I have a 2000 Jeep Cherokee that is showing its age. I am at the point of wanting to restore it, and it make it not the daily driver. I found a 2017 Colorado with the 2.8 Duramax engine. It has a 102k miles 4x4 for 20k. The Carfax on it is fairly clean 2 owner. Original Owner owned it up until 2023 averaged 5k oil changes on it. The second owner sold it in 2025. The car has been in the south its whole life. Pending a decent inspection is this a good price? And would you buy a 2.8 duramax with this history?
Shorter178
Before anyone can answer that we need to know what sort of daily driving routing you would be doing with it. Modern diesels don't like it when most drives are short as it will lead to emissions issues. If the truck will be driven regularly for at least 30 minutes then that will keep it happy, but if it's going to mostly be short, low-speed trips into town where you're not driving for more than 10 minutes at a time then a diesel isn't going to do you any favors.
That aside, with 102k I'd say most issues likely would've popped up by now so if the repair history is short/minimal then that's good news. It would also be good to know if the previous owners used fuel additive or not. Some owners have had pistons fracture with no proven root cause, this also happens on the big 6.6 Duramax. My current theory is this happens if the truck runs low-quality (low cetane) fuel often, the "diesel rattle" folks seem to like is actually a bad thing on common rail diesels most of the time as that rattle is the ignited fuel hammering the pistons. Running a good cetane-boosting diesel additive every tank helps avoid the affect of low-cetane fuel and the engine is much happier. It's quieter and has better throttle response when the cetane is bumped up a bit because US diesel is pretty awful in that regard due to the US setting a minimum cetane number that's lower than it should be.
That aside, with 102k I'd say most issues likely would've popped up by now so if the repair history is short/minimal then that's good news. It would also be good to know if the previous owners used fuel additive or not. Some owners have had pistons fracture with no proven root cause, this also happens on the big 6.6 Duramax. My current theory is this happens if the truck runs low-quality (low cetane) fuel often, the "diesel rattle" folks seem to like is actually a bad thing on common rail diesels most of the time as that rattle is the ignited fuel hammering the pistons. Running a good cetane-boosting diesel additive every tank helps avoid the affect of low-cetane fuel and the engine is much happier. It's quieter and has better throttle response when the cetane is bumped up a bit because US diesel is pretty awful in that regard due to the US setting a minimum cetane number that's lower than it should be.
The engines are dependable. Once every few months treat a tank of fuel. My mileage on 15 mile trips is about 25mpg and up to 33 on the freeway with no stops. That is driving 85mph on flat ground.
The only hiccup I have is you can put 3 extra gallons of diesel in the tank if you do it slow after the handle pops.
The only hiccup I have is you can put 3 extra gallons of diesel in the tank if you do it slow after the handle pops.
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