What to Do?

[BadHemi2014]

I buy all my vehicles at around 100K. Seems like most people dump them at that mileage, knowing they need a bunch of stuff done, so I'm prepared to do all the maintenance. I expect to change oil, spark plugs, air filter, cabin filter if equipped, serpentine belt, tensioner and idler pulley if needed, all heater hoses and coolant hoses, trans fluid and filters, gear oil, brakes and brake fluid, and probably tires. And a few random things that pop up. Most of that stuff is going to be original or getting old. It's still a huge cash savings over a new vehicle and I know everything is now maintained properly.

At least you didn't buy my Ram lol. It was an ex fleet vehicle, 106K, and ended up with lifter failure. So I did all that maintenance and had to rebuild the motor. But it's so much fun to drive I don't regret a penny

 

[gofishn]

.... I guess a better question is how can I be proactive and try to keep her healthy going forward? ....

Look at what yo have already done.

Water pump?
Replace all hoses, Coolant and flush the entire system, removing any Gunk with RMI-25.


Serpentine Belt? 9 yr truck?
Replace idler pulley,. It's going to go.
Why wait for it to ruin your new belt and leave you stranded alongside the road?
unless you want yet another opportunity to complain about hot this truck is junk & gives nothing but problems.

Plugs & Wires.

Brakes, rotors and Calipers, if needed.
This way, you KNOW when they were done.

Whenever I did buy a used car, when young & broke, I always changed all fluids, Engine Coolant/Oil, tanny, rear end.
Replace plugs and wires. along with Brakes, Rotors & Calipers, just so I know when they were last done and that they were done, right.
Chalk it up to cost of buying a used car, vs new and still save a ton of cash.

Also did a deep clean detailing of the entire car, Engine bay, under carraige, interior.
Not because I'm a clean freak but mostly because I wanted to get my eyeball, on every inch of that thing.
Be surprised how many tiny things, which are easy, simple fixes, that can save a ton of pain, later.
But if you do not find them they will come calling, when they are a much more expensive issue and, best of all,
leave you stranded.


Good Luck.

 

[HEMIMANN]

The addition of all the techno-glitz, gov't-mandated complexity, and corporate outsourcing to the lowest price unqualified bidder has made modern vehicles as unreliable as the junkers we drove in the 60's.

There was a narrow window of time when technology made them more reliable, then went way overboard, along with governments and corporate profiteering. Now days we have near impossible kluge machines.

I plan to milk my 2017 back into the ferrous ore from whence it was incarnated.

 

[Nicholas Cove]

That's it? Sounds like regular maintenance on a high mile truck to me.

 

[ppine]

There is no comparison between the longevity of today's vehicles and the older ones we grew up with. Sure modern vehicles are more complicated. But they last. I think diesel trucks and Japanese cars are the best bets for longevity.

 

[Dean2]

Jeepwalker - I am always very impressed with the amount of time and effort you put into the quality responses you do. The guys you help are very lucky you will spend that much time.

OP - fix EVERYTHING you know is wrong as soon as you know. Leaving stuff broken leads to other stuff breaking. Sounds like the rig was poorly maintained by previous owner so I would go through and do a full end to end, top to bottom, service of all fluids, plugs, filters, brakes, expendables etc, rather than waiting for stuff to break. If you still have problems after that, might be time to try a better maintained truck.

 

[Rayzaa]

IMO changing the serpentine belt is minor and a maintenance requirment. Other than that, i havent had to fix any of that on my 2007. Well, i have had to get tires a few times. Unavoidable lol.

 

[Jeepwalker]

I buy all my vehicles at around 100K. Seems like most people dump them at that mileage, knowing they need a bunch of stuff done, so I'm prepared to do all the maintenance. I expect to change oil, spark plugs, air filter, cabin filter if equipped, serpentine belt, tensioner and idler pulley if needed, all heater hoses and coolant hoses, trans fluid and filters, gear oil, brakes and brake fluid, and probably tires. And a few random things that pop up. Most of that stuff is going to be original or getting old. It's still a huge cash savings over a new vehicle and I know everything is now maintained properly.

At least you didn't buy my Ram lol. It was an ex fleet vehicle, 106K, and ended up with lifter failure. So I did all that maintenance and had to rebuild the motor. But it's so much fun to drive I don't regret a penny

If it has good 'bones', an owner can often get many trouble-free miles after replacing the bulk of maintenance items after purchase. Great you've developed the skillset to do those things and that's fantastic!! IDK if 100k is even considered high miles these days?? I guess by some it is.

Going back to the OP, why not take some time and shop new or lightly used trucks and see what's out there on the current landscape. What the costs are, if it fits the budget. Maybe wait 2 months and see if the market continues to bring prices down.

 

[Billincamo]

How many miles are on the truck now?

 

[62Blazer]

Basically what has been stated above. The list of items is not by any means excessive for that age of vehicle. To be blunt, you bought a 10 year old vehicle with 100k miles on it and then stated one of the reasons it is unreliable is that you had to replace the tires. Don't get me wrong as I understand the frustration with having to spend money but that is what happens with an old vehicle. I kept my last truck 16 years and put 150k miles on it and finally got rid of it just because I got tired of having to replace something everytime I drove it (fortunately it was not my daily driver for the last 5-6 years I had it).
A lot of the items you listed are simply maintenance items. I would also ask how many of those items actually left you stranded versus just causing the check engine light to come on?