mileage

This product may help reduce the amount of oil your suburban is burning. It is called Restore Engine Restorer and Lubricant. It's available where auto parts are sold. or here:
https://www.amazon.com/Restore-8-Cylinder-Formula-Restorer-Lubricant/dp/B000AM8BCC

I used it on several cars & trucks and it works great. I had a 1977 Honda Civic with nearly 100,000 miles it would burn a quart of oil with every tank of gas. Once I put in the Restore and drove the 500 miles for it to take effect, the oil burning dropped to one quart every 3 months.

Modern gas motors are going 150K+ without major problems. That does not mean everything else wont break. Realistically if your planning a tow vehicle there are plenty of low (under 50K miles) vehicles around. Places like ebay motors will give you a glimpse of whats available. Your in OH, so there is no reason not to start looking in VA or the Carolinas for clean rust free trucks. Depending on how many people you need to carry dont overlook Ford E250/350 passanger vans.

I wouldn't be afraid of anything well cared for with less than 200,000 on it. Yes, you'll have repairs with an older vehicle but that's usually less expensive than buying a new one. We have a Buick with 176,000, a Jeep with 193,000 and a Chevy dually truck with 217,000. I wouldn't be afraid to drive any of them anywhere. The truck hauls our truck camper at about 1,500 pounds over the GVWR. We just went 3,500 miles with it last year from VA to CO and back. It gave absolutely no problems.

Much depends on how you use the truck.
We live way out so we put a lot of miles on our vehicles so buying high milage trucks won't work out here.
The wife wanted to dump her '06 1500 LT 4x4 crew cab Z71 chevy...so we looked at used trucks and found the same thing you did. We actually got her into a new '16 1500 4x4 crew cab LT for what many 2-3 years trucks were priced....and at a much cheaper interest rate. She already has 14k miles on the truck since 3/'16.

Now if you don't put many miles on a truck as we do I would look at later models. Most are priced high but some are not.

Used trucks are high priced. She sold her '06 for about 6k less than she gave for it when new.

All depends on how many miles you put on it per year. If u put on say 25 k year new may make better sense vs say 6K year then used may make more sense. Kinda depends on ur situation.
I put 24K year on a vehicle to commute but do all my own work. So I got a beater 97 saturn and ran the **** out of it. Sold the Saturn and switched to my wifes old Nissan Sentra after she got a used Mustang GT with 9K on the clock. For a Tow vehicle I got the Excursion used in 03 with 29K on it for around 20K. Since it is used lightly 14 years later it has about 102K on it. I havent had to replace the Excrusion and after 14 years it is still going strong the lack of replacement cost has more then paid for the Saturn and keeping the old Sentra.
Just got to run the numbers for your situation

I'm not sure where you are looking but I believe there are a lot of nice lower mileage trucks for under $15k....I have owned a few, and they are not hard to find.

If you are looking at car dealers, you are looking at the premium prices. I almost always look to private sellers for the better deals. The same truck you might find at a dealership would be several thousand $$$ cheaper from a private owner....at least most of the time.

Not being a car guy, you would certainly want to have a vehicle inspected by a legitimate mechanic BEFORE a final purchase.....good luck

I had a 2005 Silverado 3500 SRW with a 6 liter gas engine and 44k miles. I installed MagHytec covers on trans and differential, installed over sized trans cooler, Torklift Super hitch, TracRac, Weather Guard tool box, changed the Amsoil every year, never saw winter, always garaged and sold it for $18,500.00. I needed a heavier truck and a dually. The gentleman that bought it got a very nice truck, keep looking they are out there.

I just bought a 2009 Ram 1500 with about 95,000 miles, 5.7 V8 hemi, for about $15K. That is about what you can expect for that kind of money. I have an F250 with 165,000 miles on it and I expect to get at least 200,000 miles out of it. I would probably get more but it is already 15 years old and body and interior is wearing out. Typically, the mechanical aspects will be fine with regular maintenance but the body and interior will wear out. I had a blazer that I would have kept but I would have had to put floor drains in it to get the water out after every rain. Fender wells, window and door seals and other similar stuff just wear out.

Suburbans, Silvarados, Avalances, etc.. seem to burn oil. In my book it's no indication of imminent engine failure, unless you allow it to run too low. Personally, if it were just that issue, I'd keep on driving it. I retired from a metro police agency. My observation was that American made V8's use oil after a while. On the crown vic police cars you better check that oil a lot. They will still run great. I have a 1500 Burb and it seems to use a little oil. It's an issue that I don't even think about other than checking it every now and again, depending on how much it gets driven.

Also, if you want to tow with the burb put a transmission cooler on it, replace the hitch receiver and boost the rear suspension with some Timbrens or Sumo Super Springs. Then, and most importantly, pay attention to the weight of the trailer you buy. Don't go buying an 8000 pound trailer to tow with a 1500 burb. It says it will tow 8200 or 8400 lbs but, just don't. Lots of nice trailers out there at 6000 lbs or less with a slide out, etc..

Come to think of it, every car I own uses oil or otherwise burns it. I just discovered the level at which I don't care.. Wow..

All my GM trucks I have ever owned and still do, will burn some during towing. I change my oil when the meter tells me to on my 09. Usually around 7500 miles and im always down a quart, usually due to towing. Never more then this, also my MDX and Camry using about a quart between oil changes. All since new have been really cared for and not abused.