Jump to content

Need some advice on used Suburbans...


Crusader556

Recommended Posts

Posted

I will be looking to buy a used 02-04 Suburban sometime next year. The wife and I like the Z71 package but an LT would work well too.

 

We were wondering how reliable the 02-04 Suburbans are and if there were any issues that we should know about.

 

Also, is there a big difference between the model years I mentioned above?

 

I would also appreciate it if anyone would like to share tips on what to look for and what to avoid when shopping for used Suburbans.

 

Thanks!:devil:

Posted

I have a 2002 YukonXL (aka suburban) and it's been really good. Had an issue with the intake manifold gasket and an electrical switch in the sterring column that took out the lights. But that's all.

I have to put up with the annoying tick-tick-tick from the 5.3l for the first 20-30seconds on startup, but heh, GM says it's normal.

 

And welcome to

GM-Trucks.gif

Posted

Some differences include:

 

XM on 2004's

DIC and stereo access on the steering wheel

 

I had a 2002 Yukon XL and a 2004 Z71 Sub - really, both were very dependable, with the only differences being additional options like the ones above.

Posted

The interior is improved on the 03-04 versions vs the 02 model. Not much, but some. I prefer the 03-04 interior, but that is just me. They are great rigs and you should see mid teens as far as economy goes. Little less when towing, little more on the interstate.

Archived

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

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Forum Statistics

    250.5k
    Total Topics
    2.7m
    Total Posts
  • Member Statistics

    342,947
    Total Members
    8,960
    Most Online
    Sothpaw27
    Newest Member
    Sothpaw27
    Joined
  • Who's Online   4 Members, 0 Anonymous, 573 Guests (See full list)

  • Latest Articles

  • Posts

    • Thanks for the reply. All settings were correct and the engine was off, as it was supposed to be. It turned out to be something simple. I took a drive for about an hour. I must have had a low battery without knowing it. The voltage gauge on the display looked ok. At the end of my drive, I shut off the engine and the update prompt came up and it updated normally. It’s ironic because one of the features of the update is a reduction of battery drain. 
    • when it's greyed out that is it's way of telling you that it's downloading the patch in the background. Eventually it will be fully downloaded and then it will prompt you at ignition shut down to run the update. I highly recommend doing the update once you get home and can run it a few times. I've had several issues with updates not going the first time around and I had to retry the update multiple times in my driveway before it was successful.   Some updates are huge and take awhile to download. You can help it by connecting to your home WiFi and keep the truck on service mode for the ignition and keep it alive for awhile on a battery charger too. There are specs it needs to be in for updating such as a full enough battery charge, no running ignition, etc.
    • I am not techy at all but wondered if you have the truck running but sitting still in park as some functions gray out as soon as the truck is moving. I believe in the settings for updates you can choose for it NOT to update and I wonder by chance if maybe that was chosen before and now it won't allow you to chose to press update, I think that is back in the settings menu where it has all the items one wants on or off etc. Also I assume you have a wifi connection and checked that it has some signal strength, not that it would have anything to do with the grayed out updates choice in that case. What I am thinking out loud of here may be be of no value but thought I would suggest it, sometimes it can be the simplest thing that resolves an issue.  
    • The so called rare failure that some certainly liked to tout ( die hard Ford fan boys ) as per the lifter failing and wiping out the cam. Back when it started happening the blame was being pointed to the lifters and honestly I never did hear anything myself conclusively one way or the other on that. Ford themselves in I believe 2024 had a technical bulletin I will call it that came out and for some engine platforms they were reprograming the engines idle speed but also they had a software update for the oil pump which then some time later was said what that software update did as to be increasing the oil pressure at idle. It is a good question if that issue was completely solved as one Ford specialist mechanic youtuber said he saw failures after that time period. Like anything there would be the variables, what oil is being used and the OCI and how much idle time gets put on an engine. I've seen some comments to claim that the L8T isn't so happy with high idle time either but I also know that companies that require their vehicle to idle a lot on the job don't tend to get the oil changed often enough for all those hours of idle time and go off of the odometer. 
    • My 2026 Silv. 1500 WT (reg cab/short bed/4wd) has the 40/20/40 with storage in lower middle seat as well as the fold-down center bolster/armrest.   With the dual glove boxes this is about as much storage as possible in a std cab IMHO. Bill
  • GM-Trucks.com Clubs

  • Popular Contributors

×
×
  • Create New...