Sasquatch

I am originally from the northwest corner of Alabama - Colbert/Lauderdale County area. I now live down below Birmingham.

Thank you for the welcome. I'm down below Birmingham.

Hello All. I am new to this forum. I found it this morning. I look forward to reading all the wealth of information provided here. I want to throw something out to everyone to get their idea and opinion. I have a Chevy Duramax Diesel. It is paid for. I also have a Chevy Tahoe and it is about to be paid for real soon. Then we can knock off our house payment, burn the note and done with paying back borrowed money. That will take another 9 years or so. I'm struggling with whether or not to keep my Duramax and get a Chevy Silverado 1500. My concerns with the Duramax is cost of repairs. I have had the truck for over 7 years and love it. I love driving. It has been problem free my entire ownership. A while back some of the injectors went out on it. Fortunately GM covered their replacement under a special policy saving me about $4000. The current injector's warranty will expire once 12 months or 12,000 miles are up. That will be sometime shortly after the first of next year Jan/Feb/March 2010. This particular Duramax (1st Generation) is known for fuel injector failure at will. My first OEM set last like I said for 7 years. The current injectors could last just as long or longer. One fuel injector depending on who you buy it from and whether there is a core charge or not $250-$450 per injector. So once it is on my dime - I will find an independent shop and replace just the injector or injectors that are bad. Or learn to change them myself. Not sure what the hourly rate of a diesel mechanic is. I would think $65-$75 per hour range. I have heard that injector replacement job doing all 8 takes anywhere from 4 to 8 hours of labor plus parts. Also, being a diesel, diesel fuel is just dirty. So you have to make sure and keep the fuel filter changed frequently which I do. But with that said, the fuel pump is also subject to failure - just like any other vehicle - gas or diesel. The fuel pump on this baby is only about $1100-$1500 parts only. Then the added cost of labor if it is something you can't DIY. The water pump is also another common failure - at least once in the life of the truck probably. I think the water pump is around $250-$350. If you can't DIY I think independent shops are charging $600-$700 parts/labor included. Some of the guys I have talked to have had their injectors replaced multiple times on this model truck. As far as cost of repairs, I am not so concerned with water pump failure and the cost to replace it. People are getting 300,000 to 400,000 miles and more. Of course I am sure these guys travel a lot with their trucks with campers, towing, hauling, etc. across the country racking up the miles in short time. So these trucks are known for their longevity as long as you can afford to keep them up. I have had this truck for over 7 years and has nearly 91,000 miles on it. So it is not even broke in real good yet. And no, it isn't gonna just fall to pieces. Yes, I do have new reman injectors on GM's dime. I have no cost of repairs on this truck yet out of my pocket except for routine maintenance - oil and oil filter, trans fluid and filter, coolant, tires, etc. My thoughts would be to sell my truck to get a Silverado 1500. It would have to be a real good used truck with a clean title and clean carfax report. I do not want any truck payments - so the sell of my truck will have to buy a very good used truck bought at the price for what I get out of my Duramax. My Duramax is a crew cab. So I will be looking to get a Chevy Silverado 1500 Crew Cab as well. Gotta be able to get all the family in the truck cause I sure as heck ain't gonna drive no mini van. So my question is, is it better just to keep my Duramax in which I have put all except the first 3000 miles on it knowing the cost of repairs in the future? Knowing some of the repairs are guaranteed. Buying a used truck if not careful - not know how the truck was ran and how the miles were put on it - sometimes you run the risk of buying someone else's headache. One thing too is it is a lot easier to find a gasser mechanics with independent shops are on every corner anywhere you go unlike diesel mechanics. Do I sell my truck now while I can get good money for it and get a good used Silverado 1500? Then the question of longevity will come into play. Would I end up going through more than one gasser truck before the diesel truck dies? Well, I'm starting to sound like Socrates asking to many questions and rambling. I look forward to your comments, advice and opinions. I have a person who I think will buy my truck. I have found a few used trucks I think I can pay cash for having no truck payment. What would you do? Would you switch or stay?