Chevy truck dealer says I'm stuck in the past.

[Bubba1235]

Been looking at trading my pickup (150K miles) in on a new one so did a little tire kicking. The problem I ran into is there is no such thing as a plain old 3/4 ton WORK truck anymore and no way to get a 350 in it. Every truck I looked at had way to many expensive "extras" to be a real work truck and they come with the all aluminum 5.3 or 6.2 liter engines.

Not that I am against new tech engines but this is will be a real work truck and I've had excelent results with the 350's as a hard working and durable engine in my pickups. (I don't think there is a more tried and true engine out there than the 350.)

Hmmm, maybe its time to go through the old truck and keep it for awhile.

 

[Jerryh3]

Re: Chevy truck dealer says I'm stuck in the past.

I have a 350. Oh, wait. I have a Toyota... Have you went to the Chevy website and tried building your own? You can get the 2500HD in a work truck package that is pretty stripped down.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Chevy truck dealer says I'm stuck in the past.

I briefly considered trading my '90 Chevy in during cash for clunkers. I had a heck of time finding any dealers that had a simple regular cab, long bed, V8 4x4 in stock.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Chevy truck dealer says I'm stuck in the past.

and they come with the all aluminum 5.3 or 6.2 liter engines.

Ayuh,... The 350 hasn't been used in trucks for a few years now....
Don't remember which year, but you can't buy something no longer built...

 

[ziggy]

Re: Chevy truck dealer says I'm stuck in the past.

Chevy truck dealer says I'm stuck in the past.

don't know about that. but your for sure stuck on i/o's.....

Hmmm, maybe its time to go through the old truck and keep it for awhile.

yep, that's proably the ticket. if she ain't too rusty.

i also find it a bummer to not be able to find a truck (or car) that don't have a gazillion to many gadgets. starting with gps tacking of where i'm at.

just a plain vehicle is apparently a thing of the past.

fwiw, i just got a plain car. a '97 geo prism. power options are elec. locks, rear window defog, auto trans. (which i didn't want either)... pretty basic, and hard was hard to find. took a year of looking.. imho, less to go wrong with it.

speaking of cash for clunkers. that kinda was a drag too. all the autos that regular folks could afford got trashed. bet there were a bunch of 350's in that group too. along w/v6's and possibly other possible engines that would be applicable to boats.

 

[1fishbone]

Re: Chevy truck dealer says I'm stuck in the past.

I had the same 'illumination'.
I was thinking of a new truck, just a second vehicle to replace my 'aging' 4x4 1/2 ton chevy.

Then I 'got my mind right'...why would I spend around $18,000 (at the time) for a second vehicle!

Sorry, new technology is for someone else...not me.
All I need is crank windows, rubber mats, no computerized everything !

I tore my truck apart...and did a frame off restoration!

Goodwrench engine, rebuilt the trans, re-sealed the rear end/front end
Interior re-upholstered, new GM body parts, (one door, two fenders), body mounts, rebuilt front end...etc

Less than $11000 later I have a 'new' truck.

 

[Gromulin]

Re: Chevy truck dealer says I'm stuck in the past.

Check with places like Enterprise Car Sales - they do fleet return sales off leases. Thats where I got my '08 Silverado 2500HD extended cab w/6-litre Vortec. Came with a rack and a cross-bed toolbox. Only had 34K on it. 4:10 locker rear end, rated for 12,000 towing. Even at the "Work Truck" trim level, it has an XM radio and stuff that just a few years ago would have been an "option". I love the rubber floor mats...I have 2 kids.

When I traded in my '08 Subaru for the '08 Silverado, my payment went DOWN by $200 / month. The "Finance" manager came out and grilled me as to why I was trading in a fully loaded Outback for a work truck. I told him I needed a better tow vehicle than the wife's Landcruiser. I didn't mention the intermittent electrical problems....

 

[RogersJetboat454]

Re: Chevy truck dealer says I'm stuck in the past.

Bubba,

Give the LS engines a chance. They have been around for a decade now.

The beloved SBC is/was a great engine, but keep in mind Ed Cole designed her back in 1955. GM pretty much exhausted all the feasible upgrades they could do to that design.

Allot of the go fast car guys have embraced the LS engines, doing things with relatively stock LS engines that wouldn't happen with the old SBC, all while beating the ship out of them.

I have no doubt the LS engine in a work truck will hold up as well as any old school SBC ever did.

 

[642mx]

Re: Chevy truck dealer says I'm stuck in the past.

Been looking at trading my pickup (150K miles) in on a new one so did a little tire kicking. The problem I ran into is there is no such thing as a plain old 3/4 ton WORK truck anymore and no way to get a 350 in it. Every truck I looked at had way to many expensive "extras" to be a real work truck and they come with the all aluminum 5.3 or 6.2 liter engines.

Not that I am against new tech engines but this is will be a real work truck and I've had excelent results with the 350's as a hard working and durable engine in my pickups. (I don't think there is a more tried and true engine out there than the 350.)

Hmmm, maybe its time to go through the old truck and keep it for awhile.

Lots of people had good luck with the 350 Chevy's... but in all honesty, they didn't have enough power to really break anything. I think the Vortec 5.7L only made 255 horse in the later years (some of the 350's didn't break 200 horse in the earlier Chevs). The Chevy 454SS truck had 230 horse.... which is considered pretty weak by todays standards.

All the manufacturers are flirting with the 400 horsepower right now, I think Ford is going to be leading the pack with the 411 horse F-150 soon.

For the money tho, if your really looking for a "work horse", Toyota's Tundra with a 5.7L (381 horse) with 4.30 gears is still the king in my book. But I will be test driving the new Ford when it comes out... I'm hoping Ford will put in a stump pulling gear like the Tundra has.

 

[DJ]

Re: Chevy truck dealer says I'm stuck in the past.

The stripped down trucks exist, you just have to look in a different place. Visit a dealer that does a lot of fleet business. You can tell by all the white trucks surrounding the place.

Todays engines are so far superior to the past that it's not debateable. With reasonable care, a modern engine will go 200K easily. I see it everyday.

 

[jeeperman]

Re: Chevy truck dealer says I'm stuck in the past.

The stripped down trucks exist, you just have to look in a different place. Visit a dealer that does a lot of fleet business. You can tell by all the white trucks surrounding the place.

Todays engines are so far superior to the past that it's not debateable. With reasonable care, a modern engine will go 200K easily. I see it everyday.

And if you want to buy it from a particular dealer, that dealer should be able to "trade" with the dealer that has the truck you want.
If he does not want to bring in the truck you want from another dealer.
You do not want to deal with that dealer.

 

[avenger79]

Re: Chevy truck dealer says I'm stuck in the past.

bubba I feel your pain. I went to the chevy dealer looking for exactly the same truck. nada. it took 6 months to get my Jeep here because I ordered it as a stripped model with only a better gear ratio.

i will say the new Chevy engines are very reliable, don't know they'll be as good as the 350 but it could happen.

 

[JRJ]

Re: Chevy truck dealer says I'm stuck in the past.

Funny thing about plain, I remember when heaters were an option

 

[LonLB]

Re: Chevy truck dealer says I'm stuck in the past.

98 was the last year for the 350.

I think only one of the 5.3's are all aluminum. It used to be that way a year or two ago anyway.

You should be able to find a standard truck....

When the employee discounts were going on there was a standard cab, long bed 4x4 with duramax diesel for 25k at the dealer. Rubber floor, bench seat and all. That was 05' though I guess it was. Sheesh time flies.

 

[RogersJetboat454]

Re: Chevy truck dealer says I'm stuck in the past.

Yup, have an LS-1 in the sports car and like it very much but I don't know how well it would hold up in a work truck that is habitualy asked to do more than it was designed for.

Well they have been putting 5.3L in since 2000, and 6.2L since 2007. Haven't heard any news of wide spread mechanical failures in these engines.

Maybe best to go to a GM truck enthusiast forum, and see what they think.

 

[tommays]

Re: Chevy truck dealer says I'm stuck in the past.

The chevy work truck is alive and well as i have done a 1995/2003 and now a 2010 all with 4.3 i do think the 4.3 is near the end also


You do have to get cloth seats(GT Covers made me a great set of mud proof)

It still has and easy to hose rubber floor and it has six air bags as standard

The price has not really changed that much at about 20k with a bunch of standard stuff like AC and the ride is great without taking away from its truck abilty

 

[RogersJetboat454]

Re: Chevy truck dealer says I'm stuck in the past.

The chevy work truck is alive and well as i have done a 1995/2003 and now a 2010 all with 4.3 i do think the 4.3 is near the end also


You do have to get cloth seats(GT Covers made me a great set of mud proof)

It still has and easy to hose rubber floor and it has six air bags as standard

The price has not really changed that much at about 20k with a bunch of standard stuff like AC and the ride is great without taking away from its truck abilty

+1 on that.
The Silverado 2500 WT is available. It comes with the 6.0L engine. Looks like it comes standard with "Letherette seats" AKA pleather/Naugahyde/vinyl , most likely has a rubber floor too.
Check it out; http://www.chevrolet.com/silverado-2500hd/features-specs/

If a dealer is telling you a WT is no longer available, they are full of ship. They just want to sell you a more expensive truck.

 

[waterinthefuel]

Re: Chevy truck dealer says I'm stuck in the past.

The stripped down trucks exist, you just have to look in a different place. Visit a dealer that does a lot of fleet business. You can tell by all the white trucks surrounding the place.

Todays engines are so far superior to the past that it's not debateable. With reasonable care, a modern engine will go 200K easily. I see it everyday.

I respectfully disagree. If the new synthetics are used from day 1, you can get 400,000 miles out of a modern engine. My uncle has a '94 Nissan Sentra that he uses REGULAR oil in. He drives 90 miles to work, one way. Has done that since the car was new. Last time I spoke to him which was probably 6 months ago, the car had just turned over 460,000 miles and it purrs like a kitten and doesn't smoke a bit. He even has the original rear brakes on it.

200,000 is nothing nowadays.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Chevy truck dealer says I'm stuck in the past.

The 5.3 engine code LMG is cast iron block with aluminum heads. LC9 is all aluminum.

It was in 2003, but my dad bought a 2500HD 4X4 Crew Cab Short bed, Duramax Diesel Allison Transmission SILVERADO. No LS, no LT, no W/T, just "Silverado". It had vinyl seats that looked like leather till you touched them. (They didn't feel bad, they just obviously weren't leather) It had carpet on the floor as I remember, though.

 

[jkust]

Re: Chevy truck dealer says I'm stuck in the past.

I respectfully disagree. If the new synthetics are used from day 1, you can get 400,000 miles out of a modern engine. My uncle has a '94 Nissan Sentra that he uses REGULAR oil in. He drives 90 miles to work, one way. Has done that since the car is new. Last time I spoke to him which was probably 6 months ago, the car had just turned over 460,000 miles and it purrs like a kitten and doesn't smoke a bit. He even has the original rear brakes on it.

200,000 is nothing nowadays.

Here in Minnesota unless you drive a ton, they all rust apart under 200k miles over time. The engines keep going but the bodies still can't handle the road salt. Even a well kept truck will rust on you.