Going to look at a Tahoe. High miles-should I worry

[Josh]

Originally Posted by Slow Build

You have to pay $150 before you buy the car to have the right to return it within 3 days, I didin't. And if you did return it you have to pay a $200 restocking fee. I'm not sure what rights I have at this point.

The guy did call me back and left a message on my cell and gave me the phone# to the place that supposedly did the fuel pump, but they were closed for the day by then. He says that the AC blew hot when they got it and he refilled the system about a month ago and it seemed to be fine. I'm thinking NOT.

As fast as it is leaking its gotta have a good sized leak. If its not leaking check the low pressure switch on the accumulator. You don't have to drop the tank all the way out of those to change the pump, just drop the rear half. You should be able to see tool marks on the strap bolts tho. If they take it back, start looking in TX for one, I bet you can fly out and drive one home with less miles for 7k easy.

[kev2809]

man that sucks, what a ****ty salesman. why would he give you the number to the guy who changed the fuel pump? you would think he would personally contact the dude to let him know...

i dont think this is all coincidence...

fuel pump will fix the gas gauge more than likely (did on mine), obviously new battery is no big deal, a/c could be expensive to fix, but i would be worried about the coolant in the oil. that alone would make me boycott the sh*t out of that place until he fixed EVERYTHING..

[Slow Build]

Originally Posted by kev2809

i dont think this is all coincidence.....

There is no way that he didn't know about at least most of this stuff.

Originally Posted by kev2809

but i would be worried about the coolant in the oil. that alone would make me boycott the sh*t out of that place until he fixed EVERYTHING..

I doubt he'll do anything. Sold "AS IS". His offer of throwing in the warranty didn't happen. I would have had to pay full price to get it. It's all a load of BS.

[Tony_SS]

Very sorry to hear about your luck. The good thing is, all of that is fixable.

[Slow Build]

Thanks for the sympathetic note.

Things may not be as bad as I thought, then again they might be as bad as I thought. I have been doing some searching on the net and found someone with the same symptoms as mine. A milky looking fluid coming out of the oil pan just at the end when draining. In his case it turned out to be because it had been driven on just short commutes that didn't allow it to fully warm up causing moisture to build up under the fill cap. His solution was to trade cars with his wife every few days on a longer commute and it seemed to resolve the problem. My Tahoe had been at the dealer’s lot for over a month and had only been taken on short test drives. Before that who knows. I'm going to watch my fluid levels closely and go from there. Besides that I have been told by one shop that it's not recommended to change the head gaskets on such a high mile engine because the compression may raise and cause lower end problems and that it would require a new engine. I don't know what to believe anymore so I'm taking a wait and see approach.

I put a new battery (which the dealer knew was bad) in and it's down at a local shop getting the AC diagnosed so hopefully it's something cheap (yeh right). I have verified that the dealer refilled the AC multiple times though. He told me that when he got the Tahoe it was blowing hot so he recharged it just once and it's been fine ever since. That was before I drove it the first time. When I called the shop that supposedly changed the fuel pump (which they say was done at a lot lower price than the dealer told me) and he told me they also recharged the AC and the dealer didn't want any diagnostics done on it, just a refill. That was after I drove it so he knew about that problem. What a scumbag.

[Tony_SS]

Just chalk it up to the fact that some dealers are lieing bastards.

You probably have a leak somewhere, they can do a leakdown test.

With the oil, I would run a synthetic blend and change it and the filter at 3000. Also run a WIX filter. See how it looks after that. Also, keep track of your coolant level. If that's going down and dont see it leaking then you might have an issue.

I just bought an 01 Tahoe with 166k and am in the process of going thru some issues myself. One being the fuel level sensor. My buddy works at a dealership and told me to replace the pump with a GM one (I think delphi makes them for GM) and not to use any other brand.

[Slow Build]

Well, so much for wishfull thinking. The shop just called me. The AC has a huge leak at the eveperator which requires the dash being pulled out to fix and will cost $900 to fix. He also drained my oil and found more coolant in the oil and sayus the bottom of the oil pan is coated with the milky white gooh. He says new engine time. He can put an engine from Jasper in for $5600. So I'm screwed royally.

[Tony_SS]

That sucks. Shop around on prices. $5600 sounds way high, and I would not do a 'Jasper'. I would get a GM crate or one from a wrecked truck.

[Slow Build]

Originally Posted by Tony_SS

I just bought an 01 Tahoe with 166k and am in the process of going thru some issues myself. One being the fuel level sensor. My buddy works at a dealership and told me to replace the pump with a GM one (I think delphi makes them for GM) and not to use any other brand.

The shop also checked out my fuel gauge issue and found it to be the gauge cluster. $375 to fix. He checked the signal from the tank and it was fine. You might want to have yours checked to see if it's an in tank problem or a gauge problem.

[Tony_SS]

Originally Posted by Slow Build

The shop also checked out my fuel gauge issue and found it to be the gauge cluster. $375 to fix. He checked the signal from the tank and it was fine. You might want to have yours checked to see if it's an in tank problem or a gauge problem.

Thanks for that advice, appreciate that.

[kev2809]

Originally Posted by Tony_SS

Very sorry to hear about your luck. The good thing is, all of that is fixable.

really anything is fixable lol


man, this sucks! have you checked around to other shops other than the ones who quoted you? all those prices seem super high to me...

i would just pulled a motor from a running truck, that should only be about a grand WITH install. 5600 on a truck you already spent 7k on is just not worth it. you could also sell yours or part it out to recoop some money back.
shops around here only charge about 150 to fix the dash (although mine was the fuel pump float)..good thing he ruled out the pump though. when mine was reading crappy i changed the pump off of known problems with these trucks, but i went with an autoparts store brand. fixed it, now 2 1/2 years later, its messed up again lol

you have to do something about this lemon seller though, i wouldnt let him get away with selling me a truck like that. either split the costs, take it back on a trade in credit, something to keep his name in decent standing!

[Tony_SS]

Yeah, anything is fixable... I didn't think it was that magnitude though... :/

Agreed.... I'd be giving that dealer hell for it and ask him if it is worth ruining his reputation?

Craigslist revenge, post the truth.

[kev2809]

Originally Posted by Tony_SS

Yeah, anything is fixable... I didn't think it was that magnitude though... :/

lol

ya your right, i would be all over craiglist, if he cares any for his buisiness, he will cave at some point.

[Slow Build]

Originally Posted by Tony_SS

Agreed.... I'd be giving that dealer hell for it and ask him if it is worth ruining his reputation?

Craigslist revenge, post the truth.

Here is the ad that I posted to craigslist after the guy denied everything.

http://sacramento.craigslist.org/cto/3088349473.html
"Buyer Beware:
I just got totally ripped off by Ari at Direct Auto Outlet.
I bought a 2001 Chevy Tahoe from him and its all gone bad.
The AC went out on the way home. I had it recharged the next day and it was blowing hot the next morning (big leak in the evaporator that will cost $900 to fix).
The battery died on the third day when I was getting the oil changed ($100).
Found coolant in the oil on that oil change. Got it checked out and it needs a new engine ($5600).
The gas gauge not working correctly ($375).
I've put less than 200 miles on it since I got it so now I'm broke and have no way to pay to have it fixed.
I'm out $7400 with nothing to drive. We are devastated and he won't help. He just denies everything.

He had this vehicle on his lot for at least a month so he had to know about at least a few of these problems.
I feel that he is a dishonest sales person and would warn all that are considering buying a vehicle to stay clear of his dealership."


I'd love to protest in front of his dealership but it's 70 miles from here. Doesn't make it impossible, just harder.
I'm thinking about adding his email adress and ask people to send him a note stating "I wouldn't buy a car from your dealership". Maybe if he got enough responses he might change his tone.

[kylep]

I think you need to have an "accident" in your tahoe if ya know what i mean.

[Slow Build]

Originally Posted by kylep

I think you need to have an "accident" in your tahoe if ya know what i mean.

I think my wife would agree with you.
I'm not really sure she would want me to survive though.

[Tony_SS]

Originally Posted by Slow Build

The shop also checked out my fuel gauge issue and found it to be the gauge cluster. $375 to fix. He checked the signal from the tank and it was fine. You might want to have yours checked to see if it's an in tank problem or a gauge problem.

I talked to my buddy who's a tech at a GM dealership and he said he's never seen one have a gauge issue..its always been the sensor on the pump, he says.

[Slow Build]

I just got a response to my ad. Some guy wants to trade my wheels for some 22"ers. What an A$$.

I also made a complaint to the Better Business Bureau.

Let the games begin.

[hugger6933]

I only read down to the post about the cluster fix for 375, and I'm short on time but I just wanted to say I rebuild wrecks a nd late model trucks and suv's. It is common for the clusters to be screwed up but nowhere near 375 to fix. I have had about ten or so rebuilt and there is a guy in tn that does it for 65 bucks. That includes changing the 6 motors on the cluster and all of the bulbs as well. Asfar as labor to take it out it can be done with a few tools and not much mechaical ability, very simple it takes me about ten min. Now the motore you can get one from a wreck[they werte driving it when it wrecked] for less than a grand. I have bought loaded ones for 250 but that was a while ago when those were fairly new and were not selling

[Tony_SS]

Originally Posted by hugger6933

I only read down to the post about the cluster fix for 375, and I'm short on time but I just wanted to say I rebuild wrecks a nd late model trucks and suv's. It is common for the clusters to be screwed up but nowhere near 375 to fix. I have had about ten or so rebuilt and there is a guy in tn that does it for 65 bucks. That includes changing the 6 motors on the cluster and all of the bulbs as well. Asfar as labor to take it out it can be done with a few tools and not much mechaical ability, very simple it takes me about ten min. Now the motore you can get one from a wreck[they werte driving it when it wrecked] for less than a grand. I have bought loaded ones for 250 but that was a while ago when those were fairly new and were not selling

Yeah I think I found him on ebay... I asked him about my issue and he replied

99% of the time in the 99-02 year model the fuel gauge problem is the fuel sending unit inside of the fuel tank going bad and not the actual gauge and yours definitely sounds like the fuel sending unit inside the tank because the gauge goes to empty and the fuel light comes on. If the fuel light didn't come on then it would be the actual gauge.

knightfalcon5 (on ebay)

He charges $35 plus shipping...

$375 is a ripoff. I'd ditch that mechanic too.

[RandyP]

My last job required frequent trips to a business that was very close to a Chevrolet dealership. One day I noticed this truck sitting out front with a huge sign in the bed (he built a billboard basically on a wooden A frame inside the bed) that said DANNY BECK CHEVROLET ARE CROOKS AND RIPPED ME OFF. I actually pulled over and talked to the guy about it. He was probably in his mid 20's and you could tell he was just a poor farm boy type guy. He explained he saved his money and bought a used truck from this dealership (1 ton plain jane white truck, what this dealership is known for always having and selling to workforce type places). After a few weeks it had a problem getting hot and short story is he took it to a mechanic and they found the engine had a ton of some sort of stop leak put in it to try and fix a major problem.

Now I don't know if the dealership knew about it or did it, but they sold it to this poor guy and he was upset. For a few weeks I seen him sitting outside the dealership on the shoulder with the hood up and his big sign displayed. Then one day I noticed the truck was actually up in the parking lot by the service drive and the guy was taking the sign down. Seems they finally agreed to swap him trucks for another used one just to make him go away.

Bad press does not go over well for a legitimate business and they will do what it takes to make it go away. If you're already dealing with a crooked person/business though, about all you can do is drive through their front office window with the truck on fire.

That was a joke, please do not do that!

[awbrown]

I think i would have been content to drive my 63 as a dd but I would do some ac before i did that ,just getting too darn old to go without AC....

[usmcchevy]

Sorry to hear about your problems. If I were you, I would find a used 99-07 4.8 or 5.3 to drop in so you can drive it. Should cost you less than 700 for a good long block. Then fix the cluster and other issues once I had time and money.

[72freak]

Tahoes are cheap and everywhere. I just picked up a NICE 99 with the prefered 5.7, Z71, clean leather, good tires and no leaks with 125,000 on it for $3000. Just keep looking.

['63GENIII]

Im not sure that it applies to your year, but very soon after we got our '04 Denali, the speedometer started reading weird. Like 85 mph while driving 20. Ours had 60k when we got it (and paid too much) but what I did find out is that the gauge cluster was recalled and the GM dealer replaced it for free. We bought our car from an independent non GM dealer also. It may be worth looking into. They told us that the "stepper motors" that make all of the gauges work were known to be defective. Im sorry to hear yours has been a problem. Ours has been great for the last 80k with regular maint.
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