Picked up a 2005 Suburban

[redhat]

Really excited to post this, past Saturday picked up a fresh from Texas (right off the trailer), 2005 Suburban Z71. I have been looking for a good used truck for my wife for a while. This thing is CLEAN! The rear of Suburbans past the axle, usually rust. This is spotless. Entire frame is factory paint and gorgeous. The picture below of the wheel and tire should show those of you familiar with GM trucks what I'm talking about. Frame behind the fender liner is usually rusty. Clean and black here!

Miles are high, but you do not find trucks this clean anymore. For the price, I can dump a junkyard 5.3, rebuild the trans and many other things and still be ahead. 200k on the clock, motor is quiet, trans shifts well -- fluid looks real good. It is going to get the full suite of maintenance items including anything needed, replaced.

Gorgeous Bermuda Blue color with Tan interior. First order of action, getting it oiled.

Long live the GMT800s. More pics will come once I get it home and start going through it.

 

[tblt44]

Nice
My well maintained 2006 Tahoe has 208k on it. Just a slight rear main oil leak.
That engine should go 300k+ if it was maintained.
Hows the trans fluid look ?
I do a drain and refill every 40-50k, a pain drop and filter change every other.
I installed a drain plug

 

[Kira]

BEST of luck with it. Looks real pretty. Where are you going for your hot oil treatment?

 

[redhat]

Nice
My well maintained 2006 Tahoe has 208k on it. Just a slight rear main oil leak.
That engine should go 300k+ if it was maintained.
Hows the trans fluid look ?
I do a drain and refill every 40-50k, a pain drop and filter change every other.
I installed a drain plug

Very cool. What'd you use for a drain plug?

My FIL is a very good welder, was thinking about picking up a new trans pan and having him weld a bung in it.

 

[jhs914]

A really nice truck but it is a shame that it will now be driven on your salty roads and be another NY rust bucket in a few years. As a lifelong Florida resident I could never live in the salt belt. I watch the South Main Auto YouTube channel from upstate NY and seeing how rust destroys cars up there is sickening. The annual damage to otherwise perfectly good cars must be in the billions.

 

[redhat]

A really nice truck but it is a shame that it will now be driven on your salty roads and be another NY rust bucket in a few years. As a lifelong Florida resident I could never live in the salt belt. I watch the South Main Auto YouTube channel from upstate NY and seeing how rust destroys cars up there is sickening. The annual damage to otherwise perfectly good cars must be in the billions.

Nope, Fluid Film or WoolWax oil undercoating every year and it will live a long rust-free life. Honestly, stuff works.

 

[glock19]

I love that color combo.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I've been debating going that route. Higher mileage rust free truck. Then just pull trans and have it professionally rebuilt for towing.

Always liked these GMT800 suburbans.

 

[redhat]

I've been debating going that route. Higher mileage rust free truck. Then just pull trans and have it professionally rebuilt for towing.

Always liked these GMT800 suburbans.

Not sure of your price range, but I've been seeing some CLEAN 6.0 and 8.1 2500 Suburbans for sale from $10-15k. With around 150k or less miles. A 150k 4L80e would still go a long time.

 

[IndyFan]

Nice score! One of my favorite vehicles I ever owned was a 2004 Suburban. We had 3 GMT800s, all good. 99 Silverado, 2003 Tahoe, 2004 Suburban. All 5.3s and all trouble-free. The 99 Silverado is still running around with over 300k on it. It's rusty but I'm told it runs perfectly still.

 

[daves87rs]

Love the color! Looks great...congrats!!!!

 

[earlyre]

now, find a rusty one with a good interior...
the Texas sun is MURDER on the plastics. you might find some parts falling a part from normal usage, (when i bought the '05 neon from my brother in Dallas in 2010... within a month both front visor clips cracked right in 2 just pulling them out to cover the side windows. got some JY replacements from ebay, still on the car, still working just fine. (it's currently at Fort Hood with my buddy's little bro.)

went to visit my brother in Dallas in early oct. 2014, while there we had to re-glue the perf "leather" inserts on the door cards of his 07 Mustang, the Texas sun/heat had cooked the factory glue to where it was no longer holding, the inserts peeled right off..

 

[ryster]

Here in PA the road crews use brine solution and road salt. Never had any rust issues. Current Chevy Equinox will be 6 years old in April, and when I was under it a few months ago it looked great. It is crucial to spray off the underside every so often during the winter months to keep the crud away. $3 at the self serve car wash is a cheap preventative measure.

 

[LeakySeals]

Nope, Fluid Film or WoolWax oil undercoating every year and it will live a long rust-free life. Honestly, stuff works.

The makers of fluid film and wool wax don't recommend using their products on GM frames that still have the factory black wax. It will melt it. Make it fall off. Contact them. They will tell you that

 

[redhat]

The makers of fluid film and wool wax don't recommend using their products on GM frames that still have the factory black wax. It will melt it. Make it fall off. Contact them. They will tell you that

Wow, I have never had that happen. I don't doubt that it happens, but of all the GMs I've had, the Frame just looked like black Fluid Film and never rusted. Thanks for the info though!

 

[jimbrewer]

Really excited to post this, past Saturday picked up a fresh from Texas (right off the trailer), 2005 Suburban Z71. I have been looking for a good used truck for my wife for a while. This thing is CLEAN! The rear of Suburbans past the axle, usually rust. This is spotless. Entire frame is factory paint and gorgeous. The picture below of the wheel and tire should show those of you familiar with GM trucks what I'm talking about. Frame behind the fender liner is usually rusty. Clean and black here!

Miles are high, but you do not find trucks this clean anymore. For the price, I can dump a junkyard 5.3, rebuild the trans and many other things and still be ahead. 200k on the clock, motor is quiet, trans shifts well -- fluid looks real good. It is going to get the full suite of maintenance items including anything needed, replaced.

Gorgeous Bermuda Blue color with Tan interior. First order of action, getting it oiled.

Long live the GMT800s. More pics will come once I get it home and start going through it.

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One of the benefits ( or should I say mitigations) of buying a high mileage vehicle is that the buyer who is reasonably alert can tell if the vehicle has been consistently maintained long term.

For a 30-40K vehicle it is too easy for the seller to spiff it up and fake you out.

you might be surprised at how far you go before you have to replace the engine.

 

[tblt44]

Very cool. What'd you use for a drain plug?

My FIL is a very good welder, was thinking about picking up a new trans pan and having him weld a bung in it.

I get them at Advanced auto.
Under I need help selection.
It's got a nut on both sides 2 washers and the center drain bolt. It, like 6 bucks.

 

[TmanP]

You've got yourself a beautiful truck! I've always liked those a lot. They've started looking pretty rough up here in the midwest the past few years, so I'm sure yours will turn heads due to its condition - it's obviously not a northern truck and looks like it was certainly cared for!
I'd guess that if you oil-treated it, you'll get 10+ good years out of it before the rust even starts to set in - that's darn good math in my opinion. I've considered catching a flight to PHX/ABQ/DFW or similar and driving something similar back in the future, if I'm ever in need of an older truck. It sure beats most of what you can buy north of I-70 in most of the country.

 

[LeakySeals]

If you're wanting to change transmission fluid it's super easy this way. Change it all in a half hour or just to empty the pan in minutes.

 

[01rangerxl]

Great color, seems like the majority of Z71s are white, black, or champagne (Silver Birch?). Not sure I've ever seen one in Bermuda blue.