No customers with those fuel sluggers at my shop yet.
A very typical problem with chevs is the intake gasket problems. They addressed the problem with metal gaskets with molded rubber to replace the plastic/rubber original ones. I would assume the engine platform in those trucks are that \"new\" unproven upgrade gaskets.
Fuel pump issues are very common in pretty well every chevrolet out there. The typical heater core will fail in about 100,000km or so. Alternators are the constant pieces of garbage in chevs aswell so make sure your battery is always replaced every 4-5 years regardless of what a load test tells you. Serp tensioners will start to slop in 80-100,000km. Power windows motors commonly fail in a short time frame within 100,000kms or so not to mention the switches.
Rear main seals puke usually well before 100,000 kms on alot of chev trucks which the trans will be required to pull out to fix.
All in all the newer chevs dont seem to have the frying PCM problems like the older generation chevs in the 90's. The chevs do seem to stay a little more simplistic compared to a ford which IMO is a good thing. The simpler they remain the better it is to replace things later.
I was very close in buying a new MDX after looking around in the SUV market. My friend Stanley is the fleet manager at Burrard Acura. He warned me that if I take a test drive I'll buy it 100%. I declined the testdrive and went the economical route. Decided to keep my wifes 2001 CRV (48,000km) and dump my 97 civic hatch (101,000km) for an new 4 door econobox 170Hp Toyota Matrix XRS.
The Yukon/tahoe's have the oldschool pig v8's in them. The intake gaskets will fail 100% but its not that bad to fix. It'll take aprox 5hrs_ish to fix and typically those v8's do NOT have headgasket issues. The Pitman arms and idler arms on the front ends always screw up and get frikken sloppy as hell!!!! Not a costly fix but the pitman arm takes some smart manuevering. Tranny's are simple to pull out if problems occur (not very common that I see anyways). When doing a tuneup I'd suggest using AC Delco (cap/rotors) only because I've seen aftermarket ones cross fire inside the cap more often than an AC delco one. Pot metal shit quick connectors on the intake manifolds that commonly crack (especially when your pulling a trailor or when your in another province hehehehehe - murphy's law) replace the POS with a brass one and a good quality hose clamp.
I think there are issues with all makes. The yukon/tahoe's are not that bad. They feel like a TRUCK compared to many other SUV's out there. They are on the primitive side but its a rugged raunchy beast compared to many newer rides available these days. Personally if I had a choice of getting a chev or ford in the domestic world I'd say Chev (SUV).
In our family the next ride will be a baby puking carrier and its gonna be 100% new honda oddysey (next year or two). If we feel a SUV is needed it may be an MDX or Honda pilot. Very very slim I'd need to visit the dealership with those vehicles.
I've driven a customers tahoe and its a nice ride. Not bad to fix and alot of balls. As I said I like the older primitive proven v8's with distributor caps rather than a lot of newer individual coil pack ignition systems.
Matt theres so many cars out there to choose from. People can flame me all they want but I wouldn't suggest a Ford. My brother has a new f150 and its beautiful but I bet he's even scared to fix it when time comes. New chevs really suck in the reliability department. The Astro van club drives around in oldschool proven V6 platforms that have held up extremely well. The newer chevs (late 90's, 2000) with the 3100, 3400's are absolute pieces of junk. Let me rephrase..... they are great for working down my mortgage
Headgaskets are a tad more frequent than an older v6 chev.
Alot of newer fords pretty well are brazilian soft butter warping heads, mexican, china components. Not saying chev is a world better in their newer stuff. Chev's use AC delco which many parts are manufactured in china. If I \"had\" to buy a domestic I'd lease it. They are honestly no where near the level of reliability to an import. My database of customer prove this time and time again. I guess I'd lease a ford since my bro's friend owns brown bros ford.
Just remember driving impression and maintenance is two different worlds. An older yukon/tahoe is IMO built tougher due to older tech platforms with slightly newer tech components.
Hard call. I hope my babbles are somewhat informative. Just remember people comment on reliability in the short frame. The big picture is when the vehicle gets older and thats when \"real\" reliability proves itself.
Yukon/tahoe will need some tlc and common preventative maintenance and you'll be fine.
