Possible Purchase: 2000 GMC Sonoma 2.2l

Creekside

Creekside

Joined
Jun 12, 2020
Messages
1,673
Location
SW Missouri
Never owned a small GM truck but I'm very familiar with the Ford Ranger platform. There is a 2000 Sonoma coming up on auction soon that has 14,500 miles. It was owned by the auction company and I've known the company and owner since the truck was new; miles are legit.

It has a 2.2l and automatic, I assume a 4L60. Anything to be aware of on these trucks? I know the low mileage will come with headaches for example it still has the original tires on it. Outside of general wear and age related deterioration is there anything I should specifically look for?
 
These were pretty solid trucks back in the day, but pretty gutless like the 4 cyl Rangers. Rust in the back of the cab corners was an issue, and don't get the "Vortec 2200 🤣" hot or you'll be doing a head gasket...but it's almost as easy as a valve cover gasket on these. Oil pan gaskets like to weep and require pulling the engine to replace, but I've never had one leak bad enough that it dripped on the ground or required topping off.

Overall very solid trucks that last a long time and are pretty nice to drive for what they are.
 
dishdude said:
These were pretty solid trucks back in the day, but pretty gutless like the 4 cyl Rangers. Rust in the back of the cab corners was an issue, and don't get the "Vortec 2200 🤣" hot or you'll be doing a head gasket...but it's almost as easy as a valve cover gasket on these. Oil pan gaskets like to weep and require pulling the engine to replace, but I've never had one leak bad enough that it dripped on the ground or required topping off.

Overall very solid trucks that last a long time and are pretty nice to drive for what they are.
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This one has been kept inside and only really used at the auctions. I think it's going to be in great shape but we'll see. All of their other equipment is immaculate.
 
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Here’s a photo if you guys would like to see it. I’ll be driving up next weekend to look at it and inspect some other stuff on the auction. It’s around 500 miles from me.
 
Creekside said:
View attachment 235914
Here’s a photo if you guys would like to see it. I’ll be driving up next weekend to look at it and inspect some other stuff on the auction. It’s around 500 miles from me.
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That's a nice truck, it's the SLS trim so it'll have carpet and the upgraded interior. Most 2.2 SLSs were equipped with a nice split bench seat with adjustable lumbar, manual windows/locks, cruise, tilt and tach.
 
dishdude said:
That's a nice truck, it's the SLS trim so it'll have carpet and the upgraded interior. Most 2.2 SLSs were equipped with a nice split bench seat with adjustable lumbar, manual windows/locks, cruise, tilt and tach.
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My mom's 99 S-10 is an LS and it doesn't have a tilt wheel.. Which makes it no fun to drive for me (6'2 240). Not sure how big the OP is but its something to think about. Looks like a neat truck and I'd get it if the price was right.
 
dishdude said:
That's a nice truck, it's the SLS trim so it'll have carpet and the upgraded interior. Most 2.2 SLSs were equipped with a nice split bench seat with adjustable lumbar, manual windows/locks, cruise, tilt and tach.
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Thank you, I've been researching what the different trim packages meant and it's pretty confusing. Seems you could order a variety of options on the different packages. Cruise and AC with manual windows and doors is my preference. I'd rather have vinyl over carpet but it's not a deal breaker.

It probably won't be a daily driver unless something catastrophic happens to my Tercel but I'd like to use it to run errands and possibly do some road trips with it. It should get much better MPG than my gas F250 does. I gave my Ranger to my parents but if this deal falls through I may go get it back and start dressing it up. Mechanically it's almost perfect but cosmetically its still a retired Coka-Cola work truck.
 
nwjones18 said:
My mom's 99 S-10 is an LS and it doesn't have a tilt wheel.. Which makes it no fun to drive for me (6'2 240). Not sure how big the OP is but its something to think about. Looks like a neat truck and I'd get it if the price was right.
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5'6" and built like a freshman in high school. As long as I can see over the dash we're good.
 
Overall these are very reliable trucks, the 4.3 is the better option but the 2.2 is still a very reliable engine, the 2.2 only puts out 120hp but it still does the job.

If you do not maintain the cooling system and overheat it the 2.2 is prone to blowing the head gasket in that scenario, but properly maintained and not overheated it really isn't an issue.

The 4.3 on the other hand although a very reliable engine is pretty much guaranteed to have a lower intake gasket leak at some point.

To add on to this, both the 2.2 and 4.3 S10's are prone to upper ball joint failures.
 
Creekside said:
Thank you, I've been researching what the different trim packages meant and it's pretty confusing
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Not sure if it's any help but if you can get the VIN
https://www.gmpartsgiant.com/vin-decoder.html
When I look at Silverado's I like to run it through here and see what gear ratio is in the rear end, or at least what it come from the factory with. Won't explain what the trim codes are but at least you'd have a full listing of all the RPO's in it.

Looks clean. If it is, it's probably rebuildable, whatever breaks.
 
daves87rs said:
Slow and gutless, but dependable. The 2.2 gets the same gas mileage as the 4.3 too. I loved my 2000 S-10 4.3 back in the day though!
For day to day stuff and trips to Home Depot, it will be more than fine for it.
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This. Horribly gutless
 
Creekside said:
That doesn't bother me much. My daily driver is a Toyota Tercel....I think it was 85hp new.
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Sounds like a nice truck to me, I'd go for it if the price is right. Not sure why people base their entire judgement of a vehicle by how fast or 'gutless' it is. It's just a little pickup, doesn't need a lot of power.

I drove a late 80's for a while Tercel many years ago by the way, great little cars.
 
Creekside said:
Thank you, I've been researching what the different trim packages meant and it's pretty confusing. Seems you could order a variety of options on the different packages. Cruise and AC with manual windows and doors is my preference. I'd rather have vinyl over carpet but it's not a deal breaker.

It probably won't be a daily driver unless something catastrophic happens to my Tercel but I'd like to use it to run errands and possibly do some road trips with it. It should get much better MPG than my gas F250 does. I gave my Ranger to my parents but if this deal falls through I may go get it back and start dressing it up. Mechanically it's almost perfect but cosmetically its still a retired Coka-Cola work truck.
Click to expand...
You can contact gm and provide them the vin ask them for the build sheet and they will provide it to you for free and all the RPO codes will be decoded.
 
dishdude said:
It's not bad off the line or in city traffic, it's the highway where it runs out of steam. It's not a fan of hills.
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No, it's terrible. We used to own one back in the day. Extend cab, little 2wd 2.2l. Sometimes we had to give the little hamsters some extra treats to get their little feeties going to move the truck.
 
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