2009 to 2011 Tahoe

[OR VietVet]

Has been a long time since I was on the forum. Lots happened in my life. I believe that the pic for my account is still showing the 2002 Tahoe I bought after talking on here but am now in the market for something newer.

I am searching in the 2009 to 2011 years and wanted to see on here if there was an obvious winner for reliability and just seat of the pants feel that you all can clue me in about.

I am still an ASE Master Tech and ASE Certified Service Consultant but have been out of the field since 2008 and am rusty except for whatever I have managed to retain from over 35 years in the repair business as a service manager but was out before the newer Tahoe's came out. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[The_Burban]

https://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/thr...-a-07-14-nnbs-tahoe-suburban-look-here.61720/

 

[Doubeleive]

I would say if you are in the market for a 2009-2011 then you could swing a 2014 for the same money if you shop around enough, there were some changes made in 2010 and later

 

[OR VietVet]

I did look at a 2011 today and found a very nice silver 2014 with 123k on it that drove very nicely. Has lots of potential. 2 small scrapes and interior perfect with all buttons and whistles working correctly.

 

[PG01]

I would say if you are in the market for a 2009-2011 then you could swing a 2014 for the same money if you shop around enough, there were some changes made in 2010 and later

What he sAid. Fir not much more you get everything standard that was optioned on the older trucks... very little price diff.. 2013 would be the same.

 

[OR VietVet]

Thanks. I am now leaning toward the 2014 but still want to drive the black 2011 on Monday.

 

[The_Burban]

I found my 09 well equipped LT2 for 16k personal. 95k miles. Owner was wife of local dealer sales manager.

Pretty well taken care of. Seeing these newer years with so much mileage brings about its own set of issues.

I think it is always wise to be sure you'll be replacing some things.

 

[BG1988]

Thanks. I am now leaning toward the 2014 but still want to drive the black 2011 on Monday.

check it out carefully because i noticed most people abuse the suv then claim it was well maintained

while they used it for towing and changed the oil every 10,000 miles while taking it for dunks into the lake to launch their boat ... I had looked at two Dozen Tahoe there was only 3 of them i would have bought..


the worst one was at a chevy dealership

it had a 115k miles but the interior had looked like it had 300,000 miles(door seals were worn out badly)
So i looked further indeepth on the car fax report
there was some suspicious entries on the report that indicated the odometer was roll back
in small increments they made a mistake in doing a 2,000 mile oil change according to the data they were putting 3,000 miles a month on it. and owned it for several years

230-250,000 miles based on the number of years they owned it
so just before they did a oil change they decuted 50% of the miles that was put on it then after the ownership is came out to have 115k miles total shown on the car fax



the first thing I would see how dirty the oil is and see how many miles is on the current oil change


I can see 4,000 miles before it starts getting dirty. might get a few flakes of carbon from the engine being cleaned by the oil. at 4,000 miles the oil does not get discolored or baked in the 4k miles

(as I have been using chevron and Mobil top tier gas only) this is a pretty good bench mark that there is No Sludge in the engine.. if there was sludge it would be getting dirty as the sludge comes off between 0 miles and 2500 miles.



mine has ZERO oil consumption .. with 92k miles on it currently I put only 1k miles a month on it....

 

[OR VietVet]

Found out today that the 2014 started out the first 2+ years as a rental vehicle. Still looking at the 2011 tomorrow.

 

[wjburken]

This should be interesting.

 

[Bigkevschopshop]

Bought my 2012 suburban lt texas edition 1.5 years ago.. was 18k bucks with 97k on the clock... few minor cosmetic issues but all in all drove good did everything right... Ive done front struts, brakes, all the fluids, Uses no oil at 4k mile oil change, no piston slap etc... Drive it 450 miles a week..... 123k on clock and still drives better than the 30 tahoes, yukons, escalades i have driven thinking I wanted something else... Found a 2014 esky with 46k miles was the only vehicle out of the 30 that I have driven that was almost as good as mine... second runner up was a 14 tahoe ltz with 46k miles... ITS STILL for sale... Bayway Cadillac of the woodlands.... Drove good, has normal cracked dash but had no mechanical issues... 25k is what they want though but its a good vehicle by my standard. Dont rule out Suburbans, alot of people think its so much larger but really its not. There are a crap ton of the years you are looking for. There is even an escalade 13 I think with 68k miles for 22k down the road from my house, havent checked it out other than seeing it once.

There was a stellar deal on a yukon sle down here in houston... 2010 with 45k miles... 14k bucks..

You know what one should drive like... you and I can probably tell the same things, steering issues, brake issues, motor and trans issues, etc... THe things I say to stay away from is magnetic ride control... just for expenditure of replacing shocks/struts when they wear out... $$$

TRUST YOUR GUT! One old wrench thrower to another!

The 5.3 with 6 speed does the job... the 6.2 trucks haul a little more mail....
Disable AFM bs and enjoy 8 cylinders all the time and enjoy...

 

[Hrocks]

I would say if you are in the market for a 2009-2011 then you could swing a 2014 for the same money if you shop around enough, there were some changes made in 2010 and later

With all due respect, I wouldn't own a '14 if it was available for $10K...especially with low miles. The first couple of years of the 2Kxx vehicles were nightmares. (check this forum for endless complaints on booming sounds, vibrations, roof panels needing re glued to the supports, etc. etc.) GM was replacing transmissions on '14 Eskys without question on early S/N vehicles. The problems ran across all nameplates. Along with some other newer vehicles, I still have a '10 Tahoe LTZ with about 120k on the clock that remains a fantastic truck.

 

[OR VietVet]

I am going to drive the 2011 today and hope it is all I want. I like the looks of it and now my mechanical side needs to get my hands dirty and crawl around this thing. One owner and he has all his repair and maint records to hand over.

 

[swathdiver]

Has been a long time since I was on the forum. Lots happened in my life. I believe that the pic for my account is still showing the 2002 Tahoe I bought after talking on here but am now in the market for something newer.

I am searching in the 2009 to 2011 years and wanted to see on here if there was an obvious winner for reliability and just seat of the pants feel that you all can clue me in about.

I am still an ASE Master Tech and ASE Certified Service Consultant but have been out of the field since 2008 and am rusty except for whatever I have managed to retain from over 35 years in the repair business as a service manager but was out before the newer Tahoe's came out. Thanks in advance for any help.

2009 5.3 does not have VVT, so they deliver about 1mpg less city and highway than later years.

2009 6.2 Tahoe, fairly rare but they do come up for sale. No AFM, RWD and 4x4 and nearly all in LTZ trim.

2010 introduces USB port. Cooled seats can be had with LT option now.

2012 introduces internal hard drive for navigation and radio reply, saving songs to radio, etc. Hill Start Assist and Trailer Sway Control introduced.

2013 introduces Cruise Grade Braking Normal Mode and Powertrain Grade Braking Normal Mode.

2008 6.2 Tahoe, rare and all RWD and LTZ trim AFAIK.

Just a reminder, you gotta have a Tech-2 or other bi-directional scan tool to work on these.

 

[Doubeleive]

With all due respect, I wouldn't own a '14 if it was available for $10K...especially with low miles. The first couple of years of the 2Kxx vehicles were nightmares. (check this forum for endless complaints on booming sounds, vibrations, roof panels needing re glued to the supports, etc. etc.) GM was replacing transmissions on '14 Eskys without question on early S/N vehicles. The problems ran across all nameplates. Along with some other newer vehicles, I still have a '10 Tahoe LTZ with about 120k on the clock that remains a fantastic truck.

you must be thinking 2015, the 2014's are the last year of the nnbs

 

[swathdiver]

With all due respect, I wouldn't own a '14 if it was available for $10K...especially with low miles. The first couple of years of the 2Kxx vehicles were nightmares. (check this forum for endless complaints on booming sounds, vibrations, roof panels needing re glued to the supports, etc. etc.) GM was replacing transmissions on '14 Eskys without question on early S/N vehicles. The problems ran across all nameplates. Along with some other newer vehicles, I still have a '10 Tahoe LTZ with about 120k on the clock that remains a fantastic truck.

2014 Tahoe/Yukon/Escalade are GMT900 still.

 

[Hrocks]

you must be thinking 2015, the 2014's are the last year of the nnbs

Duh, thank you. Yes, the 15's.

 

[gooffeyguy]

2009 5.3 does not have VVT, so they deliver about 1mpg less city and highway than later years.

2009 6.2 Tahoe, fairly rare but they do come up for sale. No AFM, RWD and 4x4 and nearly all in LTZ trim.

2010 introduces USB port. Cooled seats can be had with LT option now.

2012 introduces internal hard drive for navigation and radio reply, saving songs to radio, etc. Hill Start Assist and Trailer Sway Control introduced.

2013 introduces Cruise Grade Braking Normal Mode and Powertrain Grade Braking Normal Mode.

2008 6.2 Tahoe, rare and all RWD and LTZ trim AFAIK.

Just a reminder, you gotta have a Tech-2 or other bi-directional scan tool to work on these.

2012 also has some type of braking, can't remember what it's called exactly.

Edit:
Found it, Grade Braking when in Tow/Haul mode

2001 Yukon SLT
2012 Yukon Denali XL
2011 Yukon Denali RIP 5/20/18

 

[Seamus]

you must be thinking 2015, the 2014's are the last year of the nnbs

I had a '15 Denali XL and it was one of the worst vehicles I have ever owned from GM. Booming, vibrations, radiator, AC condenser, terrible ride quality and about 10 other warranty issues. I spent 18 months warrantying it! So like an idiot I spec out a new '17 Denali XL. I cant tell you how much time I spent going to the dealer and hating the seats and ride quality. The seats are the worst!! I gave up. I found a '13 one owner, suburban LTZ, dealer maintained, diamond. I couldn't be happier. I miss the 100 HP a lot, but love the ride and seats. Newer is NOT always better. Yes the safety updates were fantastic. Especially rear cross traffic in parking lots. But the ride was way too tight and the seats sucked. For 70K it was totally unacceptable. Literally if they gave me one for half price I wouldn't buy it. Loving my '13 LTZ!!

 

[OR VietVet]

All great info about these years. The test drive for the 2011 was postponed till hopefully tonight. They were still putting new tires and brakes all around on it. They did tell me they finally settled on their asking price of $19,500. Asking and getting is two different things of course. If it drives as good as it looks I will negotiate but am always able and willing to walk away because the 2002 still performs fine.