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advice when purchasing a 2005 silverado

finn5033

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finn5033 Enthusiast

finn5033

Posted
Posted

Hello again, I have been on here lately asking questions of what to look for when buying a used 2007+ silverado with the dreaded 5.3 AFM engine. With the price range I'm looking to stay at I have come to the conclusion that I'd be better off looking for a low milage 2004-2006 truck. I have found a couple real nice looking ones. The one I am most interested in is a 2005 silverado 1500 crew cab Z71. Its loaded up with leather, front buckets, bose stereo etc. Best part for me being from MN is it's a 1 owner truck from Arizona, has never seen a MN winter and has only 89,000 miles on it. From the pictures it looks clean as can be inside and out. I am not familiar with these trucks other than my father in law has had a couple suburbans from this generation with the same 5.3 and has had no issues. His current Burb has 250,000 on it. Besides the obvious, are there certain things I should look for when I go check this thing out on Saturday? Thanks for any tips.

DareDog Enthusiast

DareDog

Posted
Posted

Is it sport red color?? I have same one here. Bought used with 70k and it's got 105k on it now. Trucks been In the salt all its life. Did normal stuff tires brakes etc..... Did replace 1 wheel bearing. Brake lines. Other than that it's been great truck.

intheburbs Enthusiast

intheburbs

Posted
Posted

Front wheel hubs/bearings - one piece units, expensive to replace

Fuel pump - listen for a whine from the fuel tank with ignition on and engine off

Window regulators - make sure all windows move up and down smoothly and quickly

A/C compressor/clutch/tensioner - listen for squeaks, make sure clutch engages cleanly

Body rust - rear doors, rear fenders

Brakes - these half tons, IMHO, are underbraked. Check the pads and rotors, especially for warping.

Exhaust manifolds are prone to leaking and also a pain to fix - the gaskets go bad - listen for leaks/ticks.

 

The '03-'06 trucks are pretty damn solid. Powertrain is good for 300k. Body will probably rust away before the engine or transmission gives out.

finn5033 Enthusiast

finn5033

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Update. I went and looked at this truck and my god is this thing clean. It's 10 years old but looks like it's maybe a year old. The bed has never been used. Look under the hood and you can tell it's never seen a northern winter same with the under carriage. Interior as well. I am picking it up tomorrow and will post some good pics for you guys you will be amazed. It had a couple issues, the 4X4 low wasn't working and the climate control wouldn't switching from defrost but they already fixed those issues yesterday after I put some money down on it. I drove it and it was straight, tight, and brakes worked perfect with no pulling or noises. This truck has the heated leather with memory driver seat and power passenger seat. Digital auto climate control, bose stereo. Pretty much has every option you could get for that year except for moonroof. I got it for $16,400.00 That is pretty close to top clean retail value on NADA but as far as that goes this truck is as nice as your going to get for a truck this age. It also has good A/T tires on it which is a nice bonus

Nanotech Environmental Enthusiast

Nanotech Environmental

Posted
Posted

Front wheel hubs/bearings - one piece units, expensive to replace

Fuel pump - listen for a whine from the fuel tank with ignition on and engine off

Window regulators - make sure all windows move up and down smoothly and quickly

A/C compressor/clutch/tensioner - listen for squeaks, make sure clutch engages cleanly

Body rust - rear doors, rear fenders

Brakes - these half tons, IMHO, are underbraked. Check the pads and rotors, especially for warping.

Exhaust manifolds are prone to leaking and also a pain to fix - the gaskets go bad - listen for leaks/ticks.

 

The '03-'06 trucks are pretty damn solid. Powertrain is good for 300k. Body will probably rust away before the engine or transmission gives out.

The Front hubs don't have to be expensive to replace. Sure if you give it to a dealer to handle, they'll be well over $500 per side. If you do it yourself, you can do them under $100 per side.

finn5033 Enthusiast

finn5033

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Here is a pic of the truck, I wasn't able to attach more than one picture for some reason. It kept saying the file was too big. I checked some of the RPO codes and it has the trailer tow package, 4.10 gears and LSD. Couldn't be happier

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finn5033 Enthusiast

finn5033

Posted
  • Author
Posted

It's looks very clean!

 

If it has code G80 it has a locker.

It does have the G80 code. Thanks it is crazy how clean it is. You wouldn't think it was more than a couple years old. couple more pics

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post-126382-0-79919400-1435080044_thumb.jpg

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post-126382-0-73036500-1435080035_thumb.jpg

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