Advice on Purchase of Used '17 GMC Sierra

[Putnam]

I've never bought a used vehicle b4 but am looking @ a ''17 Sierra with a 4.3L V6 engine & 6-spd automatic transmission. The truck cosmetically is top shelf for a '17 both inside & out. 165,000 miles. CarFax says that's 27,000 per yr. I figure those are highway miles since that's 100+ miles x 5 days p wk. It was a 1-owner. Auto check lists it as a leased vehicle. The local power company had the truck.
The seller told me up front his dealership was taking the vehicle off the market because they'd already put a buncha $ into it only to discover a bad torque converter, but since I called b4 they took it down they'd put in a new tc & sell it to me for the asking price. They'll also let me buy it "as-is" for $1500 less. If I don't buy it it's being sold to a wholesaler. Local shops are telling me the $1500 is the right price for the tc.
The price is great. The vehicle looks great: new tires, brake rotors & a buncha other stuff. I've not seen anything as good cosmetically out there for the $.
Local shops are all telling me they'll definitely do a tc & pump replacement & a tranny rebuild partly due to the miles for $4500-$5500 total.
The dealer is offering a 30-day 50/50 warranty. I'd be out the $1500 for the tc, but @ 50/50 only another $1500-$2000 for the tranny rebuild with the dealer picking up the other half. .. sounds like a great deal for me as long as the dealer would hold up his end of the deal & pay his half. And from what I've seen even if the dealer refuses to pay his half & no other issues remain it'd still be a decent deal for me.
But the dealer won't let the truck leave the lot to be inspected by another shop because he says he doesn't want anyone else screwing with it. I drove it & it runs great. .. engine compartment & everything I could view looks great.
All these sites online say I should have another shop look over the truck b4 a purchase but that's not going to happen per the salesman. Would it be foolish to buy the truck?

[maxwedge]

No way for you to confirm the tc is bad, at that mileage the trans may need an overhaul. If you cannot get an independent diagnosis, better think this over.

[Putnam]

Originally Posted by maxwedge

No way for you to confirm the tc is bad, at that mileage the trans may need an overhaul. If you cannot get an independent diagnosis, better think this over.

I've talked with some local shops & they're all saying the torque converter is probably bad along with the pump & they'll all rebuild the transmission since it has 165,000 miles on it. I'm ok with the prices for all the work: tc & pump replacement & tranny rebuild. But since the dealer won't let me take the truck to be looked @ by another shop I'm wondering if I should make a big deal out of that. The truck runs & looks great cosmetically inside, out, under the hood & for as much of the underbody as I could see on my hands & knees.

[maxwedge]

If your happy with the deal, go ahead.

[Putnam]

I've talked this over with other guys & I'm getting less happy about the deal. That $1500 will cover only the torque converter & maybe the pump. It'll take another $3-$4k for the trans rebuild. At that point, it's up there with what I might have to pay someone else for a similar vehicle. What I'm figuring is he's gambling either way (he gets his $1500 asking price & I get a new tc or I buy it "as-is" & he saves the $1500 on parts/labor) the trans won't blow during my 30-day 50/50 warranty period so he's off the hook. He knows dam good & well the trans needs rebuilt, but he saves that $3-$4k, I get a truck that he knows is going to blow the tranny but doesn't give a hoot because after 30 days it's not his problem.
The only way I might beat him is to buy the truck "as-is," have it hauled to a shop where I'm being told it would surely be diagnosed with a faulty trans. At that point, I'd argue he owes me half for the tranny rebuild. If I could pull it off I could (assuming nothing else is gonna blow soon after the 30-day 50/50 warranty period) possibly get a trans rebuild @ essentially half-price & otherwise a perfectly good used truck. But now you're bringing in the legal issues regarding the 30-day warranty & who knows where that'd end up. This ol' bird could be out even more $ paying the lawyers!

[Putnam]

.. not all that sure I like the deal. As best I can tell the salesman may be hiding the truth about this truck. I've had trans people tell me that they won't even take a torque converter job with a truck that has 165,000 miles on it unless the customer will also have the trans rebuilt. They say it just ain't right.
Replacing the tc may look all generous up front, but if it's only a band-aid to get the truck through the 30-day 50/50 warranty period I'd call that dirty pool.
.. went on a test drive with the guy & 2 miles down the road he turned on the radio. Wt_! Maybe I'm just overly suspicious but my 1st thought was he was either trying to distract me or was covering up something he didn't want me to hear. Who knows?
Refusing to let me take the truck to have it evaluated by a 3rd party isn't sitting well with me. And if he's trying to hide a bad transmission what else is he hiding?
Had he not raised so many red flags I probably woulda been ready to spend a li'l more on the vehicle, but @ this point about all I can say good about him is that he is the flat-out handsomest, best-dressed salesman I've met with 2 framed pics of his drop-dead gorgeous kids sitting atop his desk. But I'm not out shopping for models for a fashion mag, so none of that pulls any
weight with me.
I'm looking to buy a car from a trustworthy individual. That's it.

[maxwedge]

Maybe run a Carfax report on it?

[Putnam]

Originally Posted by maxwedge

No way for you to confirm the tc is bad, at that mileage the trans may need an overhaul. If you cannot get an independent diagnosis, better think this over.

.. just had to hang with the guy a bit longer. .. let him know I wasn't gonna buy the truck since I couldn't get a 3rd party to look @ it & voila, he says I can do so. But yeah, everybody is telling me the trans is getting replaced with a rebuilt. .. am being told that with the trans removed they'll be able to tell a lot more about the condition of the engine. I've never worked on cars so I'm assuming that's right.