In the market for a used Tahoe or Yukon.

[Honey nut]

I am in the market for a 2001-2006 Tahoe or Yukon, I am looking for something that is 4x4 and my budget high of $13,000.

I have probably looked at five to six tahoes and yukons so far with no luck of making a purchase. I am in no rush and the closest I've came to making the buy was on a 2005 yukon slt with 85k on the odometer for $13,383 out the door.

With my background, I want to ask all of you is there something specific I should look for in used tahoes/ yukons? I love Chevys and drove them for as fleet vehicles with some up to 200k plus on the odom. So I love the vortec motor!

Recently I used a magnet to check for body work on a tahoe and noticed when I placed the magnet on the rear trunk door the magnet didn't stick, is this normal or did the vehicle have body work?

Also what is the deal with autoride? I looked at two tahoes with autoride, one when I started it up seems like I could hear the compressor, the other had autoride but I couldn't hear a compressor sound? Sales person said the noise was the compressor on the autoride? True or false?

Last question is there a significant difference on the 01-03/ 04-06 tahoes and yukons?

 

[eddyz71]

Things to check:

Cleanliness of the engine, trans, transfer case, and diffs. Look for leaks and bad shaft seals.
Grab the output shafts of the front diff and see if they move. There should be almost no play. If the left side shaft moves then you're talking about bad bearings in the diff and it will have to be rebuilt/replaced.
You might be better off having the 4hi/4lo setup rather than the AWD option like the Yukon Denali.
Check for rust but the magnet will not work on the back lift gate because it is a sheet of aluminum to save weight.
Follow the rest of the common sense rules about buying used cars.

Autoride does have a compressor and don't forget that those components will eventually fail on higher mileage trucks and will need to be replaced.
Another suspension option was Premium Smooth Ride. This is not done with compressed air but does have a special Novamat shock in the back that costs more than $300 each.

 

[Abard123]

I am also in the market for a used tahoe. I'm looking at a lifted 2003 LT 4wd. The dealer is saying it has the rear locker but I thought that was only in the Z71. Do LTs come with the locker too? And how can I check? Thanks

 

[Honey nut]

Eddyz, thanks I will definitely do the output shaft test on the drivers side to check for looseness. Also good to know that the rear "trunk" door is aluminum! I was thinking there was hondo or body work.

As for the autoride option Ima try to avoid that option but since I'm shopping for used it is what it is. For the autoride system should there be a compressor noise that is audible outside and when in the drivers seat?

 

[Tmiesowicz]

If the tahoe comes with the locker / LSD it will say g80 on the sticker in the glove box, a noise in the driver seat may be the climate control fan, I Hurd dust accumulates in there causing that noise. I forgot about it in mine.

 

[Honey nut]

Thanks