I've been in the market for a new truck since I totalled mine last fall. Well my brother-in-law inherited a '95 GMC 1500 when his dad died in Jan. The Transmission went out and he's selling it. it's worth several grand, but he'll sell it to me for 1,000. Now I'm no GMC guy, but it drives, I know the seller, and it's a good deal untill I can afford a Ford. My problem is, he lives in Columbia SC, the truck is at a Chevy Dealer in Saint George SC (150 miles away) and I live in Texas. The drive shaft seal fell off at 80 mph and he was told at the dealership he needs a whole new Tranny. I've tried every idea from flying there and fixing it in a wally world parking lot to having it shipped. So far the cheapest idea I've come up with is borrowing my folks suburban and towing it back. Then I have my garage, my tools, and my time to put in a new tranny. I'll prolly go Mother's day weekend. it's gonna end up costing me about $500 for gas and a trailer etc. I can stay with my sister and brother-in-law and eat their food. just thought I throw this out there and see if anybody has any better ideas. I'm all for saving money. I want to make sure I explore all my options before I spend $500.
thanks
-matt

 

well, i would do the same thing your planning on doing now.

to me it is the cheapest way.

 

I would do the same thing. It seems to be the chapest

 

Sounds like cheapest way to me too. Better to fix at home in your garage too then struggling somewhere else.

 

thank yall - I asked my boss for Friday the 12th off. That'll give me a three day weekend to drive 2,300miles. And he hasn't answered me but I'm pretty sure I'm not gonna get it off. If so I'm gonna need a new idea.
-matt

 

Gee, call me silly, but even my best brother-in-law would be told to take care of it hisseff. All that work for a 12 year old (effectively, probably has an '94 build date) wore out truck that needs major work.

Cain't you drive over to Clovis and buy a nicer, newer truck from that used car guy there with the fancy brick building? Or cruise into Lubbock for steal of a deal?

 

he's got it all took care of. The dealership offered him $1,000 for it and he was gonna sell it to them. So I offered him $1,000 for it. It's worth $3,500 with a good tranny according to Kelly Blue Book. and I've found a few tranny's in junk yards around here for $300-$500. So for $1,000(truck) + $500(gas and food) + $300-$500 (tranny) = $1,800-$2,000 for a turck worth $3,500.
-matt

 

maybe its my punishement for trying to buy a GMC, but junk keeps stacking up against me. I've made almost all the arangments to haul it down here this weekend, and now Uhaul is telling me they won't rent me the equipment and that it's not big enough anyway. Now I planned on having to pay to get a hitch installed on the suburban, but they say it's not big enough, and they don't have anything that will haul a full size truck. so I need a new plan fast. Their biggest open trailer is 12' X 6'2" I could rent that and not tell them what for, but according to edmunds the width of the truck (I dunno where) is 77.1"
this is 7:25 Friday morning, my plan was to be gone at the crack of about 3:00am tomorrow. I'm trying to rent the trailer near Saint George SC somewhere on my way. And haul it back on Sunday to Plano Tx.

thanks
-matt

 

fly out then rent a uhaul truck and a drive on trailer. drive it all home. uhaul has that gear as i've used it before. a big diesel powered truck and the driveon flatbed . took me 2 days alone ny to fl.

 

I'll have to check into that, I talked to Uhaul this morning and they said they had nothing big enough for a full size truck.
-matt