Thanks Georgia!!

[Bigprairie1]

..well just a quick thanks to Georgia for keeping their trucks nice. I just finished up my biggest purchase ever 'online'...a truck. Pretty nervous about the whole deal to be quite honest...but it seemed to turn out. I bought from a GM dealer to hopefully limit possible problems that I might encounter by buying privately.
The truck is used ('05/LT/Duramax-Allison) but seems to be have been kept in very good condition....knock on wood it will stay that way.
This whole endeavor speaks to the issue of Canucks like myself, heading south to do some major shopping due to the state of the current currencies. I saved quite a bit of money (probably close to 8-10K) and am a little tempted to sell it....and go back and get another one.
I'm hoping to use it for not only towing the boat buy carrying my smaller camper as well.
Any other Duramax owners out there?...what kind of mileage should I expect city vs. hwy? Is the mileage generally a little better than the gas trucks? (6.0l?).
....We are lovin it so far....hopefully the fuel doesn't kill me.
BP

 

[MikDee]

Re: Thanks Georgia!!

Wow! Nice Truck! and More Power to ya BP!

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Thanks Georgia!!

Very nice! Congrats!
I know our dually Duramax trucks at work get around 20 to 24 per gallon highway not towing.I imagine yours will be a little better than that.
I'm still dreaming of getting me one.Maybe this year sometime.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Thanks Georgia!!

My dad's 03 2500HD crew cab 4x4 got about 22 highway and 18 around "town". It only got about 10mpg towing his Chaparral Signature 300 cruiser, though. But his 2500 Suburban 7.4 only got 6mpg towing the same boat, and 11mpg highway!

 

[Bigprairie1]

Re: Thanks Georgia!!

It's a little early for me to fully tell what I'm getting mileage wise but the onboard feedback is showing just over 14mpg average. Hopefully this will improve? I haven't had it out for any appreciable highway runs yet...I'm just starting on my second tank of fuel. As for the truck tt has a 3:73 rear and slightly oversize tires (width). I'm hoping I'll hit 20mpg at some point.
It has just over 59k miles on it so I assume this is just 'broken in' for a Duramax. It all checked out very well at the GM dealership but I'd love to see the code read feedback on it?
Interestingly they (GM service) were not overly complimentary about the Diesel tuners for power or mileage. They said, if it's alternate tuning is found to be the reason the engine fails before it's 100k warranty is up....its all yours. yikes!! which is about a $12-15k rebuild. The service manager asked me why I would need more power...I didn't have a particularly good answer apart from the fact...well I'm a guy I don't mind a little more power...although I'd love a little better mileage.
BP

 

[SgtMaj]

Re: Thanks Georgia!!

Bigprairie1,

Congrats on the hurricane Katrina flood damaged vehicle purchase...

Just kidding, sort of. Though they did dump a lot of those vehicles on the market throughout the southeast to resell for cheap... but hopefully this is not one of them.

 

[Bigprairie1]

Re: Thanks Georgia!!

Bigprairie1,

Congrats on the hurricane Katrina flood damaged vehicle purchase...

Just kidding, sort of. Though they did dump a lot of those vehicles on the market throughout the southeast to resell for cheap... but hopefully this is not one of them.

....good one. Already had that bit checked out and then went through it thoroughly myself later on. It's also another reason I would never buy privately and or even outside of a certified (GM) dealership. We had heard about a lot of that going on. Hopefully the junk sale down there is over.
BP

 

[SgtMaj]

Re: Thanks Georgia!!

....good one. Already had that bit checked out and then went through it thoroughly myself later on. It's also another reason I would never buy privately and or even outside of a certified (GM) dealership. We had heard about a lot of that going on. Hopefully the junk sale down there is over.
BP

A lot of that went through the dealerships, too. They would clean em up nice, even steam clean the engine, so you'd almost never know it until the first time you tried to make an insurance claim and the insurance company denied the claim because the car had previously been totalled out for flood damage...

But if you got a history report and it came back with a clean bill of health you'll be alright. Besides, that's been a while, so those vehicles should have worked their way out of the car lots by now.

 

[Windykid]

Re: Thanks Georgia!!

Bigprairie I have 2005 duramax 2500HD and get 14.5 av mpg. Depending on what Models there have a been a few recalls for steering shafts and other stuff.

By far the best towing truck I have ever had. Enjoy.

 

[Bigprairie1]

Re: Thanks Georgia!!

Bigprairie I have 2005 duramax 2500HD and get 14.5 av mpg. Depending on what Models there have a been a few recalls for steering shafts and other stuff.

By far the best towing truck I have ever had. Enjoy.

...thats very close to what I'm at right now Windy. I have yet to do even a 1/2 tank on the highway so I imagine it will stick around there for a while until I get a chance to take on an extended highway run. I'm hoping for a little better as I get accustomed to driving it.
As for the recalls, its currently all up to date. I'm looking forward to hooking the boat up to it and taking up the local mountains.
Question for you: It has powered retractable camper mirrors which is an interesting feature however I think it also has powered folding mirrors but I can't quite figure out how to get them to fold...any ideas? In the manual it reads like the same procedure for retracting/extending the mirrors?
BP

 

[Windykid]

Re: Thanks Georgia!!

As far as the mirrors, I think you only get one or the other. I have the power extend - retract.

 

[Windykid]

Re: Thanks Georgia!!

Your picture of your truck looks to have the same mirrors as mine.

 

[Caveman Charlie]

Re: Thanks Georgia!!

14.5 doesn't sound all that good to me? How big of a engine is this in cubic inches. I get about 17-19 with my old 95 F-150 with 302. But, it's hurts for power pulling a big load. Mt brother get about 17 with his 97 F-250 with...oh heck what did they call that bigger over head cam engine? It's not the 4.6 instead it's the bigger one. I want to say 5.4 but, that might be wrong.It has plenty of power. He also has a 95 f-250 diesel but, I don't know the gas mileage on that one. These gas mileage number all all in mixed city and county driving. Mostly country I'll admit. I wonder if these newer vehicles all get bad mileage due to this OBD III system.

 

[Windykid]

Re: Thanks Georgia!!

14.5 doesn't sound all that good to me? How big of a engine is this in cubic inches.

OK the engine we are talking about is a 6.6 duramax. And nothing pulls like the duramax allison combination.

 

[Bigprairie1]

Re: Thanks Georgia!!

OK the engine we are talking about is a 6.6 duramax. And nothing pulls like the duramax allison combination.

I have to yet to have a load hooked up behind mine yet...but it sure is not short on power. It feels like it will pull like a train, if put to it. I'm looking forward to trying the boat behind it.
I'm going to try to take it across the scales in the next few weeks to find out just what it weighs...empty.
BP

 

[Windykid]

Re: Thanks Georgia!!

I have to yet to have a load hooked up behind mine yet...but it sure is not short on power. It feels like it will pull like a train, if put to it. I'm looking forward to trying the boat behind it.
I'm going to try to take it across the scales in the next few weeks to find out just what it weighs...empty.
BP

You will forget it is back there!