Ok guys I will be in the market soon for a 2500 4x4 ext. or quad cab with a manual tranny and want to budget myself to $15,0000 - $16,000 max.

I want a reliable truck but still be able to mess around with it and get a little performance when finances allow. When I look around on craigslist and autotrader it's hard to find a 2nd gen that isnt ragged out with 200,000 + miles, or a 3rd gen under 160,000 miles that's in my allowed budget.

With that in mind, should I shoot for a 24V 2nd Gen or look for an early 3rd gen?

 

Anyone?

 

That's a pretty good question and if I was in your situation I don't think I would be able to simply choose one generation over the other. They both seem to have some positives and some negatives. I think I would find some of each to go look at, and just choose the one truck that felt right to me. Sorry if that's not much help.

 

Well my wife really loves the quad cab 3rd gen trucks... so that might influence my decision, but there aren't any around my price range in my budget.

 

A year ago my dad was in the same boat. He had a budget and wanted to stay in it. He called a very large dealer 5 hours from his house and told them what his budget was and what he wanted. They said they had an entire lot full of trucks that met his specs so we drove down there to look at them. The cheapest one with the miles he speced was 8K over his budget($24,000). That was a 03 quad cab with minimal options. He actualy managed to get them down to his top dollar after a little negotiating. When he went to sighn on the dotted line they tried throwing some BS fees on top of the agreed price so he walked out and on the way home we found a ultra clean used 03 crew cab duramax with just over 100,000 miles on it in his budget with no negotiations. He took it home instead. Moral of the story,, set a list of criteria and a budget and stick to it. Keep looking and you will find your truck. To be honest though 16K is gona be hard to get into a 3rd gen unless it has high miles. Around here trucks hold there value. Even clean 2nd gens still bring that.

 

My pic would be a 2004 2500 crew longbed 4x4. I'm seeing them around here in the mmid teens.
Pros: common rail, no smog stuff, 4 doors, steering /front end, quiet.

Cons: The seats are uncomfortable on the 10+ hour road trips.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ejzmnup0iqs

After watching this video a few years ago when I was looking for a 2nd gen the first time but bought my Toyota Tacoma instead this vidio has stuck with me since. I wish I could find a 2nd gen this clean in my price range and I would ****** it up... with a little help from the bank.

 

I had my '01 goat and my wife had a '03 (at the same time) not too long ago. Needless to say, the low mileage '03 got sold and I kept my high mileage '01. Nothing wrong with it, but it just seems that the 2nd gens have more personality to me. Either get a 01.5-02 2nd gen because they have 4 whl disk brakes or a 2003-04 3rd gen.

 

Anyone else?

 

Well, I'll chime in here since I've had both.

I loved my 2001. I love the look of 2nd gens and I still miss 2001.

Now my 2006, with a wife kids and a dog, the quad cab is sooo much nicer than the 2nd gen quad cab. I still wanted my long box so I didn't get a mega, which would have liked for the family, but the creature comforts, the steering, the ride, etc. are all much more refined in my opinion on the 3rd gen and make them a much better truck for what I use it for. (guess I'm getting old)

If had the option again, I wouldn't hesitate to get a 3rd gen and the only reason I would ever consider a 2nd gen again is if I was dead-set on a 12 valve and even then I would consider swapping a 12 valve into a 3rd gen.

Good luck in your search.

 

Any comments on comforts, steering... parts that tend to go bad (rebuild costs)????

 

I have a 2nd gen, 95 12v

I like the truck

but them newer girls sure are pretty

no seriously, I'd love to have 4 doors and all the creature comforts of a newer truck

but then my truck is cooool, the new ones are niiiice


really torn on fixing it up or getting new, leaning towards new because I don't have a nice big shop to work on things, and I don't really enjoy doing repairs..mods ok, leaky oily repairs in the snow bank....no

might pick up a newer truck if I stumble on one and can jew em down on the price

 

I would go for the 03/04, maybe with an NV5600. Check out Craigs list.
The 03 on up are common rail, more power and no VP44 FI system. They also have 4 real doors (vs the little door on Gen 2) and are kinder to the rear passengers.
I have no complaints with my 02 other than LP and VP44. I am not sure thatthey all need a better LP system.
I would also do a search on here and get some other opions.
Dealers are normally not going to have very good deals.

 

only thing i miss from my 2nd gen was the engine noise, other than that IMO the 3rd gen is better all around

 

Well I've ran across some good 3rd Gen. deals on craigslist but I'm hesitant to jump in a 3rd Gen with 140K + Miles because of the cost of repairs. I believe the 2nd Gen with around the same miles would give me more of a piece of mind.