Potential buyer… issues online from loud minority or reason for concern?

[Canadiansteelman]

My wife is shopping for an “upgrade” to her Toyota 4Runner and we are hoping for something with a usable 3rd row while maintaining some amount of trunk space as well.

Long story short: the Yukon Denali is her #1 choice.

Background: I drive a BMW and am not “afraid” of cars that are considered unreliable but generally that can be prevented by staying on top of maintenance, and not being an idiot with your vehicle.

My concerns are primarily GM customer service and less specific like “the 6.2 recall”. I understand that mistakes happen and recalls are necessary so I’m trying not to be blinded by that but beyond that, I see so many posts about people complaining that their vehicle is unavailable to them for weeks or months on end due to ongoing repairs.

How normal is that? Is this just the loud minority of people who are (rightfully) pissed about their situation? Or should I truly be concerned that issues will generally not be addressed… and maybe be more likely than other brands.

I’ve read quite a few of these threads on here and that’s what led me to make this post. I’d love to hear from people who are happy with their GM vehicle and/or have had issues that were properly addressed by their dealer.

 

[robbyrob]

My wife is shopping for an “upgrade” to her Toyota 4Runner and we are hoping for something with a usable 3rd row while maintaining some amount of trunk space as well.

Long story short: the Yukon Denali is her #1 choice.

Background: I drive a BMW and am not “afraid” of cars that are considered unreliable but generally that can be prevented by staying on top of maintenance, and not being an idiot with your vehicle.

My concerns are primarily GM customer service and less specific like “the 6.2 recall”. I understand that mistakes happen and recalls are necessary so I’m trying not to be blinded by that but beyond that, I see so many posts about people complaining that their vehicle is unavailable to them for weeks or months on end due to ongoing repairs.

How normal is that? Is this just the loud minority of people who are (rightfully) pissed about their situation? Or should I truly be concerned that issues will generally not be addressed… and maybe be more likely than other brands.

I’ve read quite a few of these threads on here and that’s what led me to make this post. I’d love to hear from people who are happy with their GM vehicle and/or have had issues that were properly addressed by their dealer.

Buying anything used is a crap shoot. I bought my 2017 with 44k miles, I'm at 150k and it's been solid. Before this I had a 2000 Tahoe (bought used) that I got rid of because the transmission lost 5th and reverse, but it ran solid for the years I had it as well. You only hear when people have problems and looking for answers. Nobody is coming in looking for answers about things that are working just fine.

 

[Canadiansteelman]

We have had 3 Yukons. First was a 2021, the a 2023 and now a 2025. Last two have the 3.0 Duramax diesel. All of them were Denalis. We love these vehicles and they have been very reliable. The new 2025 is a beautiful vehicle to drive and very quiet. We get 29 to 30 mpg with the diesel. You won’t regret buying one, especially with the Duramax diesel.

 

[Doubeleive]

And the vast majority of people don't keep cars 10 to 20 years......The vast majority don't even keep them six to eight years.

People that are actively investing in 10 plus year old vehicles are a minority. People don't have the time, wherewithal, or patience to deal with old vehicles with multiple systems falling apart.

I would beg to differ, there are tons of 10-20 year vehicles in my city/neighborhood, I would guess maybe 7 out of 10 on the road here
that "vast majority" doesn't apply here and I am not in the ghetto by any means, crap city and state but that's a different story.

 

[vcode]

I would beg to differ, there are tons of 10-20 year vehicles in my city/neighborhood, I would guess maybe 7 out of 10 on the road here
that "vast majority" doesn't apply here and I am not in the ghetto by any means, crap city and state but that's a different story.

I think the average age of vehicles is around 13 years, but average length of ownership is around 8 years. I'm guessing many of those vehicles in your neighborhood are on their 2nd or 3rd owner.

 

[EddieC]

That’s basically what I keep telling myself, but I’m picturing buying this for my family and then my wife calls me with my kids in the car and she’s broken down on the side of the road and I don’t need that these days… lol

Been there. It can interrupt the remains of the day. Luckily her second call was to her brother who was nearby and I got to wait for the fallout!

 

[Korobs885]

I might have some useful insight here, I’m a recent convert from GM being my primary to Toyota. This was mainly due to repair issues I was having with my GM vehicles and being tired of going to service all the time.

I’m a guy who is meticulous on my maintenance and agree that most cars will run reliably with proper maintenance and not using them outside their intended purpose. I own several vehicles for this reason. I had a 2021 GMC Canyon baby diesel for a long time that would randomly go in to limp mode due to an unspecified emissions failure, and it happened so often that I actually ended up getting a lemon law settlement. I kept it but ended up trading for a used 2017 3500 diesel.

I drive a lot so maybe am a good stress test for vehicles, but right away I was having similar failures and repairs from the 2017. Come to find out these issues are not uncommon to GM, and diesel setups, but the repairs included a complete replacement of the turbo system, emissions systems, EGR, sensors etc. Nothing had anything to do with the meticulous maintenance I’ve always provided my cars. Fortunately I had a warranty each time, but if I hadn’t the repairs would have topped over $20,000.

I don’t think the issues were limited to diesel models but it’s definitely soured my opinion of GM. I’ve been a very faithful GM guy since my first truck, a 1991 S10. I’ve had several throughout the years, pickups and trucks mainly, and still have my 1996 Yukon GT. K1500 and love it. But, all my GMs have taken their turn breaking down over the years. I do a lot of repairs myself, but I expect to not have to with a newer car.

I personally wanted something with a solid rep for reliability so I just picked up a 2025 Toyota Sequoia with the third row seat (mainly for the kiddos). I looked at and very seriously considered the new Yukon and XL Denali but personally hated the new interiors, with the touch-capacitive-everything, awkwardly massive screen, no gear shifter, and boring exterior. It still beat the Sequoia in cargo room, but I couldn’t get over the over-modernization. I might be a little old school in that sense, and a lot of people like the uber-tech going into all the new cars, but for what I needed the Toyota hit the spot. And finally converted me from being GM loyal.

There’s been several major GM (and Ford) recalls lately and I haven’t seen much for Toyota. Chat with your local GM service techs, they are probably the best source for the reliability of GM lately and looking forward.

 

[Doubeleive]

I think the average age of vehicles is around 13 years, but average length of ownership is around 8 years. I'm guessing many of those vehicles in your neighborhood are on their 2nd or 3rd owner.

well there sure are not many nice shiny new ones around (here), certainly no majority by any means

 

[Korobs885]

And the vast majority of people don't keep cars 10 to 20 years......The vast majority don't even keep them six to eight years.

People that are actively investing in 10 plus year old vehicles are a minority. People don't have the time, wherewithal, or patience to deal with old vehicles with multiple systems falling apart.

I guess I’m one of those minorities, and proud of it! Just picked up a 1984 K20 pickup. Adding it to my collection of a 65 Mustang, 96 Yukon GT (2 door), 1999 Yukon (4 door), and 2025 Sequoia.

I suppose I like to have a variety of my favorite vehicles over the years, but my preferences as a DD are the 96 and 84 (the 65 isn’t running yet). The 2025 is cool but doesn’t scratch the itch that driving the older cars does. They’ve all required restoration, but getting them running reliably satisfies something that new cars can’t. And they tend to be more reliable once they are.

 

[Doubeleive]

all I can really say is I have never bought a new car in my entire life, the interest and devaluation hit is just too much for me to wrap my head around.
I could but I won't
I buy after some other sucker took the hit.
that and I could care less what the jone's are driving or have in the garage, good for them.
I learned that I can do most of the maintenance myself for a fraction of the cost, win-win
tools are a 1 time investment.
years ago there was no youtube, forums, I looked at the book or if i did go to a shop I watched what they were doing and saw how it easy it was (in general)
or went to the junkyard and figured it out......
I would hate myself if I paid a 100k for a new truck and 5 years later it's worth less than half of that and + ate the interest, f-that I don't care if every s*lut on the planet was licking my heels over it.

 

[PPV_2018]

And the vast majority of people don't keep cars 10 to 20 years......The vast majority don't even keep them six to eight years.

People that are actively investing in 10 plus year old vehicles are a minority. People don't have the time, wherewithal, or patience to deal with old vehicles with multiple systems falling apart.

The point is that, to comment on a vehicles reliability should be reserved for people who keep it long enough to be outside of the warranty period (or if you own a GMT with the 6.2, just long enough that you’ve driven it off the lot) to know if the vehicle is actually reliable or not. If you own a vehicle for a year, and trade it for a brand new one every year, what exactly do you know about that vehicles reliability? Basically nothing, unless it has a catastrophic design failure, you will not (read: should not) experience any type of failures at all.

Upon reflection, the “vast majority” as i stated, probably don’t own vehicles for 20 years, no — that was probably a stretch — but 10 years is probably more accurate. Also the vast majority of people probably don’t buy their vehicles new, nor do they trade them in every couple of years (maybe, if they are leasing new vehicles, but not purchasing).

I don’t know where you guys live where everyone has brand new cars still in warranty, but it’s not like that most places. If you can afford it, more power to ya. In fact i salute it. But, maybe you are overestimating the affluence of the general population.

 

[EddieC]

My wife is shopping for an “upgrade” to her Toyota 4Runner and we are hoping for something with a usable 3rd row while maintaining some amount of trunk space as well.

Long story short: the Yukon Denali is her #1 choice.

Background: I drive a BMW and am not “afraid” of cars that are considered unreliable but generally that can be prevented by staying on top of maintenance, and not being an idiot with your vehicle.

My concerns are primarily GM customer service and less specific like “the 6.2 recall”. I understand that mistakes happen and recalls are necessary so I’m trying not to be blinded by that but beyond that, I see so many posts about people complaining that their vehicle is unavailable to them for weeks or months on end due to ongoing repairs.

How normal is that? Is this just the loud minority of people who are (rightfully) pissed about their situation? Or should I truly be concerned that issues will generally not be addressed… and maybe be more likely than other brands.

I’ve read quite a few of these threads on here and that’s what led me to make this post. I’d love to hear from people who are happy with their GM vehicle and/or have had issues that were properly addressed by their dealer.

Cc; If I might take a fork in the discussion, what's your opinion of the 4 Runner?

 

[vcode]

Cc; If I might take a fork in the discussion, what's your opinion of the 4 Runner?

Last gen or current gen?

 

[Eighthtry]

I had a 2011Yukon Denali XL. Only put 203,000 miles on it. The ONLY things I had done to it was to replace two exhaust manifold bolts (which were a known problem), front and rear air leveling shocks along with the air compressor, spark plugs twice, and upgraded to front and rear Helwig sway bars, which greatly improved the ride and handling. Had the 6.2 (never used the first quart of oil).

My humble opinion, which of course is correct, is the 6.2, hands down. Smooth and trouble free. It runs on regular, but picks up about 30 horsepower with premium. I would not put any undersized motor that needs turbos to boost it. Turbos are not trouble free in high mileage situations. They will break.

Now my 2023 Yukon Denali XL, which the wife just totaled, had the 6.2 with a recall. I loved GM's response. Run it till it breaks and we will replace the motor. OR, we will bring it in to read the code when we get replacement engines. OR run 0/40 to help it along. Not a fan of that attitude, but they all have the same number of recalls and attitudes as everyone else.

I saw that Chrysler had to recall their electric performance car (hemi in the regular car), because the exhaust not was not loud enough to announce its presence????????

I ran 5/30 Amsoil Signature (10,000 miles) and filters (5,000 miles) in that 2011. I run the same 5/30 in my 2018 Z06. And I run the same 5/30 in the wife's 2024 Terrain (1.9 turbo - hurt my feelings but the decision was out of my hands).

So, my opinions. But the 6.2 is a class engine.

 

[Badbob]

That is expensive!

I was going to say the same thing
Every time you buy a new vehicle you get fleeced by the dealer and the tax man, plus more money to the insurance companies. And on top of that in my state town excise tax, more money for a new car rather than a ten year old. Oh I forgot the usury bank interest lol. If you just maintained a ten year old car you are saving five figures a year. But alas some people love to spend money they don’t have, and some can afford it and buy cash and avoid the usury cost. To each his own.

 

[EddieC]

Last gen or current gen?

Non-turbo. Either. Making a list of potentials in the coming year but probably slightly used.
I used to see a pile of replaced frames at the local Toyota dealer but not anymore so I presume they got a grip on that issue.

 

[swathdiver]

I was going to say the same thing
Every time you buy a new vehicle you get fleeced by the dealer and the tax man, plus more money to the insurance companies. And on top of that in my state town excise tax, more money for a new car rather than a ten year old. Oh I forgot the usury bank interest lol. If you just maintained a ten year old car you are saving five figures a year. But alas some people love to spend money they don’t have, and some can afford it and buy cash and avoid the usury cost. To each his own.

What do you think of this fellows perspective?

 

[vcode]

Non-turbo. Either. Making a list of potentials in the coming year but probably slightly used.
I used to see a pile of replaced frames at the local Toyota dealer but not anymore so I presume they got a grip on that issue.

The new gens are all turbo 4 bangers...

 

[Marky Dissod]

What do you think of this fellows perspective?

I see his point, but the hidden variable is the vehicle being considered.
As long-term reliability worsens over time as automakers build more vehicles to 'last' barely 175,000 miles,
he may come out ahead, while the extant GMT800s & GMT900s start dying off ...
Fixing GMTK2xx & GMTT1xx will either become an art form, or ...

 

[the 18th letter]

What do you think of this fellows perspective?

He kind of high balled the used car interest rate which threw the total cost numbers off imo. Maybe he used an avg since some used car buyers may not have the credit rating for market rate loans.