Results from Road Trip (1100 miles) in Recently purchased 145K Miles 2012 Tahoe Z71

[Bill D]

Before this road trip I want sure I did the right thing purchasing a very high mileage Tahoe. I got the Truck for 3 weeks ago, just finished a 1100 mile road trip and I wanted to do a brief High Mileage review for those people that think you will need to be on Xanax with worry. I will not ever give it a thought again.

First, the truck was mint when I bought it, great carfax and all maintenance on time even over maintained at the dealer.

Second I had the dealer drop the transmission pan, show me what was in there and it was very cherry clean. I had them change out the rest of the fluid. Changed the oil and Air filter, replaced the coolant cap.

The trip was from Ohio to New York and back over this past weekend. NYS Thruway speed 65 - 80. Smooth shifting, tight steering easily runs centered down the road. Drives so much better than my Cadillac DTS. I drove highway, mountains, city, heavy downpours, snow, wind. It basically felt like a vehicle with 50K miles. No fatigue, similar to a trip in a Mercedes E class but not quite!

It drives great, feels so safe. Water on the road at highway speed means nothing. It could use a little more power. The Plugs and wires are original. Will replace them both along with the hoses and belts shortly.

AFM was active about 15% of time. Checked fluids after the return and 1100 miles, coolant, oil, PS , Transmission fluid all same as when I left. My friend told me worrying about AFM failures in a 2011+ 5.3 is like worrying about getting hit by a comet. Im not sure I fully agree, but after all the highway miles the oil is still at the top of the stick.


I love this vehicle and that Z71 option just looks bad as heck in black in the snow!

 

[Tonyrodz]

View attachment 211793

Before this road trip I want sure I did the right thing purchasing a very high mileage Tahoe. I got the Truck for 3 weeks ago, just finished a 1100 mile road trip and I wanted to do a brief High Mileage review for those people that think you will need to be on Xanax with worry. I will not ever give it a thought again.

First, the truck was mint when I bought it, great carfax and all maintenance on time even over maintained at the dealer.

Second I had the dealer drop the transmission pan, show me what was in there and it was very cherry clean. I had them change out the rest of the fluid. Changed the oil and Air filter, replaced the coolant cap.

The trip was from Ohio to New York and back over this past weekend. NYS Thruway speed 65 - 80. Smooth shifting, tight steering easily runs centered down the road. Drives so much better than my Cadillac DTS. I drove highway, mountains, city, heavy downpours, snow, wind. It basically felt like a vehicle with 50K miles. No fatigue, similar to a trip in a Mercedes E class but not quite!

It drives great, feels so safe. Water on the road at highway speed means nothing. It could use a little more power. The Plugs and wires are original. Will replace them both along with the hoses and belts shortly.

AFM was active about 15% of time. Checked fluids after the return and 1100 miles, coolant, oil, PS , Transmission fluid all same as when I left. My friend told me worrying about AFM failures in a 2011+ 5.3 is like worrying about getting hit by a comet. Im not sure I fully agree, but after all the highway miles the oil is still at the top of the stick.


I love this vehicle and that Z71 option just looks bad as heck in black in the snow!

Best highway cruisers imo. Glad the trip was uneventful. Now just get it tuned and you'll love it even more.

 

[shreksbrother]

View attachment 211793

Before this road trip I want sure I did the right thing purchasing a very high mileage Tahoe. I got the Truck for 3 weeks ago, just finished a 1100 mile road trip and I wanted to do a brief High Mileage review for those people that think you will need to be on Xanax with worry. I will not ever give it a thought again.

First, the truck was mint when I bought it, great carfax and all maintenance on time even over maintained at the dealer.

Second I had the dealer drop the transmission pan, show me what was in there and it was very cherry clean. I had them change out the rest of the fluid. Changed the oil and Air filter, replaced the coolant cap.

The trip was from Ohio to New York and back over this past weekend. NYS Thruway speed 65 - 80. Smooth shifting, tight steering easily runs centered down the road. Drives so much better than my Cadillac DTS. I drove highway, mountains, city, heavy downpours, snow, wind. It basically felt like a vehicle with 50K miles. No fatigue, similar to a trip in a Mercedes E class but not quite!

It drives great, feels so safe. Water on the road at highway speed means nothing. It could use a little more power. The Plugs and wires are original. Will replace them both along with the hoses and belts shortly.

AFM was active about 15% of time. Checked fluids after the return and 1100 miles, coolant, oil, PS , Transmission fluid all same as when I left. My friend told me worrying about AFM failures in a 2011+ 5.3 is like worrying about getting hit by a comet. Im not sure I fully agree, but after all the highway miles the oil is still at the top of the stick.


I love this vehicle and that Z71 option just looks bad as heck in black in the snow!

I just completed a round trip Detroit to upstate NY trip and agree with your sentiments other than calling 145k miles "very high". You should be able to double that odometer [emoji4]

Congratulations on the new (to you) Tahoe!

Sent from my Galaxy Note9 using Tapatalk

 

[dnt1010]

Bill D Sounds you got a good solid well maintained vehicle. What MPG's did you get on your 1110 mile trip?

 

[dnt1010]

Woops double post. Either the site is lagging or my end sry about that.

 

[Bill D]

Bill D Sounds you got a good solid well maintained vehicle. What MPG's did you get on your 1110 mile trip?

That was the only disappointment. I could only get 18 mpg from Ohio to NY, and 17.6 on the way back. I am assuming that the Original plugs and wires at 145K mi might be the cause. Just myself and 1 passenger, not much luggage, third row seats in. I thought I would get at least 19 or 20?

 

[intheburbs]

Not quite an apples to apples comparison, but my Suburban has 185k miles. I would not hesitate for even a second to hitch up my 8600-lb trailer, load up the family, and head out for a 5,000-mile road trip out west. And I would expect the trip to be problem-free and that the truck would do everything I ask of it.

In fact, my avatar pic is from the last time we did that - truck is parked at the edge of the canyon on White Rim Road in Canyonlands NP in Utah.

 

[swathdiver]

That was the only disappointment. I could only get 18 mpg from Ohio to NY, and 17.6 on the way back. I am assuming that the Original plugs and wires at 145K mi might be the cause. Just myself and 1 passenger, not much luggage, third row seats in. I thought I would get at least 19 or 20?

Winter blend fuel kills your gas mileage, not the same as during summer. Driving over snow covered roads, and rain on the road also reduces mpgs. I've watched mine drop about 1 mpg just hitting a wet road from dry on the instant and then lose another 2 mpg when we went under the storm clouds and into the rain on the highway.

So having said that, yours is perfect. Did you put the transfer case in Auto for the runs through snow or rain? That'll cost a little too.

 

[Bill D]

Not quite an apples to apples comparison, but my Suburban has 185k miles. I would not hesitate for even a second to hitch up my 8600-lb trailer, load up the family, and head out for a 5,000-mile road trip out west. And I would expect the trip to be problem-free and that the truck would do everything I ask of it.

In fact, my avatar pic is from the last time we did that - truck is parked at the edge of the canyon on White Rim Road in Canyonlands NP in Utah.

That sounds great to me! I hope to pull a Travel Trailer sometime next summer across the east to the Maryland shore.

 

[Bill D]

Winter blend fuel kills your gas mileage, not the same as during summer. Driving over snow covered roads, and rain on the road also reduces mpgs. I've watched mine drop about 1 mpg just hitting a wet road from dry on the instant and then lose another 2 mpg when we went under the storm clouds and into the rain on the highway.

So having said that, yours is perfect. Did you put the transfer case in Auto for the runs through snow or rain? That'll cost a little too.

Good points on the road conditions and the winter blend. Completely forgot the bad fuel this time of year.. Lots of rain and sleet both ways, some wind. There is snow in the background of the picture I took but it had fallen overnight so I didn't have the chance to do 4WD. I have run it on a snow covered road and it feels awesome in 4Lo.

 

[swathdiver]

Good points on the road conditions and the winter blend. Completely forgot the bad fuel this time of year.. Lots of rain and sleet both ways, some wind. There is snow in the background of the picture I took but it had fallen overnight so I didn't have the chance to do 4WD. I have run it on a snow covered road and it feels awesome in 4Lo.

It's a great photo, should enter that in the next contest! Yes, 4LO has gotten me out of a couple of jams! I tell my wife, and I do too, during heavy rain, to put the transfer case into Auto and if the computers sense the need for more traction up front it'll do so.