get the toys you want.
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He uses the Taurus I bought for him (it is mine) as a school commuter car. I pay school gas and upkeep. He pays non school gas. He has been saving summer job monies. He doesnt like girls yet, just trucks. He has no need for the truck but thinks he needs it. Rainy day fund? He cannot imagine it.
Personally I think it is a hole in the air that sucks money. It is his money though.
What about the coming gas/fuel situation?
Also Diesels are not really the sort of shade tree
mechanic type of vehicles.
When you run out of fuel in one, it’s a real pain.
Sometimes you have to bleed the system and crack
some injector lines to get it to start, also
can be cold blooded in winter, make sure it has
a block heater.
Best to let a prof DIESEL mechanic check it out.
If you buy a diesel and you don’t have a very good reason for owning one, you are an idiot. It costs minimum 2000 dollars everytime you take it to a mechanic. Diesels are much harder to diagnose than a gasoline engine. There’s a lot of diesel mechanics that suck. You can’t fix a diesel yourself. It amazes me how many people are driving around with 4 times more truck than they have any use for.
Sure, let the kid buy it and learn the hard way.
I guess there is no Dad at home?
Like someone said, if he can buy it and feed it himself he is big enough to learn that is a lot more truck than he needs unless he is going to pull a gooseneck and in that case forget the GMC with the auto and get a Dodge with a manual tranny. Big trucks have big parts, burn lots of fuel and take lots of money to keep them going.
His friends dads have companies that need this kind of truck. His needs are just keeping up with the Jonses though a Ford Tarus is at the opposite end of the spectrum for a young man trying to keep up with his buddies.
BTW, I doubt the 140K miles for this price though you didn’t state the year. Sell the Tarus, put the money with his and get an F150.
Is this a “toy,” or what? LOL.
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Yes it is. He does have a friend with a dad who is a diesel mechanic...
Being as Soup is hailing from Maine, the winter performance issues are very apropos.
Kid may feel like he is ready to be Tough Truck Guy but is he ready to put in Tough Truck Effort (like a pro would have to) in order to keep it going. The Truck won’t keep itself going with its own Toughness. Something like a V6, gasoline powered Ford F250 might be the better way to go.
Sorry about my typos, stiff fingers, I’m a hen pecker typist.
Where I live we have the latest craze all over town of these diesel pickups with performance chips, its easier to mod a diesel for more horsepower than a gas engine, especially the newer ones, and its actually cheaper. We have one guy running around town with a single exhaust stack up through his bed that must be 16” across, go figure.
Of course the Honda owners try doing that under the car but they can only profess to a certain degree how big their “manhood” is by how high the car is off the ground.
My son seriously wants my tricked out dually, I told him how much per mile it costs and he shut up real quick.
Sorry, but you are misinformed. My GM Duramax/Allison will outrun any stock gas pickup. I know because I have done it.
1997. He was two when it was made.
When this kid was a toddler one day we walked through a parking lot on the way to a store. We walked past a big shiny truck and he stopped to look at it all over. Then in his little toddler husky voice he said “ Can I kiss it?”
He reached over and kissed the bumper. For a while he would kiss the bumpers of all the really nice trucks in parking lots. He finally outgrew it, but there was a period of time that it was a bit strange going places with him.
You say he wants to “upgrade it”. Knowing what that means to him would help to know if he’s approaching this realistically.
Nothing wrong with him having a toy...as long as he is the one who pays for it. He’d have to be working, he’d have to pay his insurance and his gas. As for the upgrade- well, he’ll have to pay for that too. Bottom line, not without a job, mister. At least, that’s what I would tell my kids, if I had any, and what I would tell a student, if they asked me.
The early Duramax engines had head gasket failure issues and high injector failure rates. (like 1 in 8) I haven’t shopped DM injectors recently but they were crazy high last I looked.
You can send an oil sample off to Blackstone Labs and it will tell you if there are injector problems right now.
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He didnt mention that it was a Duramax.
Thank you.
You mean being able to bully people who are responsible with their money and considerate of their fellow drivers isn’t a very good reason?
Sometimes the car you can afford when you’re young is the car you can’t afford.
Mine was a 1971 Ford F-100 that when it finally refused to start for the last time, I shot it in my driveway with a .357.
If he doesn’t need the 1 ton capacity, I’d buy a 1990 Nissan with 200K+ on it first.
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