Advice on 2021 Tahoe, 5.3 V8 vs. Duramax 3.0

[Stbentoak]

What does the average oil change on the diesel cost compared to the gas engine? I understand there are typically multiple filters that have to be replaced, and that the diesel requires a higher grade and more quarts of oil than for a gas engine. Is that true, and how does that affect the comparison? Since I have never owned a diesel powered vehicle, I would like to know how the overall scheduled maintenance compares. Thanks!

Dealerships Always charge more for diesels, mainly because they think they are some kind of specialty item and they can get away with it. Usually it can be done for about half of what they charge or less, if you are willing to do your own. Really if you own a diesel you really should be able to do your own maintenance. I own three of them and the majority of them only get one oil change in the year, and my most expensive one which is a Cummins I can do for $75 all in. My other two I can do for about $50-$55. Each one will go 10,000 miles no problem and verified by independent analysis.
Don’t take this the wrong way, but if you’re not the least bit mechanically inclined and not willing to do anything yourself, I probably wouldn’t buy a diesel. But if you have a good understanding of how they work and what they need, there’s nothing more efficient or better out there to move along a huge vehicle like this....

 

[Toasty]

There’s not enough cost differential for that to be a decisive factor for me. I’d test drive them and buy what I liked the most.
5.3 with proper maintenance are good for several hundred thousand miles.
There’s no evidence yet to say what the B50 life on the new diesel will be. Modern designs are much more highly stressed and wear faster than pre emissions diesels. And there’s the requirement to remove the transmission at 150k miles to inspect the oil pump drive belt. I hope they fired the designer who signed off on that.

All of which is just academic for me; like most drivers I won’t keep one that long.

move back, not remove. not stupid simple, but not the worst engineering decision that I've ever seen

 

[Stbentoak]

move back, not remove. not stupid simple, but not the worst engineering decision that I've ever seen

Plus the fact that actual real world testing (Accelerated life tests..) has shown that this belt will easily go 200K. GM has actually thought about extending the 150K recommendation, but hasn't so far...

Its a non factor really, unless you drive like 50K a year etc....

 

[Bill 1960]

Move back, not remove? How much work does that save?

 

[fozzi58]

I'm on tiktok a lot and its a mixed bag of reactions on the 3.0TD. Some say its a great motor, makes good power and mileage for what it is. Some praise the design and just state it will last forever cause its a duramax.

The other half shit on it because of (as earlier stated) the oil belt needs to be inspected and/or replaced at 150k and a couple of posters mentioned something about sliding camshafts but I cant find anything about that. Here's a great video explaining its configuration. I personally think the design is pretty nice.

 

[2591tdj]

move back, not remove. not stupid simple, but not the worst engineering decision that I've ever seen

Huh???

 

[Geotrash]

Plus the fact that actual real world testing (Accelerated life tests..) has shown that this belt will easily go 200K. GM has actually thought about extending the 150K recommendation, but hasn't so far...

Its a non factor really, unless you drive like 50K a year etc....

Agreed. I don't know why everyone is focusing on this belt. There is every reason to believe it will outlast the chains and tensioners that drive the camshafts. Most people don't even get 150K out of the oil pickup tube O-rings in previous generation engines.

 

[stevedonato]

I little backstory. I ordered a 2021 Tahoe RST 5.3 V8 back on November 4th. I took delivery on January 8th. We only had the vehicle for a little over a month and put around 1200 miles on it. Mid February my wife was in a bad car accident in it and was t-***** by someone in an intersection. The Tahoe protected her from serious injuries, but as a result there was firewall and frame damage. The insurance claimed it a total loss, so now I'm back to square one on ordering another one.

I was curious about the Duramax 3.0, but was not yet available to order when I ordered mine. I wanted to know some people's thoughts on the forum, if you were to do it over again, would you opt for the turbo diesel over the 5.3 v8 and why.

Thanks in advanced!

Since the is no info here why not look as the history of Duramax owners complaint at https://www.carcomplaints.com They post owner and government complaints/recalls of every car/truck/suv and every model, every year that were made that complained about. I found it very informative.

 

[VAguy68]

My first post!
I really wanted the 3.0 but I also HAD to have the Z71 and from what I gathered it's not available with the Z71 due to the skid plate placement interfering with the oil pan or something on the diesel. I was bummed as that would be the ultimate combo IMHO.

I do 30K a year just back and forth to work. I did the calculations and even at 18 mpg in the 5.3 vs 23 mpg with the diesel, it just didn't make financial sense. Some places around here diesel is $.30 more than reg/gal. I'm currently averaging over 18 mpg in the 12K miles I've had it. Seen a best of 24mpg going downhill with a hurricane at my back...

I came out of an F150 ecoboost with a 35gal tank. I can't believe I only have a 24 gal tank in the Tahoe. I miss the 600+ mile range which I could have gotten with the 3.0. I didn't consider the 6.2 as I have one of those with a supercharger on top in my vette

 

[OR VietVet]

My first post!
I really wanted the 3.0 but I also HAD to have the Z71 and from what I gathered it's not available with the Z71 due to the skid plate placement interfering with the oil pan or something on the diesel. I was bummed as that would be the ultimate combo IMHO.

I do 30K a year just back and forth to work. I did the calculations and even at 18 mpg in the 5.3 vs 23 mpg with the diesel, it just didn't make financial sense. Some places around here diesel is $.30 more than reg/gal. I'm currently averaging over 18 mpg in the 12K miles I've had it. Seen a best of 24mpg going downhill with a hurricane at my back...

I came out of an F150 ecoboost with a 35gal tank. I can't believe I only have a 24 gal tank in the Tahoe. I miss the 600+ mile range which I could have gotten with the 3.0. I didn't consider the 6.2 as I have one of those with a supercharger on top in my vette

Welcome to the forum from Oregon.

You really should post some pics of your rig.