HI ALL from australia,.......we cant purchase GMC/CHEV Trucks in australia other than the japanese built IZUSU MINI pick-ups here....too light for what I need.......sooooo people or dealers import them from USA....USUALLY either new or low(<25000mls) milage....I must admit I love the feeling of the raw touque and power ,I am a farmer and restore antique John Deere tractors and need to pull about a 10-12000lb gooseneck trailer,.....FUEL prices here are...GAS PREMIUM 98 octane $4.43/GAL DESIEL $4.12/GAL....today!!!!
my questions are:
What area should I try to source a low milage truck from to be shipped out of CA?
What specs or options would be a must for me too look for?
and Lastly.....IS there any difference between GMC and CHEV
Im thinking of a 04 GMC 2500HD...DURAMAX/AILLISON.....SLT...DUALCAB/SHORTBED....

Thanks for your help.......WHAT A GREAT SITE!!!

Welcome to the place, I can't answer all of your questions, but I'll try on some.
1.) I don't have any idea, I am sure some one has knowledge on this
2.) An SLT will have pretty much every interior option you would want, a trailering package might be the only thing, but if you are pulling a gooseneck, it may not be much help.
3.) Cosmetics is the MAJOR differences between the GMC and Chevy. Some may argue otherwise but that's it. The Crew Cabs (both GMC and Chevy) are built in Flint, MI.
You won't regret your choice at all. You could earn some bonus points if you were to post some pics of your restored JD's in the off topic section. There is a guy starting a JD "B" on there now that may appreciate viewing them...

I need to be able to seat 6 people so I went with the ST. Can't get a front bench in the SLT. Only option I wish I had that wasn't on mine was the steering wheel controls. It allows you to access all the info in the DIC. Other than that it is perfect. I have the 40/20/40 front seat, middle folds down into a console for most of my trips. 4x4 with off road package and towing package. I initially wanted the factory tow mirrors. Now I am glad I didn't get them because of all the problems people have had with them. I am saving my pennies for some good aftermarket mirrors or possibly a set of the 06 mirrors when they come out.

I would not buy from California. They require more smog than anybody else. Unless you need that for "down under".

Thanks for all your comments.....maybe I'm best to get from the mid west somewhere like IL????....OR can someone tell me which states have low smog restrictions?:help:

Don't you also have to convert it to right hand drive? I believe tehre are other members here who have done this.

yes I DO....and thats expensive too!!...but only way I can get a truck I want!!!....we only get TOYOTA land cruiser and Nissan Patrol flatbeds...way down on HP AND TOUQUE but good reliable diesels...6cyl turbos about 4.2Litres and 5speed stick shifts...BUT ROUGH as GUTS!!!

we have guys from africa doing the same thing here buying trucks and changing the to right hand drive

I received my temporary import permit yesterday (Yahoo!!) so there will be at least one left hand drive poking around in the bush mid-August. Send me a PM with contact info and perhaps our paths can cross and you can check out what mods I have made in preperation for the outback. AussieDMax, on this list, is out of Sydney and has a converted DMax. He will be in the bush for another month or so.

Deerefred, have you explored exporting it from canada? may be cheaper..

Many next to new trucks have been imported from Canada to the US. It's slowed down since the Canadian dollar has climbed against the US buck. Alberta in Western Canada has more trucks per population that anywhere else in North America. No provincial sales tax in Alberta and you get the federal sales tax refunded if you export out of the county. Shipping a motorcycle to Australia was cheaper to ship from Vancouver BC Canada than from a western USA port. Maybe the same would hold true for a truck. Maybe you should check.

Thanks for advice I will check it out,sounds very interesting!!.....thanks again

i have shipped a few cars from japan to canada and it costs about 2000 per vehicle.. so i couldnt see it being much more from canada to australia

I found on an AU website a dealer that brings in new chevy(gmc?) trucks then converts them to RH drive... I'll try to find it again

May be wrong on this, they may just do converts on already imported vehicles... we'll see

Check out www.corvette.com.au Corvette Queensland in Gympie they are one of the importer / RH Drive converters they do a lot of trucks. Most new trucks coming to NZ + Aust. come from Canada

Thanks KIWI ED and ockgator.......I have spoken to Corvette QLD a couple of times...they are very professional and helpful and will probably do a deal with them,not sure at this stage whether too buy new or source low mileage used and have them import it for me.....they do a great conversion job as well.....still researching and number crunching....thanks to all for imput,keep it coming!...love this site!

Trucks sourced out of Canada are more likely to have metric instrumentation, which may be a plus in Australia.

Yer mine has, they (Canadan) have the less sensitive emission programe than caifornian + some other states. Blocking the EGR did not give me a check engine light. Still gives you the codes though.