Quote Originally Posted by tom4bren View Post
It looks like a good deal to me. It'd be nice though to get the service records. There's significant maintenance due at 90K. If that wasn't done then you're probably looking at several hundred dollars worth of parts for timing belt, tensioner, water pump, serp, etc. That price will climb quickly if you can't do it yourself.

Take that puppy for a test drive. On road, listen for rattles & vibrations. Off road, watch the TOD lights to make sure you're getting power to the front wheels.

Check the CV boots. If they're cracked or split, then the CV's will probably need to be replaced ASAP.

If you do get it (I hope you do), make sure to add this site to your favorites. The folks here can help save mucho dinero on troubleshooting and repairs.
The dealer said he has the service records - whether that's true or not we'll have to see when I go back later this week. Problem is I work in CT until 430, dealer is an hour away and he closes at 5...if he's trying to really make a sale he should stay a little late so I can come give this thing a good run-through. Any common NVH problem spots?

Doubt I'll be able to take it off-road but we have the potential to get a huge snowstorm so hopefully that will be a good indicator of the 4WD system working or not. As for a forum helping out with saving money...let's just say if it weren't for the Avalanche forum and for the forum the guys I ride ATVs with are on, I'd be ***** out of a lot more money than those 2 have already cost me!



Quote Originally Posted by bartmanS4 View Post
If you can pick it up for around $4500 that really sounds like a deal. Definitely take it on a long test ride including highway, bumps, and tight turns. Check the oil before and after although that probably won't tell you anything. Check the trans for slippage, hopefully you can run it from a cold startup. Even if it has a few problems you've got some room to put a little money into it. I wouldn't be too concerned about the u-joints. My concerns would be transmission, TOD, rust, oil consumption, and CV joints. Problems with those things would not cause me to decide against buying it, just give me pause as to the repair costs. I bought my VX for pretty cheap but it was very neglected and needed quite a bit of love and a little bit of money to get it where I wanted it. I don't regret it a bit.
Good Luck!
Scott
How do you know if TOD is fully functional or not? For $4500 this thing could really be a deal, and it would be great to be able to let the Avy get some down time (put ~500 miles a week on the truck on an easy week, 130/day when it gets used daily).

Thanks!