Early 2000-2005 Chevy Tahoe vs. Toyota Sequoia

turbotalon1g · 10-25-2014

I'll be putting my BMW for sale soon and replacing it with an SUV to take over DD/Towing duty.

I was curious if anyone had any experience with either of said vehicles.

i'm only looking to spend $5k max which seems to net me quite a choice surprisingly.

I haven't driven either for a few years, so I will be doing so hopefully next weekend.

Thanks
Aaron

dogwhistle · 10-25-2014

A little bit of both actually.

My mother actually owned a 2002 Tahoe LT and it was actually a fantastic vehicle from a reliability and drivability standpoint. Definitely super light steering wheel, and very peppy 5.3 especially on e85 (flexfuel). It was however terrible on gas but I guess 12mpg average isn't out of the normal for most halfton style vehicles of the era. Overall pretty impressed with it and held up over the course of several years of daily driving, towing, and roadtrips. Tire choice made a huge difference with how well it handles and what kind of snow traction it had. The 4wd with the auto mode and 4 high as well as 4 low was also very helpful. A clear winner out of the two.

I have driven a good amount, the top of the line most loaded you could order 2007 Sequoia that my grandfather purchased as a retirement vehicle. It has the worst gas pedal and steering feedback ever. It also had terrible mileage and ran into several maintenance challenges but then again that may have been a bad service department. Overall the price and performance was just not worth it and not to mention the ergonomics were very poor but at least the seats were comfortable for a slim guy haha. I cannot say I have experience with the prior generations, nor it in towing or anything under heavy load but I can say I'd never buy one compared to the Tahoe. Especially considering price.

b00sted_spyder · 10-25-2014

Tahoe/yukon are easy to work on. Research on pump rub on transfer case. I rebuild those t-cases all the time. Transmissions usually fail around 100k- 150k miles depending on how the vehicle was maintained. Parts are easy to find. If I had a choice, it'd be a yukon> sequoia. Toyota parts are just too expensive. And I really hate doing the rear axle bearings on toyota suv/pick ups.

**Goat Blower** · 10-25-2014

I've had both, Tahoe hands down. Sequoias are nice, but not in the $5k range. They hold their value better than the the Tahoe, hence you get less for your money at that range.

**JET** · 10-25-2014

We have a 2003 Denali, just a fancy version. The main reason the trannies go out is they switched to plastic accumlator pistons in the tranny. You can buy the aluminum ones for under $5 and don't have to pull the tranny to swap them. Our tranny went out at 116k and the piston for the 2-3 was broke. Other than that it has been a great vehicle. Got it with 70k on it and 146k now.

b00sted_spyder · 10-26-2014

Quote:

Originally Posted by JET

We have a 2003 Denali, just a fancy version. The main reason the trannies go out is they switched to plastic accumlator pistons in the tranny. You can buy the aluminum ones for under $5 and don't have to pull the tranny to swap them. Our tranny went out at 116k and the piston for the 2-3 was broke. Other than that it has been a great vehicle. Got it with 70k on it and 146k now.

Just hope that the awd transfer case doesn't fail. I have only rebuilt 1 of them and the main shaft spline were twisted. Probably from abuse.

turbotalon1g · 10-26-2014

Quote:

Originally Posted by JET

We have a 2003 Denali, just a fancy version. The main reason the trannies go out is they switched to plastic accumlator pistons in the tranny. You can buy the aluminum ones for under $5 and don't have to pull the tranny to swap them. Our tranny went out at 116k and the piston for the 2-3 was broke. Other than that it has been a great vehicle. Got it with 70k on it and 146k now.

I'd like to get that one, but it seems most out there are the Denali XL, which I don't want.

**Goat Blower** · 10-26-2014

Ive got the new style 2007 with 175k miles and it's needed nothing. Only issue has been oil consumption from the cylinder deactivation, I'm bringing in to chevy this week. Great truck and I'll be getting the same thing again in a year or two.

turbotalon1g · 11-18-2014

Flying out to TX this weekend to find something, drove a Yukon XL and a yukon back to back.
Decided to not rule out the XL or suburbans.

**goodhart** · 11-18-2014

Get some Mike Anderson's and free birds

**JET** · 11-18-2014

Yeah, the XL drives surprisingly good. Tight parking lots is the only time it becomes any issue and even then you usually just have to back up a little and go again.

**Kracka** · 11-18-2014

Quote:

Originally Posted by goodhart

Get some Mike Anderson's and free birds

MABBQ is on the schedule! He's flying in late Friday then taking off after lunch Saturday so he may have to hit up Freebirds on the trip home in Oklahoma or Kansas.

A//// Guy · 11-18-2014

Start working on 5 more kids so you can utilize the new beast!

dsmDolney · 11-18-2014

We have a sequoia and its great almost at 300k and runs like new. Hauls very good also

**Goat Blower** · 11-18-2014

I definitely prefer the length of the Tahoe for everyday, but if we had a cabin, I'd have to get a Suburban, you can put crap in the back of Ho with the third row up.

**JET** · 11-19-2014

The burban size works great if you are doing a lot of house work or anything also. We haul a ton of stuff in ours.

turbotalon1g · 11-19-2014

Quote:

Originally Posted by JET

Yeah, the XL drives surprisingly good. Tight parking lots is the only time it becomes any issue and even then you usually just have to back up a little and go again.

Yeah I drove the XL and regular on the same route and parked it in a few parking lots and even in the dealer lot.
However, the visibility in the XL is amazing and makes it a ton easier to back up around objects.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kracka

MABBQ is on the schedule! He's flying in late Friday then taking off after lunch Saturday so he may have to hit up Freebirds on the trip home in Oklahoma or Kansas.

Kracka = if TX was a drug you might be their dealer!

Quote:

Originally Posted by A//// Guy

Start working on 5 more kids so you can utilize the new beast!

Already practicing!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goat Blower

I definitely prefer the length of the Tahoe for everyday, but if we had a cabin, I'd have to get a Suburban, you can put crap in the back of Ho with the third row up.

Weird thing is the XL drove smoother than the reg yukon, but that could be vehicle specific. For 90% my drive is 4.6 miles each way, with about 1 of that on the edge of my neighborhood at 40 and the rest at about 60mph.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JET

The burban size works great if you are doing a lot of house work or anything also. We haul a ton of stuff in ours.

Yeah, the more I looked into it and talked to people, searched opinions on forums the more I found people preferred to have the room and not need it, really liked being able to fit a lot in the suburban with the doors closed.

The carfax on this shows it's been in TX all it's life and dealer maintained for most of it too.
http://www.acarsone.com/2003_Chevrol..._246811442.veh

Thanks to everyone for the help, I just hope it works out.

A//// Guy · 11-19-2014

That thing is super clean, nice and good luck!

**Kracka** · 11-19-2014

Now you must decide...which vehicle shall we drive while Suburban shopping?

Might be a good time to take some WOT logs of the Vette for my custom tune that's being worked on

turbotalon1g · 11-19-2014

I don't know whether to cry or laugh, I'm high on chinese food right now.