99 Denali Life Expectancy

Hi all,

I have an opportunity to pick up a '99 Denali very inexpensively. I've always wanted one but I'm not really in the market for another vehicle. I currently drive an incredibly dull Buick Century with about 65k miles on it. The Denali has 84k miles on it. Common sense is telling me not to pay more money for something with more miles, but the truck is in really great shape and obviously has a lot more utility than my Buick.

It used to be that 100k was about time to start looking for a new car. However, nowadays 100k is when you change the spark plugs. How many trouble-free miles can I expect from the drivetrain on this thing? I do all my work myself but finding time to do it is a challenge.

What kind of maintenance issues can I look forward to at 84k miles?

TIA,
Jim

Good luck with your decision. Like with any used vehicle, I'd recommend having it thoroughly inspected - compression test, cooling system pressure test, etc. As long as it's been well maintained, I'd think you could expect a long life out of the truck. The feedback I've heard on trucks of this vintage points mostly to fuel pumps, exhaust manifolds, and steering/front suspension components as being areas of potential concern.

In terms of maintenance, I'd guess that a full tune-up would be in order, including filters. Might be time for new rotors up front, and probably a coolant flush. Again, good luck, and please keep us posted.

Take care,
Jerry

I decided to buy it. It's a salvage truck - hard RH front hit. I buy all my cars from this guy and he hasn't let me down. It looks like it was well maintained, but we won't know how it runs until they put it back together. The thing about these wrecks is that they were in fine running condition seconds before they hit whatever it was they hit. This one appears to have hit something tall, slender and inanimate.

Here's some pics. It's not pretty, but the car I'm driving now was banged up a lot worse (damage got into the a-pillar and broke the windsheild):

http://www.turbojimmy.com/denali_1.jpg
http://www.turbojimmy.com/denali_2.jpg
http://www.turbojimmy.com/denali_3.jpg
http://www.turbojimmy.com/denali_4.jpg
http://www.turbojimmy.com/denali_5.jpg

It's had 3 owners. First owner was corporate and put 30k miles on it in Michigan. The remainder of the miles were in the Virginia/Maryland area by 2 private owners. No rust, leather was maintained nicely and it's not beat up inside.

I have a question about the rear doors, though. In some pics I see them with a window and a tailgate and in others I see 2 doors. This one has 2 doors, which I prefer. Was one or the other an option?

Thanks,
Jim

actually, no it was not an option in 99-00 because the 99 and 00 denalis and escalades were basically souped up versions of the older style tahoe and yukon(i.e same interior style and exterior style identical engine and chassis with the exception of some body moldings and the addtion of wood grain and onstar...) In the 2000 Yukon which was the first year of the new style with onstar and new interior and exterior engine suspension..ect, which i have it was a discount option worth 250 dollars off the total price if you chose to have the barn doors but no extra charge for the liftgate which was not available for the 99 and 00 denali and escalade.

So I guess the pictures I've seen claiming to be 1999s with tailgates are actually 2000s? The exteriors of the 1999s and 2000s are the same right?

I actually prefer the "barn doors" because I do haul a lot of stuff around. The tailgate keeps you from accessing the inside completely.

There is an interesting jump in resale value from the '99s to the '00s. Then it goes back down again for '01. Maybe it was the redesign?

What's different about the redesigned chassis?

I see that at some point there was a choice in engines (5.3 vs. 6.0) whereas in 99 (and 00?) you get the 5.7L.

Thanks,
Jim