over my years of driving, i've had a bunch of gm trucks. some new, some used; some i wouldn't think twice about taking across country, and some i am afraid to take out of the driveway. right now i've got an 01 ton dump with a duramax than is like flipping a coin. will i get home or not?
i also had a 93 6cyl std 1/2 ton xcab i bought with 140k on it. it didn't have a straight spot on it and it had been painted orange by a commercial window cleaning company. after i had it for a while and was up to 190k - still running great, i decided to see what sort of shape it was in. i took it to a local gm dealer that had a special 100 point service checkup for an hour's labor. they thrashed, tested and tore apart everything possible on it. the mechanic came out shaking his head, and i braced myself for the worse. his problems were: driver's door mirror was loose - tightened a screw to fix. one rear shock blown - slight fluid leak. driver's side seat track broke - had happened the previous week. rear brake drums were quite dusty on the inside - needed a wipe down. that's all that was wrong at 190k - still had all original front suspension parts and no axle seal leaks shown ever. he said it was tighter than most of the ones they see in at 30k miles, and this thing had been used pretty hard. over nearly 100k miles all i did for it was oil changes, 2 sets of tires, alternator, starter, rear shocks, headlight switch, and clutch, which it needed when i bought it. next owner had the same bulletproof luck with it too. wish my duramax was as solid.
