Advice on used Suburban with high mileage

Tiny
UPMM019
  • MEMBER
  • 2001 GMC SUBURBAN
  • 242,000 MILES
I found a suburban online from a small dealer that is about 2 hours away from where I live.

He says it is super clean and brags it is broke in at 242k miles.

I just got an email from him saying he is straight forward and honest and reminds me that this vehicle he'd sell me for $2600 so I should expect some wear and tear.

That is all fine, I get that. But these are some things he said that has peaked my concern.

1. The clear and clean title will be mailed to you by 30 days, guaranteed

2 This is a very nice Yukon XL for the miles and year, and I know of no issues other than a small RPM rev once in a while shifting from 2nd to 3rd gear. The transmission does this when you get a lot of miles. There is no slip from the start, etc, and again, it can do this for many years, or like any car it can just fail one day and need replaced. Because of the miles you will have stuff like this.

3. In addition, this is a 01 Yukon, which means that they are very affordable to fix, bulletproof reliability, and you are getting TONS of car for the money.

4. It seems all accessories work. The AC and heat work great. They were non smokers. The body is super clean (no touch up paint hiding rust) and the tires are decent. 4x4 works great.

Based upon these statements what sort of concerns would you have?

I've not bought a used vehicle for like 10 years now so I guess you can say I'm a bit rusty at it. Need some sound advice and mechanical background about that RPM rev.
Saturday, October 5th, 2013 AT 5:52 AM

6 Replies

Tiny
HMAC300
  • MECHANIC
  • 48,601 POSTS
Pass on it and find one closer to you
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Saturday, October 5th, 2013 AT 5:58 AM
Tiny
UPMM019
  • MEMBER
  • 216 POSTS
Any reason why? Its the one ive been looking for and its a very clean vehilce for our area of country
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Saturday, October 5th, 2013 AT 7:04 AM
Tiny
HMAC300
  • MECHANIC
  • 48,601 POSTS
It has a lot of miles on it and the 2-3 slip means the trans is probably on the way out. Which could cost you in the neighborhood of $1500-1800 for a rebuild soon. But the decision is yours you just asked for an opinion.
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Saturday, October 5th, 2013 AT 8:16 AM
Tiny
UPMM019
  • MEMBER
  • 216 POSTS
Yep, I should get over the clean body and be more focused on the mechanical.
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Saturday, October 5th, 2013 AT 8:23 AM
Tiny
UPMM019
  • MEMBER
  • 216 POSTS
I am going to look at a 96 Chevrolet Suburban 1500.

It has roughly 216k on it.

Any advice for the layperson as to what questions to ask the owner or things to physically check or test drive, etc?
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Sunday, October 6th, 2013 AT 9:51 PM
Tiny
HMAC300
  • MECHANIC
  • 48,601 POSTS
Check how clean the engine bay is, test drive it and see if you can feel anything ad on it and if he will allow have a mechanic look it over even if it costs you a few bucks.
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Monday, October 7th, 2013 AT 7:25 AM

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