Reliability

I would probably be about at the point of trading ours off based on the mileage, but I looked at SUV’s for a month or two before giving up. Vehicle prices are still ridic and interest rates are high. I can’t swallow spending $50k on a vehicle, let alone a used one. Lots of people out there with $1k+ monthly payments. I can’t/won’t bring myself to join them.

I don’t think you are giving your vehicle enough credit. Most people drive their Tahoes for 250,000-300,000 miles before they get ride of them because they just keep running, they aren’t cheap like an American economy car. I’m at 186,000 miles and wouldn’t hesitate to drive it across the United States tomorrow if I wanted to.

IEATZ28 said:

I would probably be about at the point of trading ours off based on the mileage, but I looked at SUV’s for a month or two before giving up. Vehicle prices are still ridic and interest rates are high. I can’t swallow spending $50k on a vehicle, let alone a used one. Lots of people out there with $1k+ monthly payments. I can’t/won’t bring myself to join them.

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Yup. This is the same way I think about too. If I buy a new one I’ll be able to haul the family and all of our stuff anywhere we want to go. If I keep the ones we have, I’ll be able to haul the family and all of our stuff anywhere we want to go and keep $80K in the bank.

The key to this plan is using these pages to understand what the probable failure points are as the truck ages and staying ahead of it. For example, I replaced the charcoal canister on both trucks to avoid the hassle and expense of dealing with plugged evap lines. Swapped in a billet torque converter on our 2012 to avoid the most common cause of transmission failure, etc.

Through this learning comes the peace of mind of knowing exactly what you have and that it’s in tip top condition at any given time. I’d drive either of our Yukons to Alaska tomorrow.

Doubeleive said:

141k is not high miles, I have driven half this country with twice the.mileage, never broke down once, ooh I got a good sized screw in a tire once that I had patched at a Charles Schwab in the middle of nowhere for free.

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Charles Schwab investment office?

Grandpalecea said:

Charles Schwab investment office?

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ya, those suit and tie guys were on it. lol

Yeah mileage really has nothing to do with reliability on a road trip. If you have maintained it according to the owners manual and take care of issues when they arise instead of pushing things off till it becomes a more serious problem you’ll more than likely be fine. Ive mentioned in another thread that both my rigs have 200k+ miles and really wouldnt hesitate to leave tomorrow for a cross country trip. Im religious with maintenance and repairs and trust my vehicle over most any others including rentals. New doesn’t mean reliable or without issues. Make sure tires are in good shape, proper pressure, brakes in good order, battery in good health, fluids all proper levels and changed according to schedule (yes power steering fluid needs to be replaced, its not a lifetime fluid as many seem to treat it like ). Fresh wipers, Wash your windows etc. its amazing how pleasant a road trip can be with a little vehicle prep. Keep a small hand tool kit with you and some jumper cables or jump pack.

Ive done countless cross country trips and my vehicle is usually the least of my worries because i maintain it constantly and know the current condition of everything so its always ready to go.

So base your decision off of maintenance behavior, general day to day reliability (doesn’t leave you stranded every few weeks, etc). In the end its what you feel most comfortable with.

Just to tie this thread up in a bow…we got back from our trip today. The suburban rolled over 145k on the way back, but it performed flawlessly for the whole 1800 mile trip. I was happy to not spend over a grand on a rental! Lesson learned.

Congrats on your successful family trip!

Maybe use some of the grand you saved on your truck now? Take in to a trusted local mechanic for an oil change, 4-wheel alignment, and diagnostic checkup. Plus test the battery (or proactively replace if more than 4 years old). That’s about $250 but would reinforce the decision for next trip!

Scott in AZ said:

Congrats on your successful family trip!

Maybe use some of the grand you saved on your truck now? Take in to a trusted local mechanic for an oil change, 4-wheel alignment, and diagnostic checkup. Plus test the battery (or proactively replace if more than 4 years old). That’s about $250 but would reinforce the decision for next trip!

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Yeah, I actually had it checked before I left!

IEATZ28 said:

Just to tie this thread up in a bow…we got back from our trip today. The suburban rolled over 145k on the way back, but it performed flawlessly for the whole 1800 mile trip. I was happy to not spend over a grand on a rental! Lesson learned.

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Awesome! Thanks for following up. Our 1700 mile trip went well in our ‘07 also and now we’re in the middle of another 1200 miler. Such great road trip vehicles.