I have been a "serial vehicle purchaser" for my entire life. Typically trade vehicles every couple of years. I am 60 years old so that means a lot of vehicles. Although I do believe these issues are more prevalent with this generation of Tahoe's, I can assure you that vibration issues that are NOT tire related can occur in ANY vehicle. I have had issues with a Nissan Maxima and other generation Tahoes. As others have said, the key is to test drive the vehicle at over 75 mph. If it vibrates on the test drive don't buy it. And don't believe the salesman's BS that it is just tire balancing or flat spots. Don't walk, RUN away.
I just purchased a 2017 Tahoe LT 4wd with luxury package sun entertainment and destinations package and max trailering package. MSRP was 63,980 and I got 7,600 off MSRP. This vehicle replaced a similarly equipped 2011 Suburban 4wd lt. I will never forget that the first 3 Suburbans we test drove in 2011 vibrated horribly and had oversized tires. It literally took 4 vevicles before we found one that didn't vibrate. Ended up being a GREAT vehicle with no problems.
During my search for this vehicle, partly because of my experience with the 2011 test drive, and partly because I just don't see the point in all this oversized tire stuff (the ride quality is NOT going to be as good as you decrease profile and the aesthetic improvement is negligible to me), I searched for a vevicle equipped with 18 inch tires. All of the vehicles I found in my local area had "dealership add ons" of 20 inch tires and some type of chrome package.
I ended up test driving one of the vehicles equipped like I wanted except it had 20 inch tires. Not surprisingly the vehicle had a slight vibration. Frankly, I am very "vibration sensitive", so I suspect many folks would not have felt it, but it was a no go for me. I had located 4 vehicles at a dealership 2 hours from me equipped almost (captain chair second row instead of bench seat) like I wanted and with 18 inch tires, and one vehicle exactly like I wanted 2.5 hours from me. I asked my local dealer from whom I had bought my last 2 Tahoe's/suburbans if they could do a dealer swap and they hemmed and hawed and said it would have a big impact on the price.
I immediately called the dealership with the vehicle equipped exactly liked I wanted it and after an unproductive conversation with a salesperson who told me I had to come in to talk price, I ended up with a sales manager with whom I worked out the final price. I told him I would be up the next morning and would purchase the vehicle contingent on the test drive.
Test drive was great and no vibration issues on the way home or at this point 300 miles in. Although I do think these vehicles have this issue much more than they should, you can find one that does not have the issue. As I tell all of my friends that are buying ANY vehicle, you MUST test drive the vehicle at all speeds. Time will tell, but I am optimistic that this tahoe will be the great vehicle that the 7 other tahoe/suburbans we have owned have been.
