So I'm looking at a 2003 Silverado 2500 LT...
It's 4x4, loaded, leather, towing package, all power, 82K miles. It's priced under blue book, and it's been on the lot for quite a while. But I've been reading the consumer reports on that year model, and a few things have made me nervous. I'm wondering if there's a reason it's been on the lot so long.

Can anyone tell me personal experiences with that year model truck? I'm planning on getting the carfax from the dealer on Monday, then driving the truck to my mechanic for a quick check. Any major problems I should know about? Is it bad enough that I should avoid that particular truck and find another model?

Thanks in advance!

 

Look at consumer reviews for any vehicle and your going to find bad stuff about all of them.

Take the truck to an authorized mechanic, have him look it over and then make your decision.

Deez

 

Hi RealGirlsDriveTrucks,

Welcome to the Chevy forums.

The good: Mondo comfortable. Very roomy.Terrific ride height gives you an excellent field of view. Great brakes. Plenty of power. E-rated radials. 410 gears. Firm ride. Excellent load handling.

The bad: 11.5MPG highway from the factory.(assuming, of course, it's the 6.0L Vortec V8, and not one of the larger engines.)

The ugly: A 55 foot turning radius. The worst of all vehicles in it's class. (How's your personal parking space situation shaping up?)

There's a couple of possibilities as to it's sitting for so long; Is it diesel? You may be able to push for a better deal if the lot wants to move the truck after so much time.

 

Thanks for the input. I'll be taking it to my mechanic tomorrow morning and see what he says about it. Ya know, I've looked and looked at lots all over town, and I'm having a hard time finding one that fits my criteria. Apparently 3/4 ton trucks are hard to find around here right now!

 

It's always easier to find junk. I see two types of vehicle owners around here, generally. The car buyers trade or sell and get something new every other year or so, but a lot of the pickup truck owners buy one truck, and go long.

Be sure the rest of the warranty is intact, there is an instrument cluster issue which is replaced free by the dealer should problems occur with yours.

At this mileage, a small coolant leak at the waterpump gaskets may occur(or may have occurred and been fixed) but it's an easy repair on this style engine. (Vortec V8)

I went thru a CD player during warranty, and directly after warranty, the speakers and CD player were toast, but I'm hard on audio equipment. If you do opt for a new head unit, however, you'll probably need a dataport adapter(100$- because your truck doesn't come with an "accessory" station on the ignition switch) for an aftermarket radio, but with the difference in Sound Quality it's well worth it. A dependable radio isn't that much, but, between the dash mount adapter, the GM antenna adapter, and the dataport adapter, the cost of adapters almost doubled the cost of my new radio install.

But, if you get a decent head unit with an AUX input or a USB adapter, you can connect to an MP3 which will hold 47,382 songs, cook you dinner, and vacuum your living room!