OT: Duramax buying advice

How many miles is too many for a 2007-2009 duramax diesel on a Chevy pickup?

Is 160,000 miles too much for a truck you plan on keeping for a few years?

Assuming previous owner maintained truck, how many miles before Duramax requires major repairs or rebuild ?

Spud said:

How many miles is too many for a 2007-2009 duramax diesel on a Chevy pickup?

Is 160,000 miles too much for a truck you plan on keeping for a few years?

Assuming previous owner maintained truck, how many miles before Duramax requires major repairs or rebuild ?

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My friend has 420,000 on his, he has had some fuel injector issues once and a few other minor issues.

Like Moonlight says, it can be surprising what milage can be acheived.

When you speak to a taxi driver they often give these milages for certain models.

07.5-09 is the lmm motor. They are fairly trouble free but they do have a dpf so the truck does have a Regen cycle. It does not have scr so there is no diesel exhaust fluid to worry about. 160k is not a lot for the Duramax trucks, if you can get a good deal I wouldn't see an issue with it. Just remember to change the fuel filter every 10k miles.

I'm on my 4th Dmax truck since 2001.. The current one is a 2011 ( The first I've had with DEF fluid) and it's on it's 6th set of tires with a total of 252000 miles, so far.

Of the 4 trucks I wish I had my 2001 back. Best fuel mileage, fewest problems and probably the best truck, out of 14, I've ever owned. Only problem I ever had was the fuel injectors leaking into the engine which resulted in Chevrolet buying me out and putting me in a 2004.5. Which had a whole lot of over heating issues..

I've never owned a 2007 to 2009 version but most of the over heating issues were taken care of and def fluid was not installed on those. A friend has a 2007.5 and has not had many problems and it is still his daily driver pickup.

Stay away from the first trucks with def! I've had almost 7000.00 dollars in repairs, all exaust/emissions related .

This current truck has a lot of electrical/sensor/guage problems... Every time the weather changes I have warning lights and a not working correctly guage. I just don't trust anything the instruments or computer say anymore.

If I had to buy a used truck I would buy anything after 2006 and before the Def fluid models.

With decent care they will last a long time..

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

plastikdreams said:

07.5-09 is the lmm motor. They are fairly trouble free but they do have a dpf so the truck does have a Regen cycle. It does not have scr so there is no diesel exhaust fluid to worry about. 160k is not a lot for the Duramax trucks, if you can get a good deal I wouldn't see an issue with it. Just remember to change the fuel filter every 10k miles.

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Yep, change fuel filter or it might not upshift.

swatkins said:

I'm on my 4th Dmax truck since 2001.. The current one is a 2011 ( The first I've had with DEF fluid) and it's on it's 6th set of tires with a total of 252000 miles, so far.

Of the 4 trucks I wish I had my 2001 back. Best fuel mileage, fewest problems and probably the best truck, out of 14, I've ever owned. Only problem I ever had was the fuel injectors leaking into the engine which resulted in Chevrolet buying me out and putting me in a 2004.5. Which had a whole lot of over heating issues..

I've never owned a 2007 to 2009 version but most of the over heating issues were taken care of and def fluid was not installed on those. A friend has a 2007.5 and has not had many problems and it is still his daily driver pickup.

Stay away from the first trucks with def! I've had almost 7000.00 dollars in repairs, all exaust/emissions related .

This current truck has a lot of electrical/sensor/guage problems... Every time the weather changes I have warning lights and a not working correctly guage. I just don't trust anything the instruments or computer say anymore.

If I had to buy a used truck I would buy anything after 2006 and before the Def fluid models.

With decent care they will last a long time..

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

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The 2001-2004 lb7 was the least emissions controlled unless Cali emissions, but the most problem prone due to the injectors under the valve covers...it wasn't if but when, even after replacement.

The 2004.5-2005 lly solved the injectors issue but the turbo mouthpiece was misdesigned and caused a large restriction which aided in overheating. Once replaced with aftermarket or lbz mouthpiece the overheating was somewhat mitigated but was still present due to fan shroud issues and heavy towing. Egr and "cat" were on all emissions levels

The 2006-2007 lly/lbz is the most sought after as it's the most powerful and last of the engines without exhaust treatment. The lly and lbz are identical except for the tune which was not available in 2006 due to emissions approval. After the release you could go to a gm dealer and get it reflashed. The overheating issues we're solved as well.also the 2006 was the first year of the 6 speed Allison.

The 2007.5-2010 lmm was the first motor with a dpf and Regen cycle. There were some issues with the 9th injector but they we're solved early on. These are the start of the "deleted" trucks.

The 2011-2016 lml was the first engine to use scr or selective catylist reduction,. Def...the 2011 and some early 2012 trucks were plagued with sensor issues for "bad def quality". This led to a lot of trucks being deleted and GM's policy of if it's tuned you lost your warranty. They became a stable platform though and are pretty popular still as you can tune the piss out of them.

The 2017 L5P is the newest and hasnt presented many issues get, the biggest complaints are more frequent, albeit shorter, regens and the so far inability to tune.

I don't know how they can sell new diesel trucks to anyone but a high mileage towing fleet. Gas is currently $2.08. Diesel is $2.65.

25% more for fuel. 25% more for the diesel engine. 25% more for maintenance. Meanwhile the power and fuel economy of the gas engines has pretty much covered the spread.

All the new diesel trucks I see here are $80,000 status symbols with 4 doors and a 4' box. Who buys these things? Rich baby boomers with a fat pension to burn through?

ewlsey said:

All the new diesel trucks I see here are $80,000 status symbols with 4 doors and a 4' box. Who buys these things? Rich baby boomers with a fat pension to burn through?

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So true...I was gonna get a new one in 2015...I bought a vette instead lol

I just bought a slightly used 97 Dodge 2wd stickshift for $2500. It runs like a champ with only 827,000 miles on it and counting. Injectors still have the paint on the nuts holding them in. Headbolts have never been touched.

I recently sold a nice fully deleted 09. In the last 12 months more than $12k was spent to repair and maintain that truck with under 200K miles on it. Turbo, injectors, ECM, etc. New diesels are nice to drive, but other than that they suck for reliability and maintenance costs.

I would buy a gas truck if you want new or newer.

Must be nice to live outside the rust belt... A '97 with that kind of miles from 'round here would look more like a milk crate than a pickup.

ewlsey said:

Must be nice to live outside the rust belt... A '97 with that kind of miles from 'round here would look more like a milk crate than a pickup.

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Trucks don't get rusty in Wisconsin?, yeah, right

I'm referring to Garwood. He's in Oregon.

ewlsey said:

I'm referring to Garwood. He's in Oregon.

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Sorry I thought you were referring to the O P

I have a duramax for sale if you are interested. 23 35 Chevrolet 4x4 duramax one ton - cars & trucks - by owner - vehicle automotive sale

swatkins said:

I'm on my 4th Dmax truck since 2001.. The current one is a 2011 ( The first I've had with DEF fluid) and it's on it's 6th set of tires with a total of 252000 miles, so far.

Of the 4 trucks I wish I had my 2001 back. Best fuel mileage, fewest problems and probably the best truck, out of 14, I've ever owned. Only problem I ever had was the fuel injectors leaking into the engine which resulted in Chevrolet buying me out and putting me in a 2004.5. Which had a whole lot of over heating issues..

I've never owned a 2007 to 2009 version but most of the over heating issues were taken care of and def fluid was not installed on those. A friend has a 2007.5 and has not had many problems and it is still his daily driver pickup.

Stay away from the first trucks with def! I've had almost 7000.00 dollars in repairs, all exaust/emissions related .

This current truck has a lot of electrical/sensor/guage problems... Every time the weather changes I have warning lights and a not working correctly guage. I just don't trust anything the instruments or computer say anymore.

If I had to buy a used truck I would buy anything after 2006 and before the Def fluid models.

With decent care they will last a long time..

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

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Which years should I avoid?

Also: Is the DMax equipped Chevys considerably heavier than the V8 gas? I ask because I also want to use this truck for recreation, to go dune bashing.

true temper said:

I have a duramax for sale if you are interested. 23 35 Chevrolet 4x4 duramax one ton - cars & trucks - by owner - vehicle automotive sale

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Lookin for a 2007 or 2008. I like that body style. Not into the new body style or the pre 2007 .

moonlight machine said:

Trucks don't get rusty in Wisconsin?, yeah, right

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We salt the #$%@$ out of the roads, which I do like , as it keeps everything clear. They use a byproduct of the cheese making process for the salting. Otherwise it would just be thrown away.

I used to live in Portland Or and the surrounding areas, and am surprised people perceive vehicles from there don't rust. It rains a lot but snow is rare, so consequently no salting, which maybee the reason for meager rusting of frames.

My 2005 Camry has seen many a Wis winters, and I didn't even wash the undersides after winters, but still it isn't rusted.

Spud said:

Lookin for a 2007 or 2008. I like that body style. Not into the new body style or the pre 2007 .

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That is what I would go with...

true temper said:

I have a duramax for sale if you are interested. 23 35 Chevrolet 4x4 duramax one ton - cars & trucks - by owner - vehicle automotive sale

Click to expand...

Bought a 2015 to replace the 2003. The 15 is like a dog from the pound, has no balls. Going in to the dealer tomorrow for new turbo. They said they might have to pull the cab off to replace it.