Hi,

I'm planning to buy a 96-99 Suburan with the 5.7 as my new daily driver and I already looked at a couple of them.

The first one had about 250.000 Km (150.000 miles) with a new oil pump, crank bearings, fuel spyder and fuel pump. It did start fine and did seem to run strong but the tranny shifted a little bit rough. Right front axle seal is leaking
No tranny or engine rebuild yet.---3500$

Another one I'm goint to look at soon is a 1996 with 300.000 km (186.000miles), it looks clean on the pics, but neither engine nor tranny have been rebuild yet. ---4450$

The third one I want to look at is a 1996 with 350.000km(217.000miles), engine rebuild 90.000km ago and tranny rebuild 3000km ago. --- 4500$

What I'm worried about the third one would be the differentials and the transfer case. It is also a gmc and I don't like the grille of those, so I would have to get a chevy grille from the junk yard afterwards

There is also a 1997 for 600$ that needs the engine rebuild, am I maybe better off with just getting that one and getting the engine rebuild or replaced?

How much is it approximately to rebuild the 5.7?

Thanks for your answers

(sorry if I produced any grammatical bull****, english is my second language )

 

I just picked mine up for 3900 one owner with 104k miles....keep looking nice clean one are out there...or pull a good deal on one of the others? Good luck...happy buying

 

$3500 sounds a little high, depending where you live. I'm in North Texas (where trucks/SUVs go for a premium). I got a '97 C1500 Suburban with just a little over 200,000 miles and the Vortec engine replaced about 75,000 miles prior.

I paid $1900 for mine. Now, it does need a few things: brakes need love; tires; lock actuators seem bad...little things. Other than that, the interior is a 9 and the exterior is an 8 (out of ten).

Check out Craigslist. There are great deals out there to be had. Good luck on the search!

 

About a year ago I paid $800 for a 99 C1500. It had 175000 miles, a spun bearing, and dieing trans. On the plus side, no rust or dents, clean in and out, and everything else worked. Bought a rebuilt L460e from a small time rebuilder on craigslist for $650. A bit of a risk, but it worked out. Got lucky with the motor too, it didn't need bored, so the rebuild only cost about $1200, with me doing all the removal/replacement, and assembly. With everything i have into it in parts, I could probably sell it and break even.

IMHO, if you can do the work yourself, it could be worth it. If you have to pay someone to do the work, you would be better served to take that $6-8 thousand and buy a newer, low mileage vehicle.

 

I've got 253,000 on my 99 2500 5.7 and its been a sweetheart until just recently I am having fuel pressure issues. Other than that I would buy another one in a heart beat. Good luck on your purchase. Like posted above, check out Craigslist. That's where I found mine about 7 years ago. Of course it was before these bigger rigs took a major depreciation hit