Yukon Denali worth with blown engine

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bub

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Hey everyone, haven’t posted in a while but wanted to ask your opinion. My wife has a 2009 Yukon Denali with 150,000 miles. I started the truck up and it instantly started shaking and tapping. I turned it off and had it towed to my mechanic. The mechanic says cylinder 5 is dead. Cylinder 5 isn’t getting any spark so he tried swapping coils and that didn’t do anything. He also tested the lifters and they are all performing as they should. I don’t want to put another motor in it so my option is to sell it. The KBB on it is about $9500 in running condition so I’m wondering what it would be worth with a bad motor?
Thanks.
 

B-train

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Depending on the condition of the trans, air shocks, struts, tires, etc I could vary quite a bit. Also if the interior is clean or not as well as the body for rust. Do you live in a salt state?

If it's clean and all the maintenance is up to date, it may be work $3500-4k for someone willing to spend the money on a motor, but that's an IF.

If it's in need of maintenance items, tires, or rusty, then you might be better off parting it out to make a few K on whatever you can sell.

This market isn't a good judge though since everything is over valued. I know back in the day (20 years ago) my dad would pick it cars that customers didn't want to fix for a few hundred dollars, maybe a couple grand to fix and flip. Again, that was money in a different, more reasonable era. Hard to say about today. Maybe others will have a better idea. Bummer about the motor.
 
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bub

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@B-train thanks for the reply. Yes it’s in pretty good condition for its age and mileage. It has some door dings and paint is fading on the roof a bit but nothing serious. No rust and undercarriage is clean. Interior is a good 7/10 with a good cleaning. Truck ran great other wise. Just had a new rear main seal and oil pan gasket installed about a month ago. All new front suspension bushings in the front within the year. The front air suspension was making noise so I did replace that with aftermarket struts that replaced the air. Tires are in good shape. So over all, the Yukon is in good shape aside from the engine. We were planning on keeping it for a while. I was thinking of starting at 5k but didn’t know if that was too much?
 

swathdiver

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A new motor is over $10K, a used one installed over half that.

Pull the head and oil pan and put a new piston/rings in it and drive on. This work can be done in your driveway for less than $1K in parts.

Does she run 87 or 93 in it? How long have y'all had it?

The L9H is a great motor but doesn't take kindly to low quality, low octane fuel.
 

Geotrash

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A new motor is over $10K, a used one installed over half that.

Pull the head and oil pan and put a new piston/rings in it and drive on. This work can be done in your driveway for less than $1K in parts.

Does she run 87 or 93 in it? How long have y'all had it?

The L9H is a great motor but doesn't take kindly to low quality, low octane fuel.
Can I get an AMEN!?!?! :)
 
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bub

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@swathdiver unfortunately, that isn’t something I’m comfortable doing or have the knowledge of doing. This is what I’m figuring someone would be able to donor throw a junkyard motor into it. I’m just wondering what it is worth with Simone having to do that.
We bought it used with about 85k on it and have used 93 premium fuel from reputable gas stations. It was always had regularly maintenance as well while we have owned it.
 

Geotrash

Dave
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@swathdiver unfortunately, that isn’t something I’m comfortable doing or have the knowledge of doing. This is what I’m figuring someone would be able to donor throw a junkyard motor into it. I’m just wondering what it is worth with Simone having to do that.
We bought it used with about 85k on it and have used 93 premium fuel from reputable gas stations. It was always had regularly maintenance as well while we have owned it.
Odd that it would blow a piston if you're running premium fuel. It could also be a dropped valve seat or broken valve spring. Definitely worth pulling a head. Not running with engine mechanical damage will probably fetch in the $3500 range, depending on condition. I'm curious how he 'tested' the lifters.
 

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