Chevy Tahoe? Any reason to NOT get one?

Keeanh · Sep 17, 2011

DH is talking about getting an '03 - '06 Tahoe when his current beater Protege packs it in, like maybe next summer. Is there any horrendous, glaring reason I should discourage this, before he gets kinda settled on the idea? Any changes made during those years (or thereabouts) that I should be aware of?

luckyclov · Sep 19, 2011

My friend just got rid of her '06 Tahoe. She never really had any complaints with it, other then gas. She's a SAHM who just puts around town (errands, kid transporting, etc) and was spending between $500-$600/mo on gas.

jess71903 · Sep 19, 2011

My ILs have a 2003, I think. We love it and wish we could trade our '06 Explorer for it. It's very roomy and the gas mileage is at least as good as what we get. The only complaint I have is that the 3rd row seats don't fold into the floor. If you want the full use of your cargo space, you have to take them completely out of the car.

Keeanh · Sep 19, 2011

jess71903 said:
My ILs have a 2003, I think. We love it and wish we could trade our '06 Explorer for it. It's very roomy and the gas mileage is at least as good as what we get. The only complaint I have is that the 3rd row seats don't fold into the floor. If you want the full use of your cargo space, you have to take them completely out of the car.

That's okay, we're used to that. See my siggy -- we've had nothing but "yank the seats out if you want cargo room" vehicles

.

Mags462 · Sep 19, 2011

Not that i know of

My friend has one with 150k + miles with no major issues. The middle second row install only has a lap belt which has a long belt stalk so it can be slightly tricky to install in, but its "no step for a stepper!"

The doors are heavy so watch those close parking situations, but mechanically its a sound vehicle.

Guest · Sep 20, 2011

Gas? Other than that, I really liked that car. I mean, if it's gonna be a beater, nothing really wrong with it. Since you get snow, a big heavy duty truck like that might actually be a good idea over a car for a variety of reasons.

Any reason the Suburban isn't a choice? I mean, unless you cruise through Vancouver a lot (or some other city with tight roads and parking spaces), maybe the extra space will come in handy? If you do cruise the the Vancouver area a lot... yeah, I wouldn't dream of a Suburban either.

Keeanh · Sep 20, 2011

codex57 said:
Gas? Other than that, I really liked that car. I mean, if it's gonna be a beater, nothing really wrong with it. Since you get snow, a big heavy duty truck like that might actually be a good idea over a car for a variety of reasons.

Any reason the Suburban isn't a choice? I mean, unless you cruise through Vancouver a lot (or some other city with tight roads and parking spaces), maybe the extra space will come in handy? If you do cruise the the Vancouver area a lot... yeah, I wouldn't dream of a Suburban either.

Thanks Codex. We have enough big vehicles, LOL. I don't think the Tahoe is necessary, but he has one at work and loves it. The Protege is often too small, but a Suburban is definitely overkill.

rxmommy · Sep 20, 2011

Lousy gas mileage but you are not too concerned with that!

I think they are crazy expensive.

DH desperately wants one, I have no desire to drive a truck I LOOOOOVE my minivan, but I would often humor him and look through the used ones and I never found anything in my price range without bajillions of miles (and my Odyssey I bought with 109K, so I'm not scared of 6 digits on an odometer for sure).

We've had lots of Chevy pickups and loved them. In the winter, I'll wish I drove one too!

Keeanh · Sep 20, 2011

Mags462 said:
Not that i know of My friend has one with 150k + miles with no major issues. The middle second row install only has a lap belt which has a long belt stalk so it can be slightly tricky to install in, but its "no step for a stepper!"

The doors are heavy so watch those close parking situations, but mechanically its a sound vehicle.

Thanks for the heads-up on the install

. I can handle tricky

.

skitle1802 · Sep 20, 2011

Tahoes and Suburbans get roughly the same mpg, if you ever need to use it to transport family/gear, that extra space may come in handy. My sister has a Yukon (tahoe twin), I like it but think it feels cramped.

gagenivy · Sep 20, 2011

Ours did not have the LATCH system and I was forced to use the seatbelts. After a short amount of times (a few months or so) the seatbelts began fraying and GM said it. Voided the warranty because I shouldn't have had a car seat that tight. We traded it in. The next week.

SafeDad · Sep 21, 2011

What about a '07 GMC Acadia? Handles better than the Tahoe. Better gas mileage, too. The 8-passenger Acadia is probably only a hair smaller than a short wheelbase '06 Tahoe and might be a little less expensive on the used market, too.

Guest · Sep 21, 2011

CPSDarren said:
What about a '07 GMC Acadia? Handles better than the Tahoe. Better gas mileage, too. The 8-passenger Acadia is probably only a hair smaller than a short wheelbase '06 Tahoe and might be a little less expensive on the used market, too.

How's the reliability on the 07 Acadia? I know the Acadias were having all sorts of quality issues for years. Tahoe was pretty well sorted out.

The Acadia is a vastly better vehicle for commuting and all around useage, but a used one likely lacks a warranty so that does affect my recommendations.

Keeanh · Sep 21, 2011

Ah, after a little check with Wikipedia, I see that the Acadia/Outlook/Traverse is a newer beast, $18K +. We were looking at spending closer to $10K, which gets you more like a 2004 domestic SUV around here.

SafeDad · Sep 21, 2011

Keeanh said:
Ah, after a little check with Wikipedia, I see that the Acadia/Outlook/Traverse is a newer beast, $18K +. We were looking at spending closer to $10K, which gets you more like a 2004 domestic SUV around here.

Sorry about that- I figured if a 2006 Tahoe was under consideration, a 2007 Acadia/Outlook might be about the same price. How 'bout a 2005 Ford Freestyle? Edit: nevermind, looks like you might need 9 seats?

Keeanh · Sep 22, 2011

CPSDarren said:
Sorry about that- I figured if a 2006 Tahoe was under consideration, a 2007 Acadia/Outlook might be about the same price. How 'bout a 2005 Ford Freestyle? Edit: nevermind, looks like you might need 9 seats?

No. 5 seats + cargo is fine. Being able to put in a 3rd row is nice, but not totally necessary. This is DH's vehicle, to replace the Protege. I've got the family vehicles covered (see my avatar, LOL). He needs something that can carry a large dog crate, or a few hockey bags, or a kid's bike or two, a few of the kids, that sort of stuff. Right now he has to take my van for things that are too much for the Protege, which means I don't have a vehicle that can carry everyone, and it often involves uninstalling my seats.

Yeah, sorry, I forgot I included up to '06. I just wanted to get some info on them. I've seen high-mileage '05s for around $10K, so by next summer there could be '06s. I'll mention the Acadia & keep an eye out for deals.

Guest · Sep 22, 2011

I'd still do a search on reliability on it and compare it to the cars you're considering like the Tahoe. I love the looks of the Acadia, but it's always stuck in my memory as one of the newer models with abnormally high quality problems. Nothing specific, it's just on the "list". Along with the big Nissan trucks/suvs/minivans (Titan, Armada, Quest). I know the Nissan had problems cuz it was a brand new plant in an area that never did vehicle manufacturing before so there were SERIOUS growing pains that were documented in various articles. Don't remember reading articles on why the Acadia (and sister cars) had a lot of problems... think they were just listed on various lists like JD Power, Consumer Reports, or wherever I saw it.

mom2acrew · Oct 10, 2011

My bigger kids don't like the lack of leg room 3rd row, the floor is slightly raised in the Tahoe vs Suburban but if you really aren't going to need it then we love our Suburban...MPG aside.

Keeanh · Oct 14, 2011

mom2acrew said:
My bigger kids don't like the lack of leg room 3rd row, the floor is slightly raised in the Tahoe vs Suburban but if you really aren't going to need it then we love our Suburban...MPG aside.

Sorry I didn't see this right away. Thanks for the heads-up!

Brigala · Oct 14, 2011

My vote would be for the Suburban unless he needs something shorter for parking purposes.

There's a huge range of gas mileage in different Suburbans depending on how they're set up. Look at the engine size and the gear ratios. You won't need the burliest truck if you're not doing towing and that sort of thing. We used to have a Suburban that got about 17-18 miles to the gallon. I loved it. But DH decided he wanted something to pull heavy tractors over the mountain back and forth between our farm and my uncle's ranch, and so we sold it to his daughter and bought a different one that only gets about 13-14 mpg. :thumbsdown:

Generally speaking, a Suburban 1500 is likely to be set up with the more efficient gear ratio and a 2500 is likely to be set up with the heavy-duty but less fuel efficient ratio. But that's not a set in stone rule. Even if you go with a Tahoe I imagine there will be different options and this information might be important.

He says you're looking for a higher rear-end ratio, which is a lower number. Ours has a 4.11:1 rear end ratio, and our old one had a 3.70:1 ratio.

Chevy Tahoe? Any reason to NOT get one?

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