Are Yukons/Tahoes reliable?

[Ibustbravo]

I have a 2015 Yukon Denali. It's been a bit of a maint bother but it's like any other vehicle, pick your poison. When I bought it I lifted the hood and said to myself, "I could work on that, beats a Ford engine with 6-miles of cam chain.". As my bad-luck would have it, I did have to work on it. Both the engine and trans tore up in 4yrs, 125K..

However, once I got over the fact that I've have to put in another 12k for engine and trans work before it was paid off. I can honestly say it's been kinda fun, I enjoyed the process of rebuilding the engine. I have a 2nd engine; a 415ci stroked short block, on a stand waiting to install.. I've also enjoyed tuning it for the cam I used in the rebuild. I've learned a lot about transmission tuning as well.

So yea, they're reliable once you tune/work out all the 'factory-reason's' they tear up to begin with.. At least mine has been, zero issues now. And they make a ton of power, you can't deny that. I'm sure Fords make more power because they have dual over head cams but that's 3 more cams and 15x the cam chain you gotta deal with.

FWIW- I think I have cam-chain PTSD from my motorcycling days..

 

[ProudDenaliPapa]

Hey everybody, new to the site. Have been a long time Nissan driver... but Nissan's product has gone downhill over the last decade. It's not what it used to be.

Now I'm looking into possibly getting a Tahoe or Yukon. I'm curious what to expect out of the 2015+ Tahoes and Yukons. Are the engines reliable? Do they last? Are the transmissions reliable? Any common issues I can possibly expect?

Any information will be great! Thank you!!

I have had three Yukon XL Denali’s. 2012, 2015, 2022. All three have had enormous engine repairs. I now have the L87 and the engine seized a day before the recall was finalized. We are currently waiting on a brand new engine. We are done with the 6.2. Not 100% sure if we are staying with GM, but no one else makes what we need for 4 kids, 2 dogs and luggage.

 

[Sundancer]

Prior to owning a Tahoe truck, I drove a Honda Accord and I sold it with 56K miles and jumped into a 2003 Tahoe LT. It was an impressive experience and I have not looked back. I bought a 2011 Tahoe LTZ new and besides the normal maintenance, I only have changed the Throttle Assembly body and mass air flow sensor. It has 174K and still a strong truck. I also have a 2020 Tahoe RST with a 6.2 and cannot complain so far. Depending on what you want it for, it will outperform itself but that's just my personal experience. I love driving these tanks, people tend to leave you alone but if your looking for economy stay with a Nissan.

 

[tolucajo]

Have a 2018 gmc yukon denali trim 6.2L engine. 178,000 miles. Parts replaced, 2025 starter, alternator, 2 AC condensers at every 80,000 miles or so, 5 windshields and 2025 radiator reservoir. About 3-4 years I began using an AFM disabler when I heard from the ACDELCO certified guy I switched to from the dealer said lifter failure could happen and using a disabler could keep from happening. Maintenance schedule: follow the manual for the most part. However, I've doing oil changes every 5,000 miles over the past 3-4 years. Hoping to get this to 250,000. Fingers crossed. Done the typical tire, brake changes as needed. Oh forgot the Magnaride shocks!! Terrible. I am on my 3rd set all the way around. They fail around the 60,000 mark. Save your money on aftermarket systems. They cause more problems than saving a few hundred bucks per shock. Buddy runs an off-road shop, says don't do it!

 

[MSD9000]

Better yet, get yourself a Blackbear tune and they'll turn off the AFM permanently, and also clean up the compromises in the factory tune for the engine and transmission, and wake the whole truck up for you. I'm thrilled with their work, so I've had them tune all 3 of mine (2 6.2's and a 6.0). Best of all they clean up the slip in the transmission shifting so it increases the durability of the torque converter and clutch packs. GM tunes them for fuel economy and comfort.

I may try the Blackbear in the future. For now, I'm delighted with the Range Tech, which was plug and play simple and works to keep all 8 pistons firing!
Cheers,
Mark

 

[Geotrash]

I may try the Blackbear in the future. For now, I'm delighted with the Range Tech, which was plug and play simple and works to keep all 8 pistons firing!
Cheers,
Mark

Yes, but if you have emissions testing where you live then you’ll have to pull the device a few days before your next test in order for the monitors to reset. And you’ll be reactivating an oil pressure-driven system that’s been dormant for potentially thousands of miles. One of the failure modes on these happens when there is insufficient momentary oil pressure to fully switch the mode of one or more lifters.

It may be superstition, but that’s why so many folks have their AFM properly tuned out.

 

[BlackBrud]

I'm relatively new to Chevy and their truck/suv platform. Previously I owned Toyotas and Subarus, but I wanted something bigger. I wanted something that could haul heavy loads, lots of people, survive some light off-roading for camping, and be reliable. One of the big perks that I don't see mentioned too often is that Tahoes/Yukons/Suburbans are EVERYWHERE and thus, parts are easy to come by and affordable. Break something on a trip? I bet any local parts store will have what you need. Also, they're used in law enforcement all around the US, so they can definitely take some abuse.

I bought my 2019 z71 Suburban (5.3, 6L80) almost two years ago with 89k miles, and I've been making small modifications ever since. First was getting a bunch of baseline maintenance done (replace fluids, spark plugs, light bulbs), then I tuned it to remove AFM and make it a bit more responsive. The only problem I've had was the active grille shutter sensor went out on me while I was on a long road trip. I was driving through ~4hrs of rain in TX at ~80 MPH - luckily it just stuck open so the only way I noticed the issue was a CEL. Aside from that, no issues.