2021 Tahoe - Keep, sell or trade?

[CriticalThinker]

I have a 2021 Tahoe Z71 that I bought new off the dealer’s lot in January of 2021. I have driven it 114,394 miles at the time of this writing. It is very well-maintained with regular oil changes and inspections, tire rotations, alignment checks at every oil change, etc. I’ve had every cosmetic issue fixed (hail damage, fender benders). I had the transmission serviced at 50k and 100k miles. It looks and runs like new. It is completely paid off.

Except…I foresee a lot of maintenance soon. I just replaced the battery last week ($300) and it needs four new tires, four new TPMS sensors, a new serpentine belt, front brakes replaced (maybe rear soon too), etc. I also plan to have the transfer case serviced in the next few weeks, then the coolant and brake systems flushed.

While I’ve not had any problems with this one yet, my 2016 Tahoe’s transmission crapped out at 120k (although, I admittedly never serviced the transmission on that one because I was under the belief it was a “closed system” that wasn’t supposed to be maintenance, although everything else was maintained).

Anyway, my question is: should I keep maintaining it well and drive it for another 75k-100k, then get a new one? Or does it make more financial sense to sell/trade it right now while it still has some equity and put the equity and anticipated repair/maintenance costs into a down payment on a new one?

I really don’t want a car payment. I really don’t want to replace it mid-cycle (I’d rather wait until the next major redesign/sixth generation comes out). But I also don’t want to drive it to the point it starts requiring major repairs just due to wear and tear from the mileage.

Anybody have any opinions or suggestions? I’d love to hear them.

 

[jfoj]

5.3 or 6.2 l engine?

Personally, I'd be inclined to keep it replacement's going to cost you over $80,000 and as you mentioned, you'll be getting into the tail end of this current model which will lose more value once the next generation comes out.

All transmission fluid needs to be changed. All this crap about lifetime fluid only means that the fluid lasts exactly the lifetime of the transmission!!

Your 2016 likely had a 6-speed which no matter what you did to it, it was going to fail. They were real disasters.

 

[CriticalThinker]

5.3 or 6.2 l engine?

Personally, I'd be inclined to keep it replacement's going to cost you over $80,000 and as you mentioned, you'll be getting into the tail end of this current model which will lose more value once the next generation comes out.

All transmission fluid needs to be changed. All this crap about lifetime fluid only means that the fluid lasts exactly the lifetime of the transmission!!

Your 2016 likely had a 6-speed which no matter what you did to it, it was going to fail. They were real disasters.

It has the 5.3L V8. I’m tending to agree with you, that my best choice is to probably maintain it and keep it a little longer.

 

[Stbentoak]

Most of the things that you are spending money on are things that you should be spending money on anyways, if you intend to maintain it well. None of the items you list are showstoppers.

If you've got this far with it without any major uncommon issues and you like it, keep it going and you probably can easily put another 50 to 100K on with good care....

 

[Joseph Garcia]

You are at less than 50% of the truck's expected life. You've kept it well maintained, so there is a likelihood that the truck will last for well over 200k miles.

The only thing that WILL eventually kill your truck is rust. If you live in the rust belt, it dies sooner, despite your best efforts to contain.

You've identified about $3000 worth of normal maintenance items, and throw another $2000 in soon to be upcoming maintenance items that you don't know about right now. Then, if you add in a new transmission and torque converter (because they WILL fail), you have another $6000 of identified cost, just not identified as to when. So, you have $11,000 in upcoming maintenance/replacement costs that you will incur over the next 50,000 miles or so.

$11,000 is a down payment on a new Tahoe, but you will still incur a new hefty monthly vehicle loan payment. Your truck insurance premium will go up significantly, as part of the cost assessment is the current value of the insured truck.

It appears that you really like this truck, so I recommend that you keep it. In addition, do as I do, and create a truck maintenance account, and throw $300 into it every month. This way, when a maintenance item occurs, expected or unexpected, you will not find yourself in a spontaneous cash flow crisis (and not have to pay stupid high credit card interest on short term balances).

I wish you the best of outcomes on your decision.

 

[CriticalThinker]

You are at less than 50% of the truck's expected life. You've kept it well maintained, so there is a likelihood that the truck will last for well over 200k miles.

The only thing that WILL eventually kill your truck is rust. if you live in the rust belt, it dies sooner, despite your best efforts to contain.

You've identified about $3000 worth of normal maintenance items, and throw another $2000 in soon to be upcoming maintenance items that you don't know about right now. Then, if you add in a new transmission and torque converter (because they WILL fail), you have another $6000 of identified cost, just not identified as to when. So, you have $11,000 in upcoming maintenance/replacement costs that you will incur over the next 50,000 miles or so.

$11,000 is a down payment on a new Tahoe, but you will still incur a new hefty monthly vehicle loan payment. Your truck insurance premium will go up significantly, as part of the cost assessment is the current value of the insured truck.

It appears that you really like this truck, so I recommend that you keep it. In addition, do as I do, and create a truck maintenance account, and throw $300 into it every month. This way, when a maintenance item occurs, expected or unexpected, you will not find yourself in a spontaneous cash flow crisis (and not have to pay stupid high credit card interest on short term balances).

I wish you the best of outcomes on your decision.

Great advice, and perspective. I appreciate it.

 

[GMCnewbee]

Take care of it as you have been doing and keep it. At least for a couple of more years or like you say, until the next update comes along. I am waiting for the new engines myself.

 

[JKeller]

I was in a similar boat a month ago except my 2021 Tahoe HC with the 6.2L had 150k miles on it. It was very well maintained. Still, I needed a serpentine, tires, coolant flush, and shocks/struts (magna ride) at a minimum, which was going to be north of 5k worth of work. The cheaper option would have been to maintain and keep it.

On the other hand, I do a lot of out of town/highway driving for work in a suit and tie. I also have clients in the vehicle periodically. The reality is that even though that truck was more than capable of being maintained through at least another 50k miles, I was going to start having failures like the water pump and alternator. Those things going out locally or when I was not working are not a huge deal, but I also did not want to deal with those types of issues when traveling for work and dealing with tight schedules.

Ultimately, I traded it in and got a new 2026 Yukon. That was the more expensive option between trading in or keeping the Tahoe, but it was the option that made the most sense for my situation.