Buying a new Hummer H1 Repair and Maintenance Questions
 

I am looking to purchase a 2001 Hummer H1 Turbo Diesel. Need some advice, thanks!

A few questions, how bad are repairs, people say its expensive and often but what does that mean, will the truck be in the shop every week, will it cost 1k 10k 20k to repair and maintain per year. Basically how bad can it get? I plan to put on maybe 5k a year max 10k. I would be taking it to my mechanic and not doing any work myself.

Another question, when purchasing what should I look for, what are the service records would this be found on the carproof report or the manual or some document that comes with the truck? If it does not have service records what should I be looking for?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, this will be a big purchase for me about 50k USD for the truck it has around 120K miles on it, not sure if thats good for pricing but i guess depends on the truck exteior and interior look mint, attached a picture.

How would I know if I have t bette engine not the bad one serial number is below2001*AM*GENERAL*HMCS VIN:*137ZA84371E193830 4*DOOR*WAGON/SPORT*UTILITY 6.5L*8*FI ALL*WHEEL*DRIVE Standard*Equipment*|*Safety*Options

If you have E99 or later stamped on the right rear of the block you have an updated block. (F99, g99, etc ) if the 4th character in your VIN had been an F that would signify a GEP block which definitely would be a heavy or updated block. Yours is a Z so you need to check the mfg date code.

Maintenance and repairs are dependent on condition and use. If you buy a truck that is current on both ongoing maintenance will not be bad. Many trucks are sold when the deferred maintenance has been neglected and the owner either has to spend a size able sum to get current or sell the truck. Have it checked by someone that knows Hummers. I do most of my own work. Labor rates for mechanics run about $135/hour here. That adds up. A major "C" service runs $1200-1500.00 and is done at 12,000 mile intervals. If you do it yourself it costs a couple of hundred dollars. The trucks are not that hard to work on. Repairs are on top of the service. I would estimate that I spend about $1000.00 per year per truck unless something major comes up.

3 hummers where are you at? I thought it was texas. I need to raise my labor rate (a lot!) ! I do C services for $850. and i actually change ALL the fluids and filters(not just check them) along with a long list of other stuff.

Bobby and any other new hummer owners-
Have the truck checked out by a hummer mechanic BEFORE purchase. You might have a Ferrari and it might be a really nice car & you might have the best ferrari mechanic in the whole world but they would not be the one to take a hummer to because they don't know the product. (Don't take it to Jiffy Lube or sears either- some people actually do this!) get it checked over by someone who knows hummers. If you take it down to a local shop and the guy tells you oh yeah we see these all the time - leave immediately.(Unless your local shop is big dog off road , rubber duck or me who does work on these trucks everyday - not h2 jeeps or whatever). If you live in so-cal you could take it to a shop that works on trucks there but most of their xcustomers ship there trucks to someone with a much better reputation in another state. Watch out for aftermarket alarm systems and video systems! If you take a big drillbit and drill right through the middle of your main wiring harness you will have less problems than an aftermarket alarm. Do your research about your vehicle and your mechanic. Do not get in a hurry to buy a truck. Don't buy an East Coast truck as most of them are rust buckets.(sorry East Coast guys)

thanks for the heads up,,,,,what about an aftermarket car starter would they be an issue? where should i look for rust? the truck is an east coast then canadian truck both areas with lots of snow/salt

in regards to pricing what i am looking at is a 2001 turbo diesel with 107,000 miles, car looked very clean exterior, underbody was decent too,,i will attach pictures later today,,,overall it looked good and owner is asking $46,000 usd

what would be a good price for something like this assuming it doenst need major repairs,,,,although the engine light was on but it seemed to drive fine

Ian I am in Texas. Classic or Sewell would charge those prices. In SoCal that is about what was charged. I re-torque all the bolts, change the fluids, filters, lube, etc.
Bobby crawl under the truck. You will see real rust if it is there and a problem. 46K is a decent price for a 2001 with 107K on the clock. As Ian and I have suggested, if you don't know Hummers get someone that does to do a pre-purchase inspection for you. I have done dozens for people. Even if you have to pay someone it will be money well spent. Engine light could be anything from a sensor to......Have someone pull the code and tell us what it is.

I will definitely take my mechanic and I rather pay now then pay later, im feeling it might be better bringing someone from one of these forums, people here seem to have a lot of knowledge, my mechanic has 2 clients with hummers and works on a lot of heavy duty trucks but I wouldn't say he is an expert on hummers specifically

Bobby- where are you located at?

Located near toronto, canada

heres some pictures of the truck im thinking of buying,,,any input is appreciated

Looks like a nice truck. No rust that I could spot in the pictures that you posted. Looks like some Predator add-ons.

thanks for the input,,,,if it is mechanically sound do you think im getting a good deal or paying market value?

I would say that is a pretty decent deal if the truck is mechanically sound. Being a wagon I would say that the truck should bring 50K+

I like how the Preditor pmd kit is in the wheel well next to the cooling stack where it will get the most water and mud. I think the rocks that fly out of the tires and smash the thing are good for pmds. They really like vibration. 3 out of four bolts holding anything is par for the course from preditor. If you buy a 60k truck and take it to Predator for a powertrain conversion with a duramax and a allison out of a junk pickup poorly installed (because it does not fit well -ask a x customer. ) for about 60+k. Ish. That would decrease the value to someone who knows hummers to very little(salvage value). Shop around and dont be in a hurry to buy. There are much better deals out there.

Hey Ian, are you talking about the truck I have pictured, if so what do you mean? I'm confused lol not sure what what mean by predator and pmd etc is something wrong with the truck, is it not original or undesirable? thanks

It has an aftermarket heat sink and PMD located in the wheel well. The relocated PMD is a good idea but the chosen location is very poor. Heat and vibration kill the PMD. Some people really like Predator, some have not had good experiences. Some of their conversions have been problematic for the truck owners. If you read the different Hummer forums you can find threads, pro and con, and make up your own mind.
The owner of the truck could have bought the PMD relocation kit and put it their themselves. Either way it needs to be relocated again.

How much is approx cost to relocate it,,,,,how do I tell if any other parts are changed what pics could i take for forum members to help

Cost to relocate is minimal. Anywhere within range of the harness but most people locate it on one of the flat surfaces inside the engine bay away from the engine. You could relocate it yourself in 10 minutes.

I had a client use uship.com to ship a hmmwv and they were impressed with the low cost from Florida to Austin. I have no affiliation to these people whatsoever or personal experience but i got a quote to ship a hmmwv from Mobile Alabama to Austin Texas and it was $550. Don't buy a Predator truck just because it's close to you. If you're shopping for an old Chris-Craft are you gonna buy the first U-22 you fined? There are a lot of trucks for sale. I know of A couple dozen of them personally for sale. Once again don't be in hurry buy. Do your research. And yes moveing the crappy predator PMD relocate kit would be a good idea. It looked really cool there though.

how is it a predator truck? it only has the one predator part?

The relocated PMD is the only Predator accessory I see on the truck. That does not make it a Predator truck. Just as likely the owner bought and installed the PMD kit himself. Most people would consider a truck a "Predator" truck if they had done a conversion on it.