Contact information in a classified ad is necessary, but by revealing it you can’t select who is going to contact you. Its a double-edged sword. You need serious, prospective buyers to be able to contact you, but you are also allowing literally anyone who finds the information to contact you.
I was looking for cheap transportation on the web local used junklist. The photo of a row of Chevrolet Pickup trucks caught my eye. They were all white, they all looked very used, very dirty, and some looked like they had been parked there a while. They were in a grassy field, all facing the same direction. The group appeared to be long bed, regular cab, Chevys of the 1988-1998 generation. One toward the far end of the row appeared different, but I wasn’t sure.
The ad was short. “Landscaper liquidating old inventory. Some don’t run, some missing parts.” And the price: $700 each. There was no phone number or location, just an email address. I emailed and it immediately came back as not a valid email address. I moved on.
A few days later the ad popped up again. Same ad. Still no contact information, just an email address. I emailed again, it kicked back again. What I had done was copy and paste the address into the “TO” field of my email. I looked more carefully and realized that there was a period at the end of the email address – grammatically correct, because the address ended a sentence. Unfortunately, the computer couldn’t process it that way. I deleted the period off the address and re-sent it.
The next day I received a polite reply. The trucks would be sold at 12:00 PM next Tuesday. I was given the name and address and was welcome to come out and have a look around, but I was not to bother the employees. Still no phone number. Clearly, the seller didn’t want phone calls.
I was busy and didn’t make it out for “pre-inspection”. So on Tuesday morning I stopped at the bank and got $700 cash and was there a half hour early. The receptionist directed me around back and said the boss was running late. He’d be there at 12:15 or so.
This landscaping business was a ghost town. There was no one around except for the receptionist I just met, and a mechanic repairing a weedeater in the corner of the shop. I walked out and found the row of trucks, exactly like the photo. But the row was not all 88-98 Chevys. The second to last one was a newer body style: 1999-2006, and it was a GMC. It had six lug wheels, so I thought it was a ¾ ton. A look underneath revealed a transfer case and a driveshaft going to a front differential, it was four wheel drive! It was absolutely filthy, and the tailgate was missing, but otherwise seemed complete. There was no rust underneath – because Florida.
I was looking for a sticker in the driver’s door jamb when a voice caught my attention. A guy on his phone was walking up while describing the scene to someone. “Six. They’re all 88-98s except for a newer one.” He continued, “Some of ‘em are pretty beat up.” He was quiet for a moment and then said “Only one other guy.” Yep, I figured out the wonky email period issue.
The boss arrived and came out to talk with the two of us. He told us that all the trucks had titles and keys and the price was firm at $700 each. After he finished pointing out a couple of the older ones with bad engines and/or transmissions, my competitor said “I’ll take ‘em all.” This made me a little frustrated. “Whoa, I was here first, pal.” I impolitely interjected. He backed down. “I just want that one.” I smiled, as I pointed to the newest one. “Okay, go pay inside” the boss said.
I went inside and gave her the cash. We began looking through a small stack of titles. The newest model was 1999. “This is the one I want.” I said. “Okay, number six.” she replied. Later, I noticed a “6” painted on the passenger fender.
The place where the battery should have been was air, so I went to buy a battery. When I got back the mechanic and the boss had dragged number six up to the parking lot with a tractor. “It should run good.” one of them said, as I was attaching those infamous GM side-terminal battery screws. Sure enough, it fired up after just a few seconds of cranking. I drove it home with no issues to report. The engine even seemed kind of peppy.
In light trucks, GM offered three V8 engines for 1999. All were gen III architecture, the so-called LS1 first appearing in the Corvette, two model years prior. In the trucks they were cast iron, and technically not called LS. Buyers could choose between the big 6.0, the 5.3, or the one I had, the “little” 4.8. Interestingly, the 4.8 and the 5.3 had the same block with the identical bore. The only difference was the crank/stroke. GM had six cylinder and diesel offerings too, but I digress.
It was the dirtiest vehicle I’ve ever owned. I literally removed the carpet and sprayed it with the garden hose. A brown river flowed down my driveway. Ironically, the carpet was actually in decent shape because there was so much junk piled up on the floor “protecting” it. After drying out in the hot Florida sun, I re-installed the same carpet. I scrubbed the seats and used an entire bottle of 409 on the rest of the interior pieces.
I spent a very modest sum on the truck. Besides the battery, I transferred the title, did a couple small maintenance-type things, and ran it through a car wash a couple times. At a junkyard I found a tailgate, it was even a matching white GMC one, although a Chevy one would have worked. I put a set of used tires on it too.
I have to admit that I did take it off road. Just once. I figured it would be the only 4×4 I’d ever own so I switched it into four low and drove around in a patch of sand. It was anticlimactic.
About a month later I sold it to a guy who did landscaping work. I think he paid me two grand for it so I made a little profit. He seemed to really like the truck, and never asked about the six.
Quite the deal. Having driven a few Chevrolets with the 4.8, it’s no power house but is immensely better than the 4.3 V6.
Just the kind of deal I like! I was looking for the last of the “square” bodied S-10’s, in an extended cab. Found one that had been practically noperative since 2011, sitting under trees. Hauled it home, and after serious cleaning, mechanical repairs (a freeze plug!) and TLC, I have just what I wanted! 🙂
Those square S-10’s are good looking trucks, and it looks like you found a good one.
$700 for a truck! what a bargain!
Although I think you did the right choice, I like the GMT-360 trucks better. The 3 middle ones are post 95, better dash and likely more powerful engines. The first one is a 4×4
GMT-800s were all 6-lug, except of course, the heavy duty ones.
I have never gotten a bargain like this because I have always avoided the low, low end of the market. But for the guy willing to put in the effort to wade through the 98% that is worn out crap, there is reward (as you proved with this one.)
Well there are other ways to get a decent vehicle that is cheap. Make friends with a dealership wholesale manager. I am friends with a wholesale manager and from him I have gotten the following:
2002 Volvo S40- $1200
1994 Ford Probe- $900
1992 Chrysler Lebaron Sedan- $700
1995 Toyota Corolla- $400
All of them run very well and were in good shape except for the Corolla (the engine , trans and interior were great but the body rusted) but the Corolla was simply going to be used as a parts donor for a friend’s Corolla.
From the owner of the dealership, I got a 1995 Deville for $1000. it was his mother in laws car and she had passed on.
Of course one of my hobbies is working on cars so I have a leg up on a lot of folks looking for cars because I can by a less then perfect example and fix it.
Wow, I thought GM had given up on those side terminal batteries YEARS ago.
Like a previous poster, I’ve always been a bit leery of the lower end of the price spectrum. I have always figured that folks OVER price nearly everything they sell, if for no other reason than to give themselves room for bargaining. So if they are asking $700, it’s usually only worth $300-$500.
You got a pretty good deal, and made a nice profit. You’ve encouraged me to keep looking at those “cheep wheels” whenever I find them.
Did they start with the Vega Vert-a-Pak? Or were they later or just took a while to spread (I seem to remember my dad’s ’79 GMC having its’ battery posts in the normal spots)
The “we’re-right-and-the-entire-whole-rest-of-everyone-else-in-the-world-is-wrong” GM side-terminal battery was introduced corporatewide for 1972.
It was standard on trucks by ’71. A buddy has a 2008 Chevy Express with side terminals. I dont know if they use them today. Never had a problem. The advantages are lower hood possible, more positive electrical contact and essentially no terminal corrosion.
Whoops, 1970 was the first year for the side terminals (’72 was the rather good Delco internal-regulator alternator). As for the alleged benefits of the side terminal battery: no sale here. Most of us learned to despise the damn things the first time we happened to need a jump start for a car with them. That “essentially no terminal corrosion” thing might be true, but it’s countervailed by problems the side-terminal batteries have that the top-terminal ones do not. And somehow the entire rest of the auto industry manages to make very low hoodlines without side-terminal batteries.
Another benefit is that you can set steel tools down on the top of the battery without arcing and fire.
Life cycle of a GM Gen III/IV V8, properly maintained, is said to be 400,000 miles.
Hot Rod Magazine decided to see how much boost a stock 5.3 could take. They had it up over 1100hp before it blew apart. Then upon further inspection they found their “5.3” was actually a 4.8. I’ve since learned people “in the know” about these motors, when looking to supercharge/turbocharge one, gravitate toward the 4.8 for some reason.
Last November I bought an ’06 GMC Savana 3500 with the very LQ4 6.0 shown above. If it can make that 5400-lb (empty) van move – which it does, quite nicely – it should give me miles of smiles in my 3300-lb ’57 Chevy Handyman.
Here’s a link to all the LS Goodness one can stand, and then some…
http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/LSPrimer/Part1/
If you are trying for maximum RPM then the shorter stroke the better. It will spool up faster and be more tolerant of high RPM, because there is less reciprocating mass.
Some 4.8L blocks were what is known as the ‘universal’ iron LS block casting, and could be machined with the 4.8L or the 5.3L/6.0L bore. 4.8L’s using this block have extra thick cylinder walls (as if the other iron LS’s were not thick enough!) and will tolerate ridiculous levels of boost. In any event, the iron ‘truck’ LS block was based closely the aluminum LS1 design, so many internal dimensions such as main bearing bulkheads are quite a bit thicker than necessary for iron.
I sold my 99 Silverado for $1000. I told him it needed a valve job or something because it wasn’t running right. AC was out, ABS pump and the paint was shot. A few weeks later I saw him and he was happy, saying all it needed was a battery and fuel system cleaning. Great a happy customer. A month later the engine blew up. So the moral is, give that cheap ride a thorough going over.
I drove one of these for about 6 months, years ago. . I assumed a lease for a friend who could no longer afford it. 1999 standard cab, 3/4 ton 4×4 with a 5.3. What a great truck. It was powerful and speedy, with effortless towing and acceleration. After years of wheezy 350’s and 305’s, it was surprising to get such power in a basic truck.
The ride and handling were pretty good, too, firm but didnt beat me up on rough roads. I would love to have one now but around here older trucks are usually used-up and rusty.
1999 might have been different, but by 2002, the only available engine on light-duty 2500s was the 6.0 (page 25): http://www.auto-brochures.com/makes/Chevrolet/Silverado/Chevrolet_US%20Silverado_2002.pdf
This era of GM trucks are pretty sweet. This is my 05 ext cab 4×4 Quadrasteer 5.3l. Just shy of 200k mi. It’s on its third transmission, but aside from that, the only major repair was replacing the valve seals. It’s a keeper
We have a 2000 Chevy pickup and had a 1999 Suburban, but the GMT400 style with the 5.7 gas engine. Says “Vortec” on it but is completely different. Just like the ’88-’92 model years, there was a delayed introduction of the new style on the HD’s and Suburbans.
Getting parts is always tricky, because a K2500 is NOT a “Silverado or Sierra” like some of the parts catalogs list for all 2000 full size GM pickups.
When I was in high school, there was an old land survey company near me that was selling a few 1965-66 GMC Suburbans, $700 each. They were from the era when all Suburbans were 2 doors with the same wheelbase as a short bed pickup. All ‘Gumby’ green, 305 V-6 powered. I didn’t know anything about the Jimmy V-6 at the time, so I asked my high school auto shop teacher about them. He said they were good, that I would never kill one but they were thirsty. Thought about buying one for a while, though too long, one by one the Suburbans were gone. Should have bought one, but went for a ’67 Charger instead. Car was basically a continuing headache. Anyway, from that point on I always intrigued by GMC V-6’s, eventually bought and resorted a ’67 pickup so equipped. Still have the truck, don’t miss the Charger. Well, maybe a little bit……..
I’ve had a 99 Sierra Z71 for 7 years now. They are good trucks if rust prone in the salt belt. The motors are solid, transmissions can go either way and transfer cases are problematic. Been happy with mine overall.
Man, CC these last few weeks has really been checking my boxes.
My work truck is an ’03 Sierra Z71 SLT Ext Cab, 2 tone – White and Doeskin with a charcoal interior.
I’ve always loved the front end clips on this generation of trucks, though this vintage Silverado front clip looks compressed and awkward to me. It was mostly an emotional decision of the type I am likely never to repeat, seeing as I could have purchased a newer Silverado for less money with the same options and with less mileage to boot. I’m in Chicago so I had to look at about a dozen of these to find a specimen with no rust and no quadrasteer. I have mixed feelings about this vehicle and have recently been considering trading in. It rides like a Caddy unless you stiffen the suspension with a button next to the airbag control, which is actually a nifty feature seeing as the truck definitely feels more responsive when tossing it’s weight around. The motor is quiet as a mouse unless you provide the proper motivation, in which case the 5.3l actually sounds pretty throaty. The previous owner installed a chip, a CAI and exhaust and the truck is ridiculously peppy considering it is essentially (to me) a more useful 70s Cadillac…. which is basically what I wanted. Other positive features include the fact that the cab is actually spacious enough for 5 adults, the bed is large enough to haul anything I need to, it hauls my pontoon up to Antioch, performs well off-road, has remote start and as mentioned before, I love the design of the front end of my truck. Especially with the chrome grille.
My issues are many, on the other hand. Tranny rebuilt at 110,000mi (even with the optional cooling pan), ditto for the transfer case. Heated seats stopped working 3 days after I purchased it. Overhead console is coming away from the headliner. A hailstorm passed through and (barely) chipped the roof of the truck, now that it’s started it’s peeling like a sunburn. The audio system is pretty weak for a premium truck. It shares about 99.99% of it’s interior bits with my buddies rusted out Suburban and every time I ride in it, it devalues my opinion of my own vehicle.
I’m a bit jealous of that silver lower bumper in the article vehicle. A week after I purchased the truck I was working a job at ComEd Maywood and some turd backed into me in the only camera blind spot in the whole building, totally destroying the silver bumper and leaving behind no video evidence. Upon trying to fix it at my own expense, I learned that the silver bumper would be $700 for a used one as they are out of production. I ended up opting for the black bumper which doesn’t look nearly as smooth and integrated as the chrome.
Even though I needed to go through the experience of purchasing a “fantasy car,” it is doubtful I will ever allow myself to buy a vehicle just because I’ve “always loved those.” It’s a totally different experience actually owning it. This is especially disappointing because through word of mouth offerings I’ve purchased cheap vehicles I thought I would hate and ended up loving.
I had a really long commute yesterday in this truck which allowed me to ponder further, so please allow me to add a few things; the rear brake dust shields are unbelievably complicated to replace and pretty much rust into flakes within a few years of ownership. The rear rotors took ages to replace due to an issue with the emergency brake shoe housing where on one side a shoe was missing and on the other side the shoe was engaged permanently. The leather could have been higher quality as well, as my driver’s seat has been coming apart at the seams steadily. I’ve also had issues with the fuel vent solenoid, I replaced it after it triggered the check engine light. On humid days the A/C decides to blow warm air every 3 minutes despite being topped off and leak free. The A/C issue is also present on the aforementioned Suburban and my cousins 06 Silverado.
Finally, I forgot to say thank you for the entertaining read.
My father-in-law has a Sierra of this same generation (2003), though his is a black extended-cab. Not sure which engine but it is a 4wd. They had a landscaping business before retiring so it’s pulled many a trailer, and is still essentially trouble-free with something like 150K on the clock.