2015 Tahoe Long Term test - Before you purchase become informed

[BluByU]

My 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe LTZ long term, real world customer experience. The purpose of this post is help others make an informative decision. Background: mechanically inclined, meticulous care of vehicles (hand wash and wax only), have owned 14 GM vehicles, including 9 new. This is my 4th Tahoe/Yukon. Purchased December 2014 sticker price $66,785.

8/1/16 - 32,548 miles – Reseated and glued plastic panel behind driver side window under warranty

11/18/16 – 43,062 miles, Replace AC condenser $1,116.16, Chevy dealership, later became a TSB

6/26/17 - 56,491 miles,New Michelin Tires all around $1,327.63

7/6/17 - 57,800 miles, Replace rear AC line $494.20, Chevy dealership, later became a TSB

7/21/17 – 58,112 miles, New Battery $191.34

10/9/17 - 65,000 miles, Front brakes

1/26/18 - 73,000 miles, Rear brakes

4/24/18 - 77,111 miles, Passenger rear shock locked up, replaced, personal mechanic $816.80

7/16/18 - 82,126 miles, Top of gas tank line leak fixed, personal mechanic $438.27

12/13/18 - 92,000 miles, Replace AC condenser again, personal mechanic $1,170.46

Commentary: As with all vehicles there are going to be creaks and rattles so I won’t list them. The navigation system and compass have not worked in two years. Research points to the external antenna design that might trap water. There’s an abundant amount of information, via internet searches, regarding the poorly designed AC system. See link https://www.carcomplaints.com/Chevrolet/Tahoe/2015/AC_heater/ac_stopped_working.shtml

The Magnetic Ride Control, might be an over engineered with over priced components option. Which like all mechanical parts will eventually fail and need replaced. My front struts are leaking and will eventually need to be replaced. Probably the most concerning issue was the leaking gas tank. Friction somehow rubbed a pin hole into the line on the top of the gas tank. Pretty difficult to notice until enough gas pools and runs over showing up on the ground. This is a potentially life-threatening issue that GM should thoroughly investigate. As you can see above, I replaced the AC condenser again. This time it was performed by my trusted mechanic. He also pointed out how the bracket assembly for the AC line replaced by Chevy dealership was incorrectly positioned. As I stated earlier, hopefully this information will help others when they begin searching for their next purchase like myself currently.

 

[dbbd1]

This time it was performed by my trusted mechanic. He also pointed out how the bracket assembly for the AC line replaced by Chevy dealership was incorrectly positioned.

Can you expand on this, please?

 

[BluByU]

Can you expand on this, please?

According to GM service documents, the metal bracket is attached to the metal portions of the AC hoses. Mine is clearly on the rubber hose portion.

 

[WillCO]

My 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe LTZ long term, real world customer experience. The purpose of this post is help others make an informative decision. Background: mechanically inclined, meticulous care of vehicles (hand wash and wax only), have owned 14 GM vehicles, including 9 new. This is my 4th Tahoe/Yukon. Purchased December 2014 sticker price $66,785.

8/1/16 - 32,548 miles – Reseated and glued plastic panel behind driver side window under warranty

11/18/16 – 43,062 miles, Replace AC condenser $1,116.16, Chevy dealership, later became a TSB

6/26/17 - 56,491 miles,New Michelin Tires all around $1,327.63

7/6/17 - 57,800 miles, Replace rear AC line $494.20, Chevy dealership, later became a TSB

7/21/17 – 58,112 miles, New Battery $191.34

10/9/17 - 65,000 miles, Front brakes

1/26/18 - 73,000 miles, Rear brakes

4/24/18 - 77,111 miles, Passenger rear shock locked up, replaced, personal mechanic $816.80

7/16/18 - 82,126 miles, Top of gas tank line leak fixed, personal mechanic $438.27

12/13/18 - 92,000 miles, Replace AC condenser again, personal mechanic $1,170.46

I'm sorry about your experience.

I will point out that the bold items above are normal wear expenditures at the mileage points you listed and would have also hit you on a Toyota. They don't seem to belong on this list.

The plastic panel thing has happened to a lot of us. The main issue with the design is the strength of the adhesive they used. I fixed it on mine in 10 minutes with some HD double side tape. No big deal.

Your second condenser replacement may have been necessary because of poor work on your first one. That's a bad deal for you for sure, but may not represent a design or assembly defect the same way the first replacement did.

That leaves you, in my opinion, with 4 service items worthy of legitimate gripe against GM in 92,000 miles. Which, by the way, you accumulated at an average of 23,000 miles per year. That is certainly no crime but does objectively illustrate heavier than average use. Also, we know you hand-wax your cars, but we don't know how you drive them in between waxes.

I'm just saying, since you seem to have joined this board for the purpose of airing out your grievance, that your experience with this Tahoe is not perfect but maybe not as bad as you have decided that it is considering the context you've provided.

This is a discussion board, just discussing.

 

[WillCO]

^ I'm with you on the MRC though. I skipped that on mine because I'd just come off a BMW 5 series that also had a high-tech adjustable suspension that was a waste of $3500 as an option. The mechanical suspensions on those were much better.

 

[MajorFatal]

New poster but thought I would chime in. I bought a early model (6? speed) 2015 Yukon Denali XL for my wife in 9/14. Base model. This was my 5th Denali starting with 2001 and I traded them in every 3/4 years. Had good experience with all them except the 2011 which had a transmission issue covered under the drivetrain warranty. Swapped out for new Denalis with about 75k-80k on the odometer.
I have had only good experiences with the 2015 car and I traded it in for a 19 in September with 65k miles on it. Only issue I had was the back lift gate needing a new strut? since it would not stay in place when open. Maybe $300? Not mechanically inclined. No buffetting or any other problems. Realize others have not had such luck but I'm a satisfied customer.

 

[BluByU]

I'm sorry about your experience.

I will point out that the bold items above are normal wear expenditures at the mileage points you listed and would have also hit you on a Toyota. They don't seem to belong on this list.

The plastic panel thing has happened to a lot of us. The main issue with the design is the strength of the adhesive they used. I fixed it on mine in 10 minutes with some HD double side tape. No big deal.

Your second condenser replacement may have been necessary because of poor work on your first one. That's a bad deal for you for sure, but may not represent a design or assembly defect the same way the first replacement did.

That leaves you, in my opinion, with 4 service items worthy of legitimate gripe against GM in 92,000 miles. Which, by the way, you accumulated at an average of 23,000 miles per year. That is certainly no crime but does objectively illustrate heavier than average use. Also, we know you hand-wax your cars, but we don't know how you drive them in between waxes.

I'm just saying, since you seem to have joined this board for the purpose of airing out your grievance, that your experience with this Tahoe is not perfect but maybe not as bad as you have decided that it is considering the context you've provided.

This is a discussion board, just discussing.

No need to be sorry about my experience. Depending how you look at it, could be either positive or negative.
I listed normal wear expenditures for mileage reference. Not sure why you mention a Toyota.
I agree, my second condenser replacement might be contributed to poor dealership workmanship. However, the leak did appear again in the weld area.
Yes, we drive many miles a year. "how you drive them" is very subjective, so no comment.
The purpose of joining the board was made clear in the first and last sentence of my post.
Thank you for discussing.

 

[Clare]

I'm a new poster and own a 2014 Tahoe LTZ. To this point I have replaced the spark plugs (tough job), replaced brakes (front and back including rotors), replaced front right brake caliper, replaced O2 sensor (bank 2 sensor 1). I replace the oil twice a year (regardless of mileage) and have replaced the tranny oil and serviced the tranny as per GM recommendations when pulling a trailer (done by dealer). My Tahoe has 90,000 miles on it and I tow a 7000lb trailer. I have towed this trailer from Sarnia Ontario to New Orleans and also to Sanibel Island Florida with no issues. I hope this continues, however, after reading your post I will definitely be on the lookout. Thanks for the heads-up.

 

[WillCO]

No need to be sorry about my experience. Depending how you look at it, could be either positive or negative.
I listed normal wear expenditures for mileage reference. Not sure why you mention a Toyota.
I agree, my second condenser replacement might be contributed to poor dealership workmanship. However, the leak did appear again in the weld area.
Yes, we drive many miles a year. "how you drive them" is very subjective, so no comment.
The purpose of joining the board was made clear in the first and last sentence of my post.
Thank you for discussing.

I read your post again. I can see now how you intended it to be an objective review of your experience and not a gripe session. Your tone betrays that you aren't satisfied with your '15 Tahoe, and I do think a few of the things you listed are very normal. But on face it is mainly a list of experiences.

 

[Joe E]

New poster but thought I would chime in. I bought a early model (6? speed) 2015 Yukon Denali XL for my wife in 9/14. Base model. This was my 5th Denali starting with 2001 and I traded them in every 3/4 years. Had good experience with all them except the 2011 which had a transmission issue covered under the drivetrain warranty. Swapped out for new Denalis with about 75k-80k on the odometer.
I have had only good experiences with the 2015 car and I traded it in for a 19 in September with 65k miles on it. Only issue I had was the back lift gate needing a new strut? since it would not stay in place when open. Maybe $300? Not mechanically inclined. No buffetting or any other problems. Realize others have not had such luck but I'm a satisfied customer.

I'm sorry about your experience.

I will point out that the bold items above are normal wear expenditures at the mileage points you listed and would have also hit you on a Toyota. They don't seem to belong on this list.

The plastic panel thing has happened to a lot of us. The main issue with the design is the strength of the adhesive they used. I fixed it on mine in 10 minutes with some HD double side tape. No big deal.

Your second condenser replacement may have been necessary because of poor work on your first one. That's a bad deal for you for sure, but may not represent a design or assembly defect the same way the first replacement did.

That leaves you, in my opinion, with 4 service items worthy of legitimate gripe against GM in 92,000 miles. Which, by the way, you accumulated at an average of 23,000 miles per year. That is certainly no crime but does objectively illustrate heavier than average use. Also, we know you hand-wax your cars, but we don't know how you drive them in between waxes.

I'm just saying, since you seem to have joined this board for the purpose of airing out your grievance, that your experience with this Tahoe is not perfect but maybe not as bad as you have decided that it is considering the context you've provided.

This is a discussion board, just discussing.

I would not agree with your assessment as normal,expected wear and tear: New Battery less than 4 years old, rear shock locked up? gas tank line leak, and bad AC condenser? No, sorry these are poorly built components that should not wear out in the time specified. Even with 23k miles/year.

In my opinion of course

 

[WillCO]

I would not agree with your assessment as normal,expected wear and tear: New Battery less than 4 years old, rear shock locked up? gas tank line leak, and bad AC condenser? No, sorry these are poorly built components that should not wear out in the time specified. Even with 23k miles/year.

In my opinion of course

Other than the battery, those weren't the items I was pointing to as wear items. The items I bolded were:

• New tires at 56K miles
• New battery at 58K miles and a few months under 3 years of service (absolutely normal)
• New brakes at 65K and 73K miles, front and rear

Those are wear items and do not illustrate the vehicle's reliability.

 

[AZCreeker]

this was indeed a very objective way to report the maintenances items and issues you had to deal with on your Tahoe.
So in the interest of discussion, I'll give my 2 cents of some of the issue I dealt with and some I am still dealing with on my 15 Suburban with 69k miles:

-The Seat back on the 2nd row passenger side seat make a very bad clunk noise. by the way other family member who bought a 16 Escalade new for close to 90k does the same thing.
(anyone knows how to fix this?)

-dealerships, yes with an S, are still unable to correctly diagnostic a very bad fuel smell coming at every startup, no matter cold or hot start, this makes me want to set the truck on fire and move on to another brand, so far they have tighten up a exhaust clamp after the cat, didnt do anything, and replace the evap canister, didnt do anything.

-the piece of trim is also starting to fall right after the driver side window.

-But shaker left side is either broke or something related to it is, dealership wants 500 to fix it.

thats it. my AC condenser was fixed under the TSB
if I could fix the fuel smell, I would be a happy camper, I have to go back to the dealership who did the canister and tell them it didn't work.
I dont have time for this, I wish service was a bit more Lexus like.

 

[PwrdbyM]

I'm not sure the OP's intent was to get on here to bash his ownership experience, however it could come across that way since auto forums are littered with posters who create accounts simply to complain. I assure you every single model, from every single make has owners on forums griping about something. We get posts here weekly of people "looking to buy", what's the reliability, what's the cost.... This is a good post for someone who has those questions but they should understand the negative characteristics of a forum and the fact that Chevy has sold 400k 2015+ Tahoes (just Tahoes) since it's introduction. 98% of those owners we'll never hear from on this forum.

 

[Beagleman]

I totally agree, I have just ordered a new 2019 Tahoe, and then I come here and other sites to see how the guys are making out, and am sort of met with a barrage of complaints.... for me it is nice to know of known issues, and on the positive side as to how well these trucks work..... I have read LOTS of stuff about how they don't cut the curves, sway , 0-60 is slow etc.... after all it isn't a Corvette, it's a TRUCK.... and along with the complaining issues, I have noticed it is rarely mentioned how the truck is treated..... do you baby it, do you, use it normally or do you beat on it.... and every vehicle has issues, some more than others,and lastly, ALL of these trucks were just made by humans............ and we know how they are ....... just my 2 c worth....

 

[WillCO]

I have noticed it is rarely mentioned how the truck is treated..... do you baby it, do you, use it normally or do you beat on it.

And in particular, how much and how often do you tow, and also what percentage of the time is the vehicle stored outside versus in a garage.

This was critical to my response to the OP. It's not immaterial information, and the rate at which he has added mileage to his truck suggests heavy use.

 

[Beagleman]

Yeah, Will, that was my point exactly, there are a lot of driving and care variables, that sometimes get missed..... I am the babying kind of guy, as these things are so expensive, and it becomes a major purchase, I personally can't afford to be overly rough on a vehicle, I sure have seen guys who have though....

 

[BluByU]

I totally agree, I have just ordered a new 2019 Tahoe, and then I come here and other sites to see how the guys are making out, and am sort of met with a barrage of complaints.... for me it is nice to know of known issues, and on the positive side as to how well these trucks work..... I have read LOTS of stuff about how they don't cut the curves, sway , 0-60 is slow etc.... after all it isn't a Corvette, it's a TRUCK.... and along with the complaining issues, I have noticed it is rarely mentioned how the truck is treated..... do you baby it, do you, use it normally or do you beat on it.... and every vehicle has issues, some more than others,and lastly, ALL of these trucks were just made by humans............ and we know how they are ....... just my 2 c worth....

As the original poster, you really can't go wrong purchasing a 2019 Tahoe. After our holiday trip, mine is approaching 95K miles. The front shocks continue to get worse, but we did average 19 mpg completely loaded down with 5 adults and luggage. I'm starting my initial search for my next SUV and the 2019 Tahoe is still on the short list. FWIW

 

[BluByU]

And in particular, how much and how often do you tow, and also what percentage of the time is the vehicle stored outside versus in a garage.

This was critical to my response to the OP. It's not immaterial information, and the rate at which he has added mileage to his truck suggests heavy use.

Never towed anything. Never had the receiver cover off the vehicle. Vehicle is always parked in garage. I'm not ******* my SUV's. They're built as people movers and haulers. I drive my sports cars like they're meant to be driven.

 

[Beagleman]

I love the sounds of not going wrong buying a 2019 Tahoe, that warms my heart, and I, like you am not ******* my iron, and like you, I do crank up my Corvette on occasion....and get ribbed by folks cuz it has never seen rain etc..... my Tahoe will be used but not abused, they are frightfully expensive, at least here in Canada, so I think it is in my best interest to keep her in good shape. I do sure like to hear your has been a good ride... I'm really looking forward to this one getting here...... I've wanted one since '04

 

[Jorge1313]

My question is the person who posted the post has had all theses issue and the suv has 90000 miles on it. If it were a Toyota would it would it have all there isssue or be a better suv.