Is a 2000 Chevy Blazer a good buy?

If it runs well and passes smog I'd buy it. My last one here (NY rust ate it) was a 2002 and it was just the last in a long line of the S series Blazers I've owned. The only issue that plagued that generation was the sun shell in the transmission like most of the 4L60 transmissions it could shear the hub. A rebuild with one of the aftermarket heat treated parts will easily cure it. The other item is the fuel and brake lines. Look at the area in front of the rear axle in line with the tire, right where it bends to go up and over the axle. GM grouped the lines there and it can collect dirt and moisture right there and corrode the lines, hose it out real good let it dry and apply a good coat of fluid film or similar.

Hi guys. My opinion is the older, the better. I'm in Wisconsin, another state where they throw a pound of salt on an ounce of snow. Rust is a big issue unless it's a vehicle that gets parked for the winter. It seems to affect our vehicles even more for owners who run them through the car wash frequently. I suspect it's because the water helps the salt run into places where it doesn't wash out easily. I have a 1980 Plymouth Volare that has never been in a garage a day in its life, and has massive rust underneath but none at all on the body.

My recommendation is to visit a shop for an inspection. It typically takes about an hour to check the brakes, suspension and alignment, exterior bulbs, exhaust, along with all the other stuff underneath you can't see. Worn brake linings are nothing to get excited about, but can be a good bargaining chip. If you buy the vehicle, you may get a discount if the same shop does the work since they already have the inspection part of the job completed. If you do the work yourself, the repair estimate may provide a guide as to which additional parts may be needed. The brake linings should not be listed in the number of miles left as that varies a lot depending on how you and the previous owner drive. Instead, it's preferred to list them as a percentage remaining. For how my mother used to drive, for example, fifty percent remaining meant you'd better schedule a brake job in the next month or two! For the way I drive today, fifty percent will last as long as I do.

Steering and suspension parts are difficult to inspect yourself, especially with the vehicle sitting on the ground. The mechanic will "read" the tire wear patterns to get an idea of any misalignment. Those wear patterns can also point to specific worn parts that warrant closer inspection.

If the owner won't let you take the vehicle for an inspection, I'd walk away. There's something he's trying to hide. Also, don't let him dictate which shop it must be taken to. He may have friends at the shop he recommends, who will overlook important items. On the flip side, be aware we do on occasion, overlook a worn part. When we finally find them later while doing other repairs or services, we look bad when we have to tell you more parts are needed than originally thought, so we really try to avoid that.

Be aware too, especially on newer vehicles, GM has a number of customer-unfriendly business practices that will cost you money after the sale, and whatever new trick they dream up, other manufacturers copy a few years later. That's why my two 2014 vehicles are the newest, and hopefully the last, I will ever own. On some 2002 trucks, GM started using computer modules that have to be programmed to the vehicle. That's one of their tricks that cost you money. Another little-known trick is on the dealer's scanners, they have the option to select "Lock" from a drop-down menu that electronically locks every other computer on the vehicle to the Body Computer which is built into the radio. That trick was developed so you can't easily replace the original radio. You have to have it repaired through a dealer and one of their two extremely overpriced authorized repair centers. That "Lock" feature cannot be undone, and once it has been, you'll never know it, as long as the radio / Body Computer doesn't fail. Once done, if the radio has to be replaced, you have to replace every other computer that is tied to the Body Computer. You don't have that worry with a 2000 model.

If you have a simple code reader, take that along on the test drive. Check for codes before the truck is inspected as they may do that, then erase any codes to see if they come back. You want to check for codes before anyone erases them. Don't rely on the absence of a Check Engine light. On '96 and newer vehicles there can be well over 2,000 potential fault codes just in the Engine Computer. Only about half of them refer to things that could adversely affect emissions. Those are the codes that turn on the Check Engine light. Any of the other codes can be set, but they don't turn that light on.

Older code readers only read fault codes in the Engine Computer. Many of the newer ones can also read codes in Air Bag, Anti-Lock Brake, and Transmission Computers. Newer scanners used in independent repair shops can read codes in every computer and compile a list very quickly. Quite often a few codes will pop up that are very insignificant, but others can point to potential future repairs.

If this truck is at a dealership, they will have laws they must follow as far as inspections. Those vary by state. In most cases those laws aren't concerned with non-safety-related things like glove box lights or radios. Some states require all safety items to be working properly. Something that surprised me when I started working at a new-car dealership is on trade-ins here in Wisconsin, the parking brake does not have to work, however it must be disclosed as such on the window sticker. Up here, there is no such thing as a working 25-year-old parking brake cable. They are all rusted tight, mainly from salt. During a used-car inspection, I was required to either replace or cut a sticking cable. Cutting them was legal, again, as long as it was disclosed. Failure to do that too often resulted in a car coming back on a tow truck with a stuck brake. It was also not acceptable to try to lube a sluggish cable as that was never a permanent repair.

If the owner won't allow you to test-drive the truck, be suspicious. There's likely something you're going to notice that he doesn't want you to know. The brake pedal should feel normal. A lightly pulsing pedal is usually not serious. It is handled as part of a normal brake job. The pedal should not be low or spongey, and not unusually high or hard. After driving at least a few miles, when stopped, in gear, the truck should start to creep ahead on its own when releasing the brake. If it doesn't, a brake may be sticking.

For the steering system, watch the steering wheel while driving very slowly, as in through a parking lot. An oscillation back and forth can point to a tire with a broken belt. Very badly broken belts are easy to spot. There are other belt problems we can help with that can be rather difficult to identify. I can provide pointers, but the vehicle should really be up on a hoist.

During the test drive, let go of the steering wheel and watch if the truck pulls to one side. Most roads are pitched to the right so water runs off. We typically adjust in a slight left-hand pull during the alignment to offset that road crown". The truck may drift to one side a little on some road sections, but you shouldn't have to hold constant pressure on the steering wheel. Also, if the steering wheel is off-center, you know something in the alignment is not correct.

Steve would know more about pricing. Up here, price goes down as rust goes up. By you, I suspect mileage is the bigger variable. You might want to look at other classified ads, and on dealers' lots, to get an idea if the asking price is reasonable. If it's uncommonly low, there is likely a reason.

Also be wary of simple things that need repair. If the owner says, for example, "it just needs a new bulb" to get the license lamp working, he would have done that already. If it, "just needs a new air filter" to make it run right, why didn't he do that already?

Check the gaps between fenders, doors, and hood. Those can be clues to previous crash damage. Be sure to test the lights and wipers. A few squeaks and rattles are not uncommon for a truck this age, but you shouldn't feel any clunking through the steering wheel. Check under the engine and transmission for wetness. Easy-to-fix leaks would have been handled by the owner. Don't take his word that a leak has an easy solution.

If you have other questions or observations after the test drive, Steve is the best person to answer those related to this model. I can offer more wondrous advice related to the inspection, and steering and alignment concerns.

Something got misinterpreted. A sensor and a solenoid are two different things, although they can be two parts of an assembly. The issue remains, if they know what is needed, why didn't they do the work? They also need to be more specific. There can be dozens of solenoids, and there will be over a dozen sensors. What you've been told so far is as useful as saying, "it needs to have a bolt tightened", or, "a wire repaired".

A better approach would be to wait for Steve to return, then tell him the symptom(s) you observe on the test drive, or the reason this part is needed. He will be the better resource for pricing too.

The most likely solenoid to fail on every GM is the EVAP vent solenoid. To the point that I have at least 4 versions on hand most of the time. P0455 is the common code for those, they corrode and stick open. Mounted just above the spare tire under the truck.

As far as the engine goes, it's a 4.3 which is one of the best GM engines ever built. It's basically an old school 350 with 2 cylinders removed. I've had them run well over 300K and the rot to the body and frame generally is the reason they get scrapped.

For reliability, you're asking a question that's impossible to answer. If we could predict head gasket failures, or any other breakdown, people could be warned days in advance and you'd never see a car sitting on the side of the road or on the back of a tow truck. I had a 1988 Grand Caravan with over 440,000 miles that was the most trouble-free vehicle ever owned by anyone in my family. It only got parked due to rust because the carpet was the only thing holding the front and rear together. The same model in 1989 introduced the world's first computer-controlled transmission, with a huge failure rate, so if you would have bought one of those based on my experience, you'd be pretty angry with me for recommending it.

Same with TVs when I was a TV repairman. We all knew Magnavox made some of the most horrible TVs in the world, so, on a service call, if you asked me if it was a better value to fix it or trade it for a new one, of course I'd tell you to trade it without repairing it first. Then you might run into the one or two people who had good luck with the same model, and you'd be mad at me. If I recommended it was a better value to fix your old model, and then it broke down again a few months later, you, again, would be mad at me. We learned to just give you dollar amounts to make your decision, and leave it up to you.

You also have to consider what you mean by "reliable". Some people call their vehicle "reliable" if they make it to work every day, even though the exhaust is dragging on the ground, the headlights are pointing to the trees, the heater blows cold air, and smoke is coming from under the hood as leaking il burns off. Some owners swear they'll never buy another vehicle of that brand because a piece of chrome trim fell off after two years.

I tend to judge reliability by how much it's going to cost for this latest repair. Some older GM trucks were known to develop broken cross member mounts under the front seats. That caused an annoying thumping sound over bumps, but the truck was still drivable and it didn't affect the alignment. Repairs were fairly easy and inexpensive, but does that mean it wasn't reliable? Hardly. Some models are well-known to have really tough transmissions with an extremely low failure rate, but that doesn't mean much to the one owner out of thousands who is sitting on the side of the road with a failed transmission.

Some models, like my Caravan, came with a stainless steel exhaust system. Mine is still original. Standard aftermarket replacement parts are almost never made that way due to the high expense, so on many vehicles, noisy or leaking exhaust parts is common and expected. Tires wear out on all models. Bulbs burn out on all models. Smaller engines with aluminum cylinder heads are more prone to developing leaking head gaskets, but you'd rarely throw the whole car away for that. We don't know how old your Toyota is, but for me, I'd trust the 4.3L a real lot more than any 4-cylinder engine. I'd trust either vehicle a lot more than anything from the last ten to 12 years.

One of the newer innovations is "variable valve timing". It gives you the personalities of two different engine designs, meaning very high low-end torque, like motorhomes need to get going from a stop sign, along with very high high-end power like police pursuit vehicles need. You get power and high fuel mileage, which are normally a trade-off. The problem is this system is very complicated and full of horrendous failure stories. We have two larger engine rebuilding companies near me, and the owners of both drive one brand of vehicle due to their much higher reliability. The other brands are known to fail often and are very expensive and time-consuming to repair.

Now suppose you buy that model because the engine is much more reliable. That doesn't mean you won't have computer modules fail, the digital dash goes dark, or steering parts wear out too quickly, on a regular basis.

I'm sure Steve has similar stories he could share. In my world of tv repair and car repair, all we see are those that broke down. I used to see way more RCAs in need of repair than all other brands put together, but they also sold a lot more because they were cheap. In the 1980s, we used to sell way more tie rod ends for GM rear-wheel-drive cars than all other brands put together, but they also sold a lot more cars, so of course we'd see more of them in the shop. Ford built what we called, "killer cars" in the late '80s with tie rod ends that separated at around 15,000 miles. We got in 44 replacements every week, but when those ran out, we had to buy more from the local auto parts stores. The aftermarket replacements were infinitely more reliable and could last the rest of the life of those cars. If you had the repairs done at the Ford dealership, they used the same bad design that caused the problem in the first place, assuming you didn't destroy the car by going into the ditch or into oncoming traffic. Now "reliability" depends on where the car was repaired.

I hope you can see why we can't answer your question about reliability. Is there a reason you want to get rid of the Toyota? I'm not aware of common problems with either model, at least not any expensive problems.