Long term results for K2XX 1500?

anonymouse · December 30, 2016

Something to consider, the 13 year old Hyundai probably has oil based paint prior to the EPA mandate for manufacturers to change over to water based paint which chips easier. Im not positive but i think many manufacturers startrd yo transition in 2005-2006.

Yep, I realize that. Thing is, my 2009 Hyundai Santa Fe which I still own has a phenomenal paint job as well. When I detail that car in the summer, you could mistake it for just coming out the showroom. I do not know if they made it in Korea in 2009 and were able to do an oil based paint job there not subject to the EPA, but I have zero complaints with the paint. The one thing I do not like about the Santa Fe is the road noise. Other than that, I love that car. As much as I want to buy American, I cannot stand for paying more for inferior quality. If Hyundai built and sold a light truck in the US, I'd trade in my High Country immediately.

Silverado Steve · December 30, 2016

Thats one thing I have noticed about most Hyundai's i have ever deiven and thats the excessive road noise. The Tuscon rental im driving now is fairly loud, but then again im spoiled by my Silverado which is very quiet for any vehicle. I have friends with Hyundai's that complain about weak paint so i think its all subjective, but yes, i agree the current GM platform has failry soft paint as did my previous 2007 Tacoma...that's why i get a full front end clear bra kn all my vehicles now.

Yep, I realize that. Thing is, my 2009 Hyundai Santa Fe which I still own has a phenomenal paint job as well. When I detail that car in the summer, you could mistake it for just coming out the showroom. I do not know if they made it in Korea in 2009 and were able to do an oil based paint job there not subject to the EPA, but I have zero complaints with the paint. The one thing I do not like about the Santa Fe is the road noise. Other than that, I love that car. As much as I want to buy American, I cannot stand for paying more for inferior quality. If Hyundai built and sold a light truck in the US, I'd trade in my High Country immediately.

15 Z71 · December 30, 2016

I know some people who have had a Kia and they told me that they do have a good warranty. As long as you do all there maintenance. So basically everyt time they got an oil change they had all kinds of other stuff to do or guess what?? It voided that great warranty everyone thinks they have.

Colossus · December 30, 2016

I'm just chiming in saying that Hyundais are pretty good cars. They've had that awesome warranty for a very long time now. Almost 20 years I think. If I thought Hyundai/Kia SUV's looked better I'd consider one. I hope the Santa Cruz gets put into production.

The hell they are.

anonymouse · December 30, 2016

I know some people who have had a Kia and they told me that they do have a good warranty. As long as you do all there maintenance. So basically everyt time they got an oil change they had all kinds of other stuff to do or guess what?? It voided that great warranty everyone thinks they have.

For Hyundai, their maintenance is no more than what you would expect... oil changes, engine air filter etc. I did all those myself and kept records. Hyundai cannot by law refuse a warranty claim as long as you do the required maintaiance, through their dealers or not. The most expensive piece of required maintenance is a timing belt replacement required on the Santa Fe at 60K miles. For that I did use a dealer. Other than that, all their maintenance can be done elsewhere.

Now that my 24 months of free oil changes are done, my 1500 is not seeing the dealer for an oil change. It gets Penzzoil Syn and a Mobil 1 oil filter. And it is much happier with that than the standard dealer issued dyno oil.

HondaHawkGT · February 7, 2017

I've seen enough Hyundai Sonatas and Santa Fe's with spun bearings and thrown rods the past few years to avoid them like the plague.

mookdoc6 · February 7, 2017

2016 GMC SLT with 22,000 miles!

Paint chips up the kazoo! 2qty Windshields 1 seatbelt recall? Like big deal.....I have a weird noise coming from the engine when it's hot after restarting? Could be a pulley,Belt,Water pump? Big Deal to me just need to have dealer hear the noise. The truck is excellent mate nothing other than that going on for me.......Drives like a Buick at 85mph smooth and quiet!

Harry-Nips · February 7, 2017

Ordered my truck Dec. 2013 and received it May of 2014. Delays with the 6.2L engine, sun roof, 20" wheels, max tow package. Autobook kept removing the 20" wheels when ordering the max tow package.

- Front bumper replaced under warranty for rust spots after first winter. Second bumper with same issue was denied warranty. Rust spots were combination of rock chips and non-rock chips

- non-greasable ball joint failed (squeaking) after about a year of service, replaced under warranty

- Summer tires had vibration after dealer installed & balanced. Could not get serviced after since vibration was 120 kph or higher. I had them balanced at another tire shop and they were great until the dealer touched them again two years later.

- Heated seats failed early in life & repaired under warranty. Performance of seats is disappointing, both heating and cooling (2nd most disappointing thing with truck).

- Excessive frame rust: May 2016 the first dealer stripped the box off, ground the rest off the frame and did a proper repair (took a couple days just to dry, and a lot of manual labour). Dealer didn't think to look at the front of the truck, so second dealer ended up spraying box liner all over the front of the frame, including parts of the aluminum A-arms. Sadly, the wheels weren't even removed for this job.

This is the most disappointing thing with this truck. The 'wax' they coat the frame with from factory is useless.

- AC compressor failed at 59,200 km, replaced under warranty

- Hack job on the seat belt completed at the same time as the AC compressor

- AC seats failed, replaced by dealer just over 60,000 (returned from vacation). Although they failed early, dealer ended up footing the bill as there was no record of complaint prior to 60k.

- Three punctured tires, driven 90%+ on pavement (Eagle LS2)

- Chrome rims are extremely hard to keep clean as they must be manually polished frequently to remove the salt & grime (foam brush & pressure washer won't do anything)

- RH headlight is significantly less bright than the left. This occurred with halogens and HID lights, not quite sure what is going on here.

Other than that I love this truck. It's super smooth, quiet, and has a ton of power. The interior has been vastly improved from the 2013 and older models, and the RemoteLink / MyGMC app is awesome. Free oil changes for life plus yearly shine is really nice. Dealer service has been great for the most part. The brakes aren't showing any wear and the tires (summer use only) are still around 30-50%.

Edited February 7, 2017 by Harry-Nips

johnsmith221 · August 6, 2019

Forgot i had an account on here so bumping my own 2 year old thread, that doesn't count as resurrecting a dead post does it?

Anyhow life gets in the way so now I'm looking at a 2018 crew cab 6.2.... getting old now.

I've been on the fence about buying one of these for 2 years obviously and this vibration and the 8 spd transmission and torque converter fears have kept me away. I need some encouragement to take the plunge on a used (low mileage) 2018. I've looked at the 2019's but i can't stomach it, it's big in the wrong places and just ugly to me compared to the 14-18 which looks timeless and handsome.

I see the vibration thread is up to 800+ pages now and there's the new transmission lawsuits so i'm still kinda scared. Need some encouragement from you guys!

johnsmith221 · August 6, 2019

Double post

Edited August 6, 2019 by johnsmith221
Double post please delete

Jacoby · August 7, 2019

Don’t do it

truckguy82 · August 7, 2019

13 hours ago, johnsmith221 said:

Forgot i had an account on here so bumping my own 2 year old thread, that doesn't count as resurrecting a dead post does it?

Anyhow life gets in the way so now I'm looking at a 2018 crew cab 6.2.... getting old now.

I've been on the fence about buying one of these for 2 years obviously and this vibration and the 8 spd transmission and torque converter fears have kept me away. I need some encouragement to take the plunge on a used (low mileage) 2018. I've looked at the 2019's but i can't stomach it, it's big in the wrong places and just ugly to me compared to the 14-18 which looks timeless and handsome.

I see the vibration thread is up to 800+ pages now and there's the new transmission lawsuits so i'm still kinda scared. Need some encouragement from you guys!

I believe most of the k2xx problems can be avoided with a thorough test drive. I have driven several of them and they are hit or miss.

give it an extensive test drive at a high variation of speed and types of driving, if there are no issues you should be good.

love my ‘14 6.2 and it has been pretty damn reliable

Baytrucker · August 7, 2019

2017 1500 "Elevation Trim" 5.3L V8 21000km

Purchased New

Here is what I've learned (the hard way) are the common concerns with the K2 series. Lots of threads on each of these issues.

Shake or shudder when driving between 70-120mph. This varies by person and seems to develop later in the trucks life. No one can say for certain what causes it, and everyone who has resolved it has done so differently. Mine started to shudder slightly around the 19000km mark. The common theory is that its a resonense issue. This means that nearly any source of vibration (tires out of alignment, bad driveshaft, etc) can cause the trucks frame to vibrate like a tuning fork. If this is true, then it basically means anything out of tune can cause it.
The air conditioner condenser will fail. Its only a matter of when. There is a known defect in the upper drivers corner of the condenser. Fortunately, its an easy DIY replacement if you are inclined, and there are aftermarket options for when it does fail. Do not replace with OEM when this happens to you.
The advanced fuel management system (cylinder deactivation, displacement on demand) will cause a lifter failure. The clock started ticking on this the moment the truck left the lot for the first time. GM claims they have fixed this issue, but there are so many people reporting this problem that GM claims seem dubious. Watch for lifter ticking noises. This is a very expensive problem (especially if your cam is damaged). If you buy a truck with warranty, get a AFM disabler ASAP. If you are off warranty, get it tuned out. It will save you thousands of dollars down the road.
Leaf spring knocking. The leaf springs on this truck are garbage. They will cause noise the moment you introduce dirt. If you are a suburban warrior, then this won't be a problem, but if you use your truck to get dirty, expect your rear suspension to start making noise at some point.
Valve carbon build up. This is a side effect of most direct injection engines. Other manufacturers are starting to solve this problem, but GM hasn't even budged on it. Over time, the performance of your engine will decline and may start to hesitate. This is like a frog in boiling water; you won't notice it happening. There are products you can spray into your air intake (seafoam, CRC, etc) that clean the valves, or you can prevent it with a catch can. If the truck has a lot of build up, there are places that blast the carbon deposits with walnut shells. Cleaning them yourself may damaged your catalytic converter, since all that carbon has to go somewhere.
Vacuum pump break failure. This one is likely going to be another ignition-gate. People are going to die from this, but it seems that GM is going to roll the dice again and not issue a recall in the US. They were forced to in Canada.
Transmission clunk on lower gears. Usually on downshift between 3-2. Still too early to say if this is going to cause transmission issues, but I've never had a transmission shift as poorly as this truck.

There is some logic to owning an older truck where the most common issues are already known. That being said, if I had a time machine, I would go back and tell myself to not buy this truck. For the 2014-2018 range there are already proven to be better options.