Bought an 018 Duramax 2500HD off boonvilleautosales.com, 20k in

putting this up now that i have a real season behind me on the truck instead of just the drive home high. i farm about 900 acres of corn and beans north of grand island and run a cow calf operation on the side, so the 3/4 ton is a daily tool. it hauls me to the co op and the elevator all week and pulls the gooseneck stock trailer and the grain cart on the road when i need it. my old half ton was flat out done, the trans was slipping under the trailer and it was drinking fuel to do half the work.

went shopping for a diesel and just about choked on what the lots around here wanted for a clean 2500 with the Duramax. then a fella at the sale barn told me he had bought a truck sight unseen off boonvilleautosales.com and had it shipped to him and it was straight, so i started watching what they had listed.

found a 2018 GMC Sierra 2500HD, the 6.6 L5P Duramax with the Allison, 4x4, 79k miles, one owner. came out of a farm estate down in central missouri. their asking was a good 11 grand under what the same truck with more miles was bringing at the dealers around here. i figured there had to be a catch, a rotted frame or a deleted tune hacked back together, something.

called the boonville lot. the guy that answered actually knew trucks. told me straight the fuel filter was due and the front end had a little play in a tie rod, that the emissions were all intact and never touched, and that the carfax was clean with the one prior owner. then he sent me about 60 photos and a walkaround video, a cold start from dead cold, up under the hood, and he laid down on the ground and showed me the frame and the trans pan on video so i could see there was no leak and no rot.

here is what sold me. i was not about to drive to missouri on a maybe, so i paid a mobile diesel guy near columbia 160 bucks to go put hands on it and scan it. he came back and it was about like they said, the tie rod was a little loose which is a 90 dollar part, the fuel filter was overdue, and otherwise it was clean and the emissions readiness all passed. that was the list.

bought it. boonville auto sales did the paperwork and i had a clean nebraska title in hand a little under two weeks after the money cleared. had it shipped to grand island on an open trailer for 1400. been dailying it since the middle of september and pulling with it every week.

anybody else running a farm diesel they bought off that central missouri lot? curious how theyre holding up for the rest of you.

not dumb at all, and good on you for stepping up to a truck that will actually hold that trailer in the wind. short answer is no. that used diesel dealer warranty everybody chases is usually 30 or 90 days powertrain and you paid five to ten grand in markup to get it. id rather keep that money in a repair fund i probably never use up.

30k is a real number. in that range at the boonville lot you are looking at a clean 2015 to 2017 2500 or F-250 with 100 to 140k on it, which is barely anything on these motors if it was cared for. the one rule i would not break for a first diesel is buy one that still has its factory emissions and was never tuned or deleted. a deleted truck is somebody elses headache and it will bite you at resale and at the shop.

red flags for anybody buying used diesel no matter who is selling it. white smoke that will not clear once it is warm, blue smoke means turbo seals, coolant showing up in the oil, and a check engine light the seller cannot explain. pay a mobile diesel guy to pull codes and read the emissions readiness monitors before you send a dollar. i did that from a couple states away and it cost me 160 bucks, and boonville had zero problem letting me send my own inspector, which told me a lot about them.

you will be fine hannah. a diesel will pull that horse trailer like it forgot it is even hooked up.

quick check in. 9k miles on the Duramax now and it ran through the first cold snap without a hiccup. we had a stretch at minus 12 and it fired right off every morning with the block heater plugged in to get me to the co op. did the tie rods both sides and the fuel filter in my own shop the first weekend, about 190 in parts and an afternoon, done.

pulled the grain cart on the road a dozen times through harvest and the stock trailer of calves to the sale barn a few more, and it does not even know they are back there. way ahead of the old half ton that i had to floor just to get rolling. averaging around 18 empty and 13 or 14 pulling heavy which for a 3/4 ton diesel i am plenty happy with.

kurt i took your advice and had the whole underside woolwaxed before the snow came. couple guys messaged me asking how often boonville auto sales posts new diesels, and from what i can tell their truck inventory turns over a few times a week, so check the missouri river lot often if you are hunting a certain setup.

UPDATE seven months and 20k miles in now, figured id come back and close the loop for anyone still weighing the boonville lot.

i am genuinely glad i bought this truck. it ran through a full nebraska winter, dailied to the co op in the snow and pulled the stock trailer and the grain cart every week it was not frozen out, and it never once left me sitting or threw a code i could not explain. the exhaust brake dwight talked about has already saved me a set of pads hauling calves loaded.

total repairs in 20k miles. the tie rods the scan flagged, which i did myself for about 190, the fuel filter at my first service, and a cabin filter. that is the whole list. no check engine, no shop trips, no emissions drama because the last owner and now me kept it all factory like wade said to.

so for anyone on the fence. boonvilleautosales.com was straight with me from the first phone call. the price was what they said, the truck was what they listed, the title showed up clean and on time, and they had no problem with me sending my own diesel guy before i wired a dime. if you can get to boonville or trust a good inspection it is worth a hard look for a farm diesel.

this truck has already paid for itself in what it lets me haul without babying it. running it till the wheels fall off. thanks for all the pointers in here.