Looking to purchase a car from a dealer in the area within the next few weeks.
Its a 2009 Silverado Hybrid HY1 with about 50K miles. I'm about a 10 hour drive away and before making the trip up I would like someone local to check it out.

If anyone lives in the area and can give proof that they have an extensive background/experience with these cars or automobiles in general, and they are NOT affiliated with the dealership in any way, I would be willing to compensate you for your time. I'd like for you to check it out one afternoon for a couple hours, test drive it, take pictures, and tell me problems with it in terms of everything you'd be concerned with about buying a used car (brakes, transmission, hybrid components of vehicle, ect...) These are hard to find trucks and unfortunately there are none in my area where I can check out myself

I thought I might reach out here on this forum to people who are trustworthy enthusiasts and willing to help out. Like I said, I would compensate you for your time. I've been reading through these threads gathering as much information as I can about these cars, but I do not have enough of a background in cars to spot potential problems. I do know it has a clean carfax. I've needed a truck for a while and you can't beat that city mileage with these

We can work out the details later. I'm going to sell my current car this week and still deciding between this truck and another one. Right now I am just seeing if anyone is in the area and able to do this.

Thanks
Jack

 

Hi jack,

Unfortunately I don't live near there ... well, actually fortunately cause I probably wouldn't be of much help.

However, should you be unable to secure the service you outline above, there are a couple of things you can do to get some peace of mind.

1. There are pre-purchase inspection services for used car buyers readily available. Keep in mind that the hybrid trucks share a great deal of components with their non-hybrid counterparts. Those elements can be inspected for damage and/or wear and tear in the same way.

2. Car fax is marginally useful at best as many things don't get reported. What you need is the GM service/warranty records for the vehicle's vin that show ALL service, warranty, and body work undertaken at a GM dealership. These records aren't normally available to the public, they reside in the database of GM service departments across the US. However if you know someone that works at a service dept. it would take them two minutes to do a printout. There's a couple of nice folks on tahoeyukonforum that will run these for others as a favor to fellow members ... I'm sure this happens on other forums as well.

3. The hybrid components on these trucks have a solid and long warranty. But an extended one such as major guard is highly recommended.

Buying a used vehicle bares an element of risc by definition ... short of finding one person that can accomplish everything for you at once, if you do all of the above, you'll get a solid understanding of the vehicle's history and present condition.

Hope that helps a little.

 

HyHoe,
Thank you for your reply and info. I was unaware of these pre-purchase inspection services. That looks like a great place to start. I'll also look in to getting a copy of the service record at GM dealerships over on that other forum.

Jack

 

You're very welcome.

My username on TYF is 'soulsea' ... if you register and start a thread I'll try to track down the member who ran the records for me before I bought my Denali.

Cheers!

 

Good news ...

I managed to locate the member who can do this for you, so if you PM me the VIN I'll send it to him and he'll get the printout. I'll then forward it back to you.

Cheers!

 

Awesome help hyhoe!

 

And another thing!

I have been sleuthing it good ...

Based on Jack's syntax and colloquialism, the scent of bougainvilleas in his post, his regional dress code, and the indian tobacco from his imaginary pipe, I have deduced that this is the truck du topic: http://merollischevycars.com/Vehicle...-MI/1790327913

I also googled 'chevy dealer in Eastpointe, MI' and there happened to be a HyRado with approx. 50K miles for sale, but that was just to confirm my findings is all.

Anyhoot, it better be the one cause that's the vin I forwarded my buddy.

----------------------------------

It's my pleasure.

 

For VIN no. 2GCFK135X91129768:

Card DateJob Card NumberTransaction TypeTransaction AdjustmentLabour OperationOdometer Reading02/14/2012623923ZREG
----Regular Vehicle TransactionD0362 - Control, Heater and Air Conditioning - Replace 43,904 MI01/31/2011577269ZREG
----Regular Vehicle TransactionF2283 - Bearing, Pinion (Front And/Or Rear) - Rear Differential - Replace 23,536 MI01/31/2011577269ZREG
----Regular Vehicle TransactionC0183 - Front Side Door Window Regulator Replacement - Left Side 23,536 MI05/25/2010424321ZREG
----Regular Vehicle TransactionJ6400 - Evaporative Emission Canister Purge Solenoid Valve Replacement 7,487 MI04/27/2010419502ZREG
----Regular Vehicle TransactionJ9995 - Customer Concern Not Duplicated (CCND) - Emissions 5,177 MI01/08/201025245ZFAT
----Field Action RecallV2144 - 09241 - No Action Required (bulletin 09102 was performed on or after 10/6/09) 1,525 MI01/08/201025245ZFAT
----Field Action RecallV2133 - 09184 - SDM Corrosion - Remove acoustical pad from the SDM area 1,525 MI01/08/201025245ZFAT
----Field Action RecallV2095 - 09102 - Reprogram SEQ EBCM/HCP/ECM/TCM/BECM 1,525 MI09/21/2009338475ZREG
----Regular Vehicle TransactionZ7200 - CORPORATE PARTS RETURN REIMBURSEMENT 179 MI08/18/2009335694ZREG
----Regular Vehicle TransactionK5370 - Auxiliary Fluid Pump Control Module Replacement 179 MI08/18/2009335694ZREG
----Regular Vehicle TransactionJ6354 - Powertrain Control Module Engine Reprogramming with SPS 179 MI03/18/2009169858ZPDI
----Pre-Delivery InspectionZ6999 - PDI Related Fluid Adds 3 MI02/26/2009A29768ZPDI
----Pre-Delivery InspectionZ7000 - Pre-Delivery Inspection - Base Time 0 MI

These reports always look somewhat dire, but a lot of this stuff is pretty normal updates and replacement of wear and tear stuff. I'm not sure what the AC thing is, if it's the dash controls or if the AC itself had to be replaced. The major concern is the rear differential work it has had done. It could be due to heavy towing but hopefully someone more qualified than me can chime in on this. I imagine that would merit close inspection/scrutiny before purchase.

 

There is a break in period for the axles. If you tow hard and heavy too early, you can set up a condition to cause axle trouble later. The 3.08 rear axle ratio has a much larger diameter pinion gear than 3.42, or 3.73. This can cause pinion bearing side loads to be higher at equivalent wheel torque loads. The regenerative braking can make any early (slight) damage worse. It would appear that 30,000 miles has passed since the axle service. So it is most likely OK.

You would need to drive it and listen during moderate acceleration and moderate braking below 35 mph. If it was hard towing early in life, the hitch reciever will show signs. The round draw bar pin hole might show a little oval. The square may show some non-square wear, rust, or deformation.

I bought a used Jeep Cherokee once and my best man works for Chrysler. He gave me a 10 page print out on that vehicle. I wish I saw the print out first!

 

Btw, the SDM corrosion thingie was a recall so it's actually a good thing that it is there.
The window regulator going bad is something that just happens, the EVAP is a $80 part so it can't be that big of a deal ... so yeah the differential issue seems to be the major thing to check out.

H_H, can you decipher the Control/Heater event?