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Personal experience with 6.2 Denali


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Have a 2015 Sierra Denali with the 6.2 8-speed since new. Just wanted to share my experience and see if anyone else can tell me if it’s normal. List of repairs: 

Around 50k miles front MRC shocks both needed replacement 

A/C went bad after 2 years of ownership

Driver side heated seat bottom went bad

Needed a full trans flush or drain not sure what dealer did but when cruising around town in a low rpm if you gave the truck some a little gas there was a serious vibration that shook the steering wheel and truck badly.

Nav antenna went bad

Both Front headlights blew at different times

Two bad front A-arms both replaced
Left rear shock failed

Rear tailight blew along with middle brake light that has water in it

Factory trailer brake controller went bad needed replacing
Rear defroster was bad (recalled done)

Brake pedal barely provides any boost after being depressed a few times still needs addressing because the recall GM did was just an electronic cheat that doesn’t fix the main issue, a weak booster
high pressure fuel sensor failed

these repairs aren’t in any particular order but honestly still love the truck when it’s running! I just think the amount of replacement parts and issues is unacceptable. Is this normal? Are your experiences similar? By the way this truck still has under 100k miles and tows only a few times a year and is essentially babied around town. Definitely makes me question another GM truck purchase.

 

 

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Just an unfortunate series of events.  I had the AC problem twice (compressor at 37k, condenser at 95k), but all else has been fine.  

 

I was rear ended at 10k and as a result, the frame had to be replaced, and now at 98k, still going strong.  

 

Anyways, I plan on buying another Chevrolet. Although if I win the lottery then I'm buying a Ram TRX (Hellcat engine in the truck,  Ford Raptor competitor) unless Chevy comes out with the Silverado ZRX by the time I win the lottery of course.

 

Will probably go for the 2500 next time as I plan on getting a RV in a few years.

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On 5/26/2020 at 3:47 PM, GMkid222 said:

Have a 2015 Sierra Denali with the 6.2 8-speed since new. Just wanted to share my experience and see if anyone else can tell me if it’s normal. List of repairs: 

Around 50k miles front MRC shocks both needed replacement 

A/C went bad after 2 years of ownership

Driver side heated seat bottom went bad

Needed a full trans flush or drain not sure what dealer did but when cruising around town in a low rpm if you gave the truck some a little gas there was a serious vibration that shook the steering wheel and truck badly.

Nav antenna went bad

Both Front headlights blew at different times

Two bad front A-arms both replaced
Left rear shock failed

Rear tailight blew along with middle brake light that has water in it

Factory trailer brake controller went bad needed replacing
Rear defroster was bad (recalled done)

Brake pedal barely provides any boost after being depressed a few times still needs addressing because the recall GM did was just an electronic cheat that doesn’t fix the main issue, a weak booster
high pressure fuel sensor failed

these repairs aren’t in any particular order but honestly still love the truck when it’s running! I just think the amount of replacement parts and issues is unacceptable. Is this normal? Are your experiences similar? By the way this truck still has under 100k miles and tows only a few times a year and is essentially babied around town. Definitely makes me question another GM truck purchase.

 

 

Welcome to the site.

 

No, that does not seem normal at all for that many failures. 

Not trying to be an A hole, but why have you kept the truck? There are always going to be a bad one with as many that are made.

 

What are your plans with it? it is coming up on 7 model years old now, with the 21's coming out before the end of this year.

Edited by JimCost2014
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Wow....that’s quite a laundry list of problems, with a 5 year old truck which isn’t not old by any means or astronomical mileage.  Like Jim said sometimes  you end up with a bad one.  But it sucks all the way around .  I’m driving an 18’ Sierra Denali Ultimate with the 6.2 and the 8 speed trans as well.  I was nervous at first hearing all the horror stories about the transmission, but so far so good not much miles on her as I picked it up last August’ as a new on the lot leftover.  My cousin is a GM Technician, and he told me hasn’t seen many of the 18’ model years have too many issues.  Sure,  every now and then the tranny might shift awkward but it’s not 24-7.  I got the extended warranty with it, hopefully doesn’t turn into a split personality.  Overall, pretty happy with it and get lots of compliments wherever I go.  Wish I would’ve waited for an AT4, but the incentives on the 19 models were no where near as good as the 18’s.  Good luck , hope you don’t have any more issues....

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The reason I've held onto it, no offense taken, is because the 14-18 trucks IMO look and feel much better than the T1. Also I have an extended warranty so most of the cost has been passed onto them. My thoughts are the only trucks to buy in the future would be a 17-18 sierra whatever trim has the 6.2 (5.3 has no balls) whether it be Denali or all terrain. The new platform, which I've spent alot of time in feels cheap and to me feels nothing more than a beefed up Colorado/Canyon. 10 speed is nice but the 8 speed is more than enough. Side note I will keep this truck much longer as I believe the bugs have been worked out by now (almost every component LOL) but I will NOT put the MRC shocks back on it. I will do the bypass and put the Bilsteins on. Those shocks are for one a rip off I think one rear shock installed was around 750! and when they fail the truck is pretty much undriveable. 

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I completely agree with your thoughts on the t1. I’d rather drive an LUV than one of those. 

 

Beyond that personal opinion can’t offer much; my 5.3 6 speed has been perfect, and I’ll feel a problem long before the ECM will alert me. 

 

And you’re possibly right with your “almost new truck” hypothesis; depends on whether upgraded parts were installed or same junk again. The problem with a problem vehicle is that all the new parts in the world won’t help on if manufacturing tolerances are slightly off across the board, in which case you’ll always suffer from stacked tolerances. 

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On another note does anyone know if GM will replace the brake vacuum pump under the recall? They already recalibrated the abs to kick on sooner but it really is just an artificial band-aid. Mine can lose boost and then it becomes hard to stop, any experiences with that? Its the worst when backing up to a trailer stopping multiple times at low speeds.

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I have the same truck, I'm on my second transmission.  At around 15k or so it starting "chunking" into grear.  Brought it to the dealership and he found all kinds of metal debris in the fluid.  Now there is this annoying hesitation between the gear shifts particularly when decelerating down hill to a stop sign, when I take off after stopping it is like it's stuck in low gear.

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16 hours ago, GMkid222 said:

On another note does anyone know if GM will replace the brake vacuum pump under the recall? They already recalibrated the abs to kick on sooner but it really is just an artificial band-aid. Mine can lose boost and then it becomes hard to stop, any experiences with that? Its the worst when backing up to a trailer stopping multiple times at low speeds.

Check with the service manager at your dealership.

 

Sounds like they should know your truck very well by now, see what they can do for you, full replacement, assistance from GM?

They have a lot more leverage than they let on, so he/she would be your best as a starting point.

 

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