Common Issues -2012 GM SUV -Suburban

[Arctic Slalom]

I have a 2012 Chevy Suburban 1500 4x4 with 5.3 liter and 130,000 miles with the 6 speed tranny.  

SUV has been great for the past 3 years, with only a few minor issues. I take good care of my stuff and service it very close to "the book". 

My oldest son (3 kids) is leaving this fall to college and I'm thinking of downsizing to a Toyota 4 Runner (or similar). 

While the space and utility of the Suburban has been great, i feel it's no longer necessary.....feels like we use it less and less when it's fully loaded. 

I'm just curious what are common issues which come up on this vintage of GM SUV?  

If I drive this vehicle to 200K or 250K miles, what type of fixes ($?) could I be expecting? 

I bought the truck used with 70K miles (I knew the previous owner) and only had (2) issues with it:

-Transfer case needed warranty work @ 85K miles ($1200) -fully covered by GM

-Power Steering sensor ($500) last summer @ 120K miles. 

I'm trying to figure out if I should just hold onto this vehicle and drive it into the ground or downsize?

If I keep it till 250K miles, trying to guesstimate how many dollars in repairs will I have?

thanks! 

 

[Rednucleus]

Check out Chevroletforum.com as a good place to help with your questions. For me it has been a valuable source to keep our '93 (340k mi) and our '05 (225k mi) Suburbans on the road!

[RyanB]

The only issue I really know about is that the dash is prone to cracking around the passenger air bag.  I've seen plenty of issues of that (although my 2011 Yukon XL isn't effected).

You don't have to look very hard to find plenty of them on the used market with 250,000 or 300,000 plus miles.

[RedWakesetterVLX]

8 hours ago, Arctic Slalom said:

I have a 2012 Chevy Suburban 1500 4x4 with 5.3 liter and 130,000 miles with the 6 speed tranny.  

SUV has been great for the past 3 years, with only a few minor issues. I take good care of my stuff and service it very close to "the book". 

My oldest son (3 kids) is leaving this fall to college and I'm thinking of downsizing to a Toyota 4 Runner (or similar). 

While the space and utility of the Suburban has been great, i feel it's no longer necessary.....feels like we use it less and less when it's fully loaded. 

I'm just curious what are common issues which come up on this vintage of GM SUV?  

If I drive this vehicle to 200K or 250K miles, what type of fixes ($?) could I be expecting? 

I bought the truck used with 70K miles (I knew the previous owner) and only had (2) issues with it:

-Transfer case needed warranty work @ 85K miles ($1200) -fully covered by GM

-Power Steering sensor ($500) last summer @ 120K miles. 

I'm trying to figure out if I should just hold onto this vehicle and drive it into the ground or downsize?

If I keep it till 250K miles, trying to guesstimate how many dollars in repairs will I have?

thanks! 

 

Can't help with the Chevy but as far as your pontential purchase of the 4RUNNER...I bought a 2014 SR5 4Runner new for approximately $32k.  3 years later and 36k miles I upgraded to a 2016 Sequioa.  They gave me $27.5k on trade for the 4Runner.  I loved the 4Runner.  

Pros-Rugged, reliable and held its value very well.  Awesome in the snow/off road. Cheap maintenance with 10k snythetic oil changes.  

Cons- uncomfortable seats on long rides (SR5 trim ), somewhat rough ride, poor gas mileage with underpowered dated engine.  Low towing capacity (4700lbs).  

Overall I loved the car and wouldn't hesitate to buy another one depending on what I was using it for.  If I was driving a lot mostly freeway/paved roads I'd consider sometning like a Highlander or equivalent just based solely on comfort and gas mileage.  If I was driving off road, country roads, dirt roads or lived in harsh winter environments I'd get the 4Runner.  Just my 2 cents...

[Falko]

IF it had the transfer case issue where the pump guide wears through the case, that could happen again. There is a fix, not sure the dealers do that when they repair the transfer cases though.

The differentials could require some love at some point.

I would imagine ball joints will be coming around shortly, depending on use and roads.

Other than standard wear items, they are pretty reliable. But if you are going to make a move, now is the time to do it. 150k seems to be the turning point for depreciation these days.

[electricjohn]

Front hub/bearings

[Nitrousbird]

I have a 2nd gen Escalade EXT, so it is the same GMT900 platform and is on the Suburban frame.

As said above, front wheel hubs (it is a complete unit).  Don't trust them past 150k and I'd honestly not give them that long.  I changed mine as preventative maintenance even though they were not showing any signs of failure (my GMT800 Avalanche had both fail...one at a very poor location to fail).  They aren't too hard to replace.

Tranny cooler line will fail and leak.  Hell, yours could be leaking now and it will only get worse.  Fairly cheap part, a bit annoying to replace but not bad.  If your temps are getting pretty high when towing, that would be a great time to swap out to a larger cooler - I swapped my factory for a 40,000GVW cooler; there is a guy who sells a near bolt-in setup to do this.

If you have auto-leveling rear suspension, the airbags in the shocks (and the pump thereafter) have likely already failed.  Very common issue.  I've had to replace all of it on my Escalade.

Pretty much all of the GEN III/IV GM motors have an issue with the exhaust manifold bolts rusting and breaking off into the heads.  I'd soak all of them very well with a high quality penetrating oil (read - NOT PB Blaster...use something good like Kano Kroil).  Carefully remove them and replace with a good ARP bolt.  

The plastic nipples for the heater core lines can break with age - cheap/easy to replace, so just do it as preventative maintenance.  Belt tensioners for both the motor and AC are prone to wear out; replace both and the idler pulleys + new belts.  Cheap/easy maintenance - 15 minute job.  Your front plastic under tray has likely taken a beating, so spend the $20-30 to get a new one while doing the other items.

These trucks are hard on brakes, so always use good pads/rotors.  Luckily GM replaced the garbage GMT800 brake lines with proper lines for the GMT900 trucks.  Fuel lines are still similar, but shouldn't cause you an issue, especially since the weakest point (fuel filter) isn't there on the GMT900.  Speaking of fuel, the fuel pumps are known to rust out at the top, causing the truck to leak gas when filling all the way up (another lesson learned, lol).  The design traps moisture on top of the tank and eventually rots it out.  Just buy a new pump AND retainer ring.  Much easier with 2 people but I did mine alone.

Catalytic converters aren't the most reliable on these.  Sometimes they die the bad way (honeycomb breaks, turn sideways and the truck can't be driven).  Other times they just fail to function and throw a SES light.

Not sure if the Suburbans use the same door handles as the Escalades, but the Escalade handles commonly fail.  Not bad to replace, fortunately, but go OEM as the aftermarket solutions are even worse. 

That's all I can think of right now.  My Escalade has had a couple other, less common issues, such as the AC clutch failing and the front halfshaft boot ripping (causing the joint to start clicking/failing), but those don't seem to be the norm.  Neither were expensive fixes, fortunately, though they probably would have been if I was afraid of a wrench.

[Arctic Slalom]

thanks for the detailed list Nitrousbird. 

nothing like (me) replying to a thread two years later!

I'm @ 175K miles on my '12 Suburban LT & it is running strong & smooth. Just put new Firestone Destination LE2's on it. 

I'm now living in Asheville, NC and drive the truck back and forth to see family in MN & ND. Over xmas, drove the Burb 1,150 miles in a day from AVL to MSP. that was a slog.