Would you buy your Yukon or Tahoe again?

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Matt Averett

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What's up guys...brand new to the forum. I am a current Toyota owner (Tundra and Land Cruiser) and our last 5-6 vehicles have been Toyota or Lexus. Despite the fact that they are boring with not a lot of bells and whistles, the reliability is what has kept me coming back. That said, I came really close to buying a Yukon Denali a couple years ago for my wife until we stumbled onto all the online threads/articles about the booming/buffeting. That's when we decided to stick with Toyota and go with a certified pre-owned '14 Land Cruiser.

My Tundra Limited is an '08 and still in really good shape (only 150k miles) but I'm getting close to pulling the trigger on a new vehicle. That said...I absolutely LOVE the look, size, and features of these Yukons however the nightmare stories that I read online about vehicle problems and/or horror stories about getting shafted by the dealer scares the crap out of me. This is a huge investment to have to deal with a ton of vehicle/dealership problems.

So my question to you is...if you had to do it over again, would you buy another Tahoe or Yukon? There are so many of these things on the road...it is hard for me to understand whether the horror stories and negative reviews online are the minority, or the majority and folks keep buying them anyway.

Thanks for the help guys.
 

Miami-Dade

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As of right now I would buy another Tahoe again. So far at 37K miles just oil changes every 5K miles. My Tahoe is the first vehicle I really enjoy driving on long trips. I am always looking for a excuse to hit the road.

I generally talk to other Tahoe and Yukon owners when I take long trips and so far everyone I talked to loves theirs. Most are on their third or fourth Tahoe or Yukon and most of them keep them till 200K miles. So far they all plan to buy another one when they retire their old one if they live long enough.

Like James said the bulk of the happy Tahoe and Yukon owners do not join forums. All the owners I spoke to did not join Tahoe Yukon Forum or any other forum.

Welcome from Miami Beach&Brooklyn N.Y. Matt!!
 

07 Denali

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As of right now I would buy another Tahoe again. So far at 37K miles just oil changes every 5K miles. My Tahoe is the first vehicle I really enjoy driving on long tips. I am always looking for a excuse to hit the road.

I generally talk to other Tahoe and Yukon owners when I take long trips and so far everyone I talked to loves theirs. Most are on their third or fourth Tahoe or Yukon and most of them keep them till 200K miles. So far they all plan to buy another one when they retire their old one if they live long enough.

Like James said the bulk of the happy Tahoe and Yukon owners do not join forums. All the owners I spoke to did not join Tahoe Yukon Forum or any other forum.

Welcome from Miami Beach&Brooklyn N.Y. Matt!!
We’ve had a 1997 Yukon (miss the tail gate!), 2007 Denali, 2013 Suburban, and 2018 Denali. The ‘97 had tranny issues (after 160k miles) and fuel pump (had to drop the tank), but those were common issues known for that model year. The ‘07 and ‘13 are both still running strong...sold one to a buddy and traded in the other. Besides normal maintenance, the only major thing I did was ball joints at about 130k on both. We have had great luck with our full size GM SUVs.

If you are new to the vehicles, the only recommendation I would make is to opt for 6.2 liter engine, especially if you are looking at an XL. While the 5.3 is great around town, if you ever plan to tow anything or take the family through the mountains, at times that engine is undersized for the Yukon XL.

We’ve had many GM trucks as well...4.3 liters, 5.3 liters, 6.2 liters, and the 6.6 liter diesel. We have had no major issues with our GM vehicles. Maybe we are fortunate, but we have had a number of them over the years so our sample size is pretty good to not have any issues. We do maintain them well though.

Technology wise, I would say GM is slightly behind, but ride quality I would say they take the cake.

Our plan with our 2018 is to wear out the drive train and if the body is in good shape, replace the drive train and keep her going. The suckers are pricey, but they tow family and toys and give us a great deal of utility not found in many vehicles.

Our 2018 is the short wheel base Yukon Denali. We have not experienced any buffeting issues (22 inch wheels).

Best of luck to you on your search and welcome to the forum!
 

Blueinterceptor

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I’m on my 4th tahoe/suburban of this generation. Pretty good car overall. I’ve been a Chevy guy buying k5 blazers Tahoe’s and suburban for 3 decades now. Very few problems. Mostly a noise here or there. Nothing catastrophic.
Test drive your vehicle. And take her up to the max speed you expect to drive regularly. You will hear fewer things at 30 mph than you would at 75 mph.
 

adventurenali92

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@Matt Averett , what generation are you considering buying?
I’m young(ish) lol and only on my 4th vehicle. So I’m not by any means experienced with the latest generation GMs, only what I’ve read and seen here in the world of TYF. I have quite a few regular clients of my auto detailing business that have the latest generation and they all are pretty happy. One of my good friends is a customer and traded in a 14 Lexus RX350 on a CPO 15 Yukon Denali and over all really likes it. It’s got some minor interior trim issues, but nothing major by any means.
My best friends parents own a 2015 Escalade esv. I believe this is like their 6th GM that they’ve owned and it’s spectauclar. I detail it often. Been on many road trips with them, all trouble free, and they always say, yup we are life time full size GM owners, even with two Ram diesels, a Ford super duty, and a Chevy topkick 4500 parked in the driveway. Lol. GM in my opinion builds a solid SUV, and I was doubtful after coming to GM after 2 extremely reliable dodges.
 

sumo

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Yes but I would opt for the 6.2 engine and after owning mine for 11 years in New England, I would of taken more action with undercoating and rust preventative espically around the rear wheel wells and rear doors
 

Rdr854

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Maybe. The reason I say maybe is not because I am dissatisfied with my Suburban. In fact, I like it a lot. Rather, the question will be whether it is the best choice when it comes time to replace. The only complaint that I have is that a rough road at slow speed can be very punishing (as I experience on my way home from work each time I take it in.

If I were looking for a new large SUV right now, I would consider the Suburban LS and the base Expedition MAX. Since I do not plan on towing, both would be very capable vehicles.
 

Dlayne

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Welcome Matt. I reckon the troubles are with a small percentage overall as most people without problems do not frequent these forums. We don't see too many problems with the '17s and '18s either.

If I had a chance to buy my 2009 again, I certainly would without hesitation! LOL

Agreed, it may also be referred to as the vocal minority:) We are on our 4th Denali and all ran well into the 150k range with about 15% of those being towing miles. We had a few little issues here and there but no more than our BMW’s (M3, 335ix, 328d) or Audi’s (A4 Avant, A3 and RS6..that had issues!). I am a maintenance freak though. We have had one weird issue with our 2017 (Bose amp coming on randomly and would drain battery), otherwise trouble free and no buffering issues.

However, just to be sure we did make sure we had an extended warranty with the ‘17. In full disclosure, I did have engine mounts on my ‘07 break. Mechanic said it had something to due with all the mods (Black Bear) and towing too quickly:)
 
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