I think you're making a good call. I try to replace coolant every 3 - 5 years (for me - I'll go three years if I only did a radiator drain & refill - which only gets out about 60% of the coolant - or 5 years if I get motivated and do the more thorough flush on any Dex-Cool (or extended life AF car) - I'm typically not changing hoses for at least 10 years, and the ones I've taken off after 10 "or so" years typically look just fine (except for where I've damaged them in removing them).

Does anyone have experiences with hose failures on any relatively modern vehicle (GM or other brand) with hoses that are less than 10 years old ???

The truth is - it seems that very few people do much maintenance on their cars these days, and you see VERY few cars broken down on the side of the road. (Seriously - if you're ever in a shop that does "general automotive work - ask the owner how business is - from what I'm hearing - people are still VERY VERY reluctant to spend money on anything other than desperately needed repairs.) Most Corvette owners on this forum have hundreds of time more pride of ownership than most drivers, and want to keep their vehicles in excellent shape - which is a great thing !!! But if cooling system hoses were regularly failing after 10 - 15 years - we would see lots more cars off to the side of the road with steam wafting out from under the hood.

 

I've not replaced the hoses on my 2002 Avalanche. It's over 13 years old and the hoses still look to be in pretty good shape. I do a coolant flush every 5 years (it was every 3 years when I first bought the Avalanche but they improved the Dexcool). My daughter's 2002 Taurus still has all the original hoses and they also still look and feel good. I will probably be changing them this fall; I don't want her to get stranded somewhere if a hose fails. I don't care if I get stranded. I personally think the prudent thing to do is change them every 10 years if you are concerned about the possibility of getting stranded.

 

I replaced my upper hose the other day because I had to cut it to fit a new mod, and it was $11 for a new one. They are so damn cheap might as well swap them IMO at the 5 year mark.

 

Hey everyone, thanks for all the thoughtful responses, they are very much appreciated.