This Near-New GMC Yukon ALREADY Has 230,000 Miles: Here’s How It’s Held Up! 

Most cars usually last a long time when they're used for livery or delivery service because the engine is kept at operating temperature for much longer durations than the average commuter vehicle, resulting in fewer heat cycles and therefore less thermal expansion and contraction when an engine sees most of its wear and tear. There's a lady who is a parts runner who put 1 million miles on her Hyundai Elantra. Hyundai featured her story and gave her a new Elantra for free.

Miles vs Age. It’s an interesting topic. But more interestingly, how did Brendon’s microphone wind sock handle a 30mph gust? That was incredible.

I have 298k miles on my '06 Tahoe. Still going strong. Mechanic said I should be able to hit 400k. I'd buy that Yukon in a heartbeat!

My coworker here in the oilfield here in Texas has a 2020 trail boss with a 6.2 L in it rep purchased in October 2019, I just walked over and looked at it to see how many miles was on it it shows 323k miles as of 1p.m. Today. The only issue he says happened when it was under warranty and about 5000 miles they put an air conditioner compressor on it and about three weeks ago at 319,000 miles he had to put an alternator on it other than that it's just gas and go every day 350 miles, about 82,000 miles a year. I have the exact truck he has with the 6.2 but mine is a 2022 model it likes a few days being two years old and mine sits at 168,000 miles on it right now and not a single dollar spent on it mechanically.

With that level of "extreme" high mileage one has to believe the vast majority of them were highway miles and very little stop & go city driving. This is far easier on a vehicle than typical commuter-style city driving so I think I'd have one like this in a heartbeat given the price point.

I have a 2008 Escalade 530k mi, these things are TANKS. I've seen Yukons, Tahoes, etc with over 400k miles on them. They're awesome!

Good to see these newer GM trucks lasting as long as the GMT800s. Pretty soon I might have to go newer to avoid rust

I've purchased my last 2 SUV's that were previous rental cars. They both had under 20k miles on them. The one I gave my son only has 15k over 4 years and the one I drive daily has over 100k in 3 years of service. Get what you need and keep your maintenance done and you're good to go 😊

Had an 08 Yukon that went to car heaven at 270k miles last month. Head gasket blew, which blew the radiator. It’s a case in which I didn’t know the warning signs and had I done my due diligence could have maybe prolonged its life. It was a beast though. Shoot, it still ran with the blown head and radiator…obviously not safely, but shit, it ran.

The biggest roll of the dice is whether the livery service maintained it regularly, especially keeping up with all the fluid changes per the manufacturer’s schedule.

I think Brenden is a great addition to your channel and love the episodes where you go through the auction lot. I once bought a ram 1500 that was one year old with 90,000 miles. I think vehicles that stay on the road fare better than sporadic short driven vehicles.

Me and my family have always had GM vehicles and not one has had a major problem… They still make pretty good vehicles today, especially when compared to the competition!

I would love to see a suburban/Yukon series. Maybe having different years compared off road Or a road trip maybe.

Heat cycles mean a lot more than milage

Cars love to be driven. As long as the maintenance is done and parts are replaced when they should be this is exactly how a quality vehicle should be like with that many miles on it.

high mileage fleet vehicles get that way by being reliable. I purchased a 2011 F-150 3.5 Ecoboost in 2015 for $10k with 140k miles, still have it with 250k miles. Excellent vehicle.

I've got a 03 Chevy SUV at 323k miles. It's now a game to see how long and far it lives.

Great video! I love these vehicles and have one, a 6.2l version. They are bullet proof, perfect for families and active people who need space, and perfect for long road trips.

I have 2017 Yukon Denali. I deleted the AMF. Bought new. Awesome driving experience with 420 hp. I added Borla GM exhaust. I'm 67 years of age and love driving every mile. I get 25.4 mpg at 77 mph. 3 hr. drive. Change oil every 4,500 miles. I have no doubt should last at least 250 000.

Great video TFL crew and what a great find. I seen dozens of them so it shows these SUVs are reliable. I maybe the only person who heavily supports the cylinder deactivation and auto start/stop features because they truly do work on fuel economy efficiency. I am a huge GM car fan and will always be. I maybe biased, but I’m telling you with my experience, these systems from GM truly do work on efficiency and as long every owner keeps up on maintenance, these engines will be more reliable than the crap from Toyota or Honda. Fords have always been crap. I owned 2 Chevrolet Silverados, 2014 with AFM and over 184,000 miles and 2020 with DFM, auto start/stop, and 8 spd auto(currently owning right now and have over 146,000 miles), and both have been absolutely reliable trucks. Routine inspection every time I go in for an oil change. If something major needs to be fixed, I get it done. I driven both trucks for deliveries and ride share as for my jobs and never had let me down. All cars and trucks can be reliable if you keep up with maintenance. What I believe what people keep saying about GMs engines being unreliable with lifter issues and such obviously don’t care about maintenance and being really rough on their trucks. Don’t what others say about their experience or such, I’ll stand by with my opinion.

I actually saw one of these on marketplace a while back with 400k miles on it. I had one as a rental in 2018, I absolutely loved driving it.

I had a 2007 Tahoe from 2018 to 2022. Bought with 180k, sold with 230k and running strong. I put a ton of parts on that thing.

My 07 2500 Yukon has 230k on original LY6 & 4L80 - going strong!

I do believe maintenance is a big part of longevity. If someone buys a car that they can barely make the payments on, most are willing to skip the maintenance without blinking an eye. Some private owners buy cars and take really good care of their vehicles and get 300k with no issues. My dad had a co-worker with a 1993 Ford Taurus that had over 250k miles with the original engine and transmission, but he was rigorous with his maintenance to the Tee, changed all the fluids, from power steering fluid, coolant, brake fluid, changed rubber components before failure like belts, hoses.

After reading some of these comments, I'm surprised at the number of people that think every rental car is being driven like it was stolen. I've rented dozens of cars and always drove them like I do my own cars. I've also ridden in dozens more rental cars with business associates, and they always drove normally as well. Maybe it depends on the area of the country people are from?

Good info! Fun to see that car

3 of my last 4 vehicles have been rental company vehicles for that exact reason. They’re maintained. They generally have proof of maintenance. Do your due diligence and check the vehicle over for the cosmetic and mechanical damage. If there is none, generally good to go. I’ve had great luck with it.

I have the 2017 Yukon XL-Denali version. The rear hatch issue isn't the struts themselves, it's the "liftgate Strut Actuator Assembly. Since it was noted before I bought it (used in 2022), it was covered under warranty.... instead of the $622 est cost for part & labor. If you know what you are doing, the parts were $375.

Miss the buy or bust series on TFLclassics.

Rule of thumb for highway miles is that 1 highway mile = 1/3 of a city mile, so if this is all highway miles the vehicle has more like 76k on it. You can check for highway miles by finding low wear on brake pedal and seatbelt, tons of dents and bugs in the radiator, and low operating hours relative to mileage

Agree - especially if you stick to average/mid grade models that don't have a bunch of extra stuff to break and you stick to the 5.3 motor.

I purchased an ex rental car, a 2021 GMC Terrain SLT, with 70,000 and other than some small cosmetic issues, the car is mechanically sound. It drives perfectly. I saved lots of money versus buying a new one (I always favor used or slightly used over new).

I bought a 2023 Yukon denali 8 months ago. As i was driving my car it seemed like whenever i stopped at a traffic light. The auto start stop never worked. So I talked to my dealer about it, he said that Dynamic fuel management system come turned off from the factory, which disables the auto start stop as well. I have driven almost 49000km and the 6.2 V8 is running strong and showing impressive fuel economy results.

Wow, it even comes with a full tank of gas! Also, personal experience tells me that 5.3L engine is very robust even with the cylinder deactivation scheme.

Hello. In in1994 I got from Phil long Fotd a 1993 Ranger with 13000 miles! I drove it till I retired in 2003, to work at 43 miles one way , then drove nene more miles, and frturned from conifer Colorado to Minnesota in 2005. In 2001 I gave it to my grandson it to him with over 300,00 miles with most of the original ( execr) tires) factory excerpts equipment. It now nas nearly 230, ooo miles!

I feel so validated!! I put 260,000 miles on my 99 Suburban before trading it for a 2014 Yukon XL SLT - less than a year old with 24K miles and formerly owned by a rental company. I have 140,000 miles on it now and have only replaced the radiator. The engine and transmission are much better and faster than the earlier truck. I feel no need for the 6.2 and its super unleaded requirement.

My 2005 Suburban Z71 4x4 is still going with almost 370k miles. I only paid $2,300 for it last year and the best part is, i can enstall another engine 5.3L or 6.0L relatively cheap and it will be better than the new stuff rolling off the lot. I purchased my 2007 GMC Yukon SLT 4x4 for just $2,500 last year with 230k miles and its also going strong and can do same engine swap for cheap, possibly add a 6.2L for cheap. Older trucks have value.

I have a 5.3l in my express van and it's solid as heck with 171k on it

I get a new Silverado 5.3 every 3 years as I put about 55-65 thousand in a year. Never had any engine problems but transmissions usually only make it til anywhere from 120-150 thousand. If it wasn’t for the transmissions I’d say they’re great.

Cool that these modern SUVs offered the columns shifter. Wish they just kept it for 2021+

hey my 2018 chevy cruze (owned since brand new) has 199k miles and has yet to have a single reliability related issue, the only time it ever had to go in for a repair was a collision repair, a LOT of people refuse to admit gm has gotten to the point they know how to make a good reliable car

A good reason it has gone the 230k is the fact that the hitch cover is intact -- So the powertrain has never been burdened with hauling.

We have and old 2017 Yukon rental other that the AC condenser it has served us well so far 93xxx miles

In the early days of the pandemic when the rental car companies were dumping their brand new 2019's, it had every option one could get that model year. It was a former rental car out of Florida with 9,000 miles on it. Today it has about 70,000 miles and hasn't had a single issue. Only wear and tear items (oil, oil filter, and tires).

My family has a 2016 GMC Yukon XL Denali that we got brand new in 2016. It now has 155,000 miles and has been absolutely flawless. Love this generation of GMC Yukons. Might be my personal favorite generation. Love the 6.2 V8 in our Denali especially. It’s been a great vehicle and we don’t plan on getting rid of it anytime soon.

I got a 2016 gmc sierra I got brand new with 6 miles I got over 193k on it now and it never missed a beat

Great video guys. Rental cars no, but commercial fleet yes. Commercial drivers are more professional and have the responsibility to their jobs where as renters won't see that car again Electronics are solid state and if they haven't failed yet, will probably be fine. Ota updates on electronics are more troublesome because developers are human and can create new unforseen issues with an update. That vehicle probably has no OTA updates and GM stopped developing for it anyway.

You admitted there is no service data available, so how do you know that it's been reliable? That's a complete GUESS. For all you know the original engine was replaced with one that had the active fuel management (known major issue) deleted. Same for the transmission. This video is VERY misleading. Next time do some investigation before you publish these unsubstantiated opinions.

I've bought two former rentals, had them both checked out with trusted local mechanics before making the purchase. My first one was a 2002 Toyota Camry and that thing was bulletproof with zero issues. Got it still under warranty and it just ran and ran for many years. My current one is a 2019 Nissan Armada, only one issue with it was a recall for a low voltage starting issue. I've had it for a few years now and no other issues. Both were/are very solid vehicles. I may be in the minority for having a good experience with former fleet/rental vehicles as I'm sure many others have had bad experiences. I wouldn't hesitate to look at another rental. Great video as always.

I have two GMC Trucks.. both bought brand new, 2002 Gmc 1500, has a 437,000mi.. Original engine & trans.. all the front end like ball joints & rod ends ect have been changed 2x, brakes 4x, 1 alternator, 1 water pump, 1 fuel pump.. Thats it.. Its now my beater, and gets used to haul junk or do dirty work like mulch in spring ect.. The second truck is a 2014 GMC 1500 SLT and its got 288k mi.. Had 1 lifter go out under warranty in 2015, but since its been solid.. Only brakes & rotors once, and thats it, it could use some new ball joints & front end work, but I plan to do it at 300k.. Both trucks get oil changes at 4,800-5000mi religiously by me in my garage using GM Oil & Wix Filters..

Not all vehicles at the auction are bad, but all bad vehicles go to the auction.

The list of vehicles most likely to make it past 300,000 miles is a bunch of full-size trucks and the Toyota Prius, basically the vehicles most likely to be "hot-seated" in commercial fleets.

I like the reliability myth that is skewed towards Toyotas, it keeps the market low on the models that I want to buy that have secret reliability.

Reliability vs time= maintenance cycles. I have one of the most unreliable vehicles on the road a 2001 jeep GC limited v8 4.7l 1st gen SOHC with 167k on it. runs smooth as cream pie has never let me down once. I change fluids, replace parts before they break, just like fleet vehicles it boils down to maintenance cycles and how hard the "driver" treats it.

Keep the comments coming about rental cars constantly being beat on. It keeps the used prices down. As someone who rents more cars in a month than most people rent in a lifetime, I have found that the vast majority of rental cars go from the airport to a hotel to a jobsite to a hotel (repeat for the length of a job) and then back to an airport. These drivers don't have time to take them to a drag strip or find curbs to drive them over. The only rentals that get routinely abused in my experience are the pony cars, V8 Chargers and the budget cars that only college kids rent (i.e. car names that start with Nissan, Hyundai, or Kia).

I As long as the oil is changed regularly the cylinder de-activation is not that unreliable. You see loads for sale with 200000+ miles. Just look after your car!!

Reliability is a giant rumour mill. Thanks TFL for showing this example. Well done guys! It’s hard to trust word of mouth. There’s always 3rd or 4th hand knowledge passed on as if it’s fact. Thing is, the story changes every time it’s told!! If it’s a bad story it becomes mythically bad! 😂 if it’s a good story, it becomes mythically good!! 😮 There are Toyotas out there that are crap or ever age vehicles, but people pass it off as a good vehicle because it’s Toyota. I had the worst truck of my life in a 2014 Tundra. I’m in Canada, so there’s no lemon law. If it’s terrible, you eat that cost (especially when you are honest and can’t lie to the prospective buyer). I tell my story about that truck & get called a liar because it’s a Tundra and, especially in the minds of Toyota fans, it’s not possible it could be bad at all!! 😂😂😂. Then there’s the 5.3 with cylinder deactivation. That IS a powertrain with worse than average reliability, but it’s nowhere nearly as bad as people have made it out to be! You would think there was a 100% failure rate in them! In fact for every one 5.3 that goes for crap, there are over 90 others that are perfectly fine!! Compared to the 5.7 Toyota though, for every 1 that goes for crap, there are 99 (or more) that are perfectly fine. Statistically huge differences, but if you buy a 5.3 for $10,000 less than a similar 5.7 Toyota, you are money ahead, even IF the engine fails. When you repair it, you put better quality parts in & then the 5.3 approaches Toyota level reliability. That and you are still money ahead. Especially if you are still in the warranty period, you get to come out wayyy ahead, plus there’s the cost of routine maintenance. With Toyota, if you follow their maintenance schedule to a T, vs GMs or Ram’s, or especially Ford’s, you will spend thousands more!! Thousands!!!😮. Stray away from Toyota routine maintenance and when you have a warranty issue,,,,, they can be a giant pain in the butt. I followed it & the STILL tried to void my warranty!! 3 transmissions, when it wasn’t the transmission but the wiring harness found by the next owner, a Toyota Tech & friend. The replacement of that harness had astronomical costs associated with it. Not so much for the tech to do himself though. I also know of family, good family, that have had both poor and phenomenal reliability out of their GMs. Cylinder deactivation cost my cousin a 5.3, it does happen, but then there’s other dozens of 5.3s that have gone through our farms, small businesses, & personal use that were otherwise problem free. That happens too!! Haha. Toyota, in average is a very reliable product, I even recommend Tundras (outside of the rust belts, it’s much different comparing fender rust in domestics vs frame rust in Toyotas, frame rust is dangerous). Don’t trust what is said on RU-vid comments sections. It’s skewed both ways. Nature of the beast really. These video examples are much better!! Statistics are easily messed with as well. Look at them for what they ARE vs what they portray to be. Good luck buying out there everyone!!

The rear hatch actuator costs 170 oem and is pretty easy to install

These kinds of vehicles are generally owned by companies who have strict schedules for maintenance. Even if this SUV was rented to the public, I think it would be more like a family going to the national parks compared to flooring it and curbing everywhere.

My wife's yukon just dropped a lifter at 100k miles, thanks GM!, I'll "fix" it and thank the aftermarket for the longevity of her yukon.

GMs interior fit and finish and material quality has drastically improved over the years, and that bodystyle truck and SUV is where the biggest leap was made in my opinion. The AFM and especially DFM cylinder shutdown technology is not my favorite but changing oil sooner than recommended definitely seems to be the way to minimize the potential for a failure. Now the 2021 model year not withstanding because there clearly was bad parts for a big chunk of the model year.

I have a 2007 Pontiac Grand Prix GT with a supercharged 3800 series 3 engine it has 196,000 miles and is still running strong it’s at the shop getting an oil change and a few parts that need to be replaced because the originals are worn but W body cars and Pontiacs with 3800 in general are very reliable if u take care of them

Idk why they are surprised about a high millage GM truck/SUV. This platform has been out since 2014, and regularly goes over 200-300k with very minimal repairs. Same with Ford F-150/Expeditions. Most engine/transmission issues with these year trucks were taken care of under warranty. With a tune/deactivation device, these motors have proven to be extremely reliable. The people who have issues with these trucks are the ones who don't do the recommended modifications and service

A few things about rental cars: they total them out very easily, its not profitable for s car to sit in a repair shop for a long time getting fixed. They also sell them to maximize profit. Many years ago when i worked for a rental company they would pull minivans before labor day as that was the best time to sell them. A company like enterprise has one of the largest fleets in the country and most of the cars are sold at auction, so for certain model cars the chance is high that's its an ex rental.

I'll give my 2 cents on this. Since most of these mileage was highway, that's probably the main reason it hasn't seen any lifter lssues. My 2011 yukon xl had no problems and it had 173k on it, when i traded it.

bought a 2017 1 owner 180k miles 4runner 7 months ago. 55 service records on it.

The key is that it was a fleet vehicle meaning the owner of the vehicle may not have had to pay for all the maintenance on it. Big difference between fleet ownership vs personal

I’d like to see some solid data on lifter failures under 100K, under 150k, under 200K and under 250K, and some data for transmission repairs at the same mileages.

I can almost guarantee that transmission has been replaced. Those 6 speeds in that generation 1500/suburban is known for torque converters taking out the transmission. I don’t know anyone that made it to 200k on the original transmission in that body style. Most people started having issues around 100k

This somewhat reinforces what I was already thinking. The idea is that time kills reliability, but if you get it new and just drive the crap out of it a short amount of time, it will still age less overall. it has taken me 23 years to rack up 265k miles on a one owner vehicle, still reliable based on my experience with it., just not worth a whole lot and certainly can't replace what it is for the Kbb value.

Wonder what the idle hours are

I have 2017 Tahoe LS , 5.3 engine 96,000 km in Canada. What is the engine HR's. ??? Would be interested to see how long engine has been RUN over its lifetime ?

Newest one at the auction I've seen yet...

I wish we could have seen the frame, rockers etc and see how well they are holding up to corrosion.

2020 had active fuel management so I’m impressive there wasn’t lifter failure. Show me 2021 and later that now has dynamic fuel management and awful annoying stop/start.

As for rental car agencies following manufacturers maintenance schedules... I, personally have seen an one way rental less than 50 miles to its next oil change, yet it still gotten rented out to a customer who will be driving from the West coast then returning in N.Y. 🤣🤣🤣 Another case in Chicago ORD, where the vehicle has its Maintenance Light ON, I spoke to the rental car agent about that, guess what, he simply Reset the Maintenance Light and said, the location where I am returning the vehicle will look into it and get the oil changed there... LOL! Since the maintenance light has been Reset, I doubt the rental agent will notice that at the Florida location...

2020 was the last model year for the Yukon generation so it was the most reliable before they redesigned it. My 2008 gmc Sierra has 260,000 miles

im a firm believer in age of the vehicle is more of a detriment than miles as long as a vehicle is maintained properly itll last a long time

I have a 2016 Yukon XL SLT. At 102k miles I had to replace the transmission which sucked but they are known for tranny issues. The rest of the Yukon sounds like it's bullet proof

Outstanding Channel

Airport shuttle vehicle? good idea Hertz rental? bad idea lol

Unicorn with AFM and that 8 speed trans

Another interesting thing. Just because a car has 230k doesn't mean it was reliable or trouble free. Did the AFM/DOD lifters need to be replaced? Transmission rebuilt etc? Any car can last any amount of time if it is maintained and repairs are made. Question is, did it need any major repairs?

My 25 year old Yukon only has 158k miles currently meanwhile my 2011 Yukon Denali only has 107k. I will never achieve 230k in any vehicle I own.

Drive it until the engine blows or the transmission stops and then get a new engine, transmission, suspension or other necessary parts and you will have a new vehicle for less than half of a new vehicle.

Id be curious what the idle time is

I have a 2018 Corolla with 405k, original engine & transmission

I rented an Expedition that was overfilled with oil by almost a quart. And the oil was black so it had been in there a while.

My 2017 Sierra has over 150k and has been minimal on issues

I have been told that idle time is important or even more then milage on trucks and suvs.

Even a blind hog finds an acorn once in a while. "All highway miles" is way easier on the powertrain things on a vehicles as long as general maintenance is done, which is obviously what happened here. You can't really know that it didn't have a "super easy life", but looking at that interior, I would greatly disagree and say it did indeed have at least a much easier life.

Used full size SUV’s are the best thing you can buy right now

dam, i'm a lil over 10yrs on my '13 ram and only about to crack 225k miles

Y'all just defined the word 'anecdotal'.

I got a 2010 Silverado with the 4.3 v6 has 393k miles and some how the original owner drove it to 388k with the factory spark plugs how is beyond me

Can you tells what was the price they sold it?

"Over a quarter million miles." Odometer = 230,000. What college gave Tommy a degree?

What is a livery company?

How much oil it burn per week?

I did F&I at a GM dealership for three years and that experience completely turned me off from buying anything GM from then forward. I've seen multiple vehicles drop transmissions before 30k miles and brand new 5.3s drop valves below 500 miles. A local dealer has an $80,000 Yukon Denali that puked a transmission at 1,800 miles.