Looking at an 87 K10...what do you think of this price?

[DuckhunterInTN]

I am looking at a 1987 K10 LWB, 5.7L EFI, auto trans, silverado package, rally wheels, power everything. It has little-to-no rust, no lift, and has a red/black/red paint scheme. The paint seems to be good and it has no big dents.

It supposedly has a somewhat weak trans but is still driveable. Not sure about the mileage but I guess average for it's age. It is a daily driver for a guy I know. It also has a DMI bumper on the back and diesel transfer tank (both worth about $1000 new).

He is asking $2500 for it. Whatcha think? I realize that this would be about an average deal but I am thinking maybe because it is a fuel injected truck it might be worth a little more.

[Mike76251]

That price isn't too bad.
While I wouldn't give over $100 for anything with fuel injection unless it was mechnical that would be a good deal.

[DuckhunterInTN]

well actually I guess it has TBI, not FI. Not sure if that matters or not.

[Blue82Chev]

Sounds like a great price, I would definately jump on that if it was me. A truck like that would go for double that price here in MN.

[DuckhunterInTN]

Thanks for the response. I just found out a little more about it. The guy now wants around $3500 for it b/c it had the trans repaired, the radiator fixed, a new fuel pump put in one tank and some other little stuff done to it at the local Chevy dealer. It should get out of the shop today.

He said it had 175,000 original miles on it. Not sure if it is the same motor, but probably is.....

[Blue Beard]

My belief is that if he has already jacked the price....I back away........

[DuckhunterInTN]

Well he jacked the price because he went ahead and put it in the shop for repairs. The 2500 was with the weak tranny, the 3500 is with it (and some other minor things) fixed.


Why do you say back away from it? I'm not disagreeing, just wondering what your thoughts are....

[76HighSierra]

Originally posted by DuckhunterInTN
Well he jacked the price because he went ahead and put it in the shop for repairs. The 2500 was with the weak tranny, the 3500 is with it (and some other minor things) fixed.


Why do you say back away from it? I'm not disagreeing, just wondering what your thoughts are....

To me, it all depends on just what exactly was his definition of a weak tranny. For all the stuff you listed that he had repaired, while it was in the shop, I doubt the "repair" was too extensive. Maybe he had a "band-aid" repair done to the tranny. If I was you, I'd find out exactly what was wrong with the tranny to begin with, and what he had done to rectify the problem. Bad clutches and bands don't just go away by adding a can of "trans-medic". All the other repairs (short of the rad) just sound like gravy to me, as in they may not have been needed. After all, for 3500 bones, I'd be looking over that truck pretty closely. It's doesn't sound like a bad price, until you find out you got ganked.

[76HighSierra]

Also, don't consider the FI as adding one red cent to the price. That was standard equipment for that year. It wasn't anything special. Now if it was some sort of hi-po aftermarket tuned port injection, then yeah, but otherwise, it's just an OEM fuel delivery system...and an old one at that. At that age, unless it's been well maintained, you could be getting a truck that will be giving you tons of nagging fuel problems. It aint like a $15.00 carb kit and 45 mins of your time will make it new again . Caveat Emptor. Not trying to bring you down, just make sure you check it out well, before laying out your hard earned $$$.

[DuckhunterInTN]

Thanks for the help guys. I always kinda thought of the FI models as being less troublesome than the carb models, but I guess you guys have a different take on it.


I also have an 84 K10 6.2 and I thought about just sinking the money I was about to use to buy another truck into the 84. It is a good truck, no real problems, just needs some paint and interior work.

[C&C Chevy]

TBI's are less troublesome. Mine has 180,000 and still runs fine. My dad recently sold his 92 chevy with a 350 TBI motor that had 290,000, and was still running strong. Went through 2 tranny's though. Very dependable motor if you ask me.

[WOOS1]

My wife's cousin bought a truck very similar to what you described about a month ago except it was a 4 speed and was missing the rear bumper. He gave $1700 for the truck and it had 139,XXX miles. It wasn't running the best, so he pulled the TBI and installed a carb and intake he had on another truck. Runs like a top now. The $2500/$3500 sounds like too much IMHO.