starting to get fed up!
 

engage rant:

so within the year that i have had my 01 tahoe i have had to replace the fuel level sensor(and the needle doesn't read accurately until past a half tank), driver's window switch, stereo deck, main serp belt and tensioner, both front hubs, passenger front window motor and regulator, it has abs issues, and now my ac is going out. i have called a couple places to get estimates on the worst case senario cost with having the compressor and related components replaced and i was quoted about $1000 for the job, which according to my dad sounds about standard to him. and thursday/friday i have to take it in to have an accurate diagnosis, which i was quoted $100-$150. man if anything else major goes out on this thing besides the fuel pump(i plan on replacing that at about 150k or so) i think that i am gonna get rid of this f-ing thing. these things popping up like they are are starting to get really annoying. i don't need another money pit. i already have 2 of those please kay thanks. anyone else ever have something like this happen?

rant off

Re: starting to get fed up!
 

I've owned money pits in the past so i can relate but don't currently own one.If your just talking about the A/C then yeah about a grand is correct for replacement of parts and if 100-150 to get the A/C diagnosed is what you were quoted that seems a little high just for a diagnostic the shop i used to work at normally charged 39.95 for a full A/C diag and during the summer in AZ which is prime A/C season they would drop it down to 24.95 for the diag.All of the vehicles ive had up to this point the A/C didnt work so im not really used to the cost of repair on them except for what i know from working at the shop i used to work at.When ol red gets the V-8 swap into it i will most likely put A/C in it even though you really dont need it in a place like flagstaff save for an occasion here and there.

Re: starting to get fed up!
 

an in-op AC system can range anywhere from $1000 for a catastrophic compressor failure down to $20 for a blown fuse.
$100 or more is too much for diag.

Re: starting to get fed up!
 

the other shop that i talked to told me that it would be $80 for the diagnostic, that's if it took them an hour to do the diagnostic. but the other shop gave me more of a warm and fuzzy because they actually wanted to take an initial look to see if they could find the problem.

Re: starting to get fed up!
 

you either pay repair bills or a car loan payment, its your choice.:mm:

Re: starting to get fed up!
 

I know the feeling,
My 97 burb has had some issues the last few years, and its always at a very inconvenient time. However, I have 0 payments so that helps ease the frustration.

Re: starting to get fed up!
 

And whats worse about this situation is i do have a loan payment on it
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Re: starting to get fed up!
 

Does a Tahoe have a rear A/C ?

Both my last 2 burbs have had the lines leak after owning them a few years.
Have heard from others that its very common. Don't know about Tahoes.
I haven't bothered to get them fixed because the lines are a couple benjamins each.
I've heard you can remove a Y fitting and replace it with a straight fitting from a pickup and delete the rear ac (and the heat will still work) but I haven't bothered with it.

I've had the rearend rebuilt, new ignition switch, new turn signal switch, fuel pump, shocks, brakes, tires, and the a/c still doesn't work, as well as power locks on 2 doors. But I got it cheap and I'll get to fixing it sumday

Re: starting to get fed up!
 

I bought a 2000 Z71 new. It only has 104,000 miles on it and I've replaced a rearend (under warranty at 3,000 miles), had the parking brakes replaced 3 times (under warranty/recall and they still don't work worth a ****), A $500 fuel pump, a $200 water pump, a $60 thermostat (because the stat is built into the water neck), the A/C doesn't work, the driver's door started sounding like it was going fall off about 10,000 miles after it was new, the PLASTIC door handle broke, the PLASTIC tailgate latch has broken twice, the factory rear sliding window leaks on the top part of the seal (not the slider). I was backing up in my yard Sunday and I hear a squeal and the power steering pump crapped out. It is a cheap made POS. I was so mad Sunday that I seriously considering ripping LS engine and 5 speed out it and crushing the **** thing. I'm sick of it. I'm going to fix the P/S to make driveable, and its gone. Its crying shame that something 11 years ago that was $25,000 is going to worth $4500, if I'm lucky. I really don't think I'll ever waste my money on a new truck. There is no advantage over an older truck, IMO. The fuel mileage is nothing special and is not any better than 80's trucks with OD were, the parts are stupid expensive for it, and truck itself is a flimsy, plastic piece of junk. Never again!

Re: starting to get fed up!
 

well i bought the thing for a family hauler when we were talking about having a second kid. so i wanted a tahoe. then we found out she's gonna be having twins so now i need to get the 3rd row brackets, i already have one of the 3rd row seats. but with things popping up i'm not certain i wanna stay under it. again if more major things pop then its gone. and sorry to hear about the 2000

Re: starting to get fed up!
 

I agree with 67 older trucks are A LOT better! You spend $60,000 on a new truck made of plastic and computers, no normal person can work on them. Older trucks you can work on and don't have to worry about a finicky computer.

When I bought my '95 last July three days after I bought it the trans. went out, the dealer payed for it all and I got a loaner car, took them a month to get it back to me. Then a week after I got it back it was leaking tranny fluid like no other, pretty pissed to say the least and they again payed for it and I got a loaner. Then in August me and my dad had to totally rebuild the rear brakes and all rear brake lines. In December all my gauge/dash lights burned out at night all at the same time, not sure why put new bulbs in and works fine now. Also in December I had to take it in to get the upper ball joints replaced since they exploded when I was working in the snow and NEEDED my truck. Finally, a week ago I went to open the door at Farm and Fleet and I broke the interior door handle.

Not as bad as some of the horror stories here but definitely a pain. The worse problem in my '68 was an oil leak. Go figure.

Re: starting to get fed up!
 

In my case, I have tons of parts, including engines, transmissions and whole parts trucks to keep an old truck running. I can totally rebuild a SBC (including boring the block) for about the same as what I paid for a fuel pump and water pump on my Z71.

I bought my Military Blazer from Government Liquidation for $1505 back in April of last year and it had 46,000 miles. It now has 55,000 miles and I've HAD to do NOTHING but change the oil twice. I've upgraded some stuff, but nothing that had to be done to keep it on the road. It averages 7 MPG better than my Z71 (although diesel is higher per gallon). I drove my red '69 SWB for 2 1/2 years and over 13,000 miles and did nothing put a battery in it besides maintenance. My Z71 has been paid off a long time, so haven't had a payment since 2004, but when I bought the truck I intended for to last me a LONG time. I put a lot of miles on my vehicles in a year's time, so I have always purposely driven other trucks a lot of times to keep the mileage down on the Z71. Its a crying shame that a vehicle that has been used no harder than it has (it has NEVER, not once been in any mud) is falling apart. I have treated the older trucks much harder, and they keep on trucking. I have never broken a door handle, tailgate latch, never had a rearend explode, or brake pads go to hell in 10,000 miles on an old truck. I have had to replace fuel pumps, water pumps, and power steering pumps on them - but a water pump is $20 - $25, a fuel pump is $15, and power steering pump is $35 - $40. I'm fine with adopting "dinosaur" status and driver older stuff that is more reliable, better looking, and cheaper to maintain.
There was a time all that ^^^ mattered to car manufacturers.

Re: starting to get fed up!
 

sounds like you got lucky with your blazer. i've seen all of the last batch of military vehicles here on base before we got 2010s and they were all beat to hell. they may have had only 15k on the clock, but they looked like they had 3 million miles on them. but again i bought this 01 as a dd/family hauler.

Re: starting to get fed up!
 

what did you expect a new car?

A car any make or model is build to last until warrenty is endend, if it last further then its good for you.

any car make or model is a money pit, they all break something all where out no matter what you do, some are wores then others,

going to the mechanic is expensive, diagnostic can be very expensive, evey car is diffrent some times the problem you may have can be cause by something completley diffrent so you have to diagnos that problem first and fix that first before you can diagnos the actuel problem. A/C diagnostic is not easy work ask me how i have been to alot of diffrent Courses from volvo on A/C diagnostics (Im a Volvo Technician)


unhappy by with price, do it your self or use your dedicated legs to get around

Re: starting to get fed up!
 

I bought a new one, maintained it, and its still a POS. Things have worn on this truck in less 50,000 miles that are still working on 40 year old trucks with God knows how many miles on them. You're right though. They are built to get past the warranty and nothing more. Trucks used to be built to last and they did. The only thing that lasts significantly longer on newer trucks the engine. An LS will usually double the mileage of an old SBC with a carb. However, you can buy a crate engine for the price of just a few componants on a new truck and still have a better truck.

I have decided that I will drive vehicles that I can work on and I will not waste my money on a new truck.

Re: starting to get fed up!
 

Well its in for diagnostics right now. I will post the results when its done
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Re: starting to get fed up!
 

Water pumps on these trucks RARELY fail....The water pump gaskets DO leak!

Re: starting to get fed up!
 

Well the compressor is on its way out the door. But the shop said i could buy the parts my self and they will do the work. And they will warranty their labor, not the parts. And the diagnostic only ran me $78 after tax. Plus they scanned the abs for free so now i know its the passenger wheel sensor, just like i had thought. These guys might not be tue cheapest in town, but they run a tight and clean shop, with a 20% military discount on their labor. And the owner told me that if i come back and have them do the work on the ac, he will credit me the $70 diagnostic labor fee and apply that towards the ac repair labor
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Re: starting to get fed up!
 

it sounds like you found a good shop. stick with them. a customer and a shop should be able to build a good relationship full of trust, honesty, and loyalty coming from both sides.

if you decide to get parts yourself I highly advise against reman compressors. what happened to yours? internal mechanical failure or case half seal leakage?
we get all our ac parts from a local AC shop and if there is a better component out there they tell us. like the 5.7 Vortec trucks have case half seals leaking so they carry an upgrade unit made like a Sanden.

Re: starting to get fed up!
 

well its in for a/c repairs. they let me buy the parts and bring them in with the truck. so that will knock down some of the costs because the parts only ran me $369 at napa with a military discount.

Re: starting to get fed up!
 

Some things have gotten better, some cheaper over the years. Dealerships will always be high ( I am a tech at a GM dealer) because of all the hands getting greased. I get 25.00 per flagged hr. I think our diag fee is about 80.00 now, figure in taxes and fees and the tech gets about 25 out of every 100 the customer pays give or take. Sounds like you found a good shop to work with. Sounds like you have fixed most of the things we see pop up on those trucks. And I bet you are still way under the cost of a new Suvs at 50k give or take. I even saw a couple Avalanches at work for over 50k. I don't know how they sell these new vehicles. Even a malibu can be in the high 20's

I love/hate the new truck, suv, malibu, impala door locks. Cheap junk Chinese motor in a lock assembled in mexico. Hate that GM has cheaper components going in, but they make me a lot of money as a tech.

I have a 06 Silverado with almost 45k miles with only a few minor repairs since I bought it new. I love it and have no plans of selling/trading in the foreseeable future.
In fact I will some day inherit my Uncles 93 he bought new. Still looks, drives great, but I did have to replace motor due to loose oil filter adapter letting oil blow out. But I upgraded it to a Vortec block and it runs much stronger now.

Anywho, all dealers/manufactures make money repairing broke new and used vehicles.

Re: starting to get fed up!
 

well its fixed. i found out that one thing that lead to the ac problem was when i installed electric fans was i didn't think to connect the a/c override/manual override wire. so i connected that. i've got it running to see if the a/c blows hot. but so far so good. i'm just glad this is over.