Hi, I'm new to the site just looking for some answers to questions and hopefully a future Duramax owner!

I currently own an '05 Ford F-150 Supercrew with 25,000 miles on it and have been looking to go to a diesel. I like the Chevy over the Ford 250 for a number of reasons but mainly the Chevy will fit in my garage :)

My question is; I have been looking at '05 Duramax crew 4x4s and I found one with 51,000 miles with all the options I want (LT, leather, onstar, etc). Truck seems to be in great condition, only mod is it has 265 tires rather than the stock 245s.

The thing is, to me 51,000 miles on an '05 seems kind of high, especially considering I would be doubling my mileage on my current vehicle. I'm just wondering what you guys think, is this an upgrade? is 51k miles nothing to a diesel? what would you do in my shoes?

I bought my 02 two and a half years ago, with 94,000 miles on it, the water pump went, and the injectors went. GM covered my injectors, so that wasn't a big deal. I love my truck, I also have 265's and some performance mods, and have a little bit of a lead foot, and still average well over 16 mpg. And I can tow my 10,000 pound, 33 foot travel trailer with no worries at all. I would try to get the service records and find out if GM is still providing extended coverage on the injectors. Out of pocket would cost about $8,000. Which is no different than Ford, but the fuel economy is better on the duramax. I know plenty of people with both and most are happy either way.

only 2001-2003 or maybe even 2004 had a few injector problems. I don't believe a 2005 has issues. I would post the vin # in the vin check area and if you are nice then maybe someone will run the service records and post them for you. That will tell you what has been done at the dealer etc....
I wouldn't be scared of an 05 with that milage though. I would rather get a truck that was driven rather thatn one that sat around..

Welcome to the forum by the way......:)

I bought mine a year ago and love it. Diesel engines are rated for high milage, I wouldn't worry about 50K, she's just gettting broke in.

I would rather buy the 05 w/51000 than mine new

Just out of curiosity why would you want a truck with 51K rather than a new one? Because it has been driven and broken in?

Just out of curiosity why would you want a truck with 51K rather than a new one? Because it has been driven and broken in?

Payments :)

Broken in ,depreciation hit, more truck for less money

True, true...so you think if the truck checks out and I can get a good deal on it 51,000 miles is nothing to sweat over?

50k on a diesel is nothing. i wouldn't even worry about 100k . it's all about the maintenence. if it was looked after it will last a long time. I am a mechanic at a dodge dealer and see lots of diesel's , these hot shot guy's get 400k easy on their trucks. good luck Rick

Bty hello everyone. I'm new here. Looks like this is mostly a gm site. I have a 2006 dodge 2500 w/ 5.9 comm rail diesel .........Rick

I just keep having second thoughts because I would be going from a vehicle I bought new with 25k on it to a used vehicle with 51k on it. :)

Welcome Rick!

bb12:
Honestly 51k on an '05 is ok. Being an '05, the truck is probably 3 years old by now (give or take a little). That is an average of 17,000 miles per year. That is really good for a diesel. I bought my '07 in Feb or March, can't remember, and I already have 17,000 miles on it. Don't worry about the miles, see if the truck has all of its service records.

I just got off of the phone with the previous owner, couldn't have been a nicer guy. He was very educated on the Duramax and basically said nothing was ever wrong with the truck and that I couldn't go wrong buying it. He did say he towed with it almost everyday because he worked out of it, but said it was meticulously maintained and cared for. Only reason he sold was to get the newer 6 speed tranny but said he didn't notice much difference. He made me feel a hell of a lot better about buying it. So we'll see if I can s**t or get off the pot. :)

One more thing about the truck is he said he ran a superchip in it, but never went over 90hp on the tranny. Should I care that the truck was superchipped?

With the superchip, it depends on if the tranny was limped. I highly doubt the tranny was limped, but it is a possibility. If the tranny was limped, I would hesitate on purchasing it. Once it has limped, there is a higher chance of limping it again. Also, buying a truck with 50k on it, you will get better gas mileage as the truck is finally getting broke in, 30-40k. My fuel mileage has gone from 12.5 new to about 14.1 with 8k on it. I keep hearing that the mileage will continue to increase as more mileage is put on it. I hope so. You will likely have already reached max mpg at 50k.

Don't forget to wipe the dingleberries...

Okay, how about an '05 with 82,000 miles on it? Now that seems really high to me, but the truck is priced great.

bb12....... my 2 cents, 80k is hitting the sweet spot. The 02' I traded at 86K was prime. Great fuel MPG, (21MPG MT), and perfect truck for me. I traded for 2 reasons, DMF (ZF6), and transfer case leak. Current truck gets ~19 MT(@40k), don't be afraid of the miles, it gets better with time

As stated before dont let miliage scare u when i comes to a chevy or dodge diesel. Now the fords are ok up to about 250,000 then u start having major problems

I run the Superchip tuner on my truck. The middle tune lets you tow up to 6000lbs. I usually run the tow tune as I tow 10,000-14,000lbs alot of the time. The Superchip's tuner is mild and I don't think its hard on the motor or tranny unless you abuse it. I don't think the milage is a factor on motor/tranny. As far as the rest of the vehicle goes, power window motors, brakes and all the other stuff that wears out first, I would rather have 50,000 on the odometer. Good luck no matter what you do and welcome to the site.
There is a wealth of info on this site to help you with whatever you buy.

No need to worry, the truck with 80K miles sold anyway. I guess the miles freak me out because my current truck just rolled past 25,000! :) Just need to get it in my head that diesels are a different animal than gassers.