New Old Car - Chevy Tahoe 2002

[sasu]

I scored a near mint Chevrolet Tahoe 2002 5.3L.

The first owner has customized it by removing all trim emblems and repainting the car. The wheels are a funny 22". Rear lights have been changed, too, and the instrument panel is from an Escalade.

The condition of the car is excellent. Just 80 000 miles. Frame still has almost all factory paint, there is minimal rust. Every gadget works.

In a year or two the car will get a 4" or 6" suspension lift, 33" or 35" tires, lockers, a front winch and maybe a rear winch, too, a compressor to air up the tires after off roading, etc.

Yippee! An American car after many years of having only Japanese and German cars. Not that Audi TT is a bad car...

And to get back to the gun theme of this forum:

 

[gregintenn]

Get ready to buy a new set of heads when it hits 100k.

 

[doublesharp]

Nice Tahoe!

I had a 2000 Z71 1/2 ton w/ 5.3L that was going strong at 183k when I sold it. Great engine in my book.

 

[sasu]

I will be happy to maintain this vehicle because it is clean and rust free. The Tahoe has many, many years of life left with good maintenance.

We are selling our 2002 Toyota Sequoia which is a nicer and more ergonomic car but the frame rusts like there is no tomorrow - Toyota seems not to honor their frame replacement program in Europe. Even though the Toyota works now, the frame will be garbage in a few years.

I will send a letter to Toyota headquarters in Japan to have the final word on frame replacement. Although my colleague said I might get a letter back saying: "Expect ninjas any day."

 

[mstem]

Put a candy company logo of some type on it & it would look something like what the local misunderstood urban yute dope dealers were driving around here.

 

[badge]

Had an 03 Tahoe with the 5.3 and was very satisfied with it. Sold it to a friend with 137,000 miles on it and all service receipts on it and she is still driving it two years later with over 180,000 miles on it. Good vehicles.

 

[rog8732]

And last but not least, your local petrol station will be happy to see you come in....Yep, I have one also.

 

[sasu]

...what the local misunderstood urban yute dope dealers were driving around here.

Yep, I agree. The condition of the car is so good that I had to accept the pimp 22" rims and other disco shenanigans, though.

A suspension lift and off road treatment is already planned.

 

[tbgunner88]

I like your plans for it, but one thing to consider is those 35s will put a lot of strain on that motor and especially the automatic transmission. Those would be quite the before and after pictures, going from the setup now to a rock/mud rig.

 

[sasu]

I am leaning towards 33" to have less load on the car, more efficient braking, better mpg and the 33"s are enough for light off roading.

Another challenge is that going to 35" tires would require trying to get a special permission as the tire size would grow too much relative to factory specifications. Getting a 33" permission should be easy. That is socialism for you, someone knows better than me what size tires my car can handle.

A 4L85E or 4L80E transmission should fit in place of the 4L60E in case I end up having transmission problems. I am still investigating the compatibility but it looks promising.

 

[mstem]

If you got it for a good price you will be able to get rid of those wheels & the hideous tail lights! Filling it up with gas, now that's a different story!

What do you mean "permission"? I'm guessing you don't live in a free state like Virginia?

 

[sasu]

I live in Scandinavia, Europe. We pay lots of taxes so the goobermint can hire people to tell us what size tires we are allowed to put on our cars. Argh!

The Tahoe is our second car so fuel consumption is not critical. The main car is an economical small diesel car, see photo below. 39 mpg calculated at the pump many, many times. Plus a couple of motorcycles, too, for some more economical riding.

 

[EugeneNine]

I put 33's on my silverado and they fit fine. I got 21mpg before switching to offroad tires. Most v6 suv's and trucks don't get any better.

Mine is a 2004. Just put my first set of rotors and second set of pads on it and changes the shocks @120k miles.

 

[jdh]

02 Suburban with 5.3 at 250k. Still all original. Has the infamous 5.3 rear seal cover leak which causes it use about a quart every other tank worst case. Still runs like a scalded cat.

 

[4011]

Those over size tires and wheels will need bigger brakes. The weight of your Tahoe. Then the big wheels and tires cause the brakes to be over worked.

 

[TheBreeze]

I scored a near mint Chevrolet Tahoe 2002 5.3L.

The first owner has customized it by removing all trim emblems and repainting the car. The wheels are a funny 22". Rear lights have been changed, too, and the instrument panel is from an Escalade.

The condition of the car is excellent. Just 80 000 miles. Frame still has almost all factory paint, there is minimal rust. Every gadget works.

In a year or two the car will get a 4" or 6" suspension lift, 33" or 35" tires, lockers, a front winch and maybe a rear winch, too, a compressor to air up the tires after off roading, etc.

Yippee! An American car after many years of having only Japanese and German cars. Not that Audi TT is a bad car...

And to get back to the gun theme of this forum:

We bought a like new 02 Tahoe with the 5.3l about 6 years ago (same color as yours too). My wife drives it every day and it's about to hit 200k. Still runs/drives/rides great and in excellent shape inside and out. I've put brakes & rotors on it and of course kept the oil changed regularly. That's it - nothings failed yet - and when it does, I'll fix it and keep going. We love it. Its without a doubt the nicest vehicle I've ever had. I've ridden in brand new Japanese brand SUV's and the comfort level is not even close to my 13 year old Tahoe. I'm not knocking foreign branded SUV's (I own a Toyota, Nissan and drive an old 1990's Ford truck everyday) just the interior comfort is bad compared to American suv's.

 

[Stevie]

Yeh..these are good vehicles...my wife owning and driving a 2002 Tahoe for many years...until late last year she bought a really nice 2010 Tahoe LTZ to replace it..and sold the old Tahoe to my youngest daughter for like $1000.

The only real issue with this era GM products is the engine's intake manifold gaskets. If you see any signs of coolant getting into the engine get it into the shop for the new-style manifold gaskets. Not a big deal if caught early. This an issue for like 2003 and earlier GM V8 engines..newer engines coming from the factory with reinforced manifold gaskets..older V8 engines just had plastic gaskets that can erode and fail around the coolant ports and leak internaly or externaly..or can fail around the intake ports causing a vacuum leak and stalling or oil consumption...

 

[Arik]

I will be happy to maintain this vehicle because it is clean and rust free. The Tahoe has many, many years of life left with good maintenance.

We are selling our 2002 Toyota Sequoia which is a nicer and more ergonomic car but the frame rusts like there is no tomorrow - Toyota seems not to honor their frame replacement program in Europe. Even though the Toyota works now, the frame will be garbage in a few years.

I will send a letter to Toyota headquarters in Japan to have the final word on frame replacement. Although my colleague said I might get a letter back saying: "Expect ninjas any day."

It's not just Toyota. All depends on where you live and what they use to treat the snow. I have a lot of police vehicles at work and 3 year old New York state police Tahoes get some decent amount of rust. Massachusetts state police Crown Victorias are considered salvage after 3 years. Frame rotted away

 

[sheepdawg]

Check out them 22"s. Did it come with a hat?

 

[S&W Fan]

I have an '03 Tahoe Z71, now have 117k miles, just did a major service on it and it feels like a new car. Bought it used as well from a Chevy dealer, one of the best trucks I've ever owned. Put some nice tires on it when I got it.

Here in Colorado it's real practical when the weather turns yucky, can carry as many other people as I want to (usually just my family lol). Grew up in a GM family (my dad always had Pontiacs) and my work truck is a '14 Tahoe. I like them, enjoy your new ride.