Hi everyone!

Thanks for reading this and welcoming me to the forum. I’m looking at purchasing my first suburban. I’m looking for a third-row and something that can haul all of my housing projects and take occasional 1200 mile trips with the kids. I have about 20k to spend. I test drove a used 2012 slt burb with a 5.3 and mid test drive the oil pressure light came on. I then googled this as I waited for the dealer and found a lot of horror stories. They wanted 20k for 124k miles, if it’s just the sensor, is it still worth looking at? It didn’t tick or anything when the light was on, but that’s not always a sign either. Overall I just want a no rust suv with a solid engine. The rest i can take care of myself.

Where can my money be best spent? Should I look at the xl Yukon’s for the 6.2 engine, or what are my options? I also don’t mind going older or spending less, and fuel economy is not a concern. With my budget, most of the vehicles I’m finding have 125+k.

Any advice I can get would be awesome!

 

The issue with the 5.3 is GM's Active Fuel Management system. It's a variable-displacement system that deactivates four cylinders under light load to improve fuel economy. AFM started in the 5.3 with the new platform in 2007. There were many issues in the first few years - collapsed lifters, high oil consumption, etc. There was a "fix" allegedly done around 2010-2011 that improved reliability. Personally, I think it's an inherently-flawed design, and will never buy a truck with AFM. I love GM trucks, but I'd buy an Expedition with the 3.5L Ecoboost before I bought a GM truck with AFM.

The 6.2 engine through 2009 does not have AFM. So I would recommend finding an Escalade ESV or Yukon XL Denali in 2008-2009 model years. I also don't trust the first year of any platform, so that's why I excluded 2007. Cargurus and Autotrader are my go-to sites for custom used car searches.

 

I second this post ^

 

@intheburbs Thanks for the information! So I should pursue the GMC, and Cadillac models with the 6.2? Do you know if the 6.0L 2500 Suburbans are affected by this?

 

What he said is true. Speaking from experience after owning a 2009 Burban that drank a quart of oil every 500 miles at 50,000 mi.
With that said, forums are also a magnet for people with problems, and I know GM made more than a handful of these Suburbans and LOTS of people don’t have issues with them.
I’m also not a fan of AFM but I didn’t learn and now have a 2017 Burb. Mostly because (I think) Ford makes an ugly Expedition and I also think the Burb and Yukons are beautiful vehicles.
I’d steer clear of the 2007-2009 for sure. Haven’t heard near as many issues from 2012 on up. You can also install an AFM disabler although the hardware is still in there to cause issues. There are also AFM delete kits. If you are looking at over 100k miles and 2012 up, can find out the service history and body looks good, it’s likely a solid vehicle.
Good luck in your search.

 

The 2500 Suburbans/Yukon XLs do not have AFM. Since they are 8600 GVWR, and not subject to CAFE mileage standards, there's no incentive for GM to have done anything to improve their mileage. The 2500 trucks, through 2013, never had it. That's also why I own one.

The reason I didn't include the 2500 in my recommendation is that they were manufactured in low volumes, manufacturing of them ceased in 2013, and ones with reasonably-low mileage sell for high prices. If you search cargurus, you'll find at most a dozen or two across the country, and most of those are stripped-down fleet models with rubber flooring, bench/vinyl seats and few options. Just last week I found a 2012 2500 nicely-optioned for sale in Oregon with 98k miles. Asking price is $25k. The things are unicorns.

My 2500 is a 3LT trim level - with sunroof, nav, quad heated leather seating, power tumbling middle row seats. I shudder at the thought of replacing it with a similar 2500. According to my build sheet, there were only 5,678 2500 trucks built in 2008. 1,028 were 3LT. Six years of production extrapolates to a total of a little over 6,000 3LT units produced. Ever. 1500 XL Denalis and Escalade ESVs are a dime a dozen on the used market.

Link to 2500 Suburban for sale in Eugene, and it doesn't even have the nav system