Help me make a decision

Here's the deal.  I've got a 2000 Silverado Ex cab long bed 4x4 truck. It's a love/hate relationship. I love working out of the beast, but it needs a country mile to turn around without 3,6,8 point turning it. Part of the drivers seat is missing. (literally gone, the po's jack russell ate it)  the rockers and cab corners are shot, the fenders are starting to get crusty etc.  But... I've replaced the brake lines, put 2018 silverado take offs on it, LED hi beams, replaced the transfer case, replaced the carrier bearing (royal PIITB situation there without the proper tools but I got it done) replaced all 6 u-joints, serviced the diffs, plugs/wires/coils, new windshield. I would seriously get in this truck and take it to alaska from FL tomorrow if I had to.  It currently has 214k miles on it

The kicker.


A local sub prime lending stealership has a 2000 ex cab 4x4 short bed z-71 in the back of their lot. I went and crawled all over it today, talked to the lot porter/detailer about it. Few rusty spots, and a mismatched banged up tailgate but otherwise a fairly solid truck. (that said without driving it, that is yet to come)  I've got the cash to walk in and lowball the hell out of the guy, and the vibe I got from the porter is that they would be open to that type of thing, my concern is, it's a truck I haven't put time and money into and know like the back of my hand with 100k more miles on the chassis, even with the motor being swapped out. BUT it doesn't require the kind of time and money my current truck would to bring it to that level of condition.

Pro's for the stealership truck - shorter wheelbase, while the seats need new skins, they're complete. No body work needed just a tailgate

Pro's for the current truck - I know the lady, bed for days, 100k less miles, manual t-case

Cons for the stealership - unknown truck with 300k on it, push button t-case

Cons for the current  truck - body work for days. if you ever wanted to be a train conductor, I can put you in the drivers seat of a land train. 

Both are 5.3 trucks, both have auto transmissions, both have working AC. I could probably sell the current truck and get enough to cover the purchase and servicing the stealership truck if I can negotiate well enough.  what say the hive? pull the trigger on the unknown, or stay with the one that brought me?

I think I would keep what you have with the 100K less miles and live with the faults.  Fix it up.

If you could swing cash for the one at the stealership, I'd buy it, swap over whatever interior and other bits you need for your truck, and then sell it again for around what you paid. Probably cheaper in the long run to just buy newer seats for yours though. 

Stay with what you have, source a seat from a junk yard. Learn to live with the turning radius.

Sounds like if you were to swap out for a similar truck, maybe look for one of the GMC’s with rear steer? 

They say the devil you know is better than the devil you don't know.  I'd treat yourself to a new (better) seat.

Unless of course, you are totally over the LWB thing, then get the short bed.  Doesn't sound like you could get hurt much.  300k sounds like a lot of miles to me though.

As soon as I hear rust I think "run away"

If you want to replace an old truck with another old truck, road trip out to a dry state and drive something fun home.

Who doesn't need a spare vehicle(s)? Or a spare for the spare?

In reply to stanger_missle :

you should know better than most of the absurdity that is insurance rates in the Tampa bay area. I don't want to insure yet another vehicle that will get driven less than 10k a year.

Stealership truck, I'll post a shot of my rig tomorrow when daylight hits. 

The primary function of any vehicle is to move under its own power. To do that, it needs to have well maintained oily bits. Rust/cosmetics don't matter toward that goal.

Id trust the crusty but well maintained vehicle that you know over a shinier version of the same thing with a bunch more miles and question marks.

A domestic truck with unknown history at a stealership and 300k?

Run.  Keep what you have.  The chances that the other truck is a good bet are slim to zero.  They took it on trade for $500, they'll take it to the auction and get $1000.  They did zero work to that truck knowing it was not something they were going to put out for sale so the only person who even knows it has tires is the salesman who took it in on trade.  Right now they are salivating that there is someone even thinking about it because it represents a retail sale with more "as-is" signatures from you than an arms dealer buying a starter pistol.

berkeleying run.  Use eye bleach to forget you ever saw that truck.

There are literally millions of trucks just like it out there.  This situation at a stealership represents the absolute maximum in potential pitfalls for you and the absolute best situation for them.  If you want a short bed, get on CL and shop.  The only time I would ever consider a dealership is if I were looking at lightly used stuff, like off-lease, demo, or something that is a couple years old and low mileage.  Even then, I would feel like I was fisted with a habenero chili.  Dealerships have their place.  This isn't one of them.

Because i I said I would post a shot of the ol’ Girl. Yeah I said Berkeley that e36 M3 to the stealership truck. Went to the junk yard this morning and snagged a “new” seat from an 06 truck then stopped and looked at another truck I found on CL. This one is two owners with less miles and it’s a short bed 2500. Left with a lowball offer of 1k on the table and “I’ll let you know one way or the other”