2009 Yukon Denali 6.2 L9H Engine Replacement

[Geotrash]

Thomas the Service Manager at Courtesy Automotive called today with bad news. They are recommending I replace my 6.2 motor with a Jasper reman since there is metal in the oil. I am completely devastated but had a feeling it might come to this. I'm looking at around $10k - $12k but I haven't gotten a formal quote yet from them. If I sell this truck in its current condition I would be lucky to get a few thousand for it. We owe $9k on this truck, which is definitely not a good situation to be in. If I had paid $4k-5k for the truck knowing it needed a new engine I probably still might have bought it and made the investment. They said they could tear into the motor and determine what is actually wrong with it but I'd be paying labor for that, and if it turned out the block can't be saved I'd still have to pay for the remanufactured engine.

My wife actually is taking this better than I am. She says we don't have a choice and we have to fix it because we will still need a second car no matter what. I'm going to have to get creative with paying for this engine replacement. I bought this from a dealer and the only way I could get money back from them is by taking them to arbitration, which would mean I would have to pay for a lawyer as well.

Thomas said that LT would be looking at the truck later today or tomorrow himself to clarify what my options are. I feel like such a naïve and foolish mark for ending up in this situation, especially after having the pre-purchase inspection done. If I did move forward with the rebuild I would have a new torque converter installed so at least I won't have to worry about the transmission for a while. The tremendous joy I had when I bought this thing 5 weeks ago has just turned into absolute sadness. Curious to hear anyone else's thoughts.

Aw man...my heart goes out to you. What a $hitty bit of luck. Don't beat yourself up too bad - you did everything right that you could. With used cars, we pays our moneys and we takes our chances. Any one of us could have had the same thing happen.

If there's a silver lining here, it's that these trucks are capable of going 400K+ miles and yours is about to have a new engine and TC that should go the distance. And truly, there is no better road trip/kid hauling/trailer towing vehicle on the planet.

Contacting a lawyer probably won't go anywhere, unfortunately.

 

[KraftMatic87]

Aw man...my heart goes out to you. What a $hitty bit of luck. Don't beat yourself up too bad - you did everything right that you could. With used cars, we pays our moneys and we takes our chances. Any one of us could have had the same thing happen.

If there's a silver lining here, it's that these trucks are capable of going 400K+ miles and yours is about to have a new engine and TC that should go the distance. And truly, there is no better road trip/kid hauling/trailer towing vehicle on the planet.

Contacting a lawyer probably won't go anywhere, unfortunately.

Yeah as much as I would love to take the dealer to arbitration I'm gonna be out a lot of money getting this truck back on the road. Plus the verdict at an arbitration hearing cannot be appealed, so I could end up spending money on a lawyer and risk never recouping the cost. Honestly I'm just glad my wife is onboard to fix the vehicle. We will figure out how to fund a rebuild or engine replacement. Thomas said he was pulling LT off another project to look at my truck so I'll wait for his input before I decide what to do. My cheapest option would be taking this thing over to Acer Engines nearby and having them recondition and rebuild my block, but if I can have Courtesy Automotive do the work I'd prefer having them do it.

 

[Geotrash]

Yeah as much as I would love to take the dealer to arbitration I'm gonna be out a lot of money getting this truck back on the road. Plus the verdict at an arbitration hearing cannot be appealed, so I could end up spending money on a lawyer and never recouping the cost. Honestly I'm just glad my wife is onboard to fix the vehicle. We will figure out how to fund a rebuild or engine replacement. Thomas said he was pulling LT off another project to look at my truck so I'll wait for his input before I decide what to do. My cheapest option would be taking this thing over to Acer Engines nearby and having them recondition and rebuild my block, but if I can have Courtesy Automotive do the work I'd prefer having them do it.

Dropping in a Jasper reman is the way to go. And I bet it will end up quite a bit less than the $10-12K you were quoted.

 

[Tonyrodz]

Do you have any recourse with the company that did the inspection and said everything was OK? You did buy it based on their report.

 

[KraftMatic87]

Do you have any recourse with the company that did the inspection and said everything was OK? You did buy it based on their report.

They said they would refund my $160 inspection fee lol. I’d probably have to threaten a lawsuit to get anything out of them. I have spoken to the service manager and I asked him the name of the mechanic who looked at my truck and he said he didn’t know it was under his name. That set off all kinds of alarm bells obviously. I’m going to speak to my friend whose a lawyer to see if I have any recourse. The only physical evidence I have is their clean inspection report, and then two other inspection reports after I took possession showing all the repairs that were needed plus the knocking noise. I’d have to prove intent somehow and that seems challenging to do.

 

[Tonyrodz]

They said they would refund my $160 inspection fee lol. I’d probably have to threaten a lawsuit to get anything out of them. I have spoken to the service manager and I asked him the name of the mechanic who looked at my truck and he said he didn’t know it was under his name. That set off all kinds of alarm bells obviously. I’m going to speak to my friend whose a lawyer to see if I have any recourse. The only physical evidence I have is their clean inspection report, and then two other inspection reports after I took possession showing all the repairs that were needed plus the knocking noise. I’d have to prove intent somehow and that seems challenging to do.

I hate to hear when the little guy gets screwed. I wish you luck my friend. Hopefully there'll be something, anything you can do.

 

[mattbta]

I tend to trust LT based on his builds I just recently started watching on YouTube, but how much “metal”?

 

[KraftMatic87]

I tend to trust LT based on his builds I just recently started watching on YouTube, but how much “metal”?

I haven’t gotten a quantity of metal but the service manager said he pulled the dipstick and said he saw some shiny bits in the oil. They have not cut the oil filter in half yet to check that but they said they would send pictures when they do. I definitely trust LT and everyone else at Courtesy Automotive, but I’m just hoping I can afford to get this thing back on the road considering I have a loan out on a lemon lol.

My wife is being so chill about this whole thing which I’m kinda shocked about. I’m so pissed I got taken advantage of but she’s just telling me we need to move on and get it fixed and she’s not wrong.

Hoping to get LT’s personal input tmrw with a quote for the engine replacement and then I’ll go from there.

 

[Geotrash]

My wife is being so chill about this whole thing which I’m kinda shocked about. I’m so pissed I got taken advantage of but she’s just telling me we need to move on and get it fixed and she’s not wrong.

She knows you did your best and that it’s not your fault. Sounds like a great woman. Count your lucky stars.

My wife is the same way… and usually a step or two ahead of me

 

[KraftMatic87]

She knows you did your best and that it’s not your fault. Sounds like a great woman. Count your lucky stars.

My wife is the same way… and usually a step or two ahead of me

I’m definitely a lucky man to have such a wonderful woman in my life. We will find a way to save this truck. I have a 4 year old son and a 2 year old daughter and they LOVED the Denali. Every day I picked them up from daycare and brought them home they would spend 15-20 minutes in the truck pretending they were driving it. They cried when we sent it away on a flatbed and to be honest I got emotional too. Probably because I have a loan out against it lol. I’m hoping I can afford to have a Jasper 6.2 dropped in with a new torque converter and then I’ll just send it! Where there’s a will there’s a way!