New member here. I am looking at buy a suburban and have a found a clean 2001 subruban 1500. I am doing a move from FL to NJ and the truck will stay in NJ as a weekly driver and snow vehical. I will be towing a cadillac from FL to NJ with this suburban and moving my belonings. Now the vehical looks great but here the bummer it has 190k. The seller wants 3200 which seem like a good deal. Im going to test drive the vehical tonight. What kind of things should I look for in a suburban with this kind of high mileage and how long do these motors last if maintained?

 

300k shouldnt be a problem if well maintained. What to look for:-

Color of the oil - has it been changed.
Plugs and plug leads
Any rust on the chassis
Electrics - check for any issues
Any rumble from the Diffs
Are the UJ's fine.
Check for white oil in the oil filler cap (walk away if is any)
Any oil in Antifreeze - walk away if there is any.

Ask if ever had the head gasket done or any over heating problems - again walk away if so.

I would offer a maximum of 3000 dollars. use the $200 saving to take out breakdown insurance

Andy

 

Dragging a Cadie (5000+ pounds) all the way to NJ is going to be a drag on that 4L60E tranny in that Burb. Unless it has the full tow package (trans and engine) oil coolers you are going to cook that thing. Look for metal tubing lines feeeding into and out of both side tanks ont eh radiator. If you don't have engine oil cooler you only have half the tow package and a 4L60 trans. If you have both coolers better chance to have newer 4L80E trans, best bet for heavy hauling. Look for MT1 or M30 on teh build sheet in teh glove box. MT1=4L80E trans. $3200 sounds a tad high for truck with 190K unless it has full tow, new E rated tires, upgraded exhaust, SFI fuel injector upgrade. Like Andrew already said, look at the most obvious signs of problems first. If you see any and are not ready/positioned to take care of it yourself for repairs walk away. I only paid $500 for a 99 tahoe but I knew it had problems with coolant in oil and blown head gaskets and leaking intake gaskets. You get what you pay for. good luck.