Jump to content

Looking to purchase a 2015-2019 Suburban LTZ what problems should i look for


Recommended Posts

Posted

Hi

 

Am new here, joined to gain experience in issues and mods (mostly light changes to LED)...  i am looking to buy a 2015-2019 Surberban LTZ / Premier (what ever they brand them as now).. raises a few questions:

- WHat problems should i look for

- Which are real easy to fix so overlook with a drop in price

etc...

 

I also notice some are "shadow lined" (which is a BMW labeling) meaning the chrome around the windows, front grill, door handles and branding "SUBURBAN" are all black, was this an option at some point?

 

many Thanks

Posted

Scan through the thread titles and stop on the ones that interest you, you'll find some consistent problems with a few owners.  The "shadow lined" you mentioned may have been a later Gen 4 option or a special order, black was in the grille only with Chevy models below LTZ/Premier.  Why concern yourself with problems, the 2020's should be ready to hit the street?

Posted

The only issues I'm away of is the magnetic ride shocks could be an issue.  They don't last long and at $500 a pop can add up in cost.  We love our 2016 Suburban.  Nice to be getting 22mpg out of it as big as it is.

Posted

Some have electrical problems. Dash lights blinking at speeds. Shutting off at parking lot speeds. Some say it’s grounds. Chances are it would be on the car fax.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Posted
7 hours ago, KARNUT said:

Some have electrical problems. Dash lights blinking at speeds. Shutting off at parking lot speeds. Some say it’s grounds. Chances are it would be on the car fax.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That sounds odd, is this common?

Posted

One other thing that I just thought of is the AC condenser. It cracks I think in the upper driver side section.  At least the Suburban's have a TSB out on this.  Why the trucks don't is beyond me.  

Posted
8 minutes ago, Black02Silverado said:

One other thing that I just thought of is the AC condenser. It cracks I think in the upper driver side section.  At least the Suburban's have a TSB out on this.  Why the trucks don't is beyond me.  

This is the AC radiator in the engine?  How would i check that its been recalled and repaired? (VIN to the local dealer?)

Posted
That sounds odd, is this common?

My son unloaded a 15 model. They could never fix it. There was a separate designation and appointment schedule, there was so many at the time. Sometimes he waited two weeks to get it in. He lost a lot of money when he finally traded it in.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Posted
44 minutes ago, SFX Group said:

This is the AC radiator in the engine?  How would i check that its been recalled and repaired? (VIN to the local dealer?)

The condenser that is in front of the radiator.  You can look up by VIN if it was fixed.  We got an extended warranty coverage on our for 125k miles or until 2025 I think.  I would have to look up the paperwork.

Posted

I would avoid MY 2015. Seems to be the source of probably 90% of issues with the K2 Suburbans. Never really good to buy the first model year as a general rule anyway. 2016+ have a lot more/better tech features as well. I would not buy without the max tow package either, it gives you a 2-speed transfer case and importantly a 3.42 rear end which puts some good pep into the powertrain. 20 inch wheels will give you a better ride over 22, especially if you live in an area with bad roads, but of course that can always be done aftermarket. As for the suspension, magride is pretty comfortable and lasts longer than the conventional setup with optimum ride quality the entire time (whereas regular shocks gradually wear out), but is more expensive to replace. That being said, you can always convert it to conventional shocks when the time comes. 

Posted
8 hours ago, Black02Silverado said:

The condenser that is in front of the radiator.  You can look up by VIN if it was fixed.  We got an extended warranty coverage on our for 125k miles or until 2025 I think.  I would have to look up the paperwork.

Thanks for the confirmation...

Posted
12 hours ago, Black02Silverado said:

The condenser that is in front of the radiator.  You can look up by VIN if it was fixed.  We got an extended warranty coverage on our for 125k miles or until 2025 I think.  I would have to look up the paperwork.

Thanks

Posted

Definitely look for the infamous highway buffeting noises, especially 2015-2016 models, double especially on LTZ with 22" wheels and the Mag Ride. It's less of an issue with the 20's. Get it up to a good 70-80 mph. Most of the manufacturing improvements and bandaids to improve it were in by the 2017 models, which got it as good as possible, but not perfect. My 2018 had very mild "buffeting" issues on the highway at two specific speeds, but wasn't a big deal. Swapping out factory Bridgestones for Michelins fixed it.

 

The issue is because of less than perfectly balance tires from the factory putting a lot of vibrations through the body structure at highway speeds, and said body being a bit too thin (to save weight) and ending up vibrating in such a way that it seems like somebody has one window open a crack and a pulsating pressure imbalance. Road force balancing tires can help, or swapping out the factory Bridgestones for Michelins, or going from 22's down to 20's, or having a 2017+ model all helps. 

 

Also, if you care about performance at all, get one with the 3.42 gearing. Look for ones with the 2-speed transfer case and a setting for both 4HI and 4LO on the dash. It's almost a sin that the 3.08 gearing is standard. The truck drives a lot better with the 3.42's and there's no fuel mileage penalty either. At cruise on the highway at 70 mph, you have 25% more power available in 6th gear with the 3.42's due to the engine being in a fatter part of the torque curve, which makes a huge difference going up highway grades. Hard to believe that 200 rpm could make such a difference, but it does. The 3.42 trucks are also probably around a half to a full second faster to 60 mph. There's a reason why most every single press fleet truck all had 3.42 gears.

  • 4 weeks later...
Posted

UPDATE

 

Just driven a 2017 LTZ (premier), did not have HI/LOW (only 2wd or 4wd), also had Bridgestone tires.

 

Went up the highway about 110km, was very quiet in the cabin, didnt hear anything as explained about buffeting etc.. (the 2/4wd was set to Auto)  Was a real nice drive.

 

Not super happy with the steering / chair location as not where to lean my right elbow without fine tuning.  Located in Canada and this was $57000 with about 60'000 kms on the clock.  They said it had the recall for the AC radiator done.

 

It had the HUD, might take some getting used to but could see that as handy for navigation and safety info.

Posted
On 10/30/2019 at 11:39 PM, SFX Group said:

UPDATE

 

Just driven a 2017 LTZ (premier), did not have HI/LOW (only 2wd or 4wd), also had Bridgestone tires.

 

Went up the highway about 110km, was very quiet in the cabin, didnt hear anything as explained about buffeting etc.. (the 2/4wd was set to Auto)  Was a real nice drive.

 

Not super happy with the steering / chair location as not where to lean my right elbow without fine tuning.  Located in Canada and this was $57000 with about 60'000 kms on the clock.  They said it had the recall for the AC radiator done.

 

It had the HUD, might take some getting used to but could see that as handy for navigation and safety info.

 

If it does't have a 2-speed transfer case, it won't have the 3.42 rear end and aux trans cooler. I'd pass.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Forum Statistics

    250.4k
    Total Topics
    2.7m
    Total Posts
  • Member Statistics

    342,758
    Total Members
    8,960
    Most Online
    Randy Ginoza
    Newest Member
    Randy Ginoza
    Joined
  • Who's Online   3 Members, 1 Anonymous, 1,532 Guests (See full list)

  • Latest Articles

  • Posts

    • I thought I would use your thread and add to it as I just did my first longer drive with my truck in the last couple of days. I drove from the Grande Prairie area of Alberta down to Edmonton and most of where I drove in the city was the ring road so fairly free flowing but a bit of stop and go as well in the city. Stayed the night and returned home and not too many stops along the way each way but every restart and certainly every cold start sets it back for fuel mileage. Why I say that is I see some people will cherry pick a fuel mileage leg after the vehicle had been warmed up driveline wise before hand and its a forgiving ( easy rolling drive leg for example ) and call that their fuel mileage which can give a false perception of reality. I was not heavily loaded at all but never the less the flip bak cover, rubber bed mat, various tools etc and extra jerry cans of fuel all way up to a few hundred pounds of dead weight so its not an empty truck. The cold inflation tire pressures are set more near the freezing point so once they are warmed up driving I was showing 45 front and over 40 rear and realize high inflation pressures would help a little in fuel mileage but certainly not the ride on our crap sections of highway. The weather was good so was not raining as that can really drag mileage down, in fact I had a bit of a tail wind on average driving home. Most people on here would never have driven on that freeway to visualize it but its got a fair bit of rolling type of landscape with numerous river valleys. For the most part I had it on cruise set to 62 although kicking it off if I caught it in time before it started down shifting and self braking going down the grades. Most of the more substantial grades its shifting into 7th I believe as 8th just doesn't have it. Total distance round trip was 643 miles and my overall average and I did refuel three times in all, figured out to 17.65 miles per US gallon. My best fuel mileage section refuel within all of this figured out to 18.46 and these are all hand calculated figures. I find if anything that the trucks computer can be over optimistic, sometimes its pretty close but other times its stretching it. On paper persay in theory the truck would have just about made it on fumes for that whole drive without refueling once.    Which made me think of the topic thread of the wonder if these trucks could do 20 mpg and that is a good question, certainly would have to be on an easy going flat highway, no head wind, the right temperature, not packing around a bunch of dead weight and puttering along even slower than I was I would suspect and going steady and not stopping to smell the flowers or take a piss !. It probably is possible but not without effort to attain that with the wind resistance and weight of these trucks. Of course on my drive most people are passing me if they have the power as per loaded highway tractors, never mind a lot of speedy vehicles but the speed limit is 68 and most are at or well over that. 
    • Monday looks like a good day for the dealer to test an ac issue. Hopefully it all turns out good.
    • Paid $2.72 for E85 today.
    • Welcome back! No, it definitely doesn't pass the sniff test. Even "ceasefire" needs an alternative definition these days.    $5.29 at Kroger today
    • That makes sense, and I think you are describing the real product problem. Capturing data is the easy part. If the owner or technician has to manually dig through five minutes of millisecond-level logs, the product has already failed. The device would be at the ECM harness, not at the OBD port, so I agree that data retrieval and event marking need to be thought through carefully. The way I am thinking about the architecture is: The recorder itself should not depend on a phone, app, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or cloud connection to capture the event. It should always keep a local rolling buffer and lock the event locally. A button, phone app, or small cabin device would only act as an event marker. If the driver feels a stumble and presses the button 10–30 seconds later, the pre-buffer has to already contain the useful data. For data retrieval, the practical options would be a sealed service USB lead, Wi-Fi download, or a phone/cabin companion device. I would not expect the owner to remove the ECM-side module or work with raw files directly. The cloud or AI side would be for interpretation, not for capturing the event. The truck may have no connection when the issue happens, so the evidence has to be saved locally first. After that, cloud processing could help decode the data, compare it against baselines, and generate a readable report. For the first version, I would keep the automatic triggers conservative and objective: driver event marker bus-off error passive voltage drop / brownout device reset FIFO or queue overflow a normally periodic message disappearing side-to-side communication mismatch, if the topology supports that For “learning normal,” I agree with your point, but I would not want to overclaim it as automatic root-cause diagnosis at first. A realistic first step would be learned baseline comparison for that specific vehicle and operating condition. For example, a value would only be compared against similar conditions: RPM range load / MAP throttle position gear / vehicle speed coolant and oil temperature battery voltage AFM/DFM state, if decoded and validated Then the report could flag things like: this periodic message disappeared compared with its normal timing this value deviated from this vehicle’s normal range under similar conditions the same abnormal pattern repeated after the same type of event the anomaly occurred together with voltage, oil-pressure, misfire, or communication changes But I would still call that “abnormal pattern detected,” not “replace this part,” unless there is enough validated repair data behind it. So the intended product would not be “here is a huge log.” It would need to be an event package: what triggered the capture how much pre/post data was preserved what changed before and after the event whether the device itself reset, overflowed, or saw a bus error selected graphs around the event raw data only as supporting evidence From your perspective, what would make this kind of report useful instead of just another datalog? For example: What are the top 5 parameters or events you would want highlighted first? Would you trust a learned baseline for that specific vehicle, or would you prefer fixed thresholds? How much false-positive flagging would be acceptable before you stopped looking at the reports? What would a one-page report need to show for an independent shop to take it seriously? For misfire, AFM/DFM, oil pressure, or U-code complaints, what would you want the tool to flag automatically?
  • GM-Trucks.com Clubs

  • Popular Contributors

×
×
  • Create New...