Looking to purchased a used 2011 Denali HD need some opinions

TheDon81 · February 3, 2015

I am currently looking at buying a 2011 Denali HD with 67k miles on it, it's a pretty good deal but I have a couple questions

1) The car fax showed this truck originated from Canada, is there anything special I need to be looking at for a truck that has been imported into the states? Should I stay clear?

2) The carfax shows the truck was in an accident, how bad I am not sure, but it exceeded $2000 CAD, what's your opinion on buying a truck that was in a fender bender?

3) This truck was originally a Commercial vehicle which most used 2500's are what's everyone's opinion on buying used commercial vehicles

4) The truck has rubber floors instead of carpets, was this an option? They appear to be original

5) Lastly the truck told me to service the park assist and trailer brakes, and the hour meter on the truck is reading 4 hours (assuming because they swapped the cluster for importation) are these a common issue?

Overall the truck looks good, has some of the usual contractor dings and dents in the tail gate but not to worried about it. Along with a bunch of minor issues that appears to be relatively cheap to replace i.e. 12V cover falling off and steering wheel controls sticking.

This is my first post and first used truck purchase in 20 years figured I'd ask some experts on there opinion.
Thanks
D

sahls01gmc · February 3, 2015

Welcome to the site!

Rubber floor on a Denali? Not likely....

Commercial vehicle wouldn't scare me...that's what those trucks are classified as. Every state has their own opinion on them anyways.

I would have to find out what kind of accident it was in before I bought it.

TheDon81 · February 3, 2015

Thanks glad to be here hopefully I'll be a owner soon!

I went on to GMC's website to build one and I did not see rubber floor option (the used dealer told me it was an option I immediately called BS, but you never know) flipping through the parts catalogs I see you can purchase them and they aren't really expensive ~$100 so if this was a work truck I can totally see them replacing the carpet for ease of cleaning, which is the same reason they are growing on me as I do a lot of ATV trips and muddy boots aren't uncommon.

I am not sure I'd be able to figure out what type of accident that it was in as carfax does not give any details and the accident was in Quebec. How could I figure this out? I looked over the truck real good once I found out it was in an accident and I presume that it was a front end collision, looking over the wheel wells there is one missing bolt for the inner fender and the lower bumper fascia has a little larger gap than expected but not horribly noticeable unless you really look at it.

00Silverado4x4 · February 3, 2015

I'd take the truck for a very long, involved test drive. Test/listen for EVERYTHING!

sahls01gmc · February 3, 2015

Have you verified that it is a DENALI, and not just decals and a grill? If it isn't a real DENALI, then what else are they covering up? I agree with above, take it for a long drive and test everything!

TheDon81 · February 3, 2015

I decoded the vin as well I performed a Carfax an both stated it's a Denali. If it's not a Denali the previous owner went through a lot to make it look like it, Wheels, all decals (steering wheel, sill plates, doors, etc), grill, front bumper, heated steering wheel (from my understanding only on the Denali's) so by all evidence this is a true Denali.

My plan is to take it for a nice road test before doing any final sale, but the test drove I took everything seemed solid, couldn't find any rust, trailer hitch wasn't heavily rusted, there was still paint on the frame, springs, rear-end, and front suspension. Opened all doors checked for rust ding etc all clear, the only thing I could see which could just be the build quality was the panel gaps they slightly off. I took a double peak under the hood and saw no bent or deformed sheet metal, the only physical damage I saw was on the tail gate and some of it's surrounding on the bed, but if this was a Work truck then this is all normal wear and tear.

Pluses it has a painted cap and a tonneau cover (TBD on condition)

Thanks guys it seems like that as long as there isn't any noises pops/bangs while driving I should be good. Anything specific I should be listening for or possible common noises?

idnative1948 · February 4, 2015

If it was me, I would check every button, switch in the interior. Wish I would have checked my mirrors and tried playing a CD, but you learn.

Cosmic Charlie · February 4, 2015

The rubber carpet vs rug dings my interest. if the rug got so bad and they replaced it with rubber mat (?) what else maybe went on, it's a Lux truck - not a WT ... I'd like to see how much rust is under the rubber mat ! That truck did NOT get ordered with rubber floors and who would pay to change a carpet to rubber before it's ruined ... ? something fishy there

Radio controls sticking ? Prob will NOW do it forever if they dealer blew off fixing it - possible red flag for abused truck. My contols don't stick, Feel like buying another steering wheel ?

also changing the Inst cluster from Canada to US - why didn't they change the hours to match, and for that mater, can you trust the dealer who may have LIED abut the miles ... (?) to make a few more bucks - hard to track a truck from US back to Canada to check for fraud - commercial trucks (with rubber mat flooring - HA) USUALLY get a LOT of miles ... Trusting the selling dealer is a fools move.

I'd be way more cautious than anxious to pay ... I'd rather pay a lot more for a beauty than less for a head ache /wreck !

TJMaine · February 4, 2015

I personally wanted a luxury truck with rubber floors. It is a truck after all... Mud dirt sand water snow salt... All easily cleanable on a rubber floor. just my 2 cents on that one.

Take it to a dealer/mechanic and have em check it out maybe?

sahls01gmc · February 4, 2015

Being a contractor, I see where having the rubber floors is necessary as I have Weathertech mats covering most of my carpet anyways! Not my taste, but that also isn't my truck.

The more I think about it, the more questions that come up. Just like Cosmic Charlie pointed out, what else could be wrong with it? Who knows what you might uncover next.

If it was me, I'd want to be able to trace the history of the vehicle all the way to the manufacturing plant it was built at. Then I know what I can expect in the future.

Not trying to talk you out of it, just asking you to make sure you do enough homework so you fully understand what you are actually purchasing.

TheDon81 · February 5, 2015

Guys, first of all thanks for your opinion and secondly I don't trust any dealer, they are all out to screw someone, but all vehicles were once purchased at a dealer.

All the Radio control aren't sticking just the Source to be precise (and it just feels like the return spring broke) also this part is only $35 and does not require a new steering wheel and the cost of a rubber mat isn't that great of an expense (~$100) for a business. We don't know when the rubber flooring was replaced, they could of had the dealer do it before they picked it up, this is not out of the realm of reality as I have seen people do weirder things to a brand new vehicle to get the options they want but couldn't order.

I will say I was originally turned off by the rubber floor, but I can see that it could be beneficial, plus they can be replace for ~$200 so that's not that big of a deal, I hear you what are they hiding....but I looked over the truck, which I will do again and did not see any signs of heavy rusting or rust starting other than a few spots on the frame.

The mileage is correct unless the carfax report is wrong, Cosmic Charlie you telling me that one can tamper with carfax history? The dealer I am buying it from bought it from an Auction, why did it go to auction? probably the rubber floors But Auction trucks don't get any added attention to them and from what they told me and I could find out from there posting dates they only had the truck for a few day and hasn't been serviced. Buying this as a Certified Used Truck the Dealer would of taken care of these minor issue before you even see the truck.

How else can one track down the vehicle history?

I don't know if the cluster has been swapped I am making an assumption that I can't confirm or deny it, but as I have researched the hour meter, these getting reset on there own isn't completely uncommon.

I will say I have look at many low mile trucks (all around 60k-70k miles, ranging from 06-11), some have sever rust on the frame, others have worn out buttons, and all are over priced in my book. Example I looked at an 2009 Silverado 2500HD LTZ with 50k on the clock truck looked great but once I got under it I found that the bed mounting rails were rotten off the truck, they wanted $30k for that truck and this Denali they are asking less. I checked the bed rails on this truck and they are still solid, also looked a the cab corners and rockers all look good.

If I can buy a truck that is $8k less then market average I am surely going to take a hard look at it and take a step back, I am sure I am still a head of the game, as long as there isn't any major issues, the good thing about possible major rust is that the truck is still has rust corrosion warranty on it, it still has time left on all warranties except the basic.

I will take another good look at it this weekend to make sure there is no rot under the mats, hopefully get it on a lift as well.

TJMaine · February 5, 2015

My cab corners and rockers looked fantastic last year at this time. Not a spot of rust that I could see on the outside... now they are rusting through. be prepared for that... spray with oil/some sort of oil based under coating.

TheDon81 · February 5, 2015

When will GM figure out how to make cab corners/Rockers from rotting out? I figured they'd resolve some of this rotting issue on the new models....but I guess it's a crap shoot as I have seen older trucks that have high mileage with perfect cab corner and seen older low mile trucks cab corners rotting out.

Cosmic Charlie · February 5, 2015

Sorry if I sounded harsh - just trying to steer you strongly on the cautious side

Car Fax will only have incidents that were insurance related (unless things have changed lately) - if someone does not put in a claim (fixed it themselves or had no insurance) there is no record of the incedent or repair - The GM computer may have more info for you if they will show you the vehicle history print out ... it should NOT be secret - the dealer should have the title and if they prefer to NOT show it to you then wonder why - also if you buy it and they want to do the registration paperwork for you, it an easy way for them to hide the past history because you never see the paperwork.

FYI = these trucks can be driven without the instrument cluster installed (mileage)

Used trucks can be tough to find ... hope you don't rush it

You could get the VIN and ask on these type forums for some to run it thru the GM computer - or take that # to another dealer ask them to run it (it's free) - see for yourself the GM histroy

TheDon81 · February 6, 2015

Cosmic Charlie, yes I have been very cautious and been a slow process, been looking for a few months now and will go over the truck with a fine tooth comb before handing over the check., Initially the rubber mats was a huge flag, but I am gathering as much history as possible and didn't think it was all that bad when I converted the damage to dollar ~$1600 which isn't a lot. Unfortunately this isn't a GM dealer and is an independent dealer which I don't like even more, but the deal is really good and for the minor issues I can fix and pay GM retail and still come out ahead for what else on the market.

Thanks for the information, I did not know the cluster can be removed without issues, but that's a lot of work to do to get around adding mileage to a vehicle.

Is there someone on here that can run a vin for me? Can I just go to the service department of any GM dealership?