I’m in the process of potentially selling my rig (08 Yukon XL Denali) and getting into a 2018. However, I loathe payments and this rig has been awesome for us. I was just wondering who here has rigs with at least 200,000 on the clock and what issues i may expect to deal with after this point. Original tranny but it has a hard 2-3 shift sometimes. It’s got an upper oil pan leak so I’m not sure if that’s the cause of oil loss or if it’s the engine. It still runs amazing and I’ve never had issues with the engine itself. I may just try to doctor it up a bit and fix the big stuff as it comes along and save myself $35k+. What do you all think?
It's almost always more cost-effective to repair and continue driving an older car than it is to buy a new one - especially when you do the work yourself. When a used later model costs $25K, that's a lot of budget to use for repairs, and the later model one would still require care and feeding plus the occasional surgery, too.
I have an '07 Yukon XL Denali with (as of yesterday) 249,879 miles on the clock. I bought it 6 years ago with 196K on it. The date codes on the engine castings I've seen are 2013, so I believe the engine was likely replaced before I bought it, at some point. There's a mysterious entry on the Carfax for dealer service in 2014. Based on the odometer readings of the prior and subsequent services, it looks like it was out of service for a few months at that time also. The transmission must've been replaced, too - the case casting is dated 2008, so I haven't bothered to replace the torque converter, but I will eventually when I have the transfer case rebuilt, just in case. In the time I've owned it, I've replaced:
1/ Driver's side valve cover to get the newer style internal baffle that stops oil consumption issues. (Might be your issue, too).
2/ Rear air shocks and compressor
3/ Front control arms, ball joints, tie rod ends, stabilizer links.
4/ Front diff mounts
5/ Alternator
6/ A/C compressor
7/ Radiator, hoses and coolant tees at the firewall
8/ Starter (started clinking against the flexplate)
9/ Front brakes and rotors
10/ Battery
11/ Left front wheel hub
12/ Oil cooler bypass plate with an ICT billet design that uses an o-ring instead of a gasket
13/ Steering rack and hoses
Still needs:
1/ Transfer case rebuild to take out the slack in the chain
I did all of the work myself so I probably have less than $3000 in parts in it. Apart from the transfer case slack, it's tip-top, so I wouldn't hesitate to drive it anywhere. Just took it on a 400 mile round trip on Tuesday. It's also worth mentioning that only the alternator going out would have stranded me had it not happened in my driveway. The rest of the issues all gave plenty of warning so I could do the service when it fit my schedule.
Finally, it's worth plugging the money you would spend on a 2018 (including interest costs for the life of the loan) into a
compound interest calculator. So, figure $30K total for a $25K loan, and look at what that money will be worth when you hit retirement age. Hint: it's $116K after 20 years. That exercise alone has spared me from a ton of poor financial decisions over the years.
Net/net, I'm in the keep it and drive it camp. Treat her like a lady with proper care and love, and she'll always bring you home.
Edit: Just thought of another thing that's been on my mind: cylinder heads. Specifically, the 823 heads have been known to drop a valve seat once in a while - particularly if they have ever been overheated. And there have been a few cases of valve spring failures on the 6.2's as well. Neither are common, but it's not a bad idea to consider a new set of factory springs as a maintenance item, and I always let my engine idle for a few minutes to cool the heads down, like when pulling into a rest area.
