Rear Shock Options

While trying to take advantage of warranty work while my 17 yukon XL Denali is at the dealership it was found that the rear shocks are done. The dealerships quote to replace was ~$2,400 with each shock costing $900. There has been quite a bit of back and forth with the warranty company as it states the shocks are covered however they only cover OEM shocks up to $400 per shock or aftermarket shocks up to $316 per shock, plus the labor.

Option 1
Replace with OEM replacements and I would have to come out of pocket ~$1,000 ($1,800 shock price - $800 that warranty will cover)

Option 2
Replace with aftermarket shocks at a max $316 per shock or again come out of pocket the difference

GMParts.com has a 35% off suspension sale going on and I sent the details to the dealership however they confirmed with their district manager that the sale is "non transferable i.e. cannot be applied to a repair order" so I would have to pay full retail price for the parts.

So my questions are
1) Are the OEM shocks worth the $1,000 out of pocket I would have to pay?

2) What would the best aftermarket option be to achieve the "cush" ride my wife wants?


We only use the Yukon for road trips and taking the kids to soccer etc, no towing etc.

Have you checked RockAuto’s pricing?

Bigburb3500 said:

Have you checked RockAuto’s pricing?

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On OEM shocks? I thought they sell aftermarket replacements which I wouldn’t know what brand/model to use to replace these with.

I’ll check them out when I get to a computer, I’ve used their site before and it was clunky at best on a cell phone haha

Rock Auto usually offers choices of original GM, AC/Delco/Delphi as well as aftermarket options too.
No way I'd ever pay a stealership $2400 to replace my rear shocks... the same folks that wanted to charge $700 to replace my spark plugs.
Took all of 45 minutes to do them myself, plus the cost of eight Irridium Bosch plugs. $600+ in my pocket, not theirs!

Rear Genuine GM rear shocks for our 4WD 2013 Tahoe run $383 each from R-A, with a bunch of other options that cost far less.
Changing rear shocks is not too terribly hard, unless they're all rusted in there (not a problem here in the desert S/W).
If you have the time/tools, I'd do it myself and pocket that extra cash the dealer will use to fatten-up their balance sheet.

Jake707 said:

On OEM shocks? I thought they sell aftermarket replacements which I wouldn’t know what brand/model to use to replace these with.

I’ll check them out when I get to a computer, I’ve used their site before and it was clunky at best on a cell phone haha

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Yes, they have a TON of options and if you search on the forum here ppl post their discount codes. I’m currently buying new shocks for my truck from them and they are dirty cheap vs anyone else even with shipping.

KC 2013 Tahoe said:

Rock Auto usually offers choices of original GM, AC/Delco/Delphi as well as aftermarket options too.
No way I'd ever pay a stealership $2400 to replace my rear shocks... the same folks that wanted to charge $700 to replace my spark plugs.
Took all of 45 minutes to do them myself, plus the cost of eight Irridium Bosch plugs. $600+ in my pocket, not theirs!

Rear Genuine GM rear shocks for our 4WD 2013 Tahoe run $383 each from R-A, with a bunch of other options that cost far less.
Changing rear shocks is not too terribly hard, unless they're all rusted in there (not a problem here in the desert S/W).
If you have the time/tools, I'd do it myself and pocket that extra cash the dealer will use to fatten-up their balance sheet.

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Just to clarify, this is warranty work. I wouldn’t pay the dealership the $2,400 either haha and if the shocks are under those thresholds I listed I don’t come out of pocket anything, which is the only reason why I’m comfortable even having the dealer do the work or I’d do it myself for sure, just trying to take advantage of the warranty the best I can while I can. Haha

Magnaride shocks at the dealer are $900 each, RockAuto sells them for about $400 each. Most aftermarket Magnaride shocks are knockoffs and from what I have read on these forums don't last.

Jake707 said:

Just to clarify, this is warranty work. I wouldn’t pay the dealership the $2,400 either haha and if the shocks are under those thresholds I listed I don’t come out of pocket anything, which is the only reason why I’m comfortable even having the dealer do the work or I’d do it myself for sure, just trying to take advantage of the warranty the best I can while I can. Haha

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Yes - Hope you can get them covered without having to pay any out of pocket costs! Good luck

Jake707 said:

Just to clarify, this is warranty work. I wouldn’t pay the dealership the $2,400 either haha and if the shocks are under those thresholds I listed I don’t come out of pocket anything, which is the only reason why I’m comfortable even having the dealer do the work or I’d do it myself for sure, just trying to take advantage of the warranty the best I can while I can. Haha

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I wonder if you show the pricing on RockAuto if dealer will match pricing? Worth a shot or if you are comfortable with doing it yourself, will the warranty company buy/reimburse you for the parts?

warranty company won’t pay me anything. Work has to be done by shop and the reimburse.

I found two options on rock auto at about $400 each but not sure which would be best or if another option would be better?
One says GM but also says AC delco and the other says Arnorttp