Looking to buy a used Tahoe need advice

agentq232 · January 11, 2006

I'm the market for a used truck and I've had my eye on a Tahoe.

Basically I'm wondering what you guys think I should worry about or look for when buying a used Tahoe.

Right now I have my eye on a 2000 Z71 with 67,000 miles.

One of my big questions is at what mileage should I start worrying about age, assuming a basic maintenance routine.

My budget is about 15k. I'm trying to keep it below that, I found two trucks that caught my eye and I really like em.

Thanks for your help guys!!

Bish · January 11, 2006

I'm the market for a used truck and I've had my eye on a Tahoe.

Basically I'm wondering what you guys think I should worry about or look for when buying a used Tahoe.

Right now I have my eye on a 2000 Z71 with 67,000 miles.

One of my big questions is at what mileage should I start worrying about age, assuming a basic maintenance routine.

My budget is about 15k. I'm trying to keep it below that, I found two trucks that caught my eye and I really like em.

Thanks for your help guys!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I've got about 159K on my Hoe and it's been reliable with a few exceptions. I'd say get ready for a fuel pump any day now; mine went at 70K. Alternator went at 60K. You may be looking at a loose front end by 100K, worse if 4x4. I completely rebuilt mine at 145K but I also grease every oil change and that makes a big difference. My tranny lasted to 140K when it started slipping so I had it built Water pump (and hoses to be safe) at 150K. I'm on my second set of Bilstein HD shocks. You would be due at that mileage. Brakes could be in good shape or toast depending on how it was driven.

Having said all that, I fully expect to roll over 200K without any significant issues. I don't mine the consumable stuff like tires, brakes, belts, hoses. However. there is no reason the alternator doesn't last 150K and likewise the fuel pump but it didn't surprise me they failed. I still love my truck and hope to drive it a few more years!!

Good luck on your purchase.

RyanZ71 · January 12, 2006

Hey Bish,

you said you had to have your front end rebuilt? Can you go into a bit more detail on that? was it just normal Wear and Tear or were you pretty rough on her? Also can you go into a bit more detail about the tranny slipping as well? How much did it cost to have it rebuilt?

bjolson33 · January 12, 2006

Goto the autos.msn.com

In the upper left hand corner, pick the make and model of the used vehicle you are looking at. Select the year. Goto the reliability tab. It will show the common problems of that vehicle and the cost of repair. I found this to be very accurate.

RyanZ71 · January 13, 2006

Yikes, pretty bad, they rated the 99 and 2000 Silverado rather poorly, the 99 F-150 got great marks, as did the 99 Ram 1500

Truckman031 · January 13, 2006

99 was a new model year, and some of the probs carried over to early 2000s.

plainvanilla · January 13, 2006

I'm the market for a used truck and I've had my eye on a Tahoe.

Basically I'm wondering what you guys think I should worry about or look for when buying a used Tahoe.

Right now I have my eye on a 2000 Z71 with 67,000 miles.

One of my big questions is at what mileage should I start worrying about age, assuming a basic maintenance routine.

My budget is about 15k. I'm trying to keep it below that, I found two trucks that caught my eye and I really like em.

Thanks for your help guys!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If you budget is about 15K, heck you are real close to swinging a new truck for that price. They just advertised a crew cab 06 for 21K in the paper here today.

I think you can get a extended cab 2WD, 06 for way under 20K now with the latest price rollbacks.

I would really look at new verses used, your interest rate would likley be much better also.

Bish · January 13, 2006

Hey Bish,

you said you had to have your front end rebuilt? Can you go into a bit more detail on that? was it just normal Wear and Tear or were you pretty rough on her? Also can you go into a bit more detail about the tranny slipping as well? How much did it cost to have it rebuilt?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sure.

Steering started to get loose. Jacked the front end up and crawled under pushing and tugging on everything and found 2 inner tie rod ends with play. Pretty much any play means it has worn out. At that point, I figured with 145K, the rest of the components were probably near end of life and I didn't want to do it again so I decided to replace everything.

I replaced the following.

Ball joints x 4

Tie rod ends x 4

Pitman arm

Idler arm

Control Arm bushings x 8 (2 upper, 2 lower, both sides)

Sway bar bushings x 2

Sway bar end links x 2

Rock Auto for most of the parts...Moog HD all around. I did all the work myself (except the alignment) with the help of a fairly good tool collection including air tools and the use of a 15 ton press. It tightened things up nicely. I still have some play in the steering gear but I'll be replacing that in a month. Not necessary as it is nothing more than an annoyance but I'm pretty anal about maintenance and if I'm going to fix it, I'm going to do it right. Realistically, I could have just done the 2 tie rod ends and been good to go but I plan on rolling well over 200K so I would have had to do it sooner or later.

I consider all of that wear and tear. I don't constantly beat my truck but I do drive in a "spirited" manner

Regarding the tranny slippage, I would get some slip during a 2-3 shift at WOT. This was happening for about 10-15K miles. No slip in normal driving but I knew the frictions were going. I may have been able to drive it a lot longer the way it was btu I rebuilt it for 3 reasons. 1> I didn't want to grenade the tranny and cause more damage or $$$$. 2> I tow frequently for long distances (1000k+) and with slipping frictions, I could easily burn up the tranny in the middle of nowhere. 3> I was itching to have a built tranny so I could remove torque management, put in a shift kit, and not destroy the stock 4L60E. I also put in a Vigilante Torque converter with a 2400 stall and a WAAAY better triple disc lockup clutch. When the lockup occurs, it almost feels like another gear with a 500+rpm drop.

I had Chuck at Finish Line Transmission rebuild it. He had a great reputation and just happened to be about a quarter mile down the street from my company. I thought about doing it myself but ended up not having the time due to an upcomming dirtbike trip (towing) from Chicago to Albuquerque. I watched him for about 3/4 of the time and was glad I chose to have him do it. He is a really nice guy and explained everything to me. He also does trannies by mail. The tranny rebuild was around $1800 and the torque converter was aroung $1000. I could have gotten a TC for under $500 but as I said, I tow a lot and I want the best I pulled and installed the tranny myself (another comical story).

I figure at this point I should be pretty good for another 100K with minimal $$ maintenance. I hope the info helped! Let me know if you have more questions.