avusblue
Enlightened
Hey Gang,
We are thinking of acquiring a used Chevy Suburban. I know DieselDave makes his living selling them, so I'll send him a PM asking if he'd mind chiming in on this thread. But I figured I might as well do a public post so others can comment too, and so the info is available to anyone else that might be interested.
So here goes with some questions:
1) Forums. Is there a good internet forum (like CPF) for Suburbans? I already own a Mazda Miata as a summer fun car, and there's a world class site for enthusiasts ( Miata.net). Even the Chrysler minivan that this vehicle would replace has a great site ( allpar.com). Suburban owners love their vehicles, so I gotta believe there's a decent fan site out there -- but googling and searching really didn't turn anything up. (and I did check out DieselDave's site, hoping the links would include a forum).
2) New vs. Old Body Style. Comments on the pro's and con's of the "new" (2000 and up) body Suburban:
Versus the "classic" (thru 1999) Suburban:
How much better is the new one, with respect to ride and handling, design and utility, and trouble spots? I like the new body style, principally because the spare tire is stored below the cargo bay instead of in it, and the new ones just look more modern. But as you'd expect, they are quite a bit more expensive.
3) Trouble Spots. Obvious question . . . what are the usual ones to watch out for? My dad has a 1999 Tahoe and from his experience, its a generally reliable vehicle. Anything this big and heavy will of course be hard on tires and brakes. He also says the 350 V8 in the "classic" body vehicles has a reputation for leaky intake manifold gaskets, resulting in coolant getting into the oil and potentially damaging the engine. How common is this scenario?
4) "First Year" Issues. One thing I do like about the new style Suburban is the availability of "quad" seating (with twin "captains chairs" in the middle row of seats instead of a bench.) This makes it easier for kids to get to the rearmost seats. In order to afford this, a 2000 model year may be the best compromise for us. But, I am leery of buying a GM car in its first year of production. What were the inevitable "teething pains" the 2000 models experienced that were worked out in subsequent model years?
5) Rear Doors. I prefer the "barn door" double rear cargo doors instead of the alternatives: a lift glass and tailgate combo on 1999 and older, or a hatchback with integrated liftglass on the 2000+ ones. Seems like the hatchback would require too much clear space behind the vehicle to open it in a normal size garage, and the rear cargo doors are easier to quickly open and shut when loading anyway. The drawbacks to the barn doors are the door frames in the rear view, and the lack of a wiper (which to me, don't seem too big a deal). Comments from those who've lived with one or the other? The hatchback seems more common than the barn doors on the newer Suburbans; and vice versa on the older ones. My dad's Tahoe has the barn doors and he likes 'em.
6) Any other points to consider? Again, normally I would have found a good forum, lurked, searched, and learned, and then asked more focused questions amongst the experts. But I couldn't locate that forum!!
Thanks to one and all,
Dave
We are thinking of acquiring a used Chevy Suburban. I know DieselDave makes his living selling them, so I'll send him a PM asking if he'd mind chiming in on this thread. But I figured I might as well do a public post so others can comment too, and so the info is available to anyone else that might be interested.
So here goes with some questions:
1) Forums. Is there a good internet forum (like CPF) for Suburbans? I already own a Mazda Miata as a summer fun car, and there's a world class site for enthusiasts ( Miata.net). Even the Chrysler minivan that this vehicle would replace has a great site ( allpar.com). Suburban owners love their vehicles, so I gotta believe there's a decent fan site out there -- but googling and searching really didn't turn anything up. (and I did check out DieselDave's site, hoping the links would include a forum).
2) New vs. Old Body Style. Comments on the pro's and con's of the "new" (2000 and up) body Suburban:
Versus the "classic" (thru 1999) Suburban:
How much better is the new one, with respect to ride and handling, design and utility, and trouble spots? I like the new body style, principally because the spare tire is stored below the cargo bay instead of in it, and the new ones just look more modern. But as you'd expect, they are quite a bit more expensive.
3) Trouble Spots. Obvious question . . . what are the usual ones to watch out for? My dad has a 1999 Tahoe and from his experience, its a generally reliable vehicle. Anything this big and heavy will of course be hard on tires and brakes. He also says the 350 V8 in the "classic" body vehicles has a reputation for leaky intake manifold gaskets, resulting in coolant getting into the oil and potentially damaging the engine. How common is this scenario?
4) "First Year" Issues. One thing I do like about the new style Suburban is the availability of "quad" seating (with twin "captains chairs" in the middle row of seats instead of a bench.) This makes it easier for kids to get to the rearmost seats. In order to afford this, a 2000 model year may be the best compromise for us. But, I am leery of buying a GM car in its first year of production. What were the inevitable "teething pains" the 2000 models experienced that were worked out in subsequent model years?
5) Rear Doors. I prefer the "barn door" double rear cargo doors instead of the alternatives: a lift glass and tailgate combo on 1999 and older, or a hatchback with integrated liftglass on the 2000+ ones. Seems like the hatchback would require too much clear space behind the vehicle to open it in a normal size garage, and the rear cargo doors are easier to quickly open and shut when loading anyway. The drawbacks to the barn doors are the door frames in the rear view, and the lack of a wiper (which to me, don't seem too big a deal). Comments from those who've lived with one or the other? The hatchback seems more common than the barn doors on the newer Suburbans; and vice versa on the older ones. My dad's Tahoe has the barn doors and he likes 'em.
6) Any other points to consider? Again, normally I would have found a good forum, lurked, searched, and learned, and then asked more focused questions amongst the experts. But I couldn't locate that forum!!
Thanks to one and all,
Dave