Talk me out of it or into it

[hunter991]

I currently have a 2017 Tahoe premier with 32k miles. Its been a good SUV and haven't had many issues. I do regular maintenance at my dealer and they take care of me. I tow with my Tahoe (5.3L) with towing package brings me in around 8800 rating on my SUV. I tow about 6k at most (wake boat). The Tahoe does fine and i don't tow major distances about 150 miles a few times a year.

That brings me to this. After reading all the issues with GM after 36k miles, i am getting a bit nervous and starting looking at the F150 or Expedition. I browse the forums, and see so many complaints about the GM stuff after 36k miles and raving reviews for Ford on their forum. My wife makes me keep vehicles forever so if i don't make this decision before warranty runs out, i may be screwed. Right now my tahoe has a pretty high trade in price that could get me into a new F150 with very little out of pocket. I know the F150 with the 3.5 Eco will tow far better as well.

I guess what i am saying is, do i take the chance and keep the tahoe. As i mentioned as i start adding up the miles soon etc.. the trade in drops, right now its really good. And will the F150 or Expy with the 3.5 be a major step up.

 

[drakon543]

all i will add in here as i have no room to talk on anything newer with gm. far as i can tell after fords massive debacle with the previous engines they made some big improvements and i hear nothing but positive remarks now. as i stated i dont have any experience with gm past 05 with thier trucks and suvs and my ford experience stops in the 2011 2012 area.

 

[Joseph Garcia]

Lots of folks here have trucks with lots of miles on them, and are not complaining about maintenance and repair issues. That being said, many/most folks on this Forum do some or all of their own maintenance and repair work.

To me, comparing a Tahoe to a F150 is kind of like comparing apples to oranges; however, I do see a basis for a comparison between a Tahoe and an Expedition.

Sorry that I cannot help you specifically on the decision in front of you, but I do wish you the best of outcomes on whatever decision you make.

 

[AZCreeker]

Hunter991

I currently have a 2017 Tahoe premier with 32k miles. Its been a good SUV and haven't had many issues. I do regular maintenance at my dealer and they take care of me. I tow with my Tahoe (5.3L) with towing package brings me in around 8800 rating on my SUV. I tow about 6k at most (wake boat). The Tahoe does fine and i don't tow major distances about 150 miles a few times a year.

That brings me to this. After reading all the issues with GM after 36k miles, i am getting a bit nervous and starting looking at the F150 or Expedition. I browse the forums, and see so many complaints about the GM stuff after 36k miles and raving reviews for Ford on their forum. My wife makes me keep vehicles forever so if i don't make this decision before warranty runs out, i may be screwed. Right now my tahoe has a pretty high trade in price that could get me into a new F150 with very little out of pocket. I know the F150 with the 3.5 Eco will tow far better as well.

I guess what i am saying is, do i take the chance and keep the tahoe. As i mentioned as i start adding up the miles soon etc.. the trade in drops, right now its really good. And will the F150 or Expy with the 3.5 be a major step up.

Hunter991,

You don't have to fall out of love with a vehicle to get a new one.
The cheapest options most of the time is always to keep what you have and not get an extended warranty, just take the chance and keep money set aside for repairs.
This is the sort of car buying advice you would get from a finance point of view.
Realize that while you hear about all the issues on the tahoe, you only hear the voices of those who discuss it online, being a small margin.

Nothing wrong with going to a truck or an expi. May I suggest actually test driving all 3 1500 trucks in the correct for your budget trim levels?
Being that you tow 6k lbs, that gives you lots of choice, and if your budget is 40 to 55k (then minus your trade-in) you should have a good time shopping.

I personally would do the following:

1. Go do your test drive homework by yourself (make appointment with a season salesguy and tell him what your goal is, aka I am comparing and not buying something on that day)

2. go to cargurus.com and look at what is around you in the 500 miles radius

3. try to find the best deal new or a 1 to 2 year old Certified used unit to save even more Cash

4. You can Private message me to ask me for more info, as I help people doing exactly what you are doing often (car concierge services)


Good Luck!

 

[calif phil]

Keep what you have and ask your dealer to give you a deal on an extended warranty. BTW my Yukon has 66,000 miles and has not fallen apart.

 

[AZCreeker]

Keep what you have and ask your dealer to give you a deal on an extended warranty. BTW my Yukon has 66,000 miles and has not fallen apart.

my 2015 Suburban, which was an ex-rental for the first year and accumulated 30000 miles, has now 85k miles, is solid and not any issues.

 

[Doubeleive]

um what issue's after 36k? lol this is news to me and I am around a LOT
the only "issue" that seems to come up often is the oem shocks seem take a dump fairly quickly, certainly not a reason to run out and buy another vehicle they all have some issue of some sort.
your not going to trade a cow for some magic beans.

 

[Sarah_279]

From what you describe, it doesn't sound like you're in desperate need of more towing capacity.
Unless you plan on buying a larger boat or something, what's the rush into something else if the setup you have now is working and you like your Tahoe otherwise? I understand the worry about the future, but there's never any guarantees with anything, unfortunately. (My perspective is coming from someone who traded in a perfect '13 Avalanche with 55,000 miles on it for a new vehicle that was a lemon. What I thought was a good decision .... turned out to be a dumb move. At the time. So maybe don't listen to me lol. I'll shut up now)

 

[OR VietVet]

At the end, it is your choice and your's alone. My brother works at the Ford assembly plant where the F-150 is made, but it is the commercial side of that line. He knows employees that buy what you are talking about and they have their own share of problems that get worked out, for the most part, eventually. I sure would like to see the list of the known "PROBLEMS" after 36k miles. There really is no such thing as the PERFECT rig. Each can have quirks. Even if you pay $1,000,000.00 for it. Do you like the vehicle comfort and does your wife? Will you like the Ford choices as much? Is towing your main concern? Does not sound like it when you say you don't really tow that much. Like Phil said, let the dealer you say you go to know your concerns and what you may do. That extended warranty, which I hate by the way, could be reduced and try to put you at ease. Hell, If you like the Tahoe design and creature comforts, get an older one that doesn't have problems, per say, after 36k miles. Maybe even let your dealer know you are in the market for a 2021 when he gets them.

 

[swathdiver]

I currently have a 2017 Tahoe premier with 32k miles. Its been a good SUV and haven't had many issues. I do regular maintenance at my dealer and they take care of me. I tow with my Tahoe (5.3L) with towing package brings me in around 8800 rating on my SUV. I tow about 6k at most (wake boat). The Tahoe does fine and i don't tow major distances about 150 miles a few times a year.

That brings me to this. After reading all the issues with GM after 36k miles, i am getting a bit nervous and starting looking at the F150 or Expedition. I browse the forums, and see so many complaints about the GM stuff after 36k miles and raving reviews for Ford on their forum. My wife makes me keep vehicles forever so if i don't make this decision before warranty runs out, i may be screwed. Right now my tahoe has a pretty high trade in price that could get me into a new F150 with very little out of pocket. I know the F150 with the 3.5 Eco will tow far better as well.

I guess what i am saying is, do i take the chance and keep the tahoe. As i mentioned as i start adding up the miles soon etc.. the trade in drops, right now its really good. And will the F150 or Expy with the 3.5 be a major step up.

Your truck is made to last several hundred thousand miles at least! There are lots of guys on here with the previous generations with well over 200K miles and some with 300K miles and more. Your statement about "all the issues with GM after 36K miles" also raises my eyebrows, never heard of this before.

F150s are great trucks but they have never had as nice a ride as GM and as for me and my house, the interiors are not as nice either. Then we come to Ford's decision to trade displacement for turbos, a little V6 with two hair dryers now doing the work of a big V8. How long is that motor going to last and at what fuel economy?

I've never put much stock in warranties and have never allowed myself to be held hostage by one. If one can afford the monthly payments on an $60K-$80K truck, they can surely scrounge up a few thousand dollars should a major repair pop up. For peace of mind you can purchase an extended warranty from the dealership/manufacturer and there are also aftermarket warranties like Car Shield.

It seems to me that the real issue is that you want an F150 and are looking for a reason to justify it, either in your head or to the Missus. If you want an F-150, go out and get one. Then get an extra large box of chocolates next week for your Valentine or take her away for the weekend in the new Ford!

 

[OR VietVet]

As I stated earlier, my brother works for Ford and has for 25 years plus. During that time I took advantage of buying an F250 diesel truck on his employee discount. That was years back so cannot compare to what you are thinking but I had my share of problems with it as well. I could buy, at his discount, a new truck whenever I want but in all the time I have been involved in auto repair as a tech or running shops and using all my vehicles to tow with, that F250 was the only other vehicle I ever owned besides a GM product. They have served me very well over the years. I never used extended warranties but as a service manager I dealt with them ALOT. I hate 'em. I always have a savings account set aside, that I add to every month, that is for maintenance and repairs of my vehicle. Way better odds than any extended warranty. Just like this forum, any Ford forum will slant to the product the forum sponsors. I make up my own mind based on my automotive history and how comfortable I am with the vehicle. Anyways, good luck with any decision you make but IMO I think I would rather have the V8 to tow with and add power to it as you see fit instead of the turbo engines. I saw lots and lots of problems with them in my shops. Most of it could be attributed to design and poor quality parts but the vast majority of them had to do with the maintenance that the owners did not do as needed. If you tow, you need to follow the maintenance schedule for severe duty instead of standard duty, or whatever they name it now.

 

[Miami-Dade]

I currently have a 2017 Tahoe premier with 32k miles. Its been a good SUV and haven't had many issues. I do regular maintenance at my dealer and they take care of me. I tow with my Tahoe (5.3L) with towing package brings me in around 8800 rating on my SUV. I tow about 6k at most (wake boat). The Tahoe does fine and i don't tow major distances about 150 miles a few times a year.

That brings me to this. After reading all the issues with GM after 36k miles, i am getting a bit nervous and starting looking at the F150 or Expedition. I browse the forums, and see so many complaints about the GM stuff after 36k miles and raving reviews for Ford on their forum. My wife makes me keep vehicles forever so if i don't make this decision before warranty runs out, i may be screwed. Right now my tahoe has a pretty high trade in price that could get me into a new F150 with very little out of pocket. I know the F150 with the 3.5 Eco will tow far better as well.

I guess what i am saying is, do i take the chance and keep the tahoe. As i mentioned as i start adding up the miles soon etc.. the trade in drops, right now its really good. And will the F150 or Expy with the 3.5 be a major step up.

I have 79K miles on my 2016 Tahoe LT and so far just plain old regular maintenance. If you keep up with maintenance [like ATF changes] you should be good to go.

I would rather have a V8 instead of a 3.5 Ecoboost Turbo. I am also not a big fan of the stop and start feature.

With that said I have zero plans of selling my Tahoe for years to come.

 

[avalonandl]

FYI- theres a LOT of Ford 3.5 whose turbos needing to be rebuilt from bearing failures.

 

[swathdiver]

FYI- theres a LOT of Ford 3.5 whose turbos needing to be rebuilt from bearing failures.

It ought to be known somewhere what the MTBF of those turbocharger bearings is. I don't pay much attention anymore, thirty or so years ago a turbocharger was about $1000 back then and the center sections were good for about 75K miles on conventional oil.

 

[GTNator]

Keep the Tahoe. Your worries of the unknown future are illogical. Who knows what tomorrow will bring. These vehicles are great and last a very long time if you maintain them. That’s the reason you can get such a great trade in value on it!

Also, have you been following Ford? They could be headed towards bankruptcy or at the very least significant financial distress. I wouldn’t buy anything from them right now till they figure out what they want to do going forward. (They should probably stop producing all vehicles except the Mustang and F150, but who knows).

Keep the Tahoe, maintain it, and if in the future you get the itch to buy something new, talk the wife into letting you make your own decisions on what truck to drive! (In a nice voice, lol).


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[greenhornet]

From real life and what I have read,Tubos are great when not being loaded. But load it down and fuel milage is not so good as compared to a larger engine not working as hard as in towing.

 

[JeffL]

Your truck is made to last several hundred thousand miles at least! There are lots of guys on here with the previous generations with well over 200K miles and some with 300K miles and more. Your statement about "all the issues with GM after 36K miles" also raises my eyebrows, never heard of this before.

F150s are great trucks but they have never had as nice a ride as GM and as for me and my house, the interiors are not as nice either. Then we come to Ford's decision to trade displacement for turbos, a little V6 with two hair dryers now doing the work of a big V8. How long is that motor going to last and at what fuel economy?

I've never put much stock in warranties and have never allowed myself to be held hostage by one. If one can afford the monthly payments on an $60K-$80K truck, they can surely scrounge up a few thousand dollars should a major repair pop up. For peace of mind you can purchase an extended warranty from the dealership/manufacturer and there are also aftermarket warranties like Car Shield.

It seems to me that the real issue is that you want an F150 and are looking for a reason to justify it, either in your head or to the Missus. If you want an F-150, go out and get one. Then get an extra large box of chocolates next week for your Valentine or take her away for the weekend in the new Ford!

Ive got 352,000 on my 2002 Tahoe. I drive nice and put up with the squeeks and rattles. Mechanically the air ride went out 2 years ago so i swapped it for conventional. Abs went bad at 300k so I converted it to conventional. Passlock acted up so I eliminated it with a newrockies. Other than than shes a dream.
I own a 4runner, f250, Tahoe and 1500 ram. All four have quirks.

 

[OR VietVet]

Ive got 352,000 on my 2002 Tahoe. I drive nice and put up with the squeeks and rattles. Mechanically the air ride went out 2 years ago so i swapped it for conventional. Abs went bad at 300k so I converted it to conventional. Passlock acted up so I eliminated it with a newrockies. Other than than shes a dream.
I own a 4runner, f250, Tahoe and 1500 ram. All four have quirks.

I think you need a Dodge Caravan in all that mix, but that is just IMO.

 

[MainahBob]

I have a 2016 Tahoe LT with 36K and also tow. We have used this to tow a 4500 lb camper from Maine to NC and up to the Maritimes and lots of other places. No problems (yet) and we also keep our vehicles 10 years or so (just sold a 2004 BMW 330i with 130K and bought my wife a 2019 Audi Q5-which she will have a very long time!).

With all that said, I decided to buy an extended warranty as I have done with some of other vehicles. I shopped around and got a pretty good deal ($1425) on the GMEPP (GM Extended Protection Plan) from Smith Motors in Indiana (Call Carly Boyd 219-696-0071). The pricing and duration is based on when you buy it and my model is to drive my new vehicle for a year before I do anything. At the end of the year, if it is a lemon, I'd likely dump it. If not, I look at buying a manufacturer's warranty which I did when it was one year old and had about 10K miles on it. This warranty, based on buying it in 2017, will last till October 2023 or 70K miles.

My local dealer was only selling the Ally Warranty which was the original GM warranty pre-bankruptcy and I figured that might be an issue if I was traveling and half way across the country. It was also more expensive.

My Tahoe went off warranty last October and fortunately, I have not had to use this (yet!)

Good luck. Hope this helps with your decision.

I currently have a 2017 Tahoe premier with 32k miles. Its been a good SUV and haven't had many issues. I do regular maintenance at my dealer and they take care of me. I tow with my Tahoe (5.3L) with towing package brings me in around 8800 rating on my SUV. I tow about 6k at most (wake boat). The Tahoe does fine and i don't tow major distances about 150 miles a few times a year.

That brings me to this. After reading all the issues with GM after 36k miles, i am getting a bit nervous and starting looking at the F150 or Expedition. I browse the forums, and see so many complaints about the GM stuff after 36k miles and raving reviews for Ford on their forum. My wife makes me keep vehicles forever so if i don't make this decision before warranty runs out, i may be screwed. Right now my tahoe has a pretty high trade in price that could get me into a new F150 with very little out of pocket. I know the F150 with the 3.5 Eco will tow far better as well.

I guess what i am saying is, do i take the chance and keep the tahoe. As i mentioned as i start adding up the miles soon etc.. the trade in drops, right now its really good. And will the F150 or Expy with the 3.5 be a major step up.

 

[George R]

The cam phasers are an absolute problem on the 3.5 gen 2 EB.
Oil changes will have to be performed far more frequently than on the GM due to more stringent oil requirements (engine oil lubricates turbos)
I have also seen a number of early gen 2 3.5EB engines over heat while towing.
(Search YouTube)

The borg Warner ko3 is a pretty solid/reliable turbocharger, it can very well last over 200k miles.