Pre purchase z71 part 2 (kinda long)

[z71freak]

I have the weekend off so guess what I decided to do....Test drive trucks. So i kept in mind that someone on my last post mentioned that he drove like 10 trucks all between 95-98, so I drove a few.

 

The first one I drove was a pewter 98 ext. cab with 123k from a dealer that was asking $14,900. Now, dont get me wrong that was an awesome truck eventhough it had a tiny dent right under the z one the driver side and the rear seats had georgia clay stains on it and it had the broken outside door handle like many of the chevy trucks I have seen. I took it for a spin and that thing sounded great, really smooth and shifted perfectly..even with my heavy right foot, and of course I had too play with the push button 4wheel drive, also very smooth. Bad thing was it was the wrong color and too much money.

 

Truck 2 was at a rinky dink corner lot in kind of a run down part of town. This one was a black 98 ext. cab with about 145k on it that was going for $8900 cash and I think I was told $10,900 if I financed. So I get to the place an I take a look at the truck...god it was s**tty on the inside....leather looked like it had a run in with a pocket knife and it stunk and it had 2 bald tires and 2 good tires (the good tires were on the front ). So the guy starts it up and it sounded like it had a d**n wild cam in it, not to mention the engine was making the entire truck shake, oh and did I mention that the check engine light was on?? So I take that one for a spin and my girlfriend was like "lets turn around this thing sucks" So needless to say that salesman wont see my face again.

 

Last truck of the day was a black 97 ext. cab with 230k on it . That truck didnt look bad at all untill I saw the burgandy interior . As always "so how much is it" I ask, he looks at his paper and says $16,900...as im holding back my laughter I just say "ok can I take it for a spin", he replies "around the parking lot", again im holding back more laughter. That truck drove great for 10 mph, I went 1 lap around the place and left.

 

The last one im going to see tommorrow, it a private seller so I may get a better truck for a better deal...Its a 98 ext. cab with gray cloth interior with 177k on it. He is asking $9000 for it but is willing to take a resonable offer. He also said that the "only" thing thats wrong with it is that it needs a power window motor...Whats it worth in good condition you think?

 

Sorry for the long post

[RyanbabZ71]

16,900 for a truck with 230K miles on it

[nhkid28]

it had 2 bald tires and 2 good tires (the good tires were on the front ).

 

That is actually where you want to put the best tires. The reason for this is steering control. If you were to hydroplane and good tires in the back you would have no steering control. With the new tires on the front and you were to begin to hydroplane you would feel the rear end breaking loose and still would have steering control. This would be true for front drive cars also.

 

Another thing I will throw in is about blow outs at speed. If this was to happen to you, and it doesnt matter if it was on the front or back, apply throttle for a couple of seconds then let off. What this does is counters the effect of the blowout and will keep you in control of the vehicle.

 

I had to watch a video on this at work, which was sponsored by Michellin Tire and was contucted by Wisconsin State Police. It was quite interesting.