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Question for the car keepers here........How long do you expect a GM pick up or Suburban to last you if you take good care of it??
I expect both of my '90's Chevy truck/suburban to last at least 30 years (or more) since I take excellent care of both. That said, it's getting difficult to find repair parts from time to time.
If you own older GM 90's truck or Suburban what is your plan to keep them running ???
What/how do you keep your GM Trucks/Suburban on the road??
My BIL has a '97 Yukon that I believe has around 240k miles on it. I think the transmission was replaced around 180k, and it does have an intake manifold leak that has been that way for years, they just top it off occasionally.
get an LMC Trucks catalog for your model and stockpile parts as you go. i would keep some AC parts, alternator, gasket kit, water pump, as well as spare belts and hoses.
as for fluids and oils, keep up the schedule and do not skimp. never flush with a machine, always drain and refill, unless it is the cooling system.
They're built pretty tough. I have a 2003 Yukon that's been in a family since new, it's had a pretty rough life but it's still solid. The usual GM quality niggles of course it has like a broken speedometer and CD player, but the drivetrain is solid. It's been "ragged out" over the years and the transmission still shifts imperceptibly under WOT. The small block V-8 is indestructible and still sings its lovely tune. 120k miles and many more to go.
Bad i have 2 chevys and never will buy a chevy again all broke after 50k miles
This is why I now lease my trucks, I just never had any luck with GM trucks.....best I've gotten was 93,000 before the truck started falling part costing thousands
This is why I now lease my trucks, I just never had any luck with GM trucks.....best I've gotten was 93,000 before the truck started falling part costing thousands
And many here have had them go to 300k miles. In fact the majority have gotten high miles out of them without much issue. My '02 8.1 liter 2500 Suburban is going strong at 140k miles (but it only gets used for towing and the occasional Home Depot run so it won't see a lot of miles added over the years). I fully expect to get a lifetime of use from it.
I have a 2000 Silverado with 170k & I have no plans to ever replace it. It's fully depreciated & still looks like maybe a 50k mile truck (Arizona). The trucks prior to 2000 were good with the vortec 5.7, but the later LS motors are even more bulletproof & easier to work on. Everything snaps together & plugs in - great access if you ever did kill an engine.
The trans in mine is in process of dying - there are seals inside that harden & fail no matter how well you maintain the fluids, time & temperature will win eventually, but parts aren't expensive & the trans guys have seen it all before - nothing rare or unusual or hard to diagnose there.
A couple years ago I threw a lot of parts at my truck (complete cooling system, ignition system, front-end rebuild + went through & fixed all the "niggling" items - the puke tank, washer bottle, assorted trim that had gotten damaged over the years).
In other areas, I might not try to keep a truck indefinitely, but where I am, there's no issue with corrosion, the bottom of my truck looks as good as any 6 month old Michigan truck after 17+ years.
Most anything will last 300,000 miles properly maintained. GM or the model Suburban has no corner on the market. Ford has a guy that put 1.1 million miles on a van using whatever was the cheapest oil he could find. He even claims to have changed the oil every 40,000 miles like clockwork. Volvo has a guy still driving a P1800 that has over 1 million on the odo. I had a Dodge 3/4 ton that had over 500,000 miles on it and one of my guys drove it almost 50 miles with a freeze plug missing in the summer. There's a lot of vehicles out there that can go the distance, GM is no different. GM engine technology in my opinion has been the best on the market for decades. They are not the most sophisticated. For the Big 3, Ford holds that distinguishment. GM engines are reasonably simple and that's what makes them work so long. Not a lot of technology to maintain or go wrong. The biggest issue with a GM engine will be some of the plastic parts that won't make the long haul. Other than that, they get a lot of power out of simple engines and they get fabulous fuel mileage out of them too. It's the rest of the vehicle where GM falls down like their new 10 speed auto that is cratering faster than they can make replacement parts. Or the rear axles that have out of round gears. With todays technologies, there's no excuse for that kind of crap. The bean counters are apparently in charge at GM once again.
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