GMT900 Yukon/Tahoe - Bad Idea?

Shopping for a used car for SWMBO, and I'm intrigued by these.

She prefers to drive an SUV or pickup over a car (that isn't some sort of "fun" car that is) and would rather it be more "full size". I don't mind it because it would give me something I could tow with if needed.

There seems to be a handful out there in the $7-10k range, albeit with miles in the neighborhood of 200k.

Would be looking for a 4x4 Tahoe or Yukon. I'd prefer a Suburban or Yukon XL, but she draws the line at the smaller one. Fuel economy isn't really a big deal. She drives a LS1 Fbody that takes 93 in the summer, and is oddly OK DDing an old modded 318 Dodge Dakota that gets 13-15mpg on 93.

Would a 150-200k mile example be a terrible purchase?

If not, what should I look out for if I take a look at some?

Is the AFM stuff overblown, or should I prioritize a 6.0 equipped model to avoid it altogether?

My dad bought one about 4 years ago with 150k. He had the afm tuned out but not removed. It’s sitting just shy of 200k and other than incidentals (suspension parts, bearings and a broken ac line) it’s been a great machine for them. 

I've seen/met plenty of people DDing similar mileage cars. They seem to have no issues with them overall. One even puts down 600+WHP pretty reliably!

Outside of a cam swap, afm/dod delete, one door panel replaced, 2 hub bearings, lbj's, and outer tierods, mine has been good for the past 125k. Currently sitting at 175k on the original trans fluid. It's a turn the key and go kind of vehicle. I still need to put pinion bearings in the whiny rearend but it still rolls down the road just fine and I figure to keep it well into the 300k mike range.

I currently DD a GMT900  2500HD, 4WD.  Has the 6.0 and 6 speed trans.

Bought it a few years back with 130,000 miles, currently at 296,500 miles. Nothing much more than maintenance items Done by me. Most critical repair it needs right now is the oil pump o-ring, which is a known failure point on most every LS truck motor. Going to go ahead and do the entire oil pump/pickup tube while I have it open.

It's been a great truck, it has a few driveability quirks with the GM 6 speed transmission programming, and GM torque management. I think a good tuner could remedy most of that. It seeps oil a bit, but nothing enough to leave a drop in the driveway.

Only thing that seems to kill them is rust.  Get the nicest one you can find in the exact color and options you want because they made a ton of them.

6.0s are sweet but the only way to get them is in the 3/4 ton chassis (no Tahoe) or Denali (all optioned up)

Sign me up as wanting an 8.1 Avalanche to DD.

I see nothing wrong with your plan. I would suggest a base model. GM luxury options don't age well.

Silverado will be way cheaper, but otherwise you should be fine.

93gsxturbo said:

6.0s are sweet but the only way to get them is in the 3/4 ton chassis (no Tahoe) or Denali (all optioned up)

GMT900 Denalis (and Escalades) all got the 6.2. Even better!

I do most of my towing and roadtripping with an '07 Escalade ESV and have no huge complaints. There was an Escalade specific thread active on here a month or so ago if you're interested in taking a look.

Thanks for the input everyone.

I forgot that 6.0's weren't really a factor outside of the Hybrid models.

Escalade is also intriguing. Especially when you can get the 6.2 without AFM from 07-09.

Going to look at a suspiciously cheap 2008 Escalade tonight.

Just to update...

The AFM stuff scared me away from anything 5.3 or 2010+ 6.2, so my search ended up limited to 07-09 Escalades, Denalis, or a hens teeth 2009 only Tahoe LTZ.

SWMBO was partial to the Escalade so we mostly focused on those. All of the examples we checked out in the 4 digit price range (from dealers) were really not great for what we were looking for, although I would assume it was exacerbated by the fact that we were looking where we live in SE MI. Varying degrees of stuff not working, rust at the bottom of doors/hatch, dash lights illuminated, some missing all or even half of the 3 row, and the "Cashmere" (IE tan/beige/whatever) leather interior ages pretty horribly...

We ended up looking around in the $12k range and found, at a Cadillac dealer, a rust free dealer maintained 2008 with 140k, Ebony (black) interior and a brand new set of tires. It spent the first 3rd to half of it's life in OR and TX and has some really minor issues like an auto folding mirror that doesn't work (who cares), a rear defroster tab detached from the glass and flaking chrome on the stock 22" wheels.

We've had it for a couple weeks and SWMBO loves it. I've been pleasantly surprised that the non-AFM 6.2 has so far returned around 14MPG in almost exclusively non-highway driving and on 87.

6.2 Denali and Escalade both have AFM, they were the 1st to get it.  My one owner, well cared for 2007 cost me a ton of money when it failed at 135k miles.  Disable it now before it costs you, like mine did... 

I had been a long time GM Full size SUV fan until that debacle...  never again.

pimpm3 said:

6.2 Denali and Escalade both have AFM, they were the 1st to get it.  My one owner, well cared for 2007 cost me a ton of money when it failed at 135k miles.  Disable it now before it costs you, like mine did... 

I had been a long time GM Full size SUV fan until that debacle...  never again.

Are you sure yours was an '07? I have an '07 Escalade ESV that absolutely does NOT have AFM on the 6.2. All of the research I did prior to buying it indicated that they didn't get it until '10+.

Powar said:

pimpm3 said:

6.2 Denali and Escalade both have AFM, they were the 1st to get it.  My one owner, well cared for 2007 cost me a ton of money when it failed at 135k miles.  Disable it now before it costs you, like mine did... 

I had been a long time GM Full size SUV fan until that debacle...  never again.

Are you sure yours was an '07? I have an '07 Escalade ESV that absolutely does NOT have AFM on the 6.2. All of the research I did prior to buying it indicated that they didn't get it until '10+.

 

The research I did showed that some early 2007 Escalades had the AFM "hardware" installed in the engine, but no tuning to actually put it to use. All other 07's, 08's and 09's had no AFM hardware and thus no AFM tuning and no AFM. The valley cover is what gives it away. A non-AFM 6.2 has a flat valley cover, while an AFM equipped 2010+ (or AFM hardware early 07) has the odd looking AFM manifold valley cover.