Looking at two Suburbans to buy, need opinion

Don’t where you live but here’s a public auction site that offers plenty of ex police vehicles and more….
Cut out the middleman, get your auction vehicle yourself….
Open to the public and you can do everything but drive them prior to auction, dealers are also in the hunt for these via internet bidding.
 
Keep looking. They both sound bad.
You know you are right. I am trying to keep it in the 10-12K price point. Once you go into $20-25K it opens up all kinds of possibilities.

That's really the problem. Trying to get something worthwhile in that price point is difficult due to the market being utterly insane. They say it's showing signs of turning around. Maybe that's why neither one of them can sell.
 
Do you know anything about the guy that rebuilt the engine in the black burb? Unless he rebuilds engines for a living it seems like a huge risk.

You make a perfectly legitimate point. I don't even know what to say, other than it is right on the money.
 
I hope you are right. I get the supply chain situation. On top of inflationary issues. I just dont understand why it will improve. We are still deep in the crisis mode.
Has something happened to improve things?
It's not clear as of yet if things have improved. "Some" inventories have been making up some of the slack, but with things shifting again in Asia, it's anyone's guess. I have wondered if, after things stabilize, N. American manufacturers continue with global outsourcing or if they will consider sourcing closer to home. I doubt they will resort to going back to the old days when vast inventories were kept in warehouses.
 
More pics. The black one, 2009 1500 Burb looks nice from a distance but up close looks like this all over, scratches all over the paint.

However no noticeable rust that I could find except one tiny bubble on the hood.

The white one has better looking paint, a bit more rust underneath, (surface) but some rust right here:



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He said he did it by himself, hence there is no labor receipt. I can ask for parts receipts.

I'm confused who the OP is in this thread...

In the absence of a receipt from a machine shop, I'd be extremely leery. Doing it all at home in a garage screams "cheap throw together and get it running for sale" type of rebuild.
 
The rust appears to be light surface rust. Check for no bubbling, holes, cancer rust. The "rust" on the white one is irrelevant body rust, that can be wire brushed off as it appears. The scratches on the black one are significant and problematic for the future. The paint is damaged, and you may get rust in the next few years.

Similar price range, the white is the far better vehicle IMO.
* Probably a type of dignitary or similar life, due to the apparent flag mount holes, and that means a relatively easy life of shuttling people around on paved roads in ideal weather. It also means excellent maintenance with OEM parts or better.
* White has 25% less miles.
* For a vehicle of this class, and intended role, the 6.0L is a far better choice. It's beefier, likely well serviced, and the suspension will have been beefier too.
* MPGs? You don't buy a Suburban to get good MPGs. Buy a car.

$10k is fair today for the white one assuming it passes all inspections.

The black has too many issues, rebuilds, dubious maintenance, and those scratches suggest a lot of trail use which is punishing, dusty, rocky, water passages, etc. There's just too many unknowns and issues, the least of which is almost 200k miles, many of which appear to be trail miles. This one is nowhere near worth $10k. Too many problems.
 
The one with the rebuilt engine could be a dream come true (in that it works reliably for a long time), or a hornet's nest of problems. So it's a bit of a gamble. That's why unless he has all parts & labor receipts and you can be certain the work was done correctly and thoroughly, I don't think the drivetrain work adds any real value-- in fact, it would be a negative if I was vehicle shopping.

I can't believe how horribly overpriced vehicles are these days. $10K+ for a 200k truck that has had major work done to it and 14 year old base model 2500? Ouch.

You speak common sense here.. One of the red flags with the black 2009 Burb is that the owner said he only drove it 40 miles after the rebuild, which is very strange. If he did it for himself, he would have put a lot more miles on it since the sprint.

He also said he got it for a song, with the blown engine, not sure the specifics of that.
 
The rust appears to be light surface rust. Check for no bubbling, holes, cancer rust. The "rust" on the white one is irrelevant body rust, that can be wire brushed off as it appears. The scratches on the black one are significant and problematic for the future. The paint is damaged, and you may get rust in the next few years.

Similar price range, the white is the far better vehicle IMO.
* Probably a type of dignitary or similar life, due to the apparent flag mount holes, and that means a relatively easy life of shuttling people around on paved roads in ideal weather. It also means excellent maintenance with OEM parts or better.
* White has 25% less miles.
* For a vehicle of this class, and intended role, the 6.0L is a far better choice. It's beefier, likely well serviced, and the suspension will have been beefier too.
* MPGs? You don't buy a Suburban to get good MPGs. Buy a car.

$10k is fair today for the white one assuming it passes all inspections.

The black has too many issues, rebuilds, dubious maintenance, and those scratches suggest a lot of trail use which is punishing, dusty, rocky, water passages, etc. There's just too many unknowns and issues, the least of which is almost 200k miles, many of which appear to be trail miles. This one is nowhere near worth $10k. Too many problems.

Wow, you hit the nail on the head on all the key points..

I looked in the engine bay of the white one, the 2500 Burb and it was immaculate, the cleanest engine bay I've seen in a long time. Looks like it was garaged most of the time. Certainly no trail use. The dealership has it for $11,700 and that's the going price these days.
I think 2500 series is harder to sell, given it is a towing machine, not a light duty. Do I get floating axles? It has 8 lugs. So it's either a semi-floater or a fully floating axle.
 
Wow, you hit the nail on the head on all the key points..

I looked in the engine bay of the white one, the 2500 Burb and it was immaculate, the cleanest engine bay I've seen in a long time. Looks like it was garaged most of the time. Certainly no trail use. The dealership has it for $11,700 and that's the going price these days.
I think 2500 series is harder to sell, given it is a towing machine, not a light duty. Do I get floating axles? It has 8 lugs. So it's either a semi-floater or a fully floating axle.

It would seem MOST people buying a tower get a truck. Probably a light demand for a 6 liter 4x4 tower class SUV. Do your homework, have it gone over by a mechanic, come to the table with whatever issues you spot and a cash offer. Money talks and BS walks.
 
My apologies, I forgot my (saved) password that was on the computer and logged on another device, didn't realize it was using a different one.
Sorry for any confusion, it was inadvertent.
 
Without writing a bible I would take the black 2009. Pulling a large trailer puts a different twist on the whole question because you have a 5.3 versus a 6.0. In the old days those subs lasted 300,000 miles but it appears they are not as good as they used to be.
 
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