How happy are you with your 2021/22 Tahoe/Yukon?

[steiny93]

I honestly don’t understand why you would compare an x7 to a Yukon xl. I currently own an x7 m50i. The x7 is much MUCH smaller than the xl and even the regular Yukon/tahoe. It is the size of a Chevy traverse. It is definitely fun to drive, especially with the 4.4 tt v8.

The x7 is MUCH less roomy compared to a Yukon/XL/Tahoe. The cargo room in the x7 leaves a lot to be desired for its size. The jutting out arm rests for the third row significantly decreases the cargo room.

At 2000 miles I was already having issues with the power steering making squeaking noises. They replaced the whole system. The run flat tires that came with it last 10000 miles at most, and there are only 2 models that exist in the size I have. It is annoying to have to replace tires basically at every oil change.

I have owned a 2015 Tahoe and driven the 2021 tahoe and it maneuvers great for its size. I’m not sure why you would expect it to handle like a BMW sports vehicle.

In the garage, their size difference is marginal, here is a size comparison between the x7 and the yukon, 2023 models.

EXTERIOR LENGTH	203.6 in	210.0 in
EXTERIOR WIDTH	78.7 in	81.0 in

Don't get me going on reliability, wife's denali has provided the following entertainment (it's in the shop right now for another overnight)
- GMC case open since 2021, they are unable to fix (hvac issue, it freezes beverages in the front cup holders)
- 3rd trip to fix an exhaust smell in the cabin (this isn't a picky owner deal, the tech can easily reproduce the issue, absolutely an issue)
- head unit / amp assembly has been swapped twice because the audio will randomly quit and not return until vehicle restart

I've owned a few BMW's, they all had the usual new car issues, GMC isn't immune to them either. I can stay however that this latest GMC has had more issues in it's first year then any of the previous vehicles we have owned (this is our 11th GM product).

 

[DuraYuk]

In the garage, their size difference is marginal, here is a size comparison between the x7 and the yukon, 2023 models.

EXTERIOR LENGTH	203.6 in	210.0 in
EXTERIOR WIDTH	78.7 in	81.0 in

Don't get me going on reliability, wife's denali has provided the following entertainment (it's in the shop right now for another overnight)
- GMC case open since 2021, they are unable to fix (hvac issue, it freezes beverages in the front cup holders)
- 3rd trip to fix an exhaust smell in the cabin (this isn't a picky owner deal, the tech can easily reproduce the issue, absolutely an issue)
- head unit / amp assembly has been swapped twice because the audio will randomly quit and not return until vehicle restart

I've owned a few BMW's, they all had the usual new car issues, GMC isn't immune to them either. I can stay however that this latest GMC has had more issues in it's first year then any of the previous vehicles we have owned (this is our 11th GM product).

A person had a similar issue with the smell. It ended up being the cabin air filter. May want to give that a look. A clean of the cowl vents underneath the windshield on the outside couldn't hurt either.

 

[DuraYuk]

I have almost 500 miles on my 23 yukon slt duramax and love it so far.

Good space. Great options. Excellent mpg. Im getting about 25 around town and 31 to 34 on the high way.

Im happy so far. Wife is happy too! Love how quiet it is.

 

[steiny93]

A person had a similar issue with the smell. It ended up being the cabin air filter. May want to give that a look. A clean of the cowl vents underneath the windshield on the outside couldn't hurt either.

Just got a call from the dealer, turbo is bad; will need a new one. No ETA as to when the parts will be available, direct ship only. Dealer said to expect weeks likely not months.

 

[DmaxDenaliXL]

Just got a call from the dealer, turbo is bad; will need a new one. No ETA as to when the parts will be available, direct ship only. Dealer said to expect weeks likely not months.

What does "bad" mean and how did it result in cabin fumes?

 

[StephenPT]

What does "bad" mean and how did it result in cabin fumes?

I'd like to know more details as well. As an engineer, "bad" is too generic of a term and means nothing. It would be nice to know root cause and if this is an isolated or systemic issue. Turbos are relatively simple in design. There's three places exhaust fumes could leak - exhaust manifold flange, turbine housing to center housing and turbine housing to aftertreatment. It'd be interesting to know if it's leaking at one of those joints, why that necessitates a full turbo replacement.

 

[DuraYuk]

I'd like to know more details as well. As an engineer, "bad" is too generic of a term and means nothing. It would be nice to know root cause and if this is an isolated or systemic issue. Turbos are relatively simple in design. There's three places exhaust fumes could leak - exhaust manifold flange, turbine housing to center housing and turbine housing to aftertreatment. It'd be interesting to know if it's leaking at one of those joints, why that necessitates a full turbo replacement.

Yeah man same. Could just be a 'guess' . good diag techs are hard to come by these days.

Fondly remember when the c6 z06 first came out. A VIP customer complained about bogging on acceleration. Vehicle had a MAF performance code. They replaced the MAF. Replaced fuel pumps. Finally they wanted me to replace the transmission for some reason.

Took it for a spin. Could hear a plop on acceleration. Looked up the code. States MAF is reading low readings based on throttle input. Turns out the plop was the air filter being sucked into the intake because it was so dirty thus causing the plop noise and MAF performance code.

Shop spent almost 10k in warranty work for a dirty air filter lol .

 

[StephenPT]

Yeah man same. Could just be a 'guess' . good diag techs are hard to come by these days.

Fondly remember when the c6 z06 first came out. A VIP customer complained about bogging on acceleration. Vehicle had a MAF performance code. They replaced the MAF. Replaced fuel pumps. Finally they wanted me to replace the transmission for some reason.

Took it for a spin. Could hear a plop on acceleration. Looked up the code. States MAF is reading low readings based on throttle input. Turns out the plop was the air filter being sucked into the intake because it was so dirty thus causing the plop noise and MAF performance code.

Shop spent almost 10k in warranty work for a dirty air filter lol .

That's a good one!

I enjoy watching South Main Auto on Youtube - he's a real tech who ALWAYS does root cause analysis and doesn't throw the parts cannon at any problem. I remember one where he had a Chevy pickup in for a check engine light. Turned out a mouse got in the airbox, chewed a bit on the air filter and a tiny piece of filter media got stuck on the MAF sensor. Removed the particle and all good. Another one where, also a Chevy pickup had all sorts of electrical issues, hard to steer, etc. Dealer wanted to throw $4K in parts at it. Eric got ahold of it and traced out everything to find out the braided ground strap to the frame was heavily corroded from road salt. $10 ground strap and the truck was like new again.

A lot of times, especially early in the product life cycle, the engineering team will want the entire assembly replaced if there's any sort of failure. Rather than the techs taking it apart and replacing a component within the assembly, engineering wants the whole assembly back to do a deep-dive on it and figure out what happened and why to then take corrective actions.

 

[DuraYuk]

That's a good one!

I enjoy watching South Main Auto on Youtube - he's a real tech who ALWAYS does root cause analysis and doesn't throw the parts cannon at any problem. I remember one where he had a Chevy pickup in for a check engine light. Turned out a mouse got in the airbox, chewed a bit on the air filter and a tiny piece of filter media got stuck on the MAF sensor. Removed the particle and all good. Another one where, also a Chevy pickup had all sorts of electrical issues, hard to steer, etc. Dealer wanted to throw $4K in parts at it. Eric got ahold of it and traced out everything to find out the braided ground strap to the frame was heavily corroded from road salt. $10 ground strap and the truck was like new again.

A lot of times, especially early in the product life cycle, the engineering team will want the entire assembly replaced if there's any sort of failure. Rather than the techs taking it apart and replacing a component within the assembly, engineering wants the whole assembly back to do a deep-dive on it and figure out what happened and why to then take corrective actions.

Yes we did have to remove and replace some assemblies as you described for further analysis. But even the parts that we did replace had to go back to GM and be tagged and bagged so they could see why they were failing and if it was actually the problem..

They would charge dealerships back if they found habitual misdiagnosis.

I haven't heard of many turbo failures in the LM2 especially not because of smells so something smells wrong here.

Guess we won't know until we know lol.

Here's another that was fun. Toyota s-runner with supercharged v6. Had a cylinder 1 misfire. Poor dude spent 8k trying to fix it. Spark plugs, injectors , gaskets etc. 5 Toyota dealers had it. Dude ended up selling it so I got it. Looked at all the paperwork. This v6 has manual belt tensioners. 3 belts. Problems started after he had it serviced.

Turned out the belts were too tight.

Good times. Dude was pissed to say the least.

 

[steiny93]

I'm also an engineer, bad means not good. In this case I'd infer bad means leaking due to the context of the issue.

When the engine is operating; under the hood it sinks of exhaust. That exhaust smell is being pulled into the hvac system through the intake, that's how the smell is getting into the cabin.

I don't have the specifics as to which attachment point has failed. Per the service writer (so a couple degrees from the source) the tech was able to find the leak via soapy water. Interesting to note, this vehicle has already had this https://gm-techlink.com/?p=14365 replaced due to exhaust leak (last winter).

Concerning if it is a isolated or systemic issue; a single dealer isn't going to be able to know that, sample size will be to small. In this case this dealer said this was the first baby dmax turbo they have had to replace. Service writer also stated that they needed to order the assembly and couldn't order the specific part that failed (he didn't state which part). I'd assume per https://gm-techlink.com/?p=16839 fig 5, part 1 is the assembly they ordered but I don't know that for a fact.



At the end of the day, I really don't care what or why it failed. This is the wife's truck, she is pissed as GMC has her truck again and they are giving her the choice of a small suv or a pickup (both at basic trim levels) to drive while we wait. GMC doesn't do in kind loaners (I just called GMC, they confirmed). So yah, spend $100k and when it's in the shop for weeks you get the same loaner options as if you bought a $30k Canyon. But... GMC does give you the option to acquire your own rental car to which they reimburse $47/day which in my location doesn't cover any rental options (Tahoe would be $164/day).