mrsmoos

I got rid of my wretched minivan and now am looking for a Suburban or Tahoe for myself. My son will be driving his 95 Tahoe so that meansthe gas $$ will go mostly into his tank. I won't be driving a whole lot. I had a 99 Sub new and had it for 4 years but decided it was eating too much gas and brakes hauling kids back and forth from school, sports etc. So I traded it on the minivan. Dumb move![]Now that I have got to drive son's Tahoe a little I have the "the jones" for a Sub or Tahoe. I almost bought a 03 Sub Z71 from Carmax but the idiot salesmen (2) did not put the proper hold on the car and it was sold out from under me. Now I am looking. And looking. And trying to decide should I get a Sub or a Tahoe? There is a nice (at least it looks nice on the internet) Z71 Tahoe about 2 hours from here. Is loaded, quad seating which i like, DVD player (kids have their own handhelds anyway) Onstar etc. But on the Carfax it looks like it has gone in for "servicing" several times, once for the air conditioner when the car was about a year old. I noticed when it says "service" on the Carfax I am thinking it means fixing something because if it is just an oil change etc, it says "oil change, maintenance." So I am worried about how many times it was "serviced" which seems to be 4 counting the AC the "servicing" DOES seem to take place every 3,000 miles I have to admit. Just worried I will get one of those cars where it is a money pitlike my old minivan who went through 4 AC Condensers and 3 compressors etc etc! I also saw a 04 Tahoe locally. It seems to be the LS-cloth interior, no bells and whistles. Pretty color but the engine is only a 4.8 (it is 4x4). And they are asking a ridiculousy high price for it-especially compared to the Z71 mentiond above. Both vehicles have about 59,000 miles on them.
Another crazy idea I have is that there is a 98 GMC Suburban with 69,000 miles on it at a nearby dealer. They are asking way too much for it. It seems good mechanically but the trim strip along the side needs to be replaced, the console between the seats is a piece of cr@p, the plastc covers on the vanity mirrors on the visors both fell off in our hands, the car has some sratches that look like a bobcat was riding on the hood and there is a ding in the back barn door. But if it could be bought for a really good price, those things could be fixed slowly and I would have a MUCH smaller payment. I liked that body style too. My kids are horrified that I would consider getting an "old" car even though son drives 95 Tahoe. His Tahoe is in better shape cosmetically than the Sub. So tell me, WHAT SHOULD I BUY? (I really like the Subs & Tahoes w/ the Z71 package-they drive a little more "trucky" and I like that-like the older one too.)Be brutally honest. I am looking to spend no more than 16K and have the vehicle have no more than 70K miles. Does this sound right? BTW, I am in Northern California.
Oh, and does anyone know how to figure out WHAT the "servicing" was on a Carfax?

bad2006z71

If you are looking into a new body style suburban or tahoe, stay away from the 4.8 and stick with the 5.3. there isnt a whole lot of mpg difference between the two and the torque range on the 5.3 is much better.

anyways the servicing on carfax might not be a big deal. ive had my Z71 in for warrenty work 5 or 6 times but nothing major. just the typical steering shaft that is a bad design on those body style trucks, replaced a drivshaft, brakes were squealing, nothing major that would make me disappointed in the truck.

the only thing i dont like on Z71 tahoes or suburbans is the built in roof rack, it looks stupid to me.

good luck