Maybe it's just bad luck but I'm on my third 5.3L Chevy and they've all had a lot of problems. Anyone have experience with the 6.0L? Looking at a 2007 1/2 ton Suburban with the 6.0 and 3.73 gears.

Thanks.

6.0 is a sturdy motor with lots of power and very reliable, but they drink a ton of gas.

What kind of problems have you had with the 5.3L? I never had a single issue with my 2004 that had 160k miles on it when I sold it. The 2007 and newer 5.3L motors with AFM have not been as reliable though.

Ive had good luck with 5.3's. Take care of my parents Tahoe 2006 model 5.3 190k miles. Routine maintenance and 1 water pump.

Had a 2011(with AFM), I put close to 50k on it and sold it to my uncle, he has 75k on it now. Had alternator replaced under warranty and that's it. Only thing the 2011 w/ AFM uses a little oil.

6.0 is a good motor, stout, will go for a lot of miles and works hard. If you drive it hard it will drink like a fish, if you can manage to keep your foot out of it, which it seems nobody can and limit hwy speed to 60-65 mph you will get mid teens.

Curious what issues you have had with the 5.3's?

12mpg avg no matter what. Can't expect much better out of a motor that big though. Bulletproof motor, but IMO doesn't really compete with the diesels in the same class. Loved my '00 2500 4x4. I traded it in for my '09 GMC Sierra 1500 and I miss it every day!

I never understood the xx mpg no matter what. If you checked it enough to even know what it got you would see it got different doing different things. Ours got 8-10 pulling our TT depending on speed. 12-13 pulling our boat, and 14-15 comuting.

It might get between 11 and 13 all the time if you put big tires on it and a lift, and it seems like it gets 12 all the time.

But if you care about mpg, you would never do either of those. If you had a 2000 model with the 6.0L, it should have gotten better than 12 mpg unless you were driving it like a maniac all the time.

Let me preface all of this by saying I am not a car guy. Sadly I only have a basic understanding of how we got from The Flinstones to present day.

In 2008 I bought a 2000 Tahoe with 85k miles. Within a year it was burning so much oil that my local mechanic recommended a rebuild that would cost about half what the car was worth.

In 2014 I bought a 2007 Silverado with 61k miles. At 68k it had a total bottom end failure and I had the engine replaced with a Jasper.

That truck now has 115k miles and is leaking oil (maybe a quart per 3,000) and a local mechanic is telling me there's a knock I need to be concerned about. Possibly a rod bearing but they won't know without tearing it down.

I drive these trucks to work and back, and pull 4,000 pounds maybe 1500 miles a year.

Maybe I'm cursed?

How often do you change the oil? Both of those type of issues could be caused by lack of maintenance.

I think I would get a 2nd opinion! These engines are somewhat bullet proof! I've had 3 of these trucks with the same engine with no issues... My 2007 Silverado has 270k and runs like new! As far as your Tahoe burning oil, GM had a couple of bulletins on oil consumption caused by the pcv valve which I think you had to replace the valve cover! Never seen a knocking 5.3 unless it was out oil or water in the oil! Get another opinion!!!

Thanks for the input guys. I run synthetic so change every 6k. Will definitely get 2nd opinion. My Jasper is under warranty. But they are saying they will only pay if knock is checked out, and they get visual evidence of issue, and if there is no visual evidence of cause of knock I am out $2000 for the cost of having engine torn down and reassembled. And they won't pay for oil leak repair until the engine is torn down to check the knock.

Synthetic at 6k sounds fine.

I would chalk this up to the reason why you do not buy used vehicles, sounds like your lucky and bought a bunch of other peoples problems. Also keep in mind GM has a 100,000 mile power train warranty, you shouldn't have had to do anything with your 2007 that had bottom end failure except have it towed to the local chevy house and they would have fixed it.

I know a lot of people preach buying used vehicles... well I'm on the other end of it. Used vehicles are for educated buyers. My FIL is bad about preventative maintenance and drives his vehicles into the dirt! In the 5 years my wife and I have been married they have gone through 5 vehicles about the get rid of the 6th... all due to engine noises. The vehicles are still under warranty, but you couldn't give me one of them at that point. Point is 5 and soon to be 6 people will buy these vehicles and think they got a good deal buying used because he keeps them clean and they bought a ticking time bomb about to go off.

Unfortunately the warranty is 5/100 and the truck was 7 years old at the time.
Chevy dealer wanted almost 5 grand to rebuild if I remember right.

But yeah. I definitely have the Midas touch when it comes to trucks.

Oh ok didn't think about the time end of it, I have never had a warranty expire due to time, I average about 3,000-4,000 miles per month.

That's really unfortunate. 6k with synthetic is plenty often. I've never heard of this many issues with the 5.3L.