Opinions on Suburban 2001 rig?

[rayra]

Were you in neutral when trying to go to 4L?

Looks like a rear main to me, I'd walk.

rear main wouldn't have oil all upside the main part of the oil pan. Those are cast aluminum pans, should be silver matte in appearance, not looking like a seasoned iron skillet. That's coming from above. And even that's not difficult to change if you are in far enough to drop the pan.
My advice if it is bought is to thoroughly degrease all that crud BEFORE you do an oil change. The dirty oil will make it easier to spot where the oil is seeping down / out from.
Too, take care blastign water around the throttle body, the valley pan cover is where the two knock sensors are located and it's a typical rust / loss of signal problem especially with the rear most sensor. That happens and the vehicle goes into 'limp' mode. Plenty of pics and details about that in my Vortec topic too.

 

[rayra]

and yeah, the mileage is appropriate. Here in L.A. they're typically traded in before 100k mi and arent daily drivers for subsequent owners.
I found my own '02 about 4-1/2yrs ago with 116k mi on it. Single owner mom taxi. Then 12yrs old with 116k is not even 10k/yr. National mileage average was 12k/yr, several years ago that was bumped to 15k/yr. Anything under those averages is good news. I've only averaged about 6k/yr on it since. Only coming up on 144k now.

 

[nicochau]

rear main wouldn't have oil all upside the main part of the oil pan. Those are cast aluminum pans, should be silver matte in appearance, not looking like a seasoned iron skillet. That's coming from above. And even that's not difficult to change if you are in far enough to drop the pan.
My advice if it is bought is to thoroughly degrease all that crud BEFORE you do an oil change. The dirty oil will make it easier to spot where the oil is seeping down / out from.
Too, take care blastign water around the throttle body, the valley pan cover is where the two knock sensors are located and it's a typical rust / loss of signal problem especially with the rear most sensor. That happens and the vehicle goes into 'limp' mode. Plenty of pics and details about that in my Vortec topic too.

@rayra great post you did there. But god the learning curve is steep!

 

[ClovisMan]

Walk up with 3500.00 in fresh $100 bills and walk away knowing you got an excellent deal for a 2500 Burb.

 

[CrazyDrei]

2001 Burb, 2500 LT
160k miles
Clean title
Asking $4200

Price seems a little steep for the amount of work you will need to do. Parts are dirt cheap, but how much free time do you have to actually do all the little repairs. Give him $4,500 if he is willing to fix all the issues you found or give him $3,000 ask him to count it and see if he wants to keep it or hand you the keys and title.

BTW, asking price is a little less than 1/2 of what I paid for my 2011 2500 Sub.

 

[lilkia]

The asking price is $4200 because of the issues. You can find 6.0ltr 2500 gmt800s with 130-200k miles are everywhere for $4500-7000 in good shape. Generally an 8.1 Burb with those miles is going to be around $7000 or more. Low mile around 100k sell for over $10,000. Id try offering $3000 you might get it for $3500. Just dont be surprised if he doesnt take less than $4000. The 2500 burbs are pretty sought after. I was interested in two in CA that got snapped up by guys from the NE before I could check em out. The 8.1s are even more sought after. There are only three factory vehicles in that market, diesel or v10 Excursion or the 8.1 Burb. Camper and horse people love em.

If the trans, engine and body are good you wont have more than a couple grand in fixes and still be below going market and youll know what you have. Have a good mechanci go over it and see what he says.

 

[nicochau]

Price seems a little steep for the amount of work you will need to do. Parts are dirt cheap, but how much free time do you have to actually do all the little repairs. Give him $4,500 if he is willing to fix all the issues you found or give him $3,000 ask him to count it and see if he wants to keep it or hand you the keys and title.

BTW, asking price is a little less than 1/2 of what I paid for my 2011 2500 Sub.

The guy is a mechanic, so that is actually a great idea. I might list all the work that need to be done on it and pay him for it. I'll draft a list and see what you guys think.

 

[rayra]

You'd be better off doing the work yourself than trusting the seller to do it. And he's more likely to laugh you off the phone.

I paid $6k for my '02 at the end of 2014. Seriously, pick up some wrenches and do it yourself. It's easy.