2012 Yukon 6.2 Denali with AFM

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thompsoj22

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Congrats on the new ride! As to the technology part of it, Im 59 and have opposed tech from the onset. I love some of the benefits that it offers but be aware that it is designed for only those that have minds that think and solve problems using the knowledge and "technology" skill set that they have willingly learned over time. Just for fun have your wife sit in the back and put a movie in and see if you can set up the entertainment system so she opperates the movie using the remote and listens to the movie using the headphones while you the driver listen to XM using the vehicle speakers configured for the driver, Beware of the parental control icon! "YIKES!!!!!!" if you have kids you will need to be proficient at this and you dont want to struggle with it on a road trip. LOL!
 
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intheburbs

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Regards to the spare tire - In all honesty, I've never even tried to operate the mechanism in either of my trucks. Living in the salt belt, I just assume it's rusted into one piece. And besides, I'm not about to jack up a 6500-lb truck on the side of the road with some crappy little factory-supplied jack.

It's so rare to have a flat/blowout nowadays (at least my personal experience), that I will accept the inconvenience of having to wait for a tow truck/flatbed and have them put it on a rack and change/repair/install a new tire. The last time I had to change a tire was about 1995 when I was living in Colorado.

Even in the dead of winter, I'll just call the AAA, and sit in my warm, idling truck reading a book while I wait for the tow truck.
 

Doubeleive

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did you buy the warranty? if not I would get the "drivetrain" warranty option which is usually the middle of the road warranty price wise, usually they run around $2k, mine paid me back to the tune of $13k. total gamble but well worth it. If you didn't get it when you made the purchase then you normally can still purchase it within a certain time period.
and where's the pictures????? post some up lets see this baby :)
 
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bobsr

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Congrats on the new ride! As to the technology part of it, Im 59 and have opposed tech from the onset. I love some of the benefits that it offers but be aware that it is designed for only those that have minds that think and solve problems using the knowledge and "technology" skill set that they have willingly learned over time. Just for fun have your wife sit in the back and put a movie in and see if you can set up the entertainment system so she opperates the movie using the remote and listens to the movie using the headphones while you the driver listen to XM using the vehicle speakers configured for the driver, Beware of the parental control icon! "YIKES!!!!!!" if you have kids you will need to be profecient at this and you dont want to struggle with it on a road trip. LOL!
 
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bobsr

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Congrats on the new ride! As to the technology part of it, Im 59 and have opposed tech from the onset. I love some of the benefits that it offers but be aware that it is designed for only those that have minds that think and solve problems using the knowledge and "technology" skill set that they have willingly learned over time. Just for fun have your wife sit in the back and put a movie in and see if you can set up the entertainment system so she opperates the movie using the remote and listens to the movie using the headphones while you the driver listen to XM using the vehicle speakers configured for the driver, Beware of the parental control icon! "YIKES!!!!!!" if you have kids you will need to be profecient at this and you dont want to struggle with it on a road trip. LOL!
That's great Bob. Yes, it is good practice to inspect and operate the spare tire hoist at least once or twice a year. Mine failed too last year. Mobil 1 oil is Dexos approved. Run top-tier 91 or 93 in your Denali. Exxon is pretty much the best with Mobil a close second. Sunoco isn't bad either. Record your mileage readings and see which works best for you. Around here Shell is terrible but a fella in high altitudes does great with it. Get a Tech-2 so you can work on it. Keep the fluids clean in it and use GM OE or ACDelco Professional parts.

You'll see tons of posts by me and others repeating the part numbers and quantity of fluids for the differentials, trans, transfer case, etc. Same for plugs, wires, air cleaners, etc.
Congrats on the new ride! As to the technology part of it, Im 59 and have opposed tech from the onset. I love some of the benefits that it offers but be aware that it is designed for only those that have minds that think and solve problems using the knowledge and "technology" skill set that they have willingly learned over time. Just for fun have your wife sit in the back and put a movie in and see if you can set up the entertainment system so she opperates the movie using the remote and listens to the movie using the headphones while you the driver listen to XM using the vehicle speakers configured for the driver, Beware of the parental control icon! "YIKES!!!!!!" if you have kids you will need to be profecient at this and you dont want to struggle with it on a road trip. LOL!
 
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bobsr

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That's an interesting perspective, but I'm 74 and have wrestled with the technology since about 1992 when I got the first IBM PS 1 with 1 gig of ram, and the first edition HP "desk jet" printer, for arund $3,000 for both. Wow! (Still have them !) So for computers I grew up with 7.5" floppies from Digital Equipment, 3.5" floppies for the IBM PS 1, and then the PS 2, and then the next generations with real drives and a CD disc. But privacy has been totally shredded everywhere, and I have no aps on my old Blackberry except what it came with.

I don't do any social networks. I have been in business since 1973, and went from reading a map while driving by yourself (more dangerous probably than texting while driving), and using pay phones to tell a customer I would would be 20 minutes late, and when you finally found a payphone and a place to park you were an hour late!

So the fax machine in the early 1980's,Japanese copy machines, the first "brick" cell phones Hertz had in their Chicagoland cars, and the original Magellan GPS Hertz used were all "magic" for business people, and saved us huge amounts of time. I paid over $1000- for the first Magellan GPS system at Costco, but I had already learned how to use it, thanks to Hertz! I still have it! Fast forward to today and that all looks like the original model T Ford technology to the kids.

So the level of High Tech now in the cars do require, as you point out, more than a single reading of the instructions on how to use it all. And if you don't use it all for months, you may not remember all the details without the book. But OK. I was among the first several hundred thousand of GM vehicles that had the XM radio and "on star" back in 2002 with my 2003 Yukon, and it was great to travel long distances and "never lose the station." Had two antennas on the roof, along with my magnetic antenna for the Magellan sytstem going up through the moon roof.

I think trying to integrate the blue tooth into the Yukon's system will be hard enough, and probably can't even do it with my existing Blackberry. But my wife's Android phone will probably work with it and she will like it. Voice activation sounds good. But who is really listening and recording everything said? Alexa ET AL I think are always listening and recording ANYWAY no matter how you try to not have them do that. Not for me....

So I don't think I will be playing any movies in the car in the back seat and listening to NPR on the radio in the front seat. If they want to ride with me, put down the texting phones and start having real conversations again one on one! It's going to be a lost art! And I might not be able to even figure out how to do it anyway.

But the real issue now appears to be some kind of a warranty plan. I had one originally for my 2003, but lost money with it, and got 325,000 miles from the vehicle! I used Mobil 1 from day one with it. But the Dexos synthetic oil (new in 2011 from GM) and 91 octane gas also seem to be important, as well as changing all the fluids. In the old days it was kind of "unamerican" to say you read your car's instruction book. Pretty basic stuff everyone knew.
But not today.

I read about the many problems on this site that people have, and wonder if they are really engineering defects, poor workmanship, or improper oils, gasoline, or lack of maintenance. From what I read, that FTM system requires the DEXOS or equivalent synthetic oil with frequent changes. And maybe even the 91 octane. (I wonder if I filed up every other time with 91 and 85 octane and that would save money and stil probably have enough of the right additives, and not knock. But maybe not).

Thanks for your comments. At the moment, it's a GREAT vehicle, and I enjoy all the comments from people who have a lot of experience and expertise and are willing to share it.
 
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bobsr

bobsr

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did you buy the warranty? if not I would get the "drivetrain" warranty option which is usually the middle of the road warranty price wise, usually they run around $2k, mine paid me back to the tune of $13k. total gamble but well worth it. If you didn't get it when you made the purchase then you normally can still purchase it within a certain time period.
and where's the pictures????? post some up lets see this baby :)
 
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bobsr

bobsr

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It hasn;t been above freezing yet this week, but the warm weather will be back for a few days early next week. I will take a few pictures.

The warranty is a concern. They are good for about 180,000 miles Iwas told, so that leaves me with about 80,000 miles of coverage, or about 4 years of driving. Sales guy wanted $ 3200 for the full warranty package and called me a fool for not buying It. ( Between the warranty and an additional charge of $199 to engrave the VIN on the glass. probably more about his commission). But maybe he knew something I didn't know about the vehicle, but self insuring is a possibility.

But $13,000 worth of charges for your vehicle for major drivetrain repairs? ? Are these "new" vehicles so bad they can''t even go 200,000 miles, never mind like the 325,000 I got in my 2003 Yukon?

Guess I better do some more research on this. Are there some warranty threads on the board? Thanks for your comments.
 

Doubeleive

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It hasn;t been above freezing yet this week, but the warm weather will be back for a few days early next week. I will take a few pictures.

The warranty is a concern. They are good for about 180,000 miles Iwas told, so that leaves me with about 80,000 miles of coverage, or about 4 years of driving. Sales guy wanted $ 3200 for the full warranty package and called me a fool for not buying It. ( Between the warranty and an additional charge of $199 to engrave the VIN on the glass. probably more about his commission). But maybe he knew something I didn't know about the vehicle, but self insuring is a possibility.

But $13,000 worth of charges for your vehicle for major drivetrain repairs? ? Are these "new" vehicles so bad they can''t even go 200,000 miles, never mind like the 325,000 I got in my 2003 Yukon?

Guess I better do some more research on this. Are there some warranty threads on the board? Thanks for your comments.
I took the warranty in my case because I drive like Mario Andretti and I can break it if can be broken, so that being said I have actually mellowed out a bit and I just happened to get the short straw on mine and I noticed "low oil pressure" pretty much right away when I drove it home 7 hours, turned out mine had tossed the cam bearings and long story short I ended up with a brand new 3yr 100k warranty factory motor because I took the used warranty option, there's a little more to the story like I paid the little bit extra to actually get the factory motor versus a rebuilt one at no cost other than my $100 deductible, I also ended up with a brand new G80 differential and the front diff being rebuilt as well. This does not mean any one of these trucks will take a crap like mine did, I suspect the previous owner traded it in knowing it had a problem, the dealer didn't catch it and I got the bad luck of the draw. SO in closing I got a dam near brand new drive train out of the deal and couldn't be happier.
 

swathdiver

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I read about the many problems on this site that people have, and wonder if they are really engineering defects, poor workmanship, or improper oils, gasoline, or lack of maintenance. From what I read, that FTM system requires the DEXOS or equivalent synthetic oil with frequent changes. And maybe even the 91 octane. (I wonder if I filed up every other time with 91 and 85 octane and that would save money and stil probably have enough of the right additives, and not knock. But maybe not).

Thanks for your comments. At the moment, it's a GREAT vehicle, and I enjoy all the comments from people who have a lot of experience and expertise and are willing to share it.

Bob, consider running ethanol if it is available in your area. It's like cheap race gas. If you can get E30, even better as it will be about the cost of 87 and deliver a higher octane rating than 93 while delivering the same or nearly the same mpgs. You'll have to do the math. These motors run great on ethanol.

Use the warranty money to fix things.
 

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