How happy are you with your 2021/22 Tahoe/Yukon?

[xycrazy]

Would love to hear how happy (or unhappy) you guys are with your truck.
What's your experience so far?

I'm looking for one of the 2 but I'm concerned since I read all the negative reviews on edmunds.com and other places about all the flaws like lifter issues, misfired engines, etc.

Would love to understand how common these issues are. I'm driving a 2017 5.3 Yukon SLT and it just runs perfect.
However, I really in love with the new models and so I'm considering an upgrade.

That being said, I would just HATE to be in the shop or have the truck there sitting all the time because of any annoying issues, recalls, part availability, etc.

So... what's the truth here?

 

[Micahsd]

I’ve been happy with my ‘21 Tahoe so far. Will have it a year next month and have 8,500 miles on it which are mostly in town. It’s build date is 3/19/2021. I haven’t had it on many longer trips…no warranty issues either.

I’m also overly nervous the thing will leave me stranded on the side of the road based on how my engine build date falls within the range of known bad lifters, but maybe I lucked out. Seems like they generally fail between 4-13k miles, so I should find that out within the next year.

But overall no issues which is really good. I’ve also had a lot of comments about it from folks at work that see me drive it.

 

[Baja_Bob]

So far I'm happy, will be happier as the weather improves so I can drive it more. Got it last fall and only has 1400 miles, it has been put away for winter.

 

[Doubeleive]

personally I would wait until at least next years model, both the 21 & 22 are essentially new year models because of all the changes, there still making fixes, both mechanical and software wise. not saying it's a bad vehicle but in the next year or two they hopefully should have many of the bugs worked out better. there are chip shortages and part shortages and China just shut a whole bunch of stuff down again so there is no relief to be seen in the short term.

 

[xycrazy]

I’ve been happy with my ‘21 Tahoe so far. Will have it a year next month and have 8,500 miles on it which are mostly in town. It’s build date is 3/19/2021. I haven’t had it on many longer trips…no warranty issues either.

I’m also overly nervous the thing will leave me stranded on the side of the road based on how my engine build date falls within the range of known bad lifters, but maybe I lucked out. Seems like they generally fail between 4-13k miles, so I should find that out within the next year.

But overall no issues which is really good. I’ve also had a lot of comments about it from folks at work that see me drive it.

Congrats to your nice truck! Sounds actually very good. What's the impacted engine build date? I thought all do have it sooner or later. No? Is there only a specific build period that one should avoid?

 

[xycrazy]

personally I would wait until at least next years model, both the 21 & 22 are essentially new year models because of all the changes, there still making fixes, both mechanical and software wise. not saying it's a bad vehicle but in the next year or two they hopefully should have many of the bugs worked out better. there are chip shortages and part shortages and China just shut a whole bunch of stuff down again so there is no relief to be seen in the short term.

I agree with you but the problem is that I don't like the '22 RSE and navigation system. It's all based on google stuff and from what I see and hear that's not an improvement. I would rather like to get the "old" '21 RSE and navigation

 

[WalleyeMikeIII]

I love my Denali XL. The vehicle parts seem well done: power, transmission, suspension, doors, windows, seats, etc. All really good. Remember much of the mechanical stuff is shared with the pickups and has been out since 2019. Lifters/engine stuff really is not new. They added more adjustability in the new DFM (dynamic fuel management) engines over the AFM (active fuel management), but it’s the same lifters and mostly the same control system.

I understood there was a bad run of lifters, having bad spring clips, and that lead to a bunch of the fails and the recall isssued in December. Hopefully that is truly the fix…because I have a 2022 (although I breathe a little easier as my dealer includes a lifetime power train warranty). Generally I think the car part of the setup is awesome.

The infotainment is hopefully a big improvement, but it does seem to have a couple glitches in the software. None of them have been fatal to me yet, just more annoying. Up side of software is that it can be updated.

Overall, I’m pleased so far. It’s a great riding vehicle and the 6.2 makes me smile. The baby Duramax is supposed to be awesome too, but is highly constrained.

I get compliments on how mine looks often. Esp on the light interior.

 

[R32driver]

We have a '21 yukon XL with the slt premium package and love it. It rides really nice (basic suspension, no air or mrc), has plenty of power IMO with the 5.3 and gets decent fuel mileage at 17.5 average. The 10 speed transmission is fantastic as it shifts smooth as butter and never seems to be hunting for a gear like the 6 speeds do. The interior is really quite nice and there are no squeaks or rattles and also very little road noise even with the more aggressive tires we put on. IMO opinion the only real downside to the slt is that it's covered in shiny chrome trim and that is really not my style at all.

The infotainment system is ok but tends to disconnect from our phones quite often and doesn't like to re-sync all that easily. The RSE works ok but certainly could be better if they would have set it up to easily stream content. Definitely not worth the $2500 price tag. Even the top center dash mounted screen is not bad as it doesn't stick up that high at all. That was the only reason we considered a denali as the dash setup looks really nice but in the end the slt is a really nice middle of the road option.

As for the bad lifter nightmare that never crosses my mind unless I get on this forum and read about it. Overall I feel it's a small percentage of vehicles they've built that is affected. I've never once worried about being stranded somewhere and if that does happen will just cross that bridge when it comes.

We did have a water leak right off the get go (sunroof drain too short and water backed up into vehicle at highway speed) but that was repaired under warranty and they dried out the wet carpet and pad really well so all good now. Overall it's been a great rig so far (10k miles on it now) and I would not hesitate to buy another.

 

[Micahsd]

Congrats to your nice truck! Sounds actually very good. What's the impacted engine build date? I thought all do have it sooner or later. No? Is there only a specific build period that one should avoid?

There’s quite a few discussion threads on here related to it but I believe the bad lifter batch on the TSB was from Oct 2020 to end of March 2021. I don’t believe they’re all bad during that time otherwise they’d probably do a recall.

That date is engine build date which is hard to view but can be done…mine is Feb 2021 when the engine was built and the vehicle was built in March 21. But fortunately no major issues with it so far.

I guess I do have a weird noise after coming to a full stop such as in drive-thru’s which I posted a video about on here recently. I suspect that’s related to another TSB that doesn’t sound like it affects anything if that’s truly it although its an annoying sound.

 

[Doubeleive]

I agree with you but the problem is that I don't like the '22 RSE and navigation system. It's all based on google stuff and from what I see and hear that's not an improvement. I would rather like to get the "old" '21 RSE and navigation

Have you tried out any of the the google/android systems? I have been using android auto since it's beta inception, it's been hugely improved, GM makes there own overlay on it, any bugs should hopefully get addressed over time