1995 GMC Suburban

SUV

6.5 Turbo-Diesel

Automatic

1GKFC16F5SJ725128

Clear

Diesel

I am selling my rare and hard to find 1995 GMC Suburban SLE 1500HD 6.5 Turbo-Diesel with only 158,589 very carefully driven miles. If you are familiar with 6.5 Turbo-Diesels, you will know that there are very few well-maintained diesel Suburban's available for sale anywhere because: 1. very few were made by GM; 2. many of the used ones have been exported to South America, Europe and beyond and 3. people often keep them for 300+ miles. (This info comes from the dieselsuburbans.com website). I have owned my diesel Suburban for 12 years since June 2002. I bought it with 96,933 miles, so basically, I have done 61,600 miles with it in 12 years, or around 5,100 miles a year. By way of some background, I now live in LA, but in 2002, when I bought the car, I was living in Chicago and I bought it from the owners in Michigan who had it for sale in the Autotrader. I used it until December 2002 and then placed it (and my motorcycles) in a locked storage garage for several years while I was overseas. I came back to the US a few times over the years and on each occasion, my Suburban cranked right up and ran without missing a beat! This has been one of the best cars I have ever owned. It feels solid when you drive it, it's powerful, smooth, comfortable, has all the bells and whistles, and has great fuel mileage for a three-quarter ton truck!! GM really knew how to build good vehicles back in the mid 90's! I'm in my mid-sixties and so my speeding days are long over - I never drive my Suburban over 55 mph. It goes into overdrive at around 53 mph, the revs drop to 1700 -1750 rpm, I set my cruise control and it will run comfortably at this speed for hours and hours on end - other people who own 6.5TD's work their vehicles a lot harder according to the blogs, but I've never had the need or desire to do so. I get over 700 miles on a full tank driving this way! My best was 26 mpg driving at a steady, controlled speed. Who can argue with that kind of mileage? It's really amazing, considering this is a large Suburban! The 1500 Suburban 6.5TD is regarded as a three-quarter ton 2500 in most respects - I can explain the details of this and send you information if you're interested. My Suburban has power steering, power windows, power door locks and power cloth seats. I have records of all maintenance and repairs done, including oil changes at 5,000 mile intervals as per the GM maintenance schedule, since I've owned the car and I even have the original receipts for all diesel fuel put into the car from the day I bought it with the date and mileage! There is an active web based community of 6.5 turbo-diesel Suburban and truck owners and very helpful websites and I have a three ring binder with articles and information I have printed about various aspects of the 6.5TD. Additionally, based on what I learned over the years, I had a few things done to improve the overall performance and mileage of my Suburban - a) I purchased an FSD Heat-Sync Kit from SS Diesel Supply and this was installed in a cooler spot in the engine compartment (please see their website for more information about this); b) I installed an SS Diesel Supply cold air induction system in place of the stock system (similar to K&N air filter); c) I installed a Diamond Eye 4" exhaust system. d) I installed a Duramax fan and high output water pump for improved cooling. These upgrades have made my car sound and perform so much better, it breathes so much easier and has improved my fuel mileage. In preparation for this sale, I just had new brakes and wheel bearings installed in the front to make sure everything is in tip-top shape for the new owner. These items have a 12000 mile/12 month warranty from Chatsworth Tire & Service Center in Chatsworth, CA- not sure if it's transferable though. I had planned on keeping my Suburban for years to come, but regrettably am not using it enough to justify the cost of insurance for the couple of times a month I now drive it. The tags have just been renewed until November 2015 at a cost of $86. I often get compliments about how nice and well-maintained my car is and over the years people have wanted to buy it, but it was not for sale then. Now that I have it for sale, I have taken a walk around the car and have noted whatever I could find that is not perfect. I have bought used cars before and recently bought a used Chevy Express Van, so I know exactly how a buyer feels when purchasing a used car. I can also appreciate how conflicted a potential buyer might be if they live out of state or on the east coast, and want to buy a car on eBay sight unseen. So with that in mind, here is what I noted down after my walk through: 1. I picked up two small door dings on the drivers side door. I always try to park on the far end away from other cars, but somehow careless people opened their car doors against mine and caused these small dings. I have taken some photos to show the dings but it's difficult to see them. You really have to have the correct light and angle to see them. 2. There is one small scratch about 12" away from the fuel filler door - it was there when I bought the car. 3. The silver trim molding on the driver and passenger sides are showing signs of wear due to age. 4. There is a small section of rust appearing on the driver's side fender, two inches long by half inch wide. 5. The chrome wheel trim on the right front fender picked up three small dings at the same height about 12" apart. 6. The Bigfoot Bug deflector has a crack in it which I caused inadvertently!! 7. The amber marker light on the driver's side has a crack in it. 8. The tires are not new, I bought them as a used set in 2012 and planned to keep them for another 10,000 miles. 9. The right rear door sometimes does not lock automatically. 10. There is some surface rust on the undercarriage. 11. I top up my oil once or twice between oil changes. There are no oil leaks that I'm aware of. It did have an oil leak coming from the oil lines, but I had the lines replaced in 2012 and there has been no leaks since then. 12. There is no black diesel smoke when I start the engine. I have photos of the above items and would be happy to email them to anyone who would like to see them - please let me know. If you are interested in my car but are unable to personally come over to inspect and drive it, I would request that you please have a friend come over or if you don't know anyone, that you arrange for a mechanic or shop to do a pre-purchase inspection on your behalf. I live in Northridge, CA which is in the San Fernando Valley, about 30 miles north of downtown LA. If you are a serious, buyer I would be willing to take the car over to a mechanic or shop of your choice that is within a reasonable distance of Northridge. Thank you very much for your interest so far. Please contact me by email through eBay to discuss this further. I will consider all reasonable offers. If you ask my fiancé, she will tell you how torn and hesitant I have been these past weeks about putting my Suburban up for sale....