Hello!
I am looking to buy a used fleet truck. The years available are 2002, 2004 and 2005 all Chevy 2500 HD all 4x4 and the 6L V8.
I know how much Scotty loves Chevys, but I have read these trucks are reliable as far as the 6L V8 is concerned.
They all have something wrong with them such as bad differential, bad transmission, bad master cylinder or some other problem, and chances are being fleet vehicles they have been ridden hard and put away wet.
They are relatively affordable around $3000-$3500. The guy said they ran when they parked them there, however he did say
this was a couple years ago. I was hoping to get one and use it to plow.
I am concerned about how long they have been sitting, maybe its not even worth it because they have been sitting for so long.
If I do decide to check them out what should I look out for? Some basic things I would need to get it running are a new battery and gas obviously. What else should I check or replace because they have been sitting? Should I check compression? Change the oil? Hope the automatic transmission fluid is clean enough? Or change it and save the old fluid?
I am not a mechanic but I have worked on my own vehicles. The other catch is that they are about 600 miles away and I could do some work like replace a master cylinder in the parking lot for example but I cannot replace a differential. I did think about renting a bigger vehicle and trailer to tow one to my house. What do you think? Maybe they're not worth the trouble but they are cheap!
Transmissions and differentials are big money issues I would avoid. I would find one with the least problems and the best compression after a dry/wet test and go with that one. Besides, if you can work a deal for about $2000, the truck would be worth that in parts if it goes south, especially the 6L engines.
Recently I was talking to someone who had an engine swap done on a 2005-ish Acura V6, the junkyard charged her something like $3-4k for the engine....needless to say that was a shocker.
With that said, what you mentioned about parting out the vehicle if it goes south...buying all three & parting out the other two would be a goldmine even if the buyers have to pull the parts themself.
Paid $3k for my truck, pre-2020 I wouldn't have paid $500 for that heap but anything actually worth that price is now starting at $15k.
Book a mechanic local to that area for the day you plan on going to check them out, explain you have three vehicles which you need a pre-purchase inspection on. It won't be cheap but neither are trucks these days!
Given the outright insanity of the current market, an actual professional charging $500-$700 to check out all of them would be a wise choice.
Bring a fresh battery that will work in all three.
If one truly only needs the master, go for that. Depending on what's wrong with the diff, you can swap that out yourself in the driveway.
I've done that about eight times when I was younger & far less experienced before youtube was around. With the plethora of tutorials now available you shouldn't have too much of a problem as long as you have some tools & a helping hand when lowering/raising the axle in place.
As far as one with tranny issues, forget it unless you can get a good price (as compared to buying one of these with no major issues) on an install from a reputable rebuilder with an iron clad warranty.
This guy is the tranny genius, he's the guy I'd go to if I wanted one rebuilt:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IlkdW1Mrgpc
