[71SportRagtop]

My daily driver is a 99 Chevy Suburban 4WD. I've had it now for going on 8 years. It's got 138,000 miles.

It's been an excellent truck. I use it like a truck. My wife and I own a small vacation home in the Pocono mountains of PA. I've been using this truck to haul my wife, 2 kids and a dog up there for years. Up there I tow a small fishing boat with it, I use it to drop that fishing boat into a few different lakes sometimes needing 4WD to pull the boat out of the water. I've even had the rear quarters and exhaust under water and it pulls out of the lake like a champ. In the winter I run it up to the Poconos for skiing and it's awesome in the snow. 1-2 feet of snow is nothing for this truck.

I have 2 kids and a dog and it's still got plenty of room for all of us. I even used it to tow my 68 Firebird home when I bought it last month.

That being said the old truck is showing it's age. It's definitely burning more oil than it ever did. I'm adding about a quart every 2-3 weeks and I'm running 20W-50. I'm getting minor rust spots down on the lower 1/4's and it's all dinged up from fishing, skis, 2 kids, ect. Also my A/C hasn't been cold. I charged it up last summer and it didn't make it to the end of the summer.

I took the truck in to be inspected today and my mechanic, who is a good friend, told me that it needs some serious suspension work. It needs upper and lower ball joints on both sides, the passenger side upper control arm bushings are shot, it needs sway bar end links, then it will need to be aligned after all that work is done. I'm looking at about $1300-1500.00 worth of work and that's with him not even touching the A/C system.

I can't imagine that this truck is worth much more than $3000.00. Do I want to sink that kind of cash into a 13 year old truck with that kind of mileage?

I'm thinking I can either sell it as a mechanics special listing all the work needed for say $1500-$2000 and then add a few bucks to that to buy a newer truck. Or I can sink the money into it for the suspension work, add another $3-400.00 to have the A/C system fixed properly and just run it until it dies.

My alternative would NOT be a new vehicle. I'm sorry but I'm not forking over $40,000 for a new Suburban, plus I simply HATE car payments.

Decisions, decisions.....

[PonchoV8]

Using oil, rust and over a grand in front end labor is a turn off. I believe I'd move on.

I'm thrifty like you. I have 3 of that era of truck. My '98 is a daily driver and had a bad trans at 157K when I bought it. I paid $1100 for the trans. I bought a new battery, I had idler and pitman arms replaced plus alignment. The AC leaks but a charge up holds it for a while. I bought 2 cases at a pawn shop for around $3 a can last year. The left side radiator tank has a crack. I've replaced the fuel pump, alternator and maybe something else. It has 235K miles on it, but no rust. If it uses oil, I don't know it. It's been a great truck. I'd drive it across country tonight---if I wanted to spend that much in fuel. It gets around 12 mpg and if it has a distributor cap and spark plugs, I don't know it. I've never looked at them. I change the oil. I drive it.

[pont3]

Unless you're ready to spend nearly-new-car-amounts of money for a replacement, I'd suggest you fix what you can yourself and pay only to have things you can't do yourself done. Perhaps you're bored with the truck and wish to move on, and if you really want a newer vehicle, go for it. Keep in mind that the newer replacements, especially the ones with lower miles, will command prices that makes buying used seem silly.

I truly believe your best option is to buy something newer, however, you WILL have payments.

[Ben M.]

It's paid off. Fix it and keep it that way. If you sell it cheap and try to get something else, you'll just be buying the problems of someone else 9 times out of 10 (maybe even the same your current truck has).

[Big Mike]

Originally Posted by Ben M.

It's paid off. Fix it and keep it that way. If you sell it cheap and try to get something else, you'll just be buying the problems of someone else 9 times out of 10 (maybe even the same your current truck has).

I agree with that statement! Unless you can find a vehicle where an older owner who rarely drove it and the owner passed away, you probably will be buying another person problems.

[PonchoV8]

How do you fix it using oil on a bi weekly basis, though? 139K is nothing for an R engine (is it an R?). 5.3? Something's wrong there.
If not for that, I agree. The rust is easy enough. Just repair and repaint the rocker areas to a two tone color paint job and it'll look newer than a '99. Meaning the entire rocker area below the lower door trim painted gold or something.

[zeebo]

i cant agree with you more...there is no way in hell they can justify to me that a new truck with reasonable options can cost $36-40,000! i had a buddy buy an f250 and it stickered at $65,000! nope..sorry..not this guy...to me, a 99 truck is brand new..lol..so i think id repair it and keep driving it...i usually buy old grandpa cars that have been taken care of and drive them forever...then i use the leftover money to buy old pontiacs....lol!

and the other guys that said if you sell yours and buy another used one, 9 out of 10 times you get another guy's headache all over again, are correct!

[71SportRagtop]

I love the truck, I really do. I've beat the snot out of it and it keeps coming back for more.

It's not a 5.3 it's a 350 Vortec motor and it's been a great motor. Never a problem.

I'm inclined to fix it and drive it. As stated above, new car pricing these days is just outrageous. I looked at some truck pricing and even a 75,000 mile truck is selling for silly money.

I just wasn't expecting a $1500.00 repair bill.

[fyrffytr1]

I'm just curious about the estimate for the work on the truck. Is that just for the suspension parts and alignment? If so, that seems a little steep to me. Moog brand parts would probably cost you about $300-$350. I don't know how much an alignment would cost but figuring $200, that still only comes to $500-$550. Would labor run that much more?
And, something else to think about, with all this work done there is no guarantee that something else won't go bad on your Suburban. Have you looked for something a little newer?

[69 T/A]

71, since you are in the NE, I'd check the rear frame/ spring perches very carefully, if they've seen much salt they are probably gone. Get under there and hammer away the rust, see what you have. I've replaced perches on much newer GM trucks but they all have the same vises.

[PonchoV8]

Sometimes someone else's problems are better than your own. It works for me.

I bought my 98 GM truck for $500 with 157K miles (350 Vortec--R engine), with a bad trans, worn front end, bad battery and bad door hinges. I bought someone else's problems intentionally. I boosted it off and drove it home with two forward gears and spent the money on fixing it, but no oil problems. I want paid-for and reliable. Oil consumption would worry me greatly. It's better than a knock, but it's just one instance away from a knock when it runs low because someone else had to drive it and didn't know about the oil issue.

Mine's paid for itself a few times by driving it for work mileage. My girl used it for work for about 30-50K miles before I took it back and put her in a used Honda. My paint is getting tired now. Until now, it's been a presentable vehicle I can drive up a deer trail.

I already owned a reliable, paid for '97 GMC Sonomo 4wd ext cab when I bought my current driver.

[71SportRagtop]

Originally Posted by fyrffytr1

I'm just curious about the estimate for the work on the truck. Is that just for the suspension parts and alignment? If so, that seems a little steep to me. Moog brand parts would probably cost you about $300-$350. I don't know how much an alignment would cost but figuring $200, that still only comes to $500-$550. Would labor run that much more?
And, something else to think about, with all this work done there is no guarantee that something else won't go bad on your Suburban. Have you looked for something a little newer?

I don't have the exact quote in front of me but he said that I need all 4 ball joints and that the right upper control arm bushings would need to be replaced. He said that instead of replacing the bushings he was quoting me a whole new control arm which would have the bushings and the upper ball joint installed. Add to that sway bar end links ( I know not real expensive) a quick fix to a small exhaust leak at the Y-pipe, and the PA State safety inspection and emissions cost and tax, and I was at about $13-1400.00.00.

That's my major issue. The truck has 138,000 miles on it right now. Up to this pointit has been a reliable truck but last year at inspection it needed an idler arm and a pitman arm. I'm certain that all the off-road type driving I do up in the Poconos going into and out of a wide variety of lakes with my fishing boat is wreaking havoc on my truck's suspension.

I'm toying with the idea of not fixing the Suburban and just leaving it up the Poconos as a tow/snow vehicle and then buying an inexpensive Jeep Wrangler to run back and forth to work in. Something with a 4cyl and a 5 speed for gas mileage.

I'm still up in the air.

[The Boss]

Cars/trucks are better when they are driven then when they are left to sit. If it were mine I'd wait until the fall to sell it when the 4x4 will make it worth more but look around for a replacement now. Keep driving it, only do what you need to on it and wait for the right deal on something somebody else is getting out of.

[GT182]

1500.00 is far cheaper than something to replace it. I say fix it and keep it. That's what I'm doing with my 2000 Jeep GC.

[skipp65]

I'd fix it, you know what you have verses buying someone else's problem. No matter what you buy it's going to need something. Those suburbans are known for high miles= 200,000 plus. That exact repair bill at my shop would be less than $1000 with moog parts. I'd stay away from any 4 cyl jeep,my opinion.

[PonchoV8]

What's the mileage life span of the 4L60E trans? The factory build from GM, not the rebuild.

[Formulabruce]

Originally Posted by PonchoV8

What's the mileage life span of the 4L60E trans? The factory build from GM, not the rebuild.

220K if not cooked
I would by the control arms assembled and get torches and install them, do the links align, and then check for oil leaking. If the body and underside isnt horrible patch it up and oil the whole bottom of the truck, drive on a dirt road and be and your all set.
The rings could be worn, a rebuilt long black can be had for 2K with a warranty from Jasper.
Everything for that truck is available, could even get a good used engine...
http://justchevytrucks.com/

[67drake]

I bet the A/C is more than $400-500 to fix. I spent $1200 on mine a few years ago on my 99' Suburban. The guy who fixed it said the A/c lines that run to the rear of the Suburban are notorious for leaking.
I was in the same boat BTW,Suburban needed new tires,A/C fixed,a few suspension parts replaced,ect a few years back. Mine had about 120K miles on it at the time. I sunk about $2000 in it because there is no way I'm buying a newer one.

[PonchoV8]

The AC compressors are notorious for leaking at the case.

[Velox65]

You get get a nice pull out 5.3 with low miles pretty cheap I bought several for the 500$ range,
http://oklahomacity.craigslist.org/ptd/3060115251.html then it's just suspension work.