Advice on buying a M1009.

[midcounty]

I think the salesman is a typical salesman. Only engine I know of in a M1009, it M1008's ext., is the J code 6.2. I do believe you will have a tough time finding a good one for 2k. I have bought two for a little under 2k, but they both needed a good bit of work. Average price I have seen for road ready trucks is 3500.

 

[KerryAnn]

Are the issues that I described on that truck serious enough for me to walk away from it?

Haha I guess I may be delusional with my budget and expectations but this is the same way that I got my hands on my 60k mile 01 CVPI. It wasnt the prettiest body, the dealership removed the decals with a razer blade, thus leaving scratches down both sides, and the primer is going bad in a couple spots. In the first year it needed the typical stuff, tires, brakes, rotors, alternator, new rear axle, alll of which probably totaled under $800 including labor for the rear axle. I bought it with a stack of 100 $20 bills and to date has been the most reliable car I have ever owned. Havent made a serious repair that my husband couldnt fix in an afternoon in the driveway in over two years (knocks on wood).

I guess maybe the good experience I had with the CVPI is skewing my judgement a little bit haha

 

[KerryAnn]

Double post!!

 

[JGBallew]

Are the issues that I described on that truck serious enough for me to walk away from it?

Haha I guess I may be delusional with my budget and expectations but this is the same way that I got my hands on my 60k mile 01 CVPI. It wasnt the prettiest body, the dealership removed the decals with a razer blade, thus leaving scratches down both sides, and the primer is going bad in a couple spots. In the first year it needed the typical stuff, tires, brakes, rotors, alternator, new rear axle, alll of which probably totaled under $800 including labor for the rear axle. I bought it with a stack of 100 $20 bills and to date has been the most reliable car I have ever owned. Havent made a serious repair that my husband couldnt fix in an afternoon in the driveway in over two years (knocks on wood).

I guess maybe the good experience I had with the CVPI is skewing my judgement a little bit haha

Your description of near fist sized rust out near the driver's seat, and loads of rust elsewhere would make me want to look at another.

Sure the rusted parts are repairable, but what's that going to cost? Can you weld? Are you going to do the work or field it out? That all adds up fast.

You're buying from a dealer, I'd expect something that at least tracked straight. Sounds like this guy just pressure washed it, maybe did some fluid swaps and now wants a premium for it.

I'd look for another one, especially if the guy won't come down in price.

 

[KerryAnn]

Your description of near fist sized rust out near the driver's seat, and loads of rust elsewhere would make me want to look at another.

Sure the rusted parts are repairable, but what's that going to cost? Can you weld? Are you going to do the work or field it out? That all adds up fast.

You're buying from a dealer, I'd expect something that at least tracked straight. Sounds like this guy just pressure washed it, maybe did some fluid swaps and now wants a premium for it.

I'd look for another one, especially if the guy won't come down in price.

Even if I could manage to get him to bite on $1,500? While we were talking he said his boss would only budge maybe $500 which seems to be the universal number the salesmen learn at used car sales college for the truck I drove thats about the max I would end up paying paying for it

Sorry if Im being super annoying!

 

[trukhead]

I would walk from that deal. Learn about GL and watch if any more come up for sale. Get to know Kenny S. here on steel soldiers and ask him to preview any that may or may not come up in Sparta. I have 7 M1008s here if you want to see what nice- good running 6.2s should look like. I think you will find a nice M1009 if you are patient.

 

[KerryAnn]

I would walk from that deal. Learn about GL and watch if any more come up for sale. Get to know Kenny S. here on steel soldiers and ask him to preview any that may or may not come up in Sparta. I have 7 M1008s here if you want to see what nice- good running 6.2s should look like. I think you will find a nice M1009 if you are patient.

**** I would totally hit you up on that if it werent for the two and a half hour one way trip =/

It sounds like most of you guys have personal motorpools ....

p.s. I will be hanging out in the chat room for a little bit if anyone else is bored.

 

[wallew]

Miss Kerry Ann,

I will say that ONE large rust hole... is NOT a good thing, but DEFINITELY a bargaining chip if you proceed.

There WERE at least two versions of the 6.2L - the civi version and the J-code that the military required GM to produce. EVENTUALLY GM put the J-code into all late 80's, early 90's GM products, realizing that it was actually cheaper to produce a good motor than have to deal with a ton of warranty issues and unhappy customers.

And welding isn't necessarily needed to repair this problem. There is a thread on this site where a member used automotive adhesives instead of welding. Had pix and everything. The only problem is I can't find it via the advanced search, but I'm probably not doing it correctly.

IF the ONLY problem with that truck is one rust hole (OK LARGE RUST HOLE) and then some rust on the tailgate (the tailgates can still be found in recycle yards, though they are getting a bit scarce these days), I wouldn't call it a deal breaker.

Like I said, maybe you can get the salesman to drop the price.

Your goal of $2000 may be unrealistic ONLY because prices have been rising lately. But, if it sits on their lot for a while, they might consider the price.

Having said that, I paid $2500 two years ago for mine from GL. That was AFTER the GL 10% and taxes. So they can be had, but it will be a challenge for sure.

Oh, and the folks on this site LOVE PIX of vehicles, so when you do get yours - POST PIX.

 

[KerryAnn]

Ok so even though I have pretty much decided not to persue this truck, my husband wanted to swing by and look at it himself, I had him take a couple pictures while he was there. Just for the sake of argument and desire to learn something new I am going to try and upload them.

If I am going to be checking out more of these trucks I want to be able to build on what I am looking for in order to make a good decision. Now, while he was gone I managed to find another truck in the area listed for sale at a dealership, I will post a link to that one so we can compare trucks, based on the assumption that they both run exactally the same for the sake of argument.

I may have to make two posts to get all of the pictures up, and bear with me if I hit some tech issues in doing this.

Keep in mind the pictures Im uploading are for a 84', 80k miles, and the dealer is asking 3.8k for it.

Then compare that to this truck...

1986 Used Chevrolet Blazer Military at Motorsource, Inc. Serving Highland Park, IL, IID 9064730

Now... there isnt much we can do to compare how both trucks run so assuming they both run the same lets look at the asthetics.

The green one looks a LOT worse visually and the black one looks super clean. Such a difference in condition but the prices are way off. Im thinking the sellers of the green one are just plain greedy, and while out of my price range the black one looks a lot more reasonable.

I hope Im not beating a dead horse here but I would love to hear anyones opinion and wisdom on this...

 

[KerryAnn]

more pics

 

[kipman]

I would pay 2800.00 for that truck if it ran and drove good.

 

[KerryAnn]

I would pay 2800.00 for that truck if it ran and drove good.

Which one??

 

[wayne pick]

KerryAnn, The OD green truck is junk, basicly it's a restoration/parts truck, stay away from it unless you want to get a tetanus shot. You want a truck you can jump in and enjoy, not a restoration project. The truck at Motorsource is actually pretty nice. See if they will throw a floor mat or carpet in it along with a brake service and call it a deal. You can allways get the seats recoverd with any material you want.

 

[JGBallew]

I would pay 2800.00 for that truck if it ran and drove good.

I sure wouldnt, not with that kind of rust. That thing has a bad case of metal-worms.

 

[wayne pick]

$3800? It's Junk, $1800 tops, rip the engine,trans and axles out of it and scrap the rest.

 

[82ABNMP]

m1009

KerryAnn, the green truck is CRUSTY!! JUNK. There is no reason to buy this truck! Most dealers just buy them and power wash then flip....the same holds true for Motorsource. I have bought to trucks from them and they go over them very lightly clean them up and sell them...that's what they are dealers!

Save your money and spend more UP FRONT for a good soild truck that someone has gone through. You will be WAY ahead in the long run, you will need to spend 4-5K for this unrestored good driving truck. Don't waste time with GL...in the long run you will be ahead buying form a private party like someone on the board.

GL trucks will cost you 1K minimum to get on the road with taxes, title fees and maintenance.

Motorsource trucks will need almost the same.

Check Craig’s list, and the local paper.

Call me if I can help.

David

 

[MSG Rusty]

m1009 is a good solid truck only issue I ever came across was the fuel rail system. some devloped leaks and created starting issues. other than that getting out to lock the hubs were a pain in the mud.

 

[JGBallew]

$3800? It's Junk, $1800 tops, rip the engine,trans and axles out of it and scrap the rest.

You're being kind. I'd offer the guy a note, and that's my top.
But yeah, I'd part it out as well.

Rust like that, indicates a parts truck to me.

 

[wayne pick]

Yea JG, you are right, thats all it is really, cannibalise it and donate the rest to a local Bocees and let the kids learn rust repair. Hard to beleve a dealership would actually try to sell something like that.

 

[trukhead]

The local GL at Sparta is staffed with reputable, decent people, Mike and Seth. They are not running a used car lot but they will allow previewing by appointment. If you pursue the GL route, you should rendezvous with Kenny S (a member here on SS up there and look at M1009 if they come through. The last run of M1009 s that ran through there had body conditions from similar to the green M1009 you exibited to a couple with nice bodies from what I could see from the pictures and I think most of them were drive ons.

I thought of bidding on a nice one and may in the future as I think a few more may come up. It seems they are getting rid of the crappy ones first.

A truck can be junk at GL as well as a dealer. Preview is you best bet.

The 4 M1008s I got from GL run smoother than kittens whiskers or finer than frogs hair and 3 of the bodies are nice.