Buying help

bhammitt

I own a 1999 suburban 1500 with 130,XXX on it. I have been considering buying a used 2002 2500 suburban. My suburban is an LT with rear a/c power options but no tow package no sunroof or DVD. The one I am looking at is stripped. No carpet, no rear a/c, no power seats but it has power windows and locks, tow package.I can get the 02 for $9500. Is that a deal? Will I hate not having rear a/c for the kids?
We live in Southwestern Pa and my son is always hot so the a/c has me concerned

tidester

My own personal observation is that it is not a good deal because your kids will hate not having a/c in the rear unless you live north of Prudhoe Bay.

tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper

kiawah

Well summer is over so not sure this idea would be that helpful, but try turning off your rear A/C and see how your current Sub is able to cool down (or not).

Having had Suburban's for 12 years or so now, I can't imagine that the cooling would be acceptable for me, but we're about 10 degrees warmer than the Pgh area. When we use the Sub, it would typically have 4 to 7 people in it which would I'm sure be uncomfortable. Even our Minivans over the years have had rear air.

With people dumping large SUV's, I think if I was you I'd keep looking...it's pretty much a buyers market now.

ahightower

Not only do I concur that you will suffer greatly without rear AC, but no carpet? That really is a stripper. Sounds like it was probably a fleet vehicle for a construction company or something, and probably not driven in the most loving and gentle manner. I would avoid it.

I suspect the 2500's are holding their value better than 1500's because of their towing ability. My wife's cousin recently picked up a used 2004 I believe, 2500 with the 8.1 liter V8. He says it's lucky to get 12 mpg downhill with a tailwind, but they have a 22' travel trailer and you can't even feel it back there. Tons of power, not problem accelerating or maintaining speed on the highway. We recently towed an 18" travel trailer with our Yukon XL 1500 (3.42 gears). It was fine, but I stayed at 55 mph to keep the tranny from charging down to second on every slight incline. If you do plan to tow often, the 2500 is the way to go.

So again, you're likely to pay more for a 2500 than a 1500, and it's likely to have been worked a bit harder than a typical soccer mom's Suburban that never broke a sweat carrying little more than kids and groceries. I would just steer clear of the stripped fleet special and look for something with more creature comforts and that appears to have been taken care of.

rockman59

No carpet, no rear a/c, no power seats but it has power windows and locks, tow package.I can get the 02 for $9500. Is that a deal?
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Don't even think about it. This vehicle will have almost zero resale value in a few more years. Without carpeting the interior noise level will be much louder and you will get more heat coming in off the floor from the drive train. Combine that with no rear AC and your son will think he is in an oven. This vehicle is suited only for commercial use.

rockman59

Kelly Blue Book shows these values for a 2002 2500 stripper in "good condition" with 90,000 miles:

Trade in value: $3886 Private Party sale: $7255

Retail price in "excellent condition": $11,225.

I doubt this vehicle is in excellent condition and most dealers would not even fool around with a stripper...they would just sent it to the auction which would probably bring even less that trade in value.

demstillers

I am not sure if I'm buying a lemon. I found the Suburban we've been looking for used with 17000 miles on it. It is a 2008 LT 1500 4wd. The carfax is clean and states it is a rental vehicle. The Chevy dealership gave us the service records which shows that there was a power steering leak, fuel gauge problem, and tire indicator light problem. All of these were fixed according to the service records. This just doesn't seem normal to me. I have a Toyota, and it has 100000 miles on it and it is approaching seven years old with none of those problems. The biggest problem I had with it was the power door motor pooping out. That's it. For a 2008, that seems like a lot of service, but reading other posts, it seems that GM has quite a few longstanding problems. Any insight?