Florida Rick

Ok, I'll admit I exaggerated when I called it "worthless." It's worth at least scrap and probably a fair amount more than that. However to say it's worth market value I believe is a stretch. I get it if it's been in for a straightforward repair like an alternator or water pump. In that case there is no degradation in value. However mine has had the engine torn apart 3 times. Even if the mechanic working on my vehicle were the most skilled in the world, there's a lot of precision that goes into assembling the top end of an engine. In the factory it's done with jigs and machines. The shop at a GM dealership does not have the same precision instruments at its disposal. Therefore the vehicle was not put together to the same specifications it was at the factory. If my truck and an identical truck were sitting next to each other and you knew mine had been apart 3 times and the other has had no issues would you pay the same amount for both vehicles? I seriously doubt it. Mine had the lifters replaced twice and each time there was a bent rod. Less than a month after the second lifter job, it needed the head gasket replaced. Head gaskets don't go out after less than 1,000 miles. That means either the head gasket was defective or the mechanic did not put the engine back together properly. When I took the truck in to the dealership, the Service Advisor called his Manager over. The Service Manager listened to my truck and cringed because it was making a grinding noise. He told me it more than likely needed a new engine. They replaced the head gasket and called it good. Knowing that are you still willing to pay market value for my truck? You can say whatever you want about me, but I'm pretty convinced my engine isn't going to last as long as it would have originally. I've had 3 major repairs to it and although I'm not a mechanic I'm pretty convinced that grinding noise didn't help the longevity of my motor. Now I'm going to sell the vehicle earlier than I originally would have because quite frankly I don't trust it to last. That in itself means I won't get as much value out of it. From a value perspective, this is very similar to an accident. The truck was repaired by certified personnel with OEM parts. However if a vehicle has been in an accident, the value inherently goes down because of fear of the unknown. The more major the accident the more the value goes down. Same rule applies here. Major repairs mean the value goes down. Could it last for 200,000 miles? Potentially. Will it? I won't be the one to find out. I don't want to take that risk. When I go to sell, I agree somebody will buy it. I won't have to give it away, and I'm pretty sure I'll get more than just scrap for it. However to think that I can get market value for this vehicle is not something I can get on board with. I'm convinced the value of my truck is less because of the early failures. And yes I believe that I do live in the real world saying that.

I've had the lifters replaced twice and the head gasket once in my 2021 Yukon. 17 days in the shop across the 3 repairs. By Florida lemon law I don't have a case. I even took it to the Better Business Bureau and they said there wasn't much they could do. I did write GM about it. They're going to extend my power train warranty to 100K miles. I already had a 75K mile extended bumper to bumper, so that didn't help much. I would have thought lemon law would help since my engine had been apart 3 times by the time I hit 5,000 miles. However since it's repaired the lemon law didn't help me. Now I'm stuck with a vehicle that's essentially worthless. Nobody is going to want to buy something that's been torn apart 3 times.

I have the same issue with my 2021 Yukon 6.2L. 5,000 miles on the odometer and it's been in twice for lifters and once for head gasket. I'm pretty convinced that the head gasket blew because they didn't install it correctly during the second lifter repair. At this point I have no idea how long the truck will last or how I will eventually sell it. No person in their right mind would buy a used vehicle if they knew the heads have been off 3 times in the first 5K miles. If those repairs show up on a CARFAX I might as well just sell it for scrap when I get rid of it. I can pretty much guarantee the engine won't last as long as it usually does because of all the repairs that have been done. Anybody who runs a history on my truck would never buy it. Good luck on getting it declared a lemon. I contacted GM. They offered me a 100K power train warranty. I had already purchased the 75K warranty, so that doesn't do me a whole lot of good, but better than nothing. The only positive thing is it's transferrable. I called the Better Business Bureau. They were really nice but told me I don't have a lemon claim because my truck has "only" been in the shop 17 days and it's fixed. Other states may be different, but in Florida it has to be a persistent problem or in the shop over 30 days to qualify as a lemon. If they've fixed it by definition it's not a lemon. Doesn't matter if the value has plummeted to almost nothing.