Looking at downgrading

[BrandonH13]

We have a 07 Yukon right now, but we have already had to replace the AFM lifters and at this point I just kind of over it. So we are looking to trade it in on a hopefully 04-06 suburban. I looked at the thinking of buying thread and didn't know if anyone had any other useful information?

We are looking at a 06 with 151K on it. Its a LS though and they want $8500 for it

The other is a 05 fully loaded except navi. It has 149K on it and they want $5000 for it. I called them and they said it had to have engine work done. They are SUPPOSE to call me back with what all was done, but the salesman said if I was driving from 3 hours away (which I am) then it isn't for me and that there was a reason they have had it for around 6 months.
That just makes me think I could talk them down even more and depending on what all it needs it might be a steal. Even if I had to replace the engine with another one from a parts car.....I still think I would be ahead of the game

 

[about20ninj45]

8500 is kinda pricey for a ls and that 05 may be a gamble. Aside from the engine, the vehicle is over 10 years old, so i would also check tranny, diffs, brake, shocks, rotors/calipers and the rest of the drivetrain. It all depends on how well its been maintained. If your planing on getting rid of your 07, i would do an even trade with someone local or on the forum. If you wanted to keep it and save yourself some money, i would just get a tune and cam that deletes the afm, so you could run regular lifter and be done with it.

 

[BrandonH13]

We still owe on the yukon, so a straight trade is out of the question. They have the LS listed as a LT, but with cloth interior and only a sunroof I am guessing its a LS.
Our yukon now has about 185K on it, so we would actually be going back in years but down on mileage also. Since my wife is a stay at home mom, it will only get driven a couple of miles a day.
The one nice thing about our yukon is that it has 3.73 years, so I don't have to worry about towing our 18 foot trailer with 4 ATV's on it.

 

[BrandonH13]

Also being in the middle of the country, SADLY our 4WD vehicles are PRICEY. They have ones with over 200K miles on them still on dealer lots for 7-10K

 

[about20ninj45]

Yea if it were be, id just keep it and get the afm deleted from the tune which only cost a couple hundred bucks. I've outlined waht to look for and there is also a sticky on this forum titled "thinking of buying a 00-06 look here"

 

[about20ninj45]

Oh and if it has a 5.3, be sure to look at the castech heads leaking issue and make sure non of those vehicle have it.

 

[BrandonH13]

Yeah my wife likes it, but I am over it sadly. It has a few issues (no oil cooler, I think the rear main is leaking, NO room in the back)
We are going to Florida for vacation and with us and all the kids we would have to buy one of the topper things to put our luggage in. So I got her sold on the idea of a suburban because.....It has the older 5.3 engine that anyone can work on, it would lower our payment by probably half, it has a lot more room, we can get leather (we have a bare bone SLE now) and we can get one with a DVD player so the middle can watch something and then put our portable one in the back for the other kids to watch a different movie if they want (since they are teens)

 

[about20ninj45]

make a list of the option of everything you want if you downgrade and dont setlle for less if you want those amenities. So that lt suburban would be out of the question and most guys are replacing the trans cooler with the 40k tru cool, because the factory ones tend to leak adn not be suitable enough to stop you from kiling that 4l60 because of heat. If your downgrading, try to get a 6.0, you will want it if your towing alot. And a 4l80 if you can find it.

 

[BrandonH13]

Does the 4L80 just come with the 6.0? For the 6.0, wouldn't I have to get a Denali....don't think I have seen it in any of the suburbans I have looked at.

We only tow that big of a trailer 2 or 3 times a year. Other than that it is a small 6x8

 

[about20ninj45]

no, denali's didnt come with a 4l80 (in some rare special vehicles they did but thats still debatable). The 2500 yukon xl came with the 6.0 and 4l80
6.0 are in denalis and


edit

also forgot to tell you the get a model with hyrdoboost to if it doesnt have it....greatly improves stopping

 

[BrandonH13]

I would love a 2500, but there is literally 2 for sale by me and one is by owner with 240K and still wants 7500.
Other is a 09 at a dealer with 201K for 14000

 

[about20ninj45]

damn, here in michigan they are between 6-8k for 05 and up fully loaded.

Id chose a denali xl over a suburban because you get everything you wanted as far as what you listed...heated seats, leather, rear systm dvd, nav, moonroof/sunroof and a 6.0 to top it off... and those are right in your price range...

 

[BrandonH13]

What is the difference between the 4l60 and 4l80? Don't really care about the navi and I don't know about the AWD system of the denali's. How much difference MPG would it be with the 6.0 and AWD? I know my father in law's 99 silverado 2500 only got like 8 when I was driving it and he had about half the exhaust studs broke off on him
The one Suburban for 4900 I looked at again and realized it was AWD also

 

[about20ninj45]

4l80 is a completely different trans and can withstand more abuse and is good for street, tow and drag applications. The 4l60 was designed to go behind light car like the fbody camaros and trans am. The 4l60 is a decent trans, but they tend to go out quickly due to heat, weak internals and abuse. You can upgrade them to hold the power that you want but it comes with a price. That trans usually does not live long without rebuilds

4l60 for light duty, 4l80 heavy duty

i have awd and my in town iis about 15 mpg and highway is 18mpg cruising at 70

and if you dont like the awd, you can just remove the front diff and make it 2wd..

@01ssreda4 just did that in his build thread..converted his awd to 2 wheel drive...
but with you being in the middle of the country, id imagine youd want 4x4 or awd for snow...

 

[BrandonH13]

Yea I would need 4wd/awd. I might just have to stick to our yukon for now because I can't find anything that is under what we owe on our yukon. I have a friend at a dealership that is going to check for me, but he is kind of the last hope at least for now

 

[adventurenali92]

@BrandonH13 , I wasn't sold on the awd in my 2006 Denali xl either but I really love it now. Had a few big snow storms that dumped 3+ feet of snow at a time here in my little ski town this past winter and my denalixl handled like a champ. No problems whatsoever. My car is getting about 15 mpg around town and roughly 20ish when I cruise the freeways down the mountain. So not terrible. My 6.0L is awesome. I love it. And mine has the 4L65E trans because it's a 2006 and it's fantastic. Had to have it rebuilt already but that's ok. I'm tough on vehicles because of how much driving I do and the rebuilt trains is phenomenal. If you're considering going nbs the Denali/xl is the way to go!

 

[sumo]

Why not just delete the afm through a tune?

 

[retiredsparky]

Your idea of deleting the AFM is a good one. GM's vehicles no matter what year, have the potential to cost money for repairs. When changing vehicles, you do risk assuming someone else's lack of maintenance and the new vehicle's mechanical problems. The possibility of getting a bad head or two is real with the Castech heads. The quality of a rebuilt transmission can also be questionable.

 

[adventurenali92]

@retiredsparky , that's a good point about the trans. My rebuild is fantastic so far. Had an excellent shop do the rebuild. Looking at a used one that's a big factor if the trans has been rebuilt. Lot of spotty trans shops out there.