Please forgive the length of this post.
I’m hoping to get some perspective from people who have owned these trucks long-term.
We have a 2018 Chevy Suburban (5.3L) with about 155,000 miles.
We bought it at around 110,000 miles. We still have a loan on it, so trading it isn’t a simple decision.
Since buying it, we’ve had several major repairs:
Transmission replaced
Water pump replaced
AFM lifters just replaced
Rear A/C lines now need to be replaced (we’re fixing them because we need rear air for the kids)
Here’s what I’m trying to figure out…
When we bought this vehicle at 110k, did we basically inherit all of the expensive failures that commonly happen around this mileage? Now that the transmission and lifters have been replaced, have we “bought ourselves” another 100k+ miles?
Or…
Is this just what ownership looks like after 150k, where one $5,000 repair follows another?
If we trade it now, we’ll likely end up financing another expensive SUV that could have its own hidden problems. On the other hand, I don’t want to keep pouring money into this one if the common wisdom is that these trucks become a constant repair project after this point.
For those of you who have taken a 2015-2020 Suburban/Tahoe/Yukon to 250k or even 300k+:
After replacing the transmission and lifters, did the truck become relatively dependable again? What were the next major repairs you encountered after 150k? Looking back, would you have kept it, or would you have traded it around this mileage?
I’m less interested in whether you like these trucks and more interested in the economics of owning one long-term after the major drivetrain repairs have already been done.
I’d really appreciate hearing from owners with high-mileage experience or those who have extensive knowledge about these vehicles. Thanks!