High Miles on chev 5.7

[Ryan_V]

I'm looking at a truck. it's a 93 chev extended cab. excellent condition, and I mean EXCELLENT. haven't had a chance to drive it yet, but the owner claims its tight and doesn't use/burn a drop of oil. my concern is that it has 182,000 miles. that scares me somewhat. my truck isn't a daily driver, but I still need reliable transportation for trips to mille lacs, etc. what do you know about these motors...should I forget it, or is it worth taking a chance on. his asking price is well below book.

as usual, thanks for your help guys (and gals)

[iffy]

thats quite a few miles, but I had a 95 with over 200 on it when I traded and I didnt have any issues with it at all. Worst case for you would be having to drop in a rebuilt engine or transmission at some point, along with other regular maintenance items. It's obviously a great deal if nothing goes wrong for a while, but you need to pencil it out, if its worth it to you in the worst case scenario.

[krats]

I have a 1990 GMC ext. cab with the 5.7 and I have almost 248,000 miles on her. It is not pretty but it runs good.

I don't drive it everyday it is just for pulling the boat, hunting and icefishing.

If it is as nice as you say it has probably been maintained regularly and you should get alot of years out it.

[BoxMN]

I have a 98 with 150k and plan to keep it until 225k, and then 250k, and then... hopefully more.

I put a fuel pump in at 140k (precaution as it didn't go out yet, but that is normal time, cost about $600 with filter), manifold intake at 100k (I think I may have to revisit it as I found a little drop, this is about a $500 repair), and the regular tires and brakes and just put new shocks on at about 145k.

Keep it looking nice and it doesn't hurt to put in some repairs for the high miles. The engine should last a long time, the only real known issues are the intake and on some early 90's I think the trannys were a ??? but I would not be afraid to own the truck you are talking about. I love mine.

Good luck with whatever you get! Bowties are good

[Corey Bechtold]

Miles don't mean anything in my opinion. I have worked on vehicles with low miles and see that they are absolutley beat! It all depends on how the vehicle was maintained. I currently have 178,000 miles on a 98 Chevrolet with the 350 and it is a great motor. The parts are cheap and they are relatively easy to work on.

Good luck,

Corey Bechtold

[LMITOUT]

With that number of miles you should expect to have to put something back into it eventually, but the 5.7L (350ci) has been around a long time and is a proven engine. With any engine that age it's going to need some TLC at some point, but if he's asking below book then maybe you can stick some of that money away that you'd pay for a book price truck for that rainy day. As mentioned above, there are a ton of these trucks out there and parts are plentiful at a reasonable price if you should ever need to fix something.

[iffwalleyes]

The good thing about those years of truck are they are pretty easy to fix if you have problems. Transmission are weak in these years so you might have that to worry about. Motor will probably be fine for many more years.

[Whoaru99]

My '94 with 199K runs great and uses no oil to speak of.

Lots of people say the trannys are weak but I dunno. Mine went out with like 100 miles on it from brand new (never even had the trailer hitch put on yet). Of course, it was fixed in warranty, but it's been flawless ever since and a great part of the remaining 197K miles was spent pulling a 7x16 enclosed cargo trailer on the Intersate.

I think the big problem is that many of them never had a tranny cooler. Even with the towing package the cooler was small or non-existant in the early years of that style. When we put on the receiver hitch, I also put on a nice big B&M tranny cooler (not cheap fin-style, the higher-end one) and switched to synthetic tranny fluid. 197K miles later it still shifts nicely.

[CHODE]

I ran a 1997 GMC 3/4 ton from brand new to 215,000 and never left me stranded. Just your regular maintenance and your good for a long time. Last I heard the guy that bought it had over 300,00 and still going strong!

I then went two a 2002 3/4 ton with the 6.o and ran it up still this spring, it had 175,000 on it and it ran like new.

Only bad thing was with that mileage I had to pretty much give it away. Get this I wanted 5,000 for it and everyone thought i was nuts, and I paid 32,000 for it 4 1/2 years ago.Gotta hate good old depreciation!!

All in all I would say a gm/chev product with high miles are

a very good gamble!

[hondavxr]

I have a 98 Suburban with 197000 miles on it. I have replaced the fuel pump and filter on it several times. I think that is GM's biggest flaw. The tranny went out at 120,000 and motor was feeling a bit weak, so I bought a rebuilt motor and brand NEW transmission from GM. I probably didn't need a new motor but since I was putting in a new tranny might as well put in a new motor. Now it has a front mounted tranny cooler, airbags, electronic brake controller, and many more goodies. I like the Burb but filling the tank to the top hurts my wallet. With a 40 gallon tank at $3 a gallon it hurts. If the truck is mint, the motor runs good and you are getting a good deal, go for it. Like others have said, parts are cheap and plentiful.