Got a Brand New (Used) 2000 Chevy Tahoe Z71!

[Torsionbar21]

Hey All. Newby here. I consider myself very fortunate that I was able to buy this Tahoe yesterday. Living in N. Idaho and looking for a reasonably priced 4WD for winter is no simple task. Had been looking for years at older Cherokees, Jeeps, 4Runners, Tacomas, Broncos, Bronco 2's, Blazers, many old pickups, etc. but no 4WD here is cheap unless its basically junk. Found this beauty on craigslist and managed to get the deal done.

I always knew Tahoes were decent vehicles, however, I was unaware of this specific model. Was surprised when I looked at a 2000 model with a 5.7L, since the 2000's switched to the 5.3L. When I searched "2000 Tahoe" info on this does not really come up because it turns out it is a special edition Z71 that was built in Texas during GM's crossover from the prior GMT400 to the new GMT800 platform (prior GMT400 models apparently built in Janesville, WI). (I'm guessing they probably had lots of parts leftover and figured "hey lets do something different with them"). Some interesting info about the model is on Wikipedia - even the brush guard is factory standard apparently (never seen that before). I haven't dug very deep on them though.

Got a carfax on it. It was a one-owner vehicle purchased December 1999 and they got rid of it in July 2021. A little local dealer bought it at the auction and I found it on craigslist searching "Tahoe" on a whim. Maintenance was kept up well and no accidents. Has underbody coat and no rust that I can find. Except for a few fairly minor cosmetic issues in the interior, and some minor paint issues that I will eventually get fixed, I cannot find anything significantly wrong with it, but I need to have my mechanical buddy check it out (there is a little bit of evidence of oil leaking, but that seems "normal" for the age). I did find after I bought it that there is a noticeable "thud" upon hard acceleration from stop. Seems to be in the rear so I'll have to get that checked out. (Anybody have any advice on this kind of issue?)

It seems to me the only thing that's not stock is the wheels, which seem pretty nice, but I don't like the look of chrome. Thinking maybe I'll eventually get them powder-coated black someday, or just get different ones.

Small things to replace/fix:
Driver side mirror
Passenger front door lock actuator doesn't work
Key fob (I might get remote start so I'll leave this alone for now)
Center console side latch (also the front console retracting lid does not function correctly - not sure what to do there)
2WD/4WD actuator switch is glitchy
Parking brake seems pretty soft

Eventually I'd like to put a 3" lift and new shocks on, and maybe 35" tires (advice on this is appreciated).

I'm also interested in people's experience getting this tuned.

I have to say I'm impressed with this truck. The engine sounds great and the handling is solid. I would say it rides nicer than my 2017 F150 (which I love).

Anybody have any advice on this vehicle, thoughts on what to look out for, etc?

Thanks

 

[OR VietVet]

Welcome to the forum and glad you got what you wanted.

 

[TollKeeper]

Welcome! Clean old truck you got there!

I am actually a bit surprised, those red ones were usually so sun baked by now, that no clear coat was left. Yours look great!

Do you still have the fog lights in the bumper? Do they work?

You could get a standard Tahoe in 2000. You could easily identify if they were special edition by the painted bumpers.

I would consider that one a survivor. Most of those Sentina Push Bumpers are long destroyed/rusted by now.

 

[Torsionbar21]

Whoever had it seems to have taken pretty good care of it, but there are a lot of mostly little things that need to be fixed that would add up quickly for a shop to do, but are mostly pretty cheap if you can get "youtube certified", so I suppose they figured it was time to let it go. I'm thinking it was garage-kept its whole life and almost all city driven. I was really surprised that is has basically no rust. That's common for older truck here, but since they've been using the liquid de-icer on the roads for the past few years vehicles rust a lot faster now. The fog lights are there and they work. The most surprising thing to me was that the driver seat is not ripped and is in really good shape.

 

[RED TAHOE LS]

Hey All. Newby here. I consider myself very fortunate that I was able to buy this Tahoe yesterday. Living in N. Idaho and looking for a reasonably priced 4WD for winter is no simple task. Had been looking for years at older Cherokees, Jeeps, 4Runners, Tacomas, Broncos, Bronco 2's, Blazers, many old pickups, etc. but no 4WD here is cheap unless its basically junk. Found this beauty on craigslist and managed to get the deal done.

I always knew Tahoes were decent vehicles, however, I was unaware of this specific model. Was surprised when I looked at a 2000 model with a 5.7L, since the 2000's switched to the 5.3L. When I searched "2000 Tahoe" info on this does not really come up because it turns out it is a special edition Z71 that was built in Texas during GM's crossover from the prior GMT400 to the new GMT800 platform (prior GMT400 models apparently built in Janesville, WI). (I'm guessing they probably had lots of parts leftover and figured "hey lets do something different with them"). Some interesting info about the model is on Wikipedia - even the brush guard is factory standard apparently (never seen that before). I haven't dug very deep on them though.

Got a carfax on it. It was a one-owner vehicle purchased December 1999 and they got rid of it in July 2021. A little local dealer bought it at the auction and I found it on craigslist searching "Tahoe" on a whim. Maintenance was kept up well and no accidents. Has underbody coat and no rust that I can find. Except for a few fairly minor cosmetic issues in the interior, and some minor paint issues that I will eventually get fixed, I cannot find anything significantly wrong with it, but I need to have my mechanical buddy check it out (there is a little bit of evidence of oil leaking, but that seems "normal" for the age). I did find after I bought it that there is a noticeable "thud" upon hard acceleration from stop. Seems to be in the rear so I'll have to get that checked out. (Anybody have any advice on this kind of issue?)

It seems to me the only thing that's not stock is the wheels, which seem pretty nice, but I don't like the look of chrome. Thinking maybe I'll eventually get them powder-coated black someday, or just get different ones.

Small things to replace/fix:
Driver side mirror
Passenger front door lock actuator doesn't work
Key fob (I might get remote start so I'll leave this alone for now)
Center console side latch (also the front console retracting lid does not function correctly - not sure what to do there)
2WD/4WD actuator switch is glitchy
Parking brake seems pretty soft

Eventually I'd like to put a 3" lift and new shocks on, and maybe 35" tires (advice on this is appreciated).

I'm also interested in people's experience getting this tuned.

I have to say I'm impressed with this truck. The engine sounds great and the handling is solid. I would say it rides nicer than my 2017 F150 (which I love).

Anybody have any advice on this vehicle, thoughts on what to look out for, etc?

Thanks


View attachment 353786

Nice ride............my suggestion LEAVE IT ALONE.............the thud sound is the slip joint on the driveshaft needs greased put in the yoke.

 

[ScottyBoy]

Yes, in 2000 you could get 2 different body style Tahoes. The GMT800 or the GMT400. I believe the only GMT400 Tahoe's you could get were the Tahoe Limited and the Z71. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong.) Both the Limited and the Z71 came with a painted bumper with fog light cutouts in the bumper. This was the same bumper that came on GMT400 Dually trucks except it came in chrome on the duallys.
But here's a bit of advice, when buying or ordering parts for you rig, just order parts for a 99. This will save you TONS of headaches, trust me.

 

[Torsionbar21]

Good advice on ordering '99 parts, which I've done. From what I've read, you are correct on the models/years. Thanks.

 

[Torsionbar21]

Nice ride............my suggestion LEAVE IT ALONE.............the thud sound is the slip joint on the driveshaft needs greased put in the yoke.

Thanks. I did find info on greasing the driveshaft yoke splines, so hopefully that is it because it seems a fairly easy fix.
For anyone interested, here's a couple links on that issue that I found useful:

AGCO Automotive Repair Service - Baton Rouge, LA - Detailed Auto Topics - GM Clunk After Stopping

AGCO provides overall lowest costs of vehicle ownership. We do this by providing extremely high quality automotive service, following the theories and practices of Dr. W. Edwards Deming., Loud clunk after stopping

www.agcoauto.com

 

[Tonyv__]

Good advice on ordering '99 parts, which I've done. From what I've read, you are correct on the models/years. Thanks.

Came to say the same.. I had a 2000 newer body style and anytime I went to an auto part store in a pinch (I prefer rock auto if no rush). I would often have the wrong part from the old body style. So I started telling them I had a 2001 to avoid confusion. Where as 99 would be easier in your situation

Nice truck too!

 

[Torsionbar21]

Thanks! I've never spent much time working on cars or trucks myself, so its been kind of fun learning all about this stuff. Looking forward to getting all the stuff I've ordered and figuring out how to install/fix.