[leenigen]

I bought a '94 that was in desperate need of maintenance. I think the previous owner bought it and drove it for 10 years without doing a single thing to it. I've had it for two years now and have constently been repairing/maintaining what should have been maintained over the years. I've had to replace all the steering components, most suspention, most ctis, all fluids, and misc. engine parts. The point is that even with an older truck that needed tons of work I was able to get it to a reliable daily driver condition for appx. $2k. Admittadly I did nearly all the work myself and was able to wait until I found parts I was willing to pay for. I refuse to pay the "hummer" mark-up for parts I can get at a normal automotive market price. The cheapest trip to the dealer was $380 and that was only because a ctis line blew on the road in front of the dealer. Dealer mark-up is definitly not worth it. Learn to do it yourself or you'll never afford it.
Also, I have not upgraded anything beyond buying "upgraded" quality parts that needed replaced. Add-ons can wait until the truck is in good shape - which is about now. The upgrades/add-ons will quickly surpass the $2k.