1997 GMC Suburban SLE 5.7 liter

Summary:

Dependable and durable

Faults:

Power steering gearbox tends to pull steering wheel either right or left intermittently. Cost to repair is approximately $900.00.

Master brake Cylinder replaced at 55,000 miles. Cost $550.00.

Replaced transmission gasket at 51,000.

General Comments:

This SUV has been superb for us. We used a lot to travel to kids activities, such as soccer, baseball and basketball games.

We has driven this SUV north and south of the borders, as far as Cabo San Lucas in Mexico and St Louise in Canada.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 19th May, 2004

1997 GMC Suburban 5.7L 350

Summary:

It's a good truck that needed improvement before going to production

Faults:

Electrical problems started at about 15,000 miles. Interior lights would come on while driving. I could simultaneously hear the relay under the dash click sporadically. The clicking would sometimes continue without any visual symptoms.

At about 22,000 miles, the A/C blower motor started making an awful roar. Turns out the fan shroud was contacting the fan blades. Dealer replaced the blower motor.

The transmission went out at 44,000 miles. Dealer replaced at no charge, but with no admission of any design flaws or such.

Electrical problems continued. Sometimes the interior lights would fail to come on when the door was opened even when the light override switch was not engaged. Sometimes, the door "chime" would fail intermittently while the door was open with the keys in the ignition. (I don't know if, along with the intermittent chime failure, the lights flashed or not.)

An electrical problem caused a no-start that, when taken to the dealer, could not be reproduced. No service was done at that time, but as soon as the vehicle was picked up, a low-frequency rattle was noticed and seemed to be coming from the rear of the vehicle. In owner-diagnosis, I found that the rattle would only begin at a constant speed. Any change in acceleration, either positive or negative, would cause the rattle to stop. Also, a slight depression of the brake pedal along with a constant accelerator position would cause the rattle to stop. This indicated to me a transmission problem that could possibly be traced back to the torque converter. The service rep first said that, according to his transmission man, there was no problem with the transmission. Instead a rear-end problem was reported to be the cause of the rattle. To make a long story a little shorter, the service rep said that consensus among three mechanics including the service manager was that the torque converter and solenoid was the problem. Transmission number three will be warranted for a period of three years or 50,000 miles. By the way, that rattle might also be characterized as a low-frequency noise that is half-rattle, half-hum.

General Comments:

The truck has a good motor.

Plenty of room in back with and especially without the third seat.

I haven't done any research about the transmission except to be able to say that I suspect a design flaw with either the transmission or its integration into the overall drivetrain of these vehicles. It is further my opinion that a poorly designed shifting program in the computer could also cause transmission problems such as this one.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 28th May, 2003

3rd Feb 2004, 08:26

The torque converter on my 1993 Suburban was bad too... seems that this is a well known problem. I hope GM has fixed it since. I know they have finally fixed the ABS on the Suburban.

8th Nov 2004, 00:45

The problems I had were the rear end, torque converter, hard shifting when hot, air bag light, the clicks and interior light problems, the intake manifold gasket, an AC clog somewhere that required special tools to unclog, the driver's side side mirror controller, and that's it, but the engine definitely started every time.

1997 GMC Suburban LT Gas

Summary:

This car has been unsatisfactory since I got it, must have been made on Friday or Monday

Faults:

The steering has been terrible on this vehicle. The steering wheel will not return to its original position without manually turning it back. The dealer said it would be $1600.00 to fix and then they weren't sure they could fix it.

Lots of loose vibrations.

Several electrical shorts.

General Comments:

I have had a Tahoe before and was pleased with it. This car has been nothing but problems.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 29th May, 2001