Which is the most reliable year 01, 02, 03, 04, 05?

[treehan77]

I'd stay away from Denali cause of the diff and premium. All are good trucks tho. Keep in mind the truck will fall apart around the power train. At this age, be ready to fix stuff. Most of it is easy fixes that you can do yourself. But lots of little stuff is gonna go bad at this age. Plentiful so parts are cheap at junk yard etc. Can get expensive I'd you are the type to have to have the dealer do it. Love my 05 Yukon but I gotta do something every other month. Look out for castech heads. At 150-200k there's a lot to refresh but cheap and easy if you can work on it.

 

[strad]

Buy the best maintained one you can find. Regardless of year. That being said, the only year I have experience with is 2005. I drive a 2005 Escalade ESV for work, and my wife drives our 2005 Suburban Z71. We bought the Suburban in March 2016 with 143k on it -- it now has 192k. It lunched a trans at about 181k, and I had it rebuilt to 4L65E spec along with a shift kit. I've been driving the Escalade since August 2015. Started at 158k and it has 206k on it now. Does not burn very much oil at all (6 liter engine), and is on its original trans (4L65E). The suburban burns about a quart every 3k miles (5.3 liter engine). Honestly I don't think the extra power of the 6 liter is that much of an advantage, and the combination of it and AWD kills off fuel economy. Suburban gets better economy since it is 4WD not AWD. And the 5.3 is plenty enough power. I tow about 3500 lbs with it and it's fine.

 

[inmypassatlife]

I will happily sell you my 2001 for $5500 cash, 137k miles, new paint, new leather interior, system, remote start etc

 

[UrbanSuburban]

Here is my 04 Sub just before being picked up for scrap. Great Truck the great white north salt got at it and brought it down.

 

[Tonyrodz]

Here is my 04 Sub just before being picked up for scrap. Great Truck the great white north salt got at it and brought it down.

View attachment 204656

You scrapped that? Shame. I see some really good parts on it.

 

[eand28]

Could've made a couple grand just parting it out

 

[swathdiver]

Well, it looks like our OP was a flash in the pan and may never return. Probably bought a Honda to boot.

 

[Tonyrodz]

Well, it looks like our OP was a flash in the pan and may never return. Probably bought a Honda to boot.

Maybe we hit her with too much info. We are a helpful lot. But, such is life.

 

[Danny3737]

I had a 2002 Denali XL and now a 2004 Denali. Never had any issues with either one. I think you be happy with any of those years as long as you can find one that has been properly maintained and hasn’t been used for towing anything large. I prefer the Denali because of the 6.0 and AWD not to mention the looks. Just take your time and the right one will eventually come along. Good luck