I’m looking at buying a used Suburban. One in particular is a 2012 LTZ, but it has 212,000 miles. It seems well taken care of and there are service records (all routine maintenance things). The dealer is asking $9000.

Is 200k miles too much of a gamble to make this a sensible purchase? I’ve read that the 5.3 can have some longevity if it’s taken care of, but what about the transmission?

 

Many automatic transmissions do not last 200K miles, need a rebuild before that.

Both our 1994 Suburban and and 2005 Yukon Denali needed their transmissions rebuilt before 200K miles, cost $2000 each for that, installed (local independent transmission shop). Both rebuilds functioned fine; be aware that Mrs. Cusser used both for towing horse trailer/horse.

No internal engine issues on either (5.7 liter on the 1994, 6.0 liter on that 2005); just sold when got to about 225K miles on each. Mrs. Cusser - world's absolute non-mechanical person - was worried about the odometer "number"....

 

Many automatic transmissions dont last long unless the owner changes out the tranny fluid every 50K. If not expect a tranny to go bad after that. There is NO SUCH THING as permanent transmission fluid. It vents which is where the new fluid goes into.

Wish I had a stick-shift in my 2015 Chevy Malibu but they are 6 speed automatics only.

 

Maybe 6k unless there has been a recent tranny rebuild/replace - that tranny is at the end of it's expected life IMO. Motor - I have 350k and going strong on my 5.7 '93, but our 5.3 '05 was smoking bad and traded at 250k.

 

The piston and rings on some of the 5.3 liters are not as tight as they should have been designed. My old 1998 Chevy K-1500 doesn't use any oil at all.

 

I got my 2008 chevy Silverado it had 80k on it ,been good truck lower miles the better