After 7 months of ownership, I decided to get rid of my '15 Denali >:(

[TonyR0206]

I decided to trade in this malady of a vehicle after 7 horrific months of ownership. First month in, I had to replace the shark fin antenna. ($350) Known to leak...mine did. Next was the interior A-pillar molding: just popped off one day while I was driving. The clips that hold it in place broke, so I had to replace that. ($100) Then of course, you all know about the cladding by the windows not staying in place. I couldn't bear to spend more money for those, so I "fixed" them with Gorilla Tape. Then I had to replace the A/C compressor. About an $800 fix. About six weeks after that, I had to replace the battery - another $200. At this point, I told my wife "If ONE MORE THING HAPPENS, I'M DONE. GETTING RID OF IT!". Low and behold exactly one week after I replaced the battery, I get a message on my center console to service suspension system and service leveling system. A trip to the dealership revealed I had a bad strut....Close to $1000 to replace it. So after seven completely frustrating months, I traded the Denali in on a Ford F-150 Platinum Edition. I couldn't in good faith, give GM another dime. For a vehicle that was close to $80,000 when new, there is NO WAY it should have these issues within three years. Granted, I bought it used, but again, I thought I was buying the best SUV GMC has to offer. I've never had issues like this with any other GM product....even my 1983 Citation had a better service record than this Denali. So, while I've enjoyed my time here on this forum with you good people, I've sadly got to move on. Everyone has been a wealth of information and it's greatly appreciated.

 

[G00se]

Sorry to hear. How many miles on it when you bought it? I too recently bought a 2016 Denali used and just started feeling the vibrating (like driving over rumble strips) at various speeds and riding very rough like the suspension is way too hard. Fun stuff.

 

[Danny3737]

I’m sorry to hear as well, but completely understand the frustration. Everybody sometime in their life will get snakebit on a vehicle. With me it was a few Honda’s and a Dodge Durango. Good luck with your new purchase

 

[Doubeleive]

good luck, I stay away from new year models now learned my lesson

 

[2015Denali4WD]

I don't blame you and glad to see you get rid of your Denali because I'm going through similar situation. Denali has way to many problems to be charging $80,000.

 

[LI Tahoe]

I don't blame you, and glad you cut the cord before it got worse for you.

its really sad to continue to hear stories like this

 

[chicagofan00]

Can't say I blame you but you really shouldn't count the battery in there as being an issue. It's an expense, sure, but one that will need to be incurred on any vehicle not matter the brand, model, etc.

No clue where you live but here in AZ it is pretty common to go through a battery within 2-3 years due to the summer temps we experience.

 

[TonyR0206]

Sorry to hear. How many miles on it when you bought it? I too recently bought a 2016 Denali used and just started feeling the vibrating (like driving over rumble strips) at various speeds and riding very rough like the suspension is way too hard. Fun stuff.

It had about 45,000 on it when I bought it. Had 59,800 when I got rid of it Monday.

 

[TonyR0206]

Can't say I blame you but you really shouldn't count the battery in there as being an issue. It's an expense, sure, but one that will need to be incurred on any vehicle not matter the brand, model, etc.

No clue where you live but here in AZ it is pretty common to go through a battery within 2-3 years due to the summer temps we experience.

I understand what you're saying about the battery. I live in upstate NY, where we can have some extremely cold weather. In 30 years of driving, I've never, ever had a battery fail this quickly. I routinely get 5-7 years out of a battery, even in these harsh conditions we have 4-5 months a year. I traded in a loaded 2011 Chevy Avalanche LTZ with 124,000 miles on it for this Denali. The LTZ still had the original battery in it.

 

[TonyR0206]

I don't blame you and glad to see you get rid of your Denali because I'm going through similar situation. Denali has way to many problems to be charging $80,000.

My boss owns a 2015 Escalade. Almost identical in every way to the Denali, for the most part. He's had $9000 in repairs in the past two years. These CLEARLY are not a well made vehicle.

 

[Danny3737]

It doesn’t matter the manf, every forum has stories like this. Some more than others.

 

[WP77]

I had an early 2015 Denali that I got rid of. I just replaced with a new 2018. I had around 45,000 miles on it. Problems included a new battery a year ago, the door pillar black plastic piece coming loose, memory seat not working properly, infotainment problems, right led tail light assembly, and tires that only lasted 40,000 miles. Luckily the AC was still working when I sold it. This seemed like a ridiculous amount of problems for a $70,000 vehicle.

I have a 2014 Sierra Crew Cab SLT I also purchased new. It has around 52,000 miles currently. Problems on it included a leaking ac condenser, tires that only lasted 40,000 miles, right leaf spring making a banging noise, and infotainment problems. Again, the amount of problems seem excessive.

I would agree with the others. I’ll never buy a 1st year new body style again. There seems to be a huge difference in this 2018 Yukon. All the bugs are worked out.

 

[chicagofan00]

I understand what you're saying about the battery. I live in upstate NY, where we can have some extremely cold weather. In 30 years of driving, I've never, ever had a battery fail this quickly. I routinely get 5-7 years out of a battery, even in these harsh conditions we have 4-5 months a year. I traded in a loaded 2011 Chevy Avalanche LTZ with 124,000 miles on it for this Denali. The LTZ still had the original battery in it.

I'd love to get that kind of life out of a battery!!

 

[Miami-Dade]

In Miami I am lucky to get 4 years out of a battery. Three years is about my limit down here in the jungle heat. When I lived in NYC I got around 5 years [sometimes more] on a battery.

I had my battery checked in my 2016 Tahoe [45K miles] at Advance Auto a couple of week ago and all is good. For right now anyway.

 

[WillCO]

Sorry for your experience. I don't think this was a new model thing; there really wasn't that much mechanically new in the 2015s, much more cosmetic.

I also don't think your experience is representative. These vehicles are scoring very well on reliability.

As a data point only, and not intended as a shame - did you have an independent pre-purchase inspection done on the vehicle before you bought it?

I do agree that OEM batteries very often do not last more than 2 or 3 years.

 

[noob]

I never get 40k miles out of my tires. Maybe I drive to hard.

 

[coacht]

Sorry to hear. How many miles on it when you bought it? I too recently bought a 2016 Denali used and just started feeling the vibrating (like driving over rumble strips) at various speeds and riding very rough like the suspension is way too hard. Fun stuff.

Contact your local dealer about flushing the tranny and reprogramming the software. Ours had similar vibrations (rumble strip feeling.) We had this done last week, it was a service bulletin issued by GMC. It ran about $630 but haven't had any issues since. I'll keep you updated. But I'd look into it for sure!

 

[dbbd1]

I never get 40k miles out of my tires. Maybe I drive to hard.

Me neither, not on stock manufacturer tires, anyways.

 

[ChrisYukon]

Myself, if I look on a website and see the main complaints are batteries and tires that last a long time, but not super long, or easily replaceable bits like trim pieces or A/C compressors, I see that as a plus.

I've owned cars with real problems before...

 

[WP77]

Myself, if I look on a website and see the main complaints are batteries and tires that last a long time, but not super long, or easily replaceable bits like trim pieces or A/C compressors, I see that as a plus.

I've owned cars with real problems before...

I agree with you on the batteries and tires. But I have to disagree on things like the A/C component failures, LED tail light assemblies, buffetting and memory seats. These problems are all the results of using cheap components, which is ridiculous on a car this expensive. The LED taillight would have cost me almost $500 for a gm replacement(I found a guy on ebay that fixes/exchanges them for much cheaper.). Also, the A/C problems are a very expensive fix for the average person. Luckily I know how to work on AC and was able to fix for just the price of the new parts.

I still bought a new 2018 to replace my 2015. I really love the vehicle, there were just some flaws that needed to be worked out. So far(1 week), I'm very impressed with this 2018. The 10 speed transmission is a huge improvement over the 6 speed in the 2015, shifts smooth as glass. Lots of the little things are improved. The steering wheel radio controls respond on the first push, unlike my 2015 Yukon and 2014 Sierra. This 2018 rides a little smoother as well, despite having 22" wheels vs. the 20" on my old 2015.