2000 GMC Sierra with major issues: What to do now

[dnastrau]

Greetings:

In another recent thread in the Mechanical forum, I posted about the problems that my 2000 GMC Sierra has. Between the rocker/wheelwell rust that caused it to fail inspection last month, the other smaller issues and the cracked head that I found over the weekend, I think it is time to move on.

My question now is, what do I do with this truck? My initial thought is that I have four options: Try to sell it on Craigslist (not sure what to even ask for it), sell it to a salvage yard for parts, sell it for scrap or just donate it and get a small tax writeoff. I am not looking to trade it in on something else at this point.

NADA shows rough trade-in for this truck to be $1750 but I don't think it even qualifies as "rough" due to the major engine problem. Any thoughts from anyone regarding past experiences like this, etc?

Thanks,

Andrew S.

 

[dwcopple]

$500 Craigslist mechanics special

 

[cptbarkey]

i would say at least $1000 on craigslist. be upfront about the cracked cylinder head. in theory it just needs to be replaced and the coolant leak is fixed. good luck.

 

[Donald]

You can donate to charity and take a write-off. I think they do not give you a price, just a receipt, so you can determine the price yourself.

Try it on CL for $1200 and come down to $1000. Give it a week or two and then donate it. You can then take $1750 as a write-off.

Rust that causes it to fail inspection is a tough nut to crack and deal with.

 

[supton]

If you don't want to fix it, flip it on CL. As cptbarkey says, list at $1k, but figure out what it's worth to you, and let that be the lower limit on what you accept.

OTOH, if the frame is good, you could do the head swap and just patch up the rust. Worst case is you rip the head off, get bored, and CL it for $500, accepting $300 to get rid of it. Best case you get a few more years out of it for cheap money.

 

[mjoekingz28]

Drive it to the junkyard.

That is about as end-user as it gets.

 

[Doog]

$500 mechanics special. It will sell.

 

[MNgopher]

Post it for sale on craigslist, major faults disclosed. Found that the magic number was anything under $1000. Posted at $1000 on an explorer with a bad transmission, and got no nibbles in two weeks. Lowered it to $900 and had it sold in 2 hours.

And the fact it is a truck will give it a utility value - so I'd start somewhere over $1000 and go from there...

Work well if you aren't in a giant hurry to get rid of it.

 

[krismoriah72]

I had a 1999 GMC sierra that had a cracked head last year. I bought a head for $80 at a junkyard and a gasket set and had it fixed in an evening.

Bodywork to pass inspection shouldnt be more than $100 and some time..

So you could get it running, and pass inspection and sell it for top dollar with a current inspection or take the hit and sell as a mechanics special.

 

[old1]

Since I am in Nebraska, and we don't have inspections, I am curious as to why PA rejects a vehicle for rust, especially in rocker panels and fenders? If they did that here, most of the over 10 year old vehicles would fail. We have neither safety or smog inspections, and I am glad of it.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: old1
Since I am in Nebraska, and we don't have inspections, I am curious as to why PA rejects a vehicle for rust, especially in rocker panels and fenders? If they did that here, most of the over 10 year old vehicles would fail. We have neither safety or smog inspections, and I am glad of it.


NH is the same way, Maine used to be, or still is (I've heard that inspections used to be twice per year up there!). Holes in floorboards are an easy one, don't want CO inside the cabin, nor people falling out. Similarly, don't want seats to rip out of the floorboard in case of a crash. Holes in rockers, you start to go gray. Still want CO out of the cabin, but fenders and rockers... eh, they're pushing it as far as safety.

The shop I use has this rule: if they can't run their hand over it w/o fear of getting cut, then it's unsafe. Why a passerby would run their hand over my car is anyone's guess, but I figure it's as good of a rule of thumb (at least with this shop) and deal accordingly.

My shop will fail for rusty brake lines and frame components, too much scale and it's a fail. But I want to say most unibody cars, and others, once serious rust occurs up top, there's serious rust underneath.

 

[bladecutter]

You could probably sell that truck in several other states for way more than the $500 mechanics special that people here are saying.

I've seen trucks in worse shape than yours sounds sell for $4k here in Colorado.

BC.

 

[WiskyBadger]

If we had these inspections vehicles woulf be even more expensive, yea no thanks. There would be so many fails haha

 

[dnastrau]

Thanks for the replies. I am probably going to list it on Craigslist as I am not up for another project at the moment. I will likely start at $1200 and will disclose the known major issues. We have two other vehicles so transportation is no problem.

Andrew S.

 

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted By: old1
Since I am in Nebraska, and we don't have inspections, I am curious as to why PA rejects a vehicle for rust, especially in rocker panels and fenders? If they did that here, most of the over 10 year old vehicles would fail. We have neither safety or smog inspections, and I am glad of it.


It is a privatized inspection system here in Pennsyltuckey, and I HATE HATE HATE it!!!!!!

You are at the mercy of the station/shop, and most go out of their way to find something to fail you on so that they can then over-charge you for repairs.

Most have $$$$ signs in their eyes when you pull in for just an inspection (which we must pay for as well, up to $100.00 per year).

Conflict of interest at it's beat (WORST!!).

 

[silveravant]

Rust for PA inspection can be fixed with aluminium tape and a little paint, or sell in Ohio if you are close.

Pa used to have inspection every 6 months!

 

[barkingspider]

Sell it on Craigslist, if you get $1000, you will be ahead of the game. Then use the money and get a newer truck in better shape. Rust kills it

 

[dnastrau]

I am in northeastern PA near NJ and NY. I could cover up the rust with slip-over rockers and wheelwell patch panels to get it through inspection but in this case the truck is a crew cab with the backwards opening rear doors. The bottom door latch for the rear doors has a catch bolted to the outer rocker panel. Since there isn't much metal left there, I see this as a safety issue. I do not want to get into having new rockers welded onto this truck.

Mechanically, I don't want to try replacing the heads since I now know that coolant has been in the oil for awhile. Since engine bearings don't get along with coolant, and the engine already has 204K miles on it, I'll pass on that project as well. If the rest of the truck were in good shape, I would probably look for a used engine (maybe a 5.3 instead of the 4.8). It really is a shame that rust is still such a big problem for pickups in areas that use salt on the roads.

Andrew S.

 

[supton]

Rust kills 'em all.

If you think coolant got into the oil, that plus the rust does argue for ditching it for anything you can get.