2015 YUKON NOISE IN CABIN

yukontruckman · January 10, 2016

Took my truck to a guy that I know who does custom auto interiors. He's knowledgeable and been around for awhile. Told him about the roof bow TSB (did not mention anything about buffeting/booming) and asked him to take a quick look at my headliner and roof and see what he thought. My headliner jumps near the 2nd row overhead lights when you slam the car door. Also have some flex in the roof sheet-metal similar to Elripster's video #2.

He poked/banged on the roof a few times and turned to me and said "That's a vibration going down the road". Take that with a grain of salt, but I still think the roof is suspect. I can't believe how thin the sheet metal is up there. My other vehicle is a Ford pickup and you can't make the roof sheet-metal flex by sticking your finger in it.

John Dell · January 10, 2016

Sounds like too thin unsupported sheetmetal is fighting the noise cancelation system, that is a problem you will never nail down.

Anon2015 · January 10, 2016

Hi all, new here. Just found this thread from a friend because I am set to pick up a new Yukon xl on Monday. It is a 2016 Yukon xl SLE with trailer package. It was just built around thanksgiving. Should I take it, I can back out as I put no money on it yet. Wondering if it affects all models and all options. I see tire choice does not matter. Is this still an unknown problem today. If anyone will get a bad one it will be me. What should I do?

My suggestion to anyone who just must have one of these vehicles is:

1. If you order it, you make acceptance contingent upon not your truck not having these issues ... (do not accept 'covered under warranty'). If the dealer refuses, you didn't want to do business with that dealer in any case.

2. If you're going to buy off the lot, then the sale is contingent upon a 24 hour test drive and none of these issues occurring during the test drive. Again, if the dealer says no...find another dealer or look at other brands.

Jbardram · January 10, 2016

You are right, I have already decided not to buy it, as much as I like it and others seem to really like theirs as well with one huge exception I will not go down this road. I can see a fight with the dealer already in my future. Thanks.

Decided to pass as well on the '16 Suburban Z71 i test drove last week. Deal was reasonably good and I didnt notice anything on the test drive, but it is too big a purchase for me to risk dealing with these problems. I have the luxury of waiting so I'll see what '17 brings. Supposedly a new Expedition at that time as well.

I imagine with the publicity this is now getting, and improved competition incoming, GM will figure out a way to protect it's cash cows and get a solid fix into production by the '17MY. If not, shame on them!

Snoringbear · January 10, 2016

I don't know what to make of all these Suburban/Yukon problems. My wife and I wore out four of them across almost twenty years while raising three daughters and hauling them all over Texas and neighboring states playing club soccer and basketball. First was a 1990, think we covered about three different body renewals. And, we never had any of the vibration problems and such. Had normal tire balancing and alignment problems from time to time but that's about it. Anyway, seems that maybe the problem is associated with the new body introduced with model year 2014? Also, I live in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex and saw an article that the Arlington GM plant that build Chevy and GMC suv's is running full bore and is adding people to increase production. Maybe they've got a quality control problem due to new hires and running at or above capacity. Just noodling

FogDucker · January 10, 2016

Has anyone with a buffeter ever driven one that is perfectly fine? Do they really exist or do all of them have it to some degree as some of you have suggested?

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Wrench589 · January 10, 2016

Has anyone with a buffeter ever driven one that is perfectly fine? Do they really exist or do all of them have it to some degree as some of you have suggested?

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I have one that buffets and I've driven numerous rentals, and they all buffeted to some degree. Some as bad as mine, some somewhat less. In fact, mine is slightly less of late, but occasionally really gets going!

FogDucker · January 10, 2016

I have one that buffets and I've driven numerous rentals, and they all buffeted to some degree. Some as bad as mine, some somewhat less. In fact, mine is slightly less of late, but occasionally really gets going!

So, are we buffeters simply people with unique hearing?

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John Dell · January 10, 2016

I don't know what to make of all these Suburban/Yukon problems. My wife and I wore out four of them across almost twenty years while raising three daughters and hauling them all over Texas and neighboring states playing club soccer and basketball. First was a 1990, think we covered about three different body renewals. And, we never had any of the vibration problems and such. Had normal tire balancing and alignment problems from time to time but that's about it. Anyway, seems that maybe the problem is associated with the new body introduced with model year 2014? Also, I live in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex and saw an article that the Arlington GM plant that build Chevy and GMC suv's is running full bore and is adding people to increase production. Maybe they've got a quality control problem due to new hires and running at or above capacity. Just noodling

You are correct here, I to have a 2002 Yukon xl with 119,000 miles, bought it new and love it. Back then there were several plants building them. Now there is only one, in Arlington TX. They are building them as fast as they can but I think most of the problem is in design. Also I think some people are more or less susceptible to low hearing tones/head pressure so some just are not bothered by it. Two things I probably should not tell you all so don't give my name. 1, The 2018 pick up is getting a complete redesign and I here it is great looking. So look for it late 2017. 2, the phone number to the head of quality control in the Arlington TX plant is 1-817-805-0906.

Wrench589 · January 10, 2016

So, are we buffeters simply people with unique hearing?

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I definitely think there are three things at play. First, I definitely believe that everyone hears things differently. Some people might not even hear what we are hearing/feeling. Humans are different. So it's not that unexpected that we would all hear things differently, including how sensitive to certain noises we each are.

Second, I believe everyone has a different threshold to what would be an annoying noise. There could be a whole group out there that hear it, but not enough to be annoyed by it. Might not even register.

And third, there are lots of people that don't bother to do something about it, even if they do hear it and even if it does annoy them! They know the dealer and/or manufacturer will give them the runaround and so they just don't bother. And they certainly don't spend time on a forum.

So all tolled, who really knows what the stats are. I still firmly believe all the vehicles do it, by the time you account for the variability in severity and the variability in the owners as noted above, the numbers of complaints GM has to deal with works in their favour. Like a war of attrition....the manufacturer always wins!

Another way to look at it is with hi end audio equipment. Only a small percentage of people can really hear the difference between $500 and $5000 speakers, or a $500 amplifier vs a $10,000 amp. Same here.

So yes, we "buffeters" have unique hearing. (And I'm not saying better!!)

There's an old saying...."ignorance is bliss". I sure wish I was ignorant to this issue!! LOL!

Edited January 10, 2016 by Wrench589

yahtzee · January 11, 2016

Has anyone every opened their sunroof and pushed down what my daughters thought was a bug net? Hold it down at 45+mph and for those that don't know what buffeting sounds like x10.

Chris M. · January 11, 2016

Has anyone with a buffeter ever driven one that is perfectly fine? Do they really exist or do all of them have it to some degree as some of you have suggested?

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Yes I drove a 2015 Yukon SLT that was perfect. It was a rental some family members drove to our house for Christmas. I drove it for about 30 minutes in highway and city driving and it was fine. Very quiet and smooth, reminded me of the Cadillacs my dad used to drive in the 80s. They had driven it for a week before coming to us and then 5 hours to us and had no complaints. It had about 17000 miles on it.

Wrench589 · January 11, 2016

Has anyone every opened their sunroof and pushed down what my daughters thought was a bug net? Hold it down at 45+mph and for those that don't know what buffeting sounds like x10.

Yes, I have done this. And yes, the real buffeting is quite strong. Obviously, the net is an aerodynamic deflector to eliminate it.

John Dell · January 11, 2016

I still am not sure I understand, can you hear this at all, or is it something you just feel? How bad can it be, several people here got a full refund and when right back out knowing the issue was not resolved and bought another one. This defies logic. And has anyone experienced this in a 2016 built in the last 6 months. This entire thread seems mostly devoted to people dealing with their 2015 model year SUV's. Because if GM has figured it out and fixed it, they will do it quietly during production and not admit it then only fix complaints.

yahtzee · January 11, 2016

I still am not sure I understand, can you hear this at all, or is it something you just feel? How bad can it be, several people here got a full refund and when right back out knowing the issue was not resolved and bought another one. This defies logic. And has anyone experienced this in a 2016 built in the last 6 months. This entire thread seems mostly devoted to people dealing with their 2015 model year SUV's. Because if GM has figured it out and fixed it, they will do it quietly during production and not admit it then only fix complaints.

Depending on the severity of it and sensitivity of the person driving it, you can hear it and feel it. Take your finger and tap the top of your ear back and forth. That sound is the buffeting sound heard (at varying levels and repetitiveness) going down the road. It is in 2016 models as well. I have one and have driven another 4-5 with it. My bigger issue is the vibrations. I am in search of a 2016 with no vibration and as limited of buffeting as i can find. If I didn't love the Yukon so much and it didn't meet my needs so well, I would have tossed the keys back to the dealer after reading the first few posts on here. Instead, I am optimistic that something positive will come from this and folks can carry on with their lives. GM is buying back my first one BUT I am not going to be sorting through 4-5 Yukons to see if they have it. I am not settling on a 75k vehicle. My color/feature combo is specific so DX'ing in is my only option. Glad to answer any other questions.