Thinking about buying a Tahoe

[BravoXray]

I have an '06 F150 and an '04 Town Car, and am seriously replacing them with a '15-'19 Tahoe. I rarely drive the Town Car, and don't have to haul truck parts and tires around since the trucks are gone. The Tahoe would allow me to take up to five passengers, would be comfortable on trips, get decent fuel mileage, tow my utility trailer, and with the seats folded down can still haul 8' long lumber, and then would only have to plate and insure one vehicle instead of two.
The only reservations I have it that while the 5.3L and 6.0L engines have proven to be very reliable, the AFM (Active Fuel Management) system and direct injection can be very expensive to repair if they fail.
Anyone have any experiences with Tahoes, good or bad?

 

[Bronco82]

With the Tahoe itself, negative. But, for work around 2014 - 2018, our fleet did get a bunch of Chevrolet Silverado pickup trucks and I am aware of at least four of them that had to have the transmissions rebuilt around 100 000 miles and later. In their defense, they were driven very hard, like very hard. They seemed to hold up aside from the transmissions. Even got very good gas mileage considering how they were driven.

Two coworkers of mine have them, one of them even commutes 40 minutes each way to work with it. Little side note, it was actually stolen while at a concert and located in a sea can awaiting transport, but she got it back and still enjoys it.

 

[hiddentacocatneddih]

Chevys in those years ate lifters and cams

Budget a top end replacement once it starts making noise. It's not if, it's when typically.

 

[5030]

I have an '06 F150 and an '04 Town Car, and am seriously replacing them with a '15-'19 Tahoe. I rarely drive the Town Car, and don't have to haul truck parts and tires around since the trucks are gone. The Tahoe would allow me to take up to five passengers, would be comfortable on trips, get decent fuel mileage, tow my utility trailer, and with the seats folded down can still haul 8' long lumber, and then would only have to plate and insure one vehicle instead of two.
The only reservations I have it that while the 5.3L and 6.0L engines have proven to be very reliable, the AFM (Active Fuel Management) system and direct injection can be very expensive to repair if they fail.
Anyone have any experiences with Tahoes, good or bad?

Holley makes a module that plugs into the OBD port that cancels the valve defeat BS. I think I paid 100 bucks for it and the wife's fuel mileage stayed the same and the engine quit burning oil as well. Check with the Holley / Range delete website to see if the model you are looking at can be deleted with the module.

 

[nybirdman]

Crew cab pickup(maybe with a cap) will do all and not have carpet in back.Moves all the unpleasant smells and mess to a box outside the driving area.Should be cheaper and easier to find used.
Been there done that and always went back to pickups.

 

[Hay Dude]

I owned a loaded ‘08 Tahoe from 2008-2020. Overall, probably the best, most versatile vehicle I ever owned.
It could hold anything, was reliable, rode amazingly well in all types of weather & road conditions. It did not rust (garaged) and we put 210,000 miles on it before it gave us any issues. Only repair ever made was the front axle center section somehow took on water and had to be replaced.

I would buy another one, but my wife had more say on the family rig and she likes the BMW X-5. I’d take a Tahoe any day. Much more roomy.

 

[rangerfredbob]

Yep, what they said, the DI engines are great aside from the IAFM lifter stuff, tend to have transmission issues around 100-150k. The previous generation with the LS 5.3/6.0L are good too but the 4L60/4L65 trans tend to go out occasionally but you'll get that with anything... my buddies like picking up the early '00's Tahoe's and Yukons for offroad beaters as they can put up with a lot of shenanigan's... of course we have a friend that is a professional mechanic that does transmissions so the transmission thing isn't a huge issue...

 

[Bocephous]

I've got a 2005 with 242,000 miles on it (not my miles) I bought from a friend about a year and a half ago. He replaced/rebuilt a lot of stuff on it, mostly preventative maintenance. If you're looking at a 2007 or newer you'll want to disable the AFM to try to save the lifters, as others have already noted. A tune or Range products sells an item that plugs in and deactivates it.

 

[deerefan]

I have an '06 F150 and an '04 Town Car, and am seriously replacing them with a '15-'19 Tahoe. I rarely drive the Town Car, and don't have to haul truck parts and tires around since the trucks are gone. The Tahoe would allow me to take up to five passengers, would be comfortable on trips, get decent fuel mileage, tow my utility trailer, and with the seats folded down can still haul 8' long lumber, and then would only have to plate and insure one vehicle instead of two.
The only reservations I have it that while the 5.3L and 6.0L engines have proven to be very reliable, the AFM (Active Fuel Management) system and direct injection can be very expensive to repair if they fail.
Anyone have any experiences with Tahoes, good or bad?

I currently own 2 2015 GM products-a Yukon XL and Chevy 2500HD. The Yukon has 130k miles on it. Other than small repairs-lift gate latch and arms and temp sensor-it has been a pretty good vehicle. Bought it with 85k miles on it 3 years ago, one owner with good service record. My Silverado-bought it in September of 22 with 43k miles. Great truck, only needed a battery-until now. Been in the shop twice the past month-radiator cracked and torque converter issue. Also one owner, has 92k miles now. Like others have said-watch the lifters with the AFM system. Terrible system that I cannot believe GM still uses and hasn’t provided their customers with much support with years of recorded issues.

 

[nyone]

I wouldnt buy one with AFM or DOD. Lots of issues with them.

I own a 2012 suburban 2500 with 6.0l no AFM or DOD or anything like that. It has 140k, the valve covers have never been opened and the trans is original. I bought the nicest one I could find because they all went way down hill from this model.

 

[chim]

Had a 2007 Tahoe company vehicle and when I turned it in it had well over 300,000 miles on it. Engine still sounded like a new one. Did have to replace the cats along the way.

 

[bigtiller]

My town buys them for cop cars.

 

[chim]

Our local dealer "launders" 100's of Chevy vehicles for the state and probably other fleets. When the Covid/chip baloney had inventories low, they got stuck with 4 or 5 bright red stripped Tahoes that were supposed to go to fire services somewhere. Although the SUV's were very humble there was no getting a deal on them.

 

[5030]

Little word of experience here.. The Holley OBD delete won't fit ever year of Burb or Tahoe so you need to check their website but if it fits, it's 100% plug and play, eliminates the oil burning and the motor 'sounds' much happier as well.

If you don't want to go that route or the module won't fit your year, just remove the Molex connector on the backside of the power brake booster. That does the same thing but you will get a 'check engine light' doing that. How I started out before getting the module and it's my wife's vehicle so the module is the best for her. Mileage stayed the same, if anything it got a little better and no more 4 cylinder weinie engine either.

GM does that for their CAFE rating. It's a terrible fix in my view.

 

[deerefan]

Little word of experience here.. The Holley OBD delete won't fit ever year of Burb or Tahoe so you need to check their website but if it fits, it's 100% plug and play, eliminates the oil burning and the motor 'sounds' much happier as well.

If you don't want to go that route or the module won't fit your year, just remove the Molex connector on the backside of the power brake booster. That does the same thing but you will get a 'check engine light' doing that. How I started out before getting the module and it's my wife's vehicle so the module is the best for her. Mileage stayed the same, if anything it got a little better and no more 4 cylinder weinie engine either.

GM does that for their CAFE rating. It's a terrible fix in my view.

Agreed. The cylinder deactivation is plagued with problems, the worst being lifter/engine failures costing consumers a fortune.

 

[Hay Dude]

My dream SUV is a Tahoe/Dmax
Make mine black with tinted glass and some nice tires
And an extended warranty

 

[5030]

My dream SUV is a Tahoe/Dmax
Make mine black with tinted glass and some nice tires
And an extended warranty

You must live on a paved road. Here, any dark finish vehicle always looks dirty simply because we live on a dirt / gravel road. Far as the 4-6-8 cutout deal, all that is about is GM upping their CAFE standard at the consumer's expense. Terrible design.

 

[Hay Dude]

You must live on a paved road. Here, any dark finish vehicle always looks dirty simply because we live on a dirt / gravel road. Far as the 4-6-8 cutout deal, all that is about is GM upping their CAFE standard at the consumer's expense. Terrible design.

Yeah well I’m not worried about 4-6-8 because as I said, mine would be a Duramax.
They make garden hoses for dirty cars, so dark colors are fine for me.

Your continual criticism and negativity of everything someone likes that you don’t is incredible.

 

[nbking]

My wife has had a few Tahoe's. 2003, 2008, and currently driving 2017 with 62,000. She loves them. No problems with the 03, or 08, the 17 needed a water pump under warranty and a thermostat last year. They have been great vehicles for us. The 17 is a midnight edition Z71, and has been her favorite. Had exhaust on the 08, mistake in my opinion, as it would go to 4 cylinder and sound like crap. Ha ha.

 

[WM75Guy]

My dream SUV is a Tahoe/Dmax
Make mine black with tinted glass and some nice tires
And an extended warranty

I like the GMC front end. Went with 2024 Yukon/3.0 Duramax in white with brown interior, to match my 3500HD. Both with extended warranty. Too hot in Texas for black vehicles.