A freind of mine is looking at buying a '03 2500HD with a 6.0 with an auto tranny and 86,000 mi. Any input on this combination? Anything to watch for at this amount of mi.? The truck would mostly be used for a daily driver and some moderate towing accasionaly. How many mi. are you guys seeing out of these trucks?
He probably won't keep it long. Fuel mileage is terrible on that truck and driving it daily will bleed him to death. Best to save his money and get a Dmax or something with a smaller motor. I have a buddy that bought an 04 6.0 and he was happy to get 10mpg driving back and forth from work. Pretty spendy item to drive daily.
According to Kelly Blue Book a 2003 extended cab 2500 HD with a 6.0 liter in good condition with 86,000 mi. is valued at $11,300. The same truck with a diesel is valued a $17,300. Thats a difference of $6,000. If the truck is driven 15,000 mi. a year, (which is about what my freind would drive), the 6.0 will burn 1500 gal. averaging 10 mpg. At the current gas price of $2.00, thats $3,000 a year in gas. If the duramx averages 15 mpg, it will burn about 1,000 gal a year. At the current fuel price of $2.50, thats $2,500. So the savings in fuel is $500. a year at the current prices (who knows what they'll be in year). So saving $500 dollars a year with the diesel, it would need to be driven 12 years to break even from the extra cost of the diesel engine. Who drives a truck 12 years. Now..... I drive a '04 Cummins........... I've driven a Duramax at the place I used to work........... I know the performance a diesel can produce...........Awsome waytogo!!! Its a lot more fun to drive a diesel than the same truck with a gas engine.imp: But........ from a dollars and cents point of view it doesn't make practical sense to spend the extra for just a daily driver and some light accasional towing. By the way.......the original question was about reliability.
I guess if he really doesn't want to save up longer for a duramax...:stir: It's a chevy smallblock which I would argue is one of the most proven motors on the market... I'd say he'll be fine with it regarding reliability.
I have an 04 2500HD w/ 6.0 and 42K and am pretty happy with it. I have no idea what kind of MPG it gets. As far as reliability the GM LS series motors have been around for a long time and don't seem to have hardly any problems save for a knock sensor or two. I was going to get a Ford V10 but was too worried about plug blow out so I ended up with the Chevy. By the by if he does end up getting the 03 he may feel it is a little slow ( GM's little miracle called Torque Management), it kills the performance. It can be easily be removed with certain hand held tuners like Diablosport Predator. Made a big difference in mine.
Well i thought i'd bring this to the top. I just bought a 06 GMC 2500HD CCSB 4x4 with the 6.0L driving home from california i averaged just over 14MPG's. I also have a 03 2500HD for work and it has 210xxx miles on it and it's kicking strong. Reliability i wouldn't worry about it's the overall expense. some of us don't have the ability to buy a diesel and maintain it.
It's all in the right foot too. i have 4.10's with stock tires and can still pull almost 15 MPG's. Really it's all about the driver.
Mine is averaging 14 MPG, but I never do 5 over the posted speed limit, and I never ever go over 60 MPH unless I need to go farther than north Ogden. Which hasn't happened in a while. But around home, about 25% of my driving is at 40 MPH, 25% is at 55 MPH, 25% is at 50 MPH, and the rest is in-town. I'm using a hard tonneau that I made from 2 sheets of 3/4" plywood, some 3/8" eye bolts, and some paint. The PO had already drilled enough holes in the bed.