I HAVE A 04 duramax and love it too...different motor than nordie's i believe there are 4 motor types through the years....an early 99-2003 powerstroke 7.3 are bitchen really loud but make good power...newer 03 - up 6.0 fords have a lot of headgasket problems...sure my duramax has had its share of injector problems..but there warrantied through 200k...in cali you can get a way(so far)on the pre-08 straight pipe exhaust programers ect. cause no smog law...here in vegas they test(sure....lol)
a good website to check out diesel stuff is
www.dieselplace.com...lots of good chevy info from good to bad....and i got the place in buena park for all your diesel upgrades...awesome prices...www.sevensaturdays.com
BE SURE TO CHECK W/ DEALERS IN VEGAS RE: BUYING AND REGISTERING IT IN CALI...IM SURE CALI WILL BONE YOU SOMEHOW BUYING AN OUT OF STATE VEHICLE...IT MAY NOT BE WORTH IT IN THE LONG RUN...