Help a newbie, ‘21 Tahoe z71

[dstewart3ss]

Looking at purchasing a Z71 Tahoe. I’ve been scouring the forums and see several comments about common lifter problems but I’m not having good luck searching the forum for more detail. Is there a way to determine if the one I might buy was made during the time of the bad lifters?

We‘re drawn to the size and comfort of the new Tahoe and prefer the newest body styling but 2021 is most we can afford. I’ve always thought of Tahoe’s to have good reliability but this forum is scaring me a bit. Maybe it’s a case of the most comments on the forum are when there’s an issue and not much talk about how great they are? Would love some feedback from the experts here. Anything beyond the lifters I should be concerned about and investigate before purchasing?

Thanks!!!

 

[K2 Kaiju]

1st year tahoes have never been reliable (07,15) because GM uses those years as test mules. The 21 was also smack dab in the middle of the chip and supply chain shortage. Lots of standard options not installed, and so many sat in lots waiting for parts. Im still not sure they have everything worked out yet - you like to gamble? Im sure many are fine...

 

[dstewart3ss]

1st year tahoes have never been reliable (07,15) because GM uses those years as test mules. The 21 was also smack dab in the middle of the chip and supply chain shortage. Lots of standard options not installed, and so many sat in lots waiting for parts. Im still not sure they have everything worked out yet - you like to gamble? Im sure many are fine...

What kind of issues are you commonly seeing in the ‘21 that have been worked out in ‘22/‘23? And which ones are still lingering?

 

[Thomas Schneider]

FWIW, I have a 2021 Tahoe Z71 I purchased in November 2020 (Manufactured August 24th, 2020), so one of the first ones in the production run released early into the wild... It has had 6 recalls (one inspection for proper installation of a seat belt parts; 2 requiring software updates; three requiring new parts to be installed regarding seats/seat belts).

Like many 2021 owners, I heard about the possible lifter issues and was quite concerned. One theory was to get the first oil change ASAP to get what metal that might be in the oil from break-in, so I paid for an oil change at 2492 miles (saving the free first oil change and tire rotation for around 7000 miles). I now have almost 22,000 miles with having had a total of 6 oil changes. I've taken about 8 long-distance road trips and no problems. Maybe I'm just one of the lucky ones or maybe it's because I baby all my vehicles and it's paying off. GOOD LUCK!!

 

[Stbentoak]

My 21 has been rock solid and has had a few electrical gremlins and they were fixed in a reasonable fashion. No better or worse than any other years and the 21 infotainment is far better than the google based system. Not to mention, got in before this over sticker price baloney came to light and paid right at sticker with a few free things thrown in. 199 dealer fee. So far, so good, but I partially believe that is due to the Dmax....

 

[dstewart3ss]

My 21 has been rock solid and has had a few electrical gremlins and they were fixed in a reasonable fashion. No better or worse than any other years and the 21 infotainment is far better than the google based system. Not to mention, got in before this over sticker price baloney came to light and paid right at sticker with a few free things thrown in. 199 dealer fee. So far, so good, but I partially believe that is due to the Dmax....

Curious what kind of electrical gremlins you experienced and if you simply had the dealership resolve them? I'm looking at a '21 with 46,*** miles purchased from an individual so will still have some powertrain warranty but no more bumper to bumper to cover stuff like that. And I'm glad to hear the '21 infotainment is better than the google based system - I was curious how it compared as I noticed the change in '22....I've also heard the same on the rear entertainment package - the one I'm looking to purchase has this option installed although both screens are cracked :/

I appreciate the feedback thus far, it is very helpful.

 

[tagexpcom]

I bought a used 21 Yukon Denali 6.2L in Aug 2023 with 49K miles from Hertz. Up to 52K now and not a single issue - running smoothly. Don't even have oil drips on garage floor

I bought a 2004 SRX V8 AWD new in 2004 - 1st year for SRX. It had manufacturing issues - engine oil leak in 1st 50 miles (they fixed free) and missing gasket in rear differential (fixed free). I still have it and is at 170K and running smoothly.

I wondered (at the time) if it was because it was a brand-new generation vehicle, but read a few pieces that said in actuality, new cars may have issues but so do post-new and 'overall' that stats are not that different, even if different issues. So maybe it's more of a roll of the dice?

 

[OR VietVet]

Welcome to the forum from Oregon.

 

[todayusay]

what's the price point on the one your looking at? haven't seen too many used ones priced where it made sense to buy used over new. RSE is nice, but no so much if the screens are cracked...I mean, how did that happen - to both of them? if it has RSE then it should have a native NAV system meaning there should be a SD card reader (see below)

does it have a sunroof?...if it does, has it ever leaked/trapped water? the 21's were notorious about it as there was a TSB on fixing it.

I'd ask which dealer they used for service and with the VIN call/go by the dealer and get a copy of the service records on it. that should show all the possible work that's been done.

from a lifter perspective, the general rule of thumb was that they'd fail early on, once you got past 20k+ miles, maybe it's not 100% in the clear, but it seems fewer failures were occurring later on (someone can/will correct me if that's not the case).

we had a 21 AT4 (5.3) with a laundry list of issues, put a bunch of miles on it and got lucky getting out from under it. I wouldn't view our experience as typical though...items in bold are things I could see possibly being an issue on any 21 with these options at some point

- rear axle module replaced
- airbag light recall
- water trapped in sunroof (this took about 5 months to fix)
- radio screen went out...believe this was an update issue they had to push
- idler pulley went out
- SD card removed message randomly comes on (tried to diagnose this and even after replacing the SD card slot - message still comes on several times a week) -
- blue tooth speaker(s) has a reverb to it when talking on the phone - its the audio coming in which is odd...to the point its relatively useless now...dealer said they'd have to take the dash off to truly diagnose (think its a cable or something?) - we decided we'd pass on that remedy as we are going to just get out from under it
- auto steps motor went out

we traded down a trim level to get away from the additional tech...

if it's a good buy and it seems most of the wrinkles have already been worked out, then it will probably serve you well

 

[Stbentoak]

Curious what kind of electrical gremlins you experienced and if you simply had the dealership resolve them? I'm looking at a '21 with 46,*** miles purchased from an individual so will still have some powertrain warranty but no more bumper to bumper to cover stuff like that. And I'm glad to hear the '21 infotainment is better than the google based system - I was curious how it compared as I noticed the change in '22....I've also heard the same on the rear entertainment package - the one I'm looking to purchase has this option installed although both screens are cracked :/

I appreciate the feedback thus far, it is very helpful.

The biggest one was the "Service restraint system" issue. It was finally solved by getting a whole new overhead console assy and hasn't come back. That was about 18 months ago. It's got a rattle in the center console that can't seem to be fixed but it's not a showstopper. But mechanically it's been flawless and is the best road trip vehicle I've ever had. No complaints if I can get 6-7 years out of it and possibly buy one more the last year the dmax is available, I'd be good for quite a while.....