Thinking of buying an older Suburban

[kc5dlo]

I recently sold my Nissan Frontier and would like something with more towing capacity. Getting rid of a pop up camper and will be getting a travel trailer in the 20-24 foot range. The 2004 to 2006 Suburbans are what I am looking at. This will not be my primary vehicle. I noticed on one of the that I looked at that the PRND321 light was not illuminated. A little research shows that to be a pretty easy/cheap fix along with stepper motors in the gauges themselves.

Anything to look out for or be concerned about?

 

[davesl708]

I have an 04 Suburban 1500LT with 147k miles. Ground wires coming loose under the dash has been the only issue. They are very hard to find. Have to tear the dash out to get to it. Causing the gauges to read wrong or not at all. Drains the battery as well.

I have the tow package and it works great.

 

[jdzaya]

I had an 04 Z71 Suburban, the transmission went out on it. I don't think its a common issue though. My gauge cluster also was goofy. Sometimes the oil pressure would read over 60 psi! Other than that I loved it. My Father-in-Law owns it now and hasn't had any problems.

 

[aczlan]

I recently sold my Nissan Frontier and would like something with more towing capacity. Getting rid of a pop up camper and will be getting a travel trailer in the 20-24 foot range. The 2004 to 2006 Suburbans are what I am looking at. This will not be my primary vehicle. I noticed on one of the that I looked at that the PRND321 light was not illuminated. A little research shows that to be a pretty easy/cheap fix along with stepper motors in the gauges themselves.

Anything to look out for or be concerned about?

PRNDL went out on our 2005, IIRC, it took me about an hour to fix. 45 mins to remove/install the cluster and 15 minutes to re-solder the board.
Other relatively common issues include:
The rear HVAC system can lockup (the actuators go "too far" and get stuck). New actuators ($40 each and you need 2) and/or a new rear HVAC brain ($100ish?) will fix it.
The seat heaters can randomly come on. The fix is one of three things (in order of cost): New heating elements, new doorswitch, new seat brain.
The 4wd switch panel (to the left of the steering wheel) can flake out and start blinking all of the lights. $100ish for a new switch panel fixes it.
The transfer case lube pump can wear through the back of the transfer case, so if you see dripping oil under the transfer case STOP and check it out. On a new to me vehicle, I would have the transfer case fluid changed and check the fluid for metal particles.
(We have had the first two issues)

Aaron Z