Sellers who express the utmost confidence in their vehicles are a dime a dozen, but some of them stand out more than others. The seller of this supposed time-warp 1987 GMC 3500 Sierra Grande pickup with the flareside rear box and dually axle is adamant this is one of the best examples you’re going to find. You can inspect the low mileage claim for yourself here on craigslist in Kansas with no price listed.
Odometers can roll over, but the seller here claims his truck has been independently verified to be the genuine article of a survivor-grade truck. It’s tough to verify, not only because of the wonkiness of old odometers, but also because the pictures do nothing to make this truck look like the showroom-fresh creampuff it supposedly is.
The paint and chrome look average at best, and the multiple inspection stickers do nothing to make you feel as if this truck only got rolled out of the garage on sunny days and rolled back in. Then again, if it was just a farm truck that got used sparingly before the farmer died, it could be the result of poor (or normal) storage for a farm truck that left it cosmetically lacking.
The truck does have some nice equipment, including the 454 big block motor and aforementioned dually set up. The original owner supposedly bought it to haul one large item and that was it; into the barn it went. It has crank windows, an AM/FM radio and it is fuel injected, so it seems like the level of annoyances with this truck could be quite low. But what do you do with the low mileage claims? Do you think this is the survivor the seller thinks it is?
I’m wondering what the one large item was? Seems kinda strange given that U-Haul was around then.
“Honey, I have to bring home that lathe that I bought but I’m not going to rent a truck or trailer. Instead, I’m going to buy a 1 ton dually truck and after that, we can just use it to putter around the farm with”. I’m calling BS on this one. What BS…I’m unsure of.
Well, ya got trouble, my friend, right here, I say, trouble right here in River City.
You could NOT huy a more stripped down truck than this. All work and NO play. I myself would rather buy a truck with more miles and equipment for the same money. Best of luck to the seller. And for kicks, I would put a Whirlpool emblem on the tailgate. Why? Because it looks like a giant appliance going down the road.
As I alluded to in the comments for the other dually, this IS an appliance.
Golly! Twice in one day! Two Duallys! I could take this one home and use it. The mileage part I won’t even try to dispute; I’ve worked in a GM dealership and I’ve seen just about everything there is to see with odometer readings. Myself I’ll leave it up to the condition of the truck and go from there. A 1-ton dually with a 454 and a manual transmission is going to do a lot of work for you. Just get it and enjoy…
No pics of engine, seat, underside, etc.. Sorry, but am not buying the story without some better documentation. Can’t imagine seeing someone go ga-ga over a stripper work truck either.
Pure Baloney.
I call BS on the seller’s claims. Truck is in Kansas but it has a current-style Pennsylvania plate, PA truck weight class sticker (wrong weight class) and PA state vehicle and emission testing stickers on the windshield. PA started emission testing in the late 90s or early 2000s (can’t remember exactly, cause there was a lawsuit that stalled it for some years) in Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Allentown and Philadelphia regions.
Museum grade photography.
Original washer fluid?? He must assume the rest of the world is as gulable as he is.
Must not be a mathematical genius either as he states he could only put 15 pictures on CL but then posts 19 pictures. Catching yourself in a lie within an add must, most likely, decrease the probability of a sale.
Look carefully at the pictures folks… (1)looks like almost no rust… (2) looks like original paint -“no re-paint” (3) even the metal of the brake pedal is correctly painted … (4) chrome on the dash fades away after time in the sun and ashtrays rust and there is slight wear on nobs etc…I may be wrong but you would have to be analy retentive to restore a truck to this level just to get a few thousand bucks…. remember you still go by kelly blue book and it’s still a 1987 truck no matter how clean / new it is…
Easiest way to verify the sellers ridiculous claim is to check the date code on the sidewall of those tires. If they are circa 1987, it’s a poorly stored low mileage truck (they do appear to be bias ply old style tires). Anyone near the seller? Assuming he is actually in Kansas?
Bias ply on a dually in ’87?
Seems a little off to me. Listed on Kansas Craigslist but has what appears to be current PA registration. Dealer plate on front bumper is for Allentown PA GMC dealer that changed hands in 1996. Guess it could have been put on as a period accessory but why go to the trouble for a base model truck? On top of that the front and rear tires are different model Goodyears but the same size. Truck experts would know better but if they were original wouldn’t tires be the same model?
Id call this one a bunch of BS. The pics are terrible and I don’t believe the miles for as far as I could throw the truck. I could go on and on about what I think but I just don’t have the energy on a Monday morning. I think everyone on here looking has this figured out.
It looks very rust free however if your really going to sell it as this low of miles then take some pictures from the underside and the engine at the least. I’m guessing he got it at auction in Pennsylvania and shipped it to Kansas? I think it’s a flip and a very poop execution of one at best. Oh and Craigslist let’s you upload 24 photos.
Engine bay ? – that’d prove either way
The add even says it is in Northeast Pa. 18704. You gotta wonder why is he only advertising it in Kansas. Why not put on the Pa. site also?
Original mismatched tires? When did auto manufacturers/dealers do that?
Full tank of fuel to boot !
This one is BS. More than a thousand miles of wear on tires those are not original equipment.
Is the seller’s name, P.T. BARNUM ?