Cheap avalanche / escalade ext opinions?

[finboy]

The girlfriend is miserable with our current camping setup, and grew up with rv’s or truck/trailer combos. After debating over 2 years on what to get for a camping vehicle, and fighting the pickup truck answer, it seems getting one is inevitable for home maintenance, junk hauling, and towing a small trailer.

Criteria we looked at:

• Crew cab required, we have 2 big dogs and they have to stay in the vehicle
• Driving more like a car than a truck, my gfs daily driver is a mini van and she will likely drive this
• Shorter size, we only have street parking and have 2 cars already (our neighbours will hate us)
• Flexible to store lots of stuff for camping, the storage and mid gate of the Av/ext is really appealing. My gf does lots of dog sports so this is handy for those activities as well
• Reliability, since this is a 3rd car it would be nice to have something low maintenance

We also considered the ridge line, but resale on those is stupid and the transmissions are iffy. It seems the 6.0 or 6.2 is the better bet as the 5.3 might not do what we need, and has the 4l60. Because this is a cheapo hauling vehicle, we were hoping to get something sub 10k. Surprisingly we are seeing 07+ Escalades with 300+k on them, I’m surprised they still keep ticking at that point.

Anyone have opinions on what we are looking at?

[corsvette]

They'll run forever, 300k is really nothing for a LS series GM engine if it's been taken care of. I'd find anything with the 6.0/6.2 combo. The 6.0's all have a 4L65 transmission while newer 6.2 have the stronger 6L80. I've had a few Yukon Denalis through the years and really the only common repair seems to be the exhaust manifold bolts breaking and the rear air ride, compressors tend to go out. Other than that they are tough as nails and really reliable. I sold our 2006 denali to a friend 4 years ago and he has nearly 400k on it now with just regular maintenance. Avalanche/EXT is built on the Suburban/Yukon chassis and has rear coil springs which helps the ride. I've towed with all my Yukons and they do well, I reccomend getting an auxiliary transmission cooler though as they'll run hot if towing through the mountains.

[firebane]

Why not a Ridgeline? Still a truck and with car like ride and has 4 doors.

[dirtsniffer]

Price range?

[shakalaka]

We have a 07 Escalade EXT with 125'ish km's which has been issue free except for regular maintenance and odd electrical gremlin (power steps). We have owned it since it was a year or so old. I actually put it up for sale a couple of weeks ago for just under $20K (priced aggressively compared to others with low km's) and got few serious bites right away. The plan was to purchase a new F250 or something to tow the boat and potentially a motorhome. But then we decided to take it off sale and keep it for at least another year or so because we aren't quite sure of what kind of motorhome we will be getting yet (if it will be the towing kind or not) but mostly because it has been amazing to own and great utility to have. Have towed the boat with it a lot, used for odd jobs, camping trips and all that jazz. I am not sure how reliable they are at 300K km's as obviously ours isn't driven that much but I don't doubt they would go that far as long as taken care of.

[finboy]

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Why not a Ridgeline? Still a truck and with car like ride and has 4 doors.

My gf’s family had one, didn’t leave her with a good taste in her mouth, not a fight I want to try to win, not the best hill to die on.

For price I am looking sub $10k, which means I’m not looking for factory fresh by a mile, lol. Silver lining is that “truck guys” don’t seem to look at them as trucks, and suv people think they are useless too, so a niche market seems to keep the prices lower. The escalade is a bit more appealing due to the ease of finding the 6.0/6.2 and simple awd. That said, the suspension is definitely something I want to research more, I don’t mind scrapping it for traditional suspension if it is expensive, but could live with it if the aftermarket has a good/cheap solution.

[ExtraSlow]

Trucks and trucky things hold value really well. 10k doesn't get you much.

Highly recommend the six speed trans over the four.

[dirtsniffer]

Look for 2wd if its just a fairweather vehicle.

[shakalaka]

I personally wouldn't trust a $10K truck, especially one with high mileage. But if you're mechanically inclined and can do a lot of fixing and tinkering yourself, then I think it could be a good idea. When I was looking for another pick-up (thread somewhere) for fun, I quickly found $10K didn't get me much. But I was also picky with mileage and cosmetic condition etc, plus have no knowledge on how to fix anything if something went wrong.

[finboy]

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We have a 07 Escalade EXT with 125'ish km's which has been issue free except for regular maintenance and odd electrical gremlin (power steps). We have owned it since it was a year or so old. I actually put it up for sale a couple of weeks ago for just under $20K (priced aggressively compared to others with low km's) and got few serious bites right away. The plan was to purchase a new F250 or something to tow the boat and potentially a motorhome. But then we decided to take it off sale and keep it for at least another year or so because we aren't quite sure of what kind of motorhome we will be getting yet (if it will be the towing kind or not) but mostly because it has been amazing to own and great utility to have. Have towed the boat with it a lot, used for odd jobs, camping trips and all that jazz. I am not sure how reliable they are at 300K km's as obviously ours isn't driven that much but I don't doubt they would go that far as long as taken care of.

Mileage seems to make the value fall off a cliff when it goes past 200k, but understandable that 06/older might be what we end up with for our budget. Unless you decide you hate your car and want to give crazy beyond bro discounts, we will keep hunting the high mileage beasts.

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I personally wouldn't trust a $10K truck, especially one with high mileage. But if you're mechanically inclined and can do a lot of fixing and tinkering yourself, then I think it could be a good idea. When I was looking for another pick-up (thread somewhere) for fun, I quickly found $10K didn't get me much. But I was also picky with mileage and cosmetic condition etc, plus have no knowledge on how to fix anything if something went wrong.

Having read through your thread, and always looking out for the annual “extra slow’s tow rig thread” I guessed as much. Honestly I wanted an ambulance but the gf wants more space for glamping

That said, winter camping is definitely an option with a trailer, and we fat bike, snowshoe, etc so throwing all our gear in the bed of the truck and having room for everyone in the heated vehicle is a nice option. Awd seems to be the better choice for winter, but I am interested in learning more about chevy’s auto 4wd in the avalanches.

[dirtsniffer]

This could work. I dont know much about that style though

2008 Ford F-150 XLT 5.4 Triton 4WD 4 door 1/2 Ton,
https://www.kijiji.ca/v-cars-trucks/...nt=app_android

Price: $.10,500

Or this

2007 GMC Sierra 2500,
https://www.kijiji.ca/v-cars-trucks/...nt=app_android

Price: $.10,900

Or this

2009 Chevrolet Avalanche LT W TOW PACKAGE,
https://www.kijiji.ca/v-cars-trucks/...nt=app_android

Price: $.10,000

[ExtraSlow]

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the annual “extra slow’s tow rig thread”

best threads on the Internet.

[HiTempguy1]

The 4L60 is fine, if it shits the bed, plenty of places will pull, rebuild, and install the tranny for ~$2k. Any higher mileage 4 speed truck (and the 5 speed ford trannies) are all suspect, in your price range its a bit of a roll of the dice. But the 4l60 is dirt cheap to rebuild and every shop knows how to do it.

Avalanches are nice because of the coil spring rear, best riding 1/2 ton until you get into newer coil spring dodges. If towing with it, its not hard to add air bags if you need some extra rear spring, no need to go crazy, an afternoon of time and a couple hundred bucks.

6.0L's are kind of dogs, I've towed with both the 5.3 and the 6.0. They are both fine, but they ain't no ecoboost. I wouldn't use that as your decision, the 4l65 and 4l70 still suffer from common gm.tranny problems, so again, I wouldnt worry.

As I tell everyone, gmt800 trucks are great. We've owned multiple with 300k-500k kms on them with the only problem being worn out trannies (cause we tow a lot and heavy).

[Neil4Speed]

Its funny timing for this post, I have been casually looking at the EXT's lately, really like the look and a 400hp 6.2 is pretty sweet too. I bet the gas bill would be outrageous though.

[shakalaka]

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Mileage seems to make the value fall off a cliff when it goes past 200k, but understandable that 06/older might be what we end up with for our budget. Unless you decide you hate your car and want to give crazy beyond bro discounts, we will keep hunting the high mileage beasts.



Having read through your thread, and always looking out for the annual “extra slow’s tow rig thread” I guessed as much. Honestly I wanted an ambulance but the gf wants more space for glamping

That said, winter camping is definitely an option with a trailer, and we fat bike, snowshoe, etc so throwing all our gear in the bed of the truck and having room for everyone in the heated vehicle is a nice option. Awd seems to be the better choice for winter, but I am interested in learning more about chevy’s auto 4wd in the avalanches.

We decided to keep ours for now due to the utility factor. Hard to beat what it offers based on our current needs. Perhaps once we decide on what kind of motorhome we are going to get, we may or may not sell it depending on if a bigger truck will be needed or not. These engines are robust though as long as they are maintained well. So I don't think there is anything to worry about w/ higher mileage as long as you can ensure that it has been kept well and maintenance is up to date. Avalanche's are very similar from what I understand so definitely keep your eyes peeled for those as well.

- - - Updated - - -

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I bet the gas bill would be outrageous though.

OH YES.

[corsvette]

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-cars-trucks/...nt=app_android

Yes! Buy this one, I know its good because it's mine lol. I'll stake my Beyond rep on it!

In all honesty its a really good truck. But it's also a 3/4 ton so may be more than you need......

[finboy]

Thanks for all the details guys, will keep my eyes peeled and see what I find.

[ExtraSlow]

I'd say the avalanche is more reliable than the caddy version because it's got fewer bells and whistles. Buying a beater escalade you are virtually guaranteed to have a few gremlins that need tracking down.
Powertrain and suspension should be reliable.

[Tik-Tok]

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[*]Driving more like a car than a truck, my gfs daily driver is a mini van and she will likely drive this
...
It seems the 6.0 or 6.2 is the better bet as the 5.3 might not do what we need, and has the 4l60. Because this is a cheapo hauling vehicle, we were hoping to get something sub 10k. Surprisingly we are seeing 07+ Escalades with 300+k on them, I’m surprised they still keep ticking at that point.

I just bought an Avalanche a month ago, and it definitely does not handle more like a car than a truck. If you want a more car-like vehicle with a V8, look for a Ford Explorer Sport-trac, but good luck finding one in reasonable condition for cheap. I was looking for 6 months before I gave up.

Our Avalanche is a '11 5.3L with the 6L80 which is significantly better than the 4l60 or 4l80. We're towing about 5400lbs (and another 500lbs in the truck), and it does it reasonably well. The only issue is going up very steep hills, but I just take it slow and easy. I blame it more on the rear gearing then the engine, as it's only a 3.43 ratio for fuel economy. I'll be swapping in a higher gear before our next big trip to the coast. There's also at least 50hp/ft-lbs of torque that can be freed up with an intake, headers, and tune.

The 6.0 is definitely better, but there's not as many out there, and I'd take a 6-speed 5.3L over the 4-speed 6.0L any day. (and while 6-speed 6.0L do exist, they are much higher than your budget is)

[dirtsniffer]

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Our Avalanche is a '11 5.3L with the 6L80 which is significantly better than the 4l60 or 4l80. We're towing about 5400lbs (and another 500lbs in the truck), and it does it reasonably well. The only issue is going up very steep hills, but I just take it slow and easy. I blame it more on the rear gearing then the engine, as it's only a 3.43 ratio for fuel economy. I'll be swapping in a higher gear before our next big trip to the coast. There's also at least 50hp/ft-lbs of torque that can be freed up with an intake, headers, and tune.

What's the payload on that truck? Sounds like you may be exceeding it assuming it is less than 1500 lbs.