Harley6

I've owned a 2003 GMC Yukon Denali since it was new, and aside from my recently purchased 2003 Corvette, it has been the best vehicle I've ever owned.
Never put much money into it except oil, tires and usual maintenance...until this month.

It is pushing 180,000 miles and in the past three weeks something has needed repair: throttle body three weeks ago, oil leak last week and a radiator replacement this week. And just today all heat/AC started blowing out the defroster and not the regular vents or floor. Ride leveling system failed a few years ago but I decided not to repair it.

Mechanics have told me never to get rid of it because that engine will run forever. But with everything that has happened already, I'm having second thoughts. I don't want to move on because it has been such an awesome rig, but I also fear what else may happen.

Any of you faced this dilemma with your old but not-so-reliable vehicle? What did you do?

sublime1996525

It's almost always cheaper to repair than replace.

FAUEE

I'll buy it If you're gonna sell it cheap...

Patsgarage

I am in the same spot with my 99 'Burban. 185k, rung great but the little stuff is getting to me. If you are doing your own work and do not need it as a DD I would keep it, but if you need something to get to work everyday and are paying someone else to fix it when it breaks I would suggest looking to upgrade. Personally I am looking into a new Colorado to replace my DD and the 'Burban.

Harley6

You pretty much spelled out my dilemma. I can do some basic mechanical things, but being our daily driver/people mover I can't have it down for several days while I carve out time to try and fix it. I have a good trustworthy mechanic, but when things are adding up like this it makes me cringe to pay the repair bills. Having said that, I still haven't spent the equivalent of two or three car payments in repair costs, and if that keeps it running the rest of the year without problem I'll be happy. It has been the best vehicle I've ever had and my goal has always been to get 200,000 miles out of it.

White Out

I would walk away, get into a new one and use that for another 14 years.

Gary '09 C6

nothing last forever, and you've gotten very good use out of the truck...maybe buy a CPO model if you don't want to buy new.

TurboTnZ06

Get another one just like it = two Suburbans = winning! I sold my '15 Denali crew cab to get a '93 Suburban, and also have a 2009 Suburban. Sure I could have new ones, but if I can fix the nickle n dime stuff, it's waaaaaaaaaaay cheaper.

Harley6

Update: After a week of blissful, no-issues driving, I actually felt a little cocky thinking this wave of troubles was over. Shows what I get for thinking.

Then, driving down the road today I heard what sounded like a pulley/bearing noise from the engine. It would get louder when the engine revved and quiet when the engine idled. And tonight I noticed a small puddle of coolant on the garage floor.

I haven't looked any deeper into it, but I'm guessing water pump. I'm going to try and tackle this one myself.

I've owned a lot of cars over the years and driven some of them well over 100,000 mostly trouble-free miles thanks to regular maintenance. I've never had one had this many problems back-to-back-to-back-to-back like this. It's like the old thing is telling me it's done.

Patsgarage

Remove the serpentine belt and rotate each pulley (except the crankshaft) by hand. If one of the bearings went bad you will feel it. WP is easy to do, just make sure to clean all the gasket mating surfaces and bleed the system when you are done. Good luck. I just broke down earlier this week and bought a new truck, so I had reached my point.

dmaxx3500

if its leaking coolent ,its a waterpump[90%],waterpump is about $100,4hrs labor