problems i should know about?

[machalex]

I am looking to buy a 2003-05 tahoe or yukon. I like the denali and z71 tahoe but would be happy with a slt. The ones i am looking at are between 70-100k miles on them. i just want to know what will need replaced soon. i mean EVERY little thing. i want to know what im getting into. and is there any reason i should stick away from the denali. thanks alot

 

[04SS99Denali]

major things to check for on the AWD trucks is the front diff. listen for above normal growls and steering wheel vibrations. they are known to growl a LITTLE around real tight cornering going real slow. on all gm trucks make sure the trans is in good working order and if your buying a truck with 2 and 4 options make sure it shifts smoothly in and out of 2 and 4. dont forget to make sure the ass warmers work the heating elements are known to burn up. last thing is to check and make sure the ac temp goes from heat to ac on both sides of the truck. i bought my 03 yukon in the summer and the ac worked great. come winter only the passenger side would blow heat the drivers side blew ac . thats the drivers door blend actuator. its a pretty common problem with the auto climate. just give a good visual inspection under the truck for any leaks or abnormal rust. i dont think im missing anything out of the normal maintenance wear and tare


edit: i bought my yukon with 104k on it its about to break 120 and it runs perfect. ive beaten the piss out of the AWD system on my silverado SS its still holding up now and its got 60k. ive done AWD burnouts and donuts a couple of times with it. not to mention going sideways spinning all 4 tons of times. anything properly maintained will last

 

[machalex]

so theres no maintenance coming up on the car i should know about. sensors, tranny, shocks, anything?

 

[Freedom Motorsports]

Welcome to the neighborhood!

For all GM trucks, if you do not have access to actual maintenance records from the previous owner, it is a good idea to go ahead and plan on doing all the fluids by 100K. Oil, tranny, differentials, transfer case, brakes, power steering and coolant. Obviously they are the life blood.

Other regular maintenace items on these trucks that you COULD be looking at are idler and pitman arms, brakes (often replacing rotors and pads while at times replacing the calipers as well) Hoes & Kons are ******* brakes in most cases. Ball joints and hub bearings are also pretty common on all GM trucks somewhere around 100K miles or more.

 

[04SS99Denali]

every car ive owned has been used and i never even drove it until every fluid was changed. even if its on paper how would i know it was done properly or even done at all. most cars done have maint records because people dont get them serviced at dealers its just to expensive. if the truck runs drives and every system works the way it should without any leaks or accident damage / frame damage. most of the time the truck is good. but that still doesnt stop people from putting 20-50 oil into a knocking engine to stop the noise for a short time. so you can never be 100% on anything. 95% of the time if everything works and sounds great its usually great.

 

[blueflamed03]

too bad you may be too far away, selling mine now, 2003, 96K and many customs, $13,800.

 

[91RS]

Welcome to the neighborhood!

For all GM trucks, if you do not have access to actual maintenance records from the previous owner, it is a good idea to go ahead and plan on doing all the fluids by 100K. Oil, tranny, differentials, transfer case, brakes, power steering and coolant. Obviously they are the life blood.

This goes for any brand of vehicle (yes, even the perfect faultless Japanese cars )!

Other regular maintenace items on these trucks that you COULD be looking at are idler and pitman arms, brakes (often replacing rotors and pads while at times replacing the calipers as well) Hoes & Kons are ******* brakes in most cases. Ball joints and hub bearings are also pretty common on all GM trucks somewhere around 100K miles or more.

Huh? These trucks are AWESOME on brakes. These brakes will go 200k if not towing frequently. A guy I work with didn't put front brakes on his 02 Sierra until 253k miles. I did a NNBS front brake swap on our 05 with 108k and it still had 6mm of pad left.

EDIT: I see you're in the rust belt, that's why you go through brakes and suspension parts. Pitman and idler arms are still pretty common, but it depends on the driver mostly. If the driver doesn't turn the wheels all the time with the vehicle sitting still, they don't wear out nearly as fast. Bigger wheels will wear them faster though. Hubs really only go wrong on 4x4s, very uncommon for the 2wds.