Good evening guys,

Looking for advice. I have the opportunity to purchase a 1997 suburban 4x4 with 187000 miles . Its a one owner southern car that has been serviced regularly. Anyone out there that has the same year suburban? If so do you guys still use it on family trips ? How many miles do you have on it ? Any advice for me on what to look for when I test drive the vehicle. Any feedback would be appreciated.

 

I have had a 95 with 320k miles. tranny out but original engine. replaced tranny and she is still running somewhere up north
Then I had a 99 burb with 220k , blew headgasket and sold to mechanic who fixed it. Tried buying it back but he loves it to much

Currently have a 99 tahoe but something is up with compression and misfires

These engines will run a loooong time but you got to keep up with maintenance.

Things to look for with the 5.7 vortec is headgaskets, Spider injector assembly, intake manifold gasket. And guess what; neither can be really checked out from the outside....

Things that break easily are door handles. These are great trucks to get to know how to work on cars as they are fairly simple.


They are big vehicles though and therefore do drink a lot so do keep that in mind....

once you have had one you will likely keep one for the rest of your life (2nd car, vacation roadtripper, etc)

 

Thanks sledgehammer for the reponse.


I pulled the trigger on the suburban. I took it to a mechanic that I use when I don't know how to do the job. He replaced the intake manifold gasket and water pump. I replaced the starter, battery, fuel pump, fuel filter, shocks, oil, oil filter, front differential fluid and transfer case fluid, and passenger door handle. I also was getting very little air from the vents and learned from the forum how to clean the evaporator and that worked awesome plenty air now

 

She looks good! I had a 97 Tahoe 2 wheel drive, had very few problems with it..

 

I have a 97 Suburban with 178,000 on it and take it on many long trips with the family, usually towing our pop-up. It failed us once about 80 miles from home when the fuel pump went out. It has been wrecked by one of the older kids when she ran into the back of a car. I had to replace the hood, grill, bumper and bumper brackets. Luckily the radiator and ac condenser remained whole. They were severely warped, but no leaks. The other car was totaled. Unfortunately the air bags deployed, but I replaced those too.

The Suburban keeps on plugging away.

 

I am driving a 1997 GMC Suburban with 300,000 miles on it & still going strong!

 

I have a 97 Suburban 1500 4X4 5.7L 160,000 miles. I live in L.A. and I drove it up tothe bay area twice. The first time it was great. No problems except the driver's door inside door handle broke. I'm told that is not uncommon for that series of Suburbans. I went to the Chevy dealer and bought the whole door handle assembly for $106.00.. Dont go to the junkyard to get just the handle itself. I tried that at first. It was just as worn out and it broke less than 1 month later.. On my second trip up the bay area (it is about a 700 mile round trip) I was not so fortunate. Everything was fine on the way up there. Then a few days after my transmissionwent out. The engine revs, but the transmission does not send the power to the wheels. So now I am stuck here about 10 miles outside of Oakland. Luckily I am at my friend's house or I woyld have run out of moneypaying for accommodations. I called the local Aamco shop and they told me I will most need a new transmission for $3-4,000. I paid $3,000 for the car in the first place in perfect condition. If it they say it needs a new tranny, I will have it towed to a local independent mechanic for a second opinion. If they give me the same diagnosis , then maybe I will try to sell it to the mechanic for cheap and fly back home and find something that gets a little better mileage.