To buy or not to buy

[Medic7156]

New member here with an unusual/long question. I have a 2006 Silverado 2500hd crew cab with an LBZ duramax. Truck has 287000 miles on it and previous owner put a new engine in about 75000 miles ago. I pull a 33 fifth wheel weighing about 13,000# loaded. Truck pulls great and have no problems so far.
My neighbor is selling a 2018 Silverado 3500hd, single rear axle, duramax with 67,000 miles on it. He’s offering it to me for trade in value, $44,000. Truck is in mint condition. I’m newly retired and we’d like to extend our travels to other parts of the country, currently live in Michigan.
Now for my question which may sound stupid, should I buy or wait till my current truck needs to be replaced? I’m hesitant because I’m now fixed income, would have to borrow quite a bit and I’m debt free now. I could afford it but don’t like to borrow money. I’m also not to wild about having a truck that needs def fluid. I’ve heard about costly repairs because of that. I like my current truck but the new one is being offered considerably cheaper than retail and would probably be the last truck I’d need, baring any major problems.
Sorry for the long post but thought I’d tap into your experience with def trucks and any thoughts to help with my decision. Thanks for any input.

[MtCamper]

If you plan on towing a lot of miles, I'd think hard about the 2018. On the other hand if you plan on @10,000 or so miles/year, I'd run that baby til it dies. Lots to be said about no debt and no DEF.

[hamm2018]

Originally Posted by Medic7156

Now for my question which may sound stupid, should I buy or wait till my current truck needs to be replaced? I’m hesitant because I’m now fixed income, would have to borrow quite a bit and I’m debt free now. I could afford it but don’t like to borrow money. I’m also not to wild about having a truck that needs def fluid. I’ve heard about costly repairs because of that. I like my current truck but the new one is being offered considerably cheaper than retail and would probably be the last truck I’d need, baring any major problems.
Sorry for the long post but thought I’d tap into your experience with def trucks and any thoughts to help with my decision. Thanks for any input.

If you wait until the truck needs replaced it could be sitting beside a road somewhere. Then you would be at the mercy of somebody, between a rock and a hard place. If possible do it on your time frame, when you are not pressed to find another truck because you are broken down.

What kind of costly repairs are you talking about concerning the DEF?

[laj]

If you’ve got def, you got problems. If not today, then tomorrow. Limp mode is always a fun bi-product on a nice vacation. Talk about leaving your 6 alongside the road.

[CecilD]

Welcome to the forum. Like you, I tow with an older truck, albeit with less miles than yours. I would keep the truck assuming it is in good condition cosmetically like no rust. Where I live, just the sales tax alone on an upgrade like that would offset a lot of repairs, and my belief is there will always be another deal. After spending time on these forums, diesel repairs generally tend to be focused on exhaust after-treatment systems. For me, the lack of DPF, DEF, SCR, and payments are pretty good incentives to keep the old truck.

[DR60]

Originally Posted by Medic7156

New member here with an unusual/long question. I have a 2006 Silverado 2500hd crew cab with an LBZ duramax. Truck has 287000 miles on it and previous owner put a new engine in about 75000 miles ago. I pull a 33 fifth wheel weighing about 13,000# loaded. Truck pulls great and have no problems so far.
My neighbor is selling a 2018 Silverado 3500hd, single rear axle, duramax with 67,000 miles on it. He’s offering it to me for trade in value, $44,000. Truck is in mint condition. I’m newly retired and we’d like to extend our travels to other parts of the country, currently live in Michigan.
Now for my question which may sound stupid, should I buy or wait till my current truck needs to be replaced? I’m hesitant because I’m now fixed income, would have to borrow quite a bit and I’m debt free now. I could afford it but don’t like to borrow money. I’m also not to wild about having a truck that needs def fluid. I’ve heard about costly repairs because of that. I like my current truck but the new one is being offered considerably cheaper than retail and would probably be the last truck I’d need, baring any major problems.
Sorry for the long post but thought I’d tap into your experience with def trucks and any thoughts to help with my decision. Thanks for any input.

I recently did the same calculation.
I had a 99 Dodge 2500 that still looked great but had over 300,000 miles on it. The choice was new engine and trans, or newer truck.
I tend to keep trucks till the wheels fall off. I keep them in good repair, but I'm not into change.
One problem with the 99 is new parts are getting hard to find. It took a month to get a new engine elect harness.
I opted for a 2019 Ram. I'm glad I did, It has a lot of new things that make towing so much easier. Ram's 8 speed trans, and integrated trailer brake are just two.
If this truck lasts like the 99 it will be my last truck. If Ram continues to make replacement parts for the next 2o years I will be happy with the new one. DR

[tuffr2]

A lot of improvements were made since 2007. New more solid frame, more power, more safety equipment, and a lot more things that are nice to have. But that emission system is not for the faint of heart.

The gasoline engines have been improved to be what the old diesels produced in power. For 13,000lbs. maybe gasoline power is what you need.

[Flyer15015]

O.P.
75K on an '06 LBZ is nothing.
It's pre DEF and it should go another 100K with ease. One of the best Chevy ever made IMHO.
Had one in our '07 Jayco Seneca, and we pulled a 24' enclosed car hauler all over Colorado for 5 years. Nary a problem.

Mike in Colorado

[jleonard]

If you are comfortable towing with the old one, then throw some $$ into preventive maintenance and keep it. There's a lot to be said for an older vehicle that you trust and has your arse profile molded into the driver's seat.

[john1981]

we had an 05 dmax at work with 425k hard oilfield miles on it and it still ran good. i think this is a no lose situation.

[Arch Hoagland]

Better a devil you know than a devil you don't know.

Keep what you have.

[tuffr2]

New trucks have so many bells and whistles that I do not know all the things about my 2017 truck. Somebody as riding with me and asked to open the sun roof. I looked at all the buttons and said I do not know how.

I do know what button to hit to answer the phone or even respond to a text message. I can play Iradio via my phone over the truck speakers so I am not too bad.

There are things I do not use too.

For people driving the old trucks it must be easy looking at the steering wheel w/o all the buttons.

[NevadaNick]

At that price i would buy it and resell it.

[john1981]

Originally Posted by NevadaNick

At that price i would buy it and resell it.

i had a cousin thats done that, gotten family members to nearly give her vehicles then sold them. its caused some serious hard feelings.