I have a dilemma

M

Mikeyd99

Donating Member
So I was going to purchase Sy#2575 from my friend up here in Vancouver, BC Canada and now that you guys have run the CARFAX for me it shows that the vehicle has been issued a salvage title two times. The first one was before there was even a first owner which could have meant that the lot boy crashed it or who knows. The second one was a few years later the truck was stolen and then recovered and issued another salvage title. Somehow between transferring between Michigan and Oregon the VIN seemed to have been washed and now shows up as a clean title truck.

Here is my dilemma, the truck has 125k miles on it, runs good, body is in very good shape because it was painted I assume from the previous owner (red w/ grey cladding. so not original), the interior is in very good shape and I would say the overall truck is a 7.5-8/10. The last salvage title was in 1997 at 47k miles and it seems to have been on the road ever since and serviced at the same shop.

So my friend wants $11,500 CDN but he was not aware of this issue and looking around in Canada and also in the USA with the CDN $ being so shitty right now what do you guys think that a fair price for this truck would be or should I just walk away?

Here are some pics I have of it.

2zeavpj.jpg


21khsnq.jpg


j9oksj.jpg


161eq85.jpg


I really appreciate your guys opinion and I do like this truck, even the colour but I want to pay a fair price and being he is my friend I don't want to let that influence the sale as well.

Thanks again

Mike
 
Sy-1177

Sy-1177

Turbo Inside
Re: I have a dilemma

Red firewall too so it had a thurough paint job at least.(heck, its even red under the VIN tag) Looks clean but yeah the title history sucks on it. If you plan to keep it for a while I would say $8-9k sounds pretty fair given condition and mods.

If the truck runs and drives well I wouldnt worry about the title too much. The title issue is only going to hurt you when you go to sell it.
 
Peter

Peter

my Ty and me 25+ years
Re: I have a dilemma

It does indeed look good! If it runs well also, and you look underneath and the frame is not damaged, then go for it.
 
F

Formula_1

New member
Re: I have a dilemma

It looks nice in the pictures, but it's sometimes hard to see small details in photos. You could have it checked out at a reputable body shop after looking it over to make sure you didn't miss anything. It's probably not worth the 11k with a history like that, though.

I'm surprised the firewall is also red. Someone seemingly did a good/thorough job when painting it. Most people don't spend time on details like that. I will assume that the jams are red as well?
 
M

Mikeyd99

Donating Member
Re: I have a dilemma

Yes all jams are red too, truck looks like it had a body off paint job, it basically looks factory. It honestly looks to me like it came out of the factory that colour. All the grey cladding is painted nice, there is no spray on the frame or overspray on anything, looks like all windows and seals were taken out when painted but ya who knows maybe that is a complete body swap over. I don't think resale would be great but it is a cool probably one of a kind truck
 
JSM

JSM

Active member
Re: I have a dilemma

Red under vin tag is throwing up a big flag for me, aka I think someone swapped tag over to a new cab. If that did happen and the right people find out, it is junk.

I'd be digging into the frame if I was serious, see what vin # is on the frame.

Price seems a bit high for miles, and history. With that said if you are buying any vehilcle to enjoy, and repairs are done well and verified to be done well it isn't end of the world. If you want an investment go another direction (of course syty is a horrible investment anyways).
 
C

Captain Morgan

Moderated User
Re: I have a dilemma

I would definitely suspect it being a cab swap, probably nose swap and a respray at some point.

Get under it and see if the underside of the bed is black or red, just thinking if it was in a nose wreck, that the bed may have been swapped from the original truck.

As for the value, like anything else its going to be worth what youre willing to pay. I could sit here and say its worth 50% of what an equal non-salvage truck is worth, but someone would argue that as well.

I own a salvage title truck, when I bought it I was star-struck with its brand new paint, clean interior, etc., back in 2000 these things were still getting great money so even though I didn't pay what other 42,000 mile trucks were getting, I still did pay a lot for it. I regret it a little bit, but at the same time I never plan on getting rid of it so its a moot point.

Now if you think there is a chance of you selling it at some point, then the problem comes when youre trying to find someone who wants it, as much as you perhaps want it now, regardless of its tarnished history. The "clean" title is not difficult to get, I can run my title through NY State and get it clean, but at the end of the day the history is still there.

I think your safest bet might be to just sit down with your friend, go over the truck fairly, it looks like it has some modifications so perhaps price them all out as well. You have to figure the parts value alone would exceed $5000 USD, so see what a fair value for a similar clean title truck would be and if you can come up with a price you can both agree on.
 
M

Mikeyd99

Donating Member
Re: I have a dilemma

Ya I appreciate all your guys info. I think I am going to work out a price with him as I don't see me selling this truck any time soon.

Being repainted not the original black colour I think has a bit of an advantage of it being a salvage as maybe there is someone out there that prefers the colour combo over the black. I will look into the frame and everything but when I was driving it, it drove nice and the fact that it is still a Syclone powerplant and that I am not going to be keeping it stock doesn't really deter me from it.

The good thing is "if" I get the price down on this truck that is more money for modifications! Also I guessing there is less then 30 of these in Canada still makes for a cool conversation piece.
 
Quickstop [UK]

Quickstop [UK]

Combating adversyty.
Re: I have a dilemma

I just found this... I wonder if you have this truck...

http://www.syty.net/forums/showpost.php?p=467678&postcount=29


peelerboy said:
Hey Adam! (and howdy to everyone else!) I'd love to respond to all these queries as this is quite the fun flashback for me... but dinner is almost home and I've only got a minute to spare. I'll write more in a while, but for now... allow me to field the question about the 2 tone Syclone.

This was shortly after the Syclone went into production and there was a slew of flack from people complaining about the truck only coming in black. Not just marketing at GMC, but someone saw fit to conduct an independent poll that indicated dramatically different sales if more colors were offered. Chuck Mountain used to love touting the ol' Hank Ford phrase, "Any color you want so long as its black.", but that soon was a thorn in everyone's side.

Therefore, we began doing some color studies at PAS to consider the possibility of offering the Syclone in red and white also. Then the question came up of what color would the cladding be. In an effort to reduce complexity (and cost), they were supposed to only offer the potential new colors with silver cladding, but then the whole program got scrapped. It was a real heart-breaker. I'm going to try and attach a couple pictures I took of the exact same truck, just shot from different sides. You guys may have already seen these as I believe I sent them to warmpancakes years ago.

syc18.jpg


and the other side...

syc9.jpg


Dale
Click to expand...
 
JSM

JSM

Active member
Re: I have a dilemma

I think that truck Mark you posted pics of lives south of Nashville and is owned by a member here. Is a prototype syclone also.
 
Logan

Logan

Member
Re: I have a dilemma

That thing looks great. I haven't seen it in person so I can't say on price.
 
DaveP

DaveP

Active member
Re: I have a dilemma

As of just now, $11,500 CDN is the equivalent of $8740 USD. So it's about right for a driver-quality Syclone with no title issues that has absolutely NOTHING wrong with it. No leaks, everything there, power windows work, engine doesn't "tick", trans was done recently enough that the seller can tell you when it was, doesn't shake at highway speed, and will pass emissions testing in the State that it is going to. Nothing wrong with it.

Edit: Enjoy your new truck. This morning, 10,500 CDN = 8,400 USD. Thanks for the price-point.
 
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M

Mikeyd99

Donating Member
Re: I have a dilemma

So I have had it looked at from a very reliable body man and he says that he is 99% sure that the cab is not the original one. That said, we went over the whole truck and he basically said that whomever built/painted this truck did a full and he said full body off, all seals all parts off the body paint job. He said that even the cab was painted inside and out, underneath as well as all the panels of the truck. He said if his shop was to do the job that is done on it he says it would be north of the 5-$7000mark.

We looked at the frame and there is no rust on the frame, the suspension or any of the cab. My friend who does all the local work on Grand Nationals and most turbo v6 GM's went over the truck and there are no leaks in the trans, engine, power steering, coolant or anything. Both guys agreed that the only downfall of the truck is the history on that paper.

I managed to talk the seller down to $10,500 CDN so I agreed to buy the truck, there is something about that red/grey that just has a place in my heart and I don't think I'm ever going to sell it anyways.

PS. The truck was bought from Washington about 3 years ago and just never took the plates off as it was in storage in a warehouse.
 
BlaneSVT

BlaneSVT

Boost Junkie
Re: I have a dilemma

Look at the second picture, the side profile. The body line and bed/cab gap is PERFECT. I spent 10 years working in collision/custom shops and most trucks don't line up that well brand new. A salvage title can mean almost anything, I saw a car get totaled because the owner claimed the paint fumes absorbed into her interior and she was slowly being poisoned. She brought it back the next day and refused to take it back. The insurance company just wrote it off to get rid of her after it was clear she wasn't going away. It's not common, but a total loss is not always due to major damage. My money would be on that truck having a swapped body. Perhaps the original dealer did it and could be related to the salvage title issued prior to original sale? Maybe a porter wrecked it like you mentioned and they robbed a red s10 they had? Ive done work for a few dealers who had brand new cars repainted non factory colors, a bright pink hummer h2 for example. I'm digging the red and grey too. Enjoy it!
 
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