general98

I had a Ford Explorer blow up on me at 102,000 miles (threw a rod and put a hole in the engine block). Needless to say, I am not excited about getting another Ford and am thinking about getting a used Tahoe. I have two kids and want a large car in decent shape that will work well for family trips, etc. No off-roading will be done and I will probably drive less than 10,000 miles per year.

Most of the Tahoe's I am interested in are high mileage - a current one I am looking at is a 2002 LT, nicely appointed, with 130,000 miles. It has a clean Carfax, no accidents, and is a one owner vehicle that looks like inside. What do I need to look out for and what sort of maintenance can I expect to come up in a Tahoe with 130,000+ miles?

Thanks in advance for any help for this newbie.

in2pro

Welcome to the forum...

Off the top of my head the issues most likely to be seen are:

Fuel pump (issue for the past 10yrs of vehicles)
brake rotor warppage
EVAP system failures
unstable idle (easy fix)
Transmission failure, (minor to major)
Oil oil consumption (luck of the draw)
coolant leak...

Now that said, these are some of the more common ones but not necessary chronic, except for maybe the fuel pump....

Stoney1964

My personal experience. I am a family man with 3 kids. I have owned 3 over the last 15 years with no engine problems out of any of them. I have never owned one with less that 160,000 on it. Even the one I drive now has 227,000 and its a very nice vehicle. We would all pile in it and take off in the morning.
I have bought 2 batteries over 15 years, one starter, one alternator, one intake manifold gasket. None of these issues are involved or considered damage to the engine. I would say this is one of the best family vehicles to own.
I drove one for years hauling tools and going in and out of constructions sites which at times where not the best driveways and never a suspension issue even. Just tires.
I will admit I have not had the privelege financially to own as new of a tahoe as you are considering. All of mine were late 90's models. I like that body style too.

TahoeInAlbany

I have an 05 Tahoe which I got one year old with 20k that was a Hertz rental. It now has 94k and I've encountered four problems with it:

2-3 pack went on the tranny at 40k. this was covered under warranty but was expensive, I think $1.4k. The mechanic there told me that this is a chronic problem with this model and he gets subs and tahoes with about 40k miles all the time. He uses an an after market mod that is stronger, and I haven't had any problems with it since.

Rotor warppage has always been a problem. Not a serious problem. You will notice the brakes kind of tugging as you slow down. I recently replaced my front rotors with wagners from advance auto and they have about 2k with no problems so far.

I too have had the EVAP problem. The vent on top of the fuel tank was stuck open. GM dealer fixed it $300, all though I could have gotten the same part at advance for $30 and done it myself.

and most recently the lock actuator for the rear tailgate stopped working. It's only a $30 part but I haven't gotten around to it. Basically you can lock the doors but you will still be able to open the tail gate.

So basically just those 4 problems, my engine never consumes any oil. The only serious problem being the tranny. If you are looking at an 02 then the transmission shouldn't be a problem because it would have been resolved long ago. Or if it hasn't gone at this point, it probably never will.

Sterling

edwardalmost

Why not try automotix I got my last one from used engine, the shippping cost was high but it was ok