Considering 2012-2015 Suburban, have a few questions

[gmcman]

I was after the 8.1 but have moved more to the newer-ish models. This will be more of a family hauler with fewer towing jobs than planned.

I know these aren't meant for stellar MPG's, but the high teens, low 20's is also welcome.

One question is for the owners of the 6.0 2500 burb, what is your highway MPG without a trailer?

The 1500 5.3 is likely where I will be but the tow rating is dismal. Also worried about the AFM which is why I'm looking at the 2015 model.

Just trying to gather my thoughts and seek opinions. The 6.0 seems to be the better drivetrain at a cost of MPG's.

[dodge_guy]

Find a low mile 8.1 suburban or V-10/diesel Excursion. youll pay a premium but they will tow and haul without issues. a V-10 Excursion with 3.73`s can see 15mpg hwy without a trailer. I know from experience.

[Grit_dog]

No afm on those engines.

[gmcman]

kw/00 wrote:
The 2013 burb with the 6.0 and low mileage is the one that u should be looking at..... the 8.1 is an awesome engine, but........ drinks more the the 6.0 and is much older. With the 6.0 and 6 speed auto, ur hwy mpgs should be 17-18 or so... I get 17 mpg at 70 while driving my 2009 2500hd with the 6.0. That’s my take... get the low miles with the 6.0, even pulling a small camper your still fine...

Does the 6.0 suffer the same AFM issues as the 5.3? I agree the 8.1 is a great motor, and after looking into the later 9th gen 2500's they are appealing. I wish the Burb had the cooled front seats, I have another thread on this, but not a deal breaker.

Since it's an option on the 2500 Yukon, I wonder if the Burb is wired for it.

[kw_00]

The 2013 burb with the 6.0 and low mileage is the one that u should be looking at..... the 8.1 is an awesome engine, but........ drinks more the the 6.0 and is much older. With the 6.0 and 6 speed auto, ur hwy mpgs should be 17-18 or so... I get 17 mpg at 70 while driving my 2009 2500hd with the 6.0. That’s my take... get the low miles with the 6.0, even pulling a small camper your still fine...

[gmcman]

Grit dog wrote:

But if you think you'll be hooking a 11klb boat to the back of a 5.3, you'll be woefully disappointed and overloaded.

Sorry, should have added that the 5.3 would be for "only" the family hauler. Wasn't well versed on the AFM 5.3 models and what to avoid.

[Dadoffourgirls]

Grit dog wrote:
...If you ask the rvnet contingent, most say HD suvs are stupid (recent conversation). I say they'd sell like mad for at least a while based on the lack of availability currently.
But if you think you'll be hooking a 11klb boat to the back of a 5.3, you'll be woefully disappointed and overloaded.

Grit

I did not say stupid - I said that "sell like mad for at least a while" is not long enough to be profitable. Besides, the auto companies are selling everything they have now.

[Grit_dog]

gmcman wrote:
So this Suburban debate has now taken me back down the 8.1L path and part of me is still leaning towards a 4:10 model.

The 2013 2500 6.0 is one I shouldn't have looked at, :C the clean, low mile ones just look great.

There will be occasions I will tow around 10K, if we end up with a boat that may stretch to almost 11K. The boat is not entirely in the cards but with either one I purchase it will not be the daily driver.

I like the simplicity of the GMT800 2500's, but the 900's are very well rounded and the tow rating would suit 90% of my needs.

I've found a few very nice 2500 800's and the prices are surely creeping up. This will be a hard choice, either a 2015+ 5.3 highway family hauler, or a thirsty 2500.

Man I wish GM did a GMT900 with the Duramax or a stroked 6.0 and gave it a 12K rating. Would have been possibly the ultimate tow vehicle IMHO. Tough call when a cherry 100K mile 9th Gen 2500 8.1 is almost the same price as a 150K mile 10th gen 2500 6.0.

If you ask the rvnet contingent, most say HD suvs are stupid (recent conversation). I say they'd sell like mad for at least a while based on the lack of availability currently.
But if you think you'll be hooking a 11klb boat to the back of a 5.3, you'll be woefully disappointed and overloaded.

[gmcman]

So this Suburban debate has now taken me back down the 8.1L path and part of me is still leaning towards a 4:10 model.

The 2013 2500 6.0 is one I shouldn't have looked at, :C the clean, low mile ones just look great.

There will be occasions I will tow around 10K, if we end up with a boat that may stretch to almost 11K. The boat is not entirely in the cards but with either one I purchase it will not be the daily driver.

I like the simplicity of the GMT800 2500's, but the 900's are very well rounded and the tow rating would suit 90% of my needs.

I've found a few very nice 2500 800's and the prices are surely creeping up. This will be a hard choice, either a 2015+ 5.3 highway family hauler, or a thirsty 2500.

Man I wish GM did a GMT900 with the Duramax or a stroked 6.0 and gave it a 12K rating. Would have been possibly the ultimate tow vehicle IMHO. Tough call when a cherry 100K mile 9th Gen 2500 8.1 is almost the same price as a 150K mile 10th gen 2500 6.0.

[wnjj]

We have a 2014 5.3l Yukon-XL. The lie-o-meter usually says 13.x MPG average with semi-urban driving but I've never checked it by hand. We live rural but head into/through town frequently.

I too was worried about the horrors of AFM and it can be annoying a bit sometimes when driving. Around maybe 70-80k miles I noticed oil consumption went up (enough to need to add a full quart about half way into an oil change interval). Though I must admit I didn't really keep good track of how much it used prior. The next thing was a check engine light and misfire codes. That really got me concerned though I read online that most of the AFM issues were early models with a different valve cover design. I've also read that driving it hard occasionally is better than constant light use. That's not much of an issue for me.

When I pulled the plug on #7 imagine my surprise when I found half of the ceramic electrode missing! I put a new plug in and the misfire code didn't come back. We also had one O2 sensor go bad about then. The oil use is still there but not enough to be concerned about. Other than a broken seat handle and rear hatch switch (both less than $20 each), we've had no other issues with just over 100k miles on the clock.

I think it has the 3.08's. Whatever it is, it runs barely above 1000 rpm at 55. My only complaint is the aggressive upshifting makes it a turd at pulling out into traffic. Right when you need the power, it grabs second and bogs for a bit. Matting the pedal or turning on tow/haul fixes it. I just click tow/haul when I need to pull across or onto a busy road.

[Bionic_Man]

Here is the lifetime of our 2011 Yukon Denali XL. The close to 18 MPG fill ups were solo highway. The fill ups below 13 MPG were mostly towing something (either fishing or wake boat).

Put me in the camp of it’s pretty unlikely to consistently get 20 MPG in a Burb sized vehicle. Maybe if you drive 65. But I don’t.

And I also don’t trust the computer calculations. Most (not all) vehicles are inaccurate.

[ktosv]

Grit dog wrote:
One of these days, Imma slow down to a snails pace and see if the mpg claims, like mid 20s mpg in a V8 Chevy Sub is a reality or pride of ownership claim.

Remember, your mama said, most men lie about 3 things.
The size of the fish they caught.
Gas mileage of their truck.
And the size of their weiner!

When I have time and I am not working, I will post the picture of the DIC showing my pride of ownership. Not all destinations can be achieved by driving 75mph + on a freeway. Some are actually done on roads with a speed limit of 55mph, therefore obtaining excellent fuel economy at 60mph isn’t so far fetched.

[Grit_dog]

One of these days, Imma slow down to a snails pace and see if the mpg claims, like mid 20s mpg in a V8 Chevy Sub is a reality or pride of ownership claim.

Remember, your mama said, most men lie about 3 things.
The size of the fish they caught.
Gas mileage of their truck.
And the size of their weiner!

[APT]

We have 127k miles on our 2011 when we bought it new in Oct 2011. It has taken our family from Michigan to Florida twice and many other places east of the Mississippi River. It has been the cheapest vehicle to own/operate excepting fuel. Almost no non-wear items replaced unless I "upgraded" by choice. Search for how many HD trucks are out there with 200, 300k miles. The engine/trans are very robust.

12mpg in mixed daily driving Summer
11mpg in mixed daily driving Winter

15-17mpg non-towing highway
7-8mpg towing the TT at 70mph


I'd love to replace it with a 2021 Suburban Duramax, but our needs for 3 rows of seats and towing are getting less frequent as our children age and start driving themselves. We have also been very happy with a 2018 Chevrolet Traverse that we leased for non-towing travel and now have a 2020 Buick Enclave. They ride so much better and use about 40% less fuel.

[KD4UPL]

I have a 2009 2500 Suburban. It gets around 14 mpg running "empty" which is just a driver and some tools in the back. When I pull my boat I have my family of 5 in side and the boat and trailer weigh about 6,500 pounds total. I get about 10 MPG with the boat. This is generally all highway and interstate driving. I use cruise control the vast majority of the time and set it to the speed limit when not towing. When I am towing I set it to 65 even though the speed limit is 70.
My Suburban has 3.73 gears in it. I really wish it had 4:10. Not that it tows bad now but in rolling terrain like we have in VA and WV it seems like I'm always either downshifting to go up a hill or downshifting going down a hill to keep it at the cruise control speed. I've found that if i lock out 6th gear it maintains speed both up and down hills a lot better.