2003 GMC YUKON XL Complaints

I OWN A 2003 YUKON XL. PURCHASED 4 MICHELIN TIRES FROM NTB IN APRIL 2007, $700.00. NEW TIRES HAVE 18,000 MILES ON THEM. JAN 2009 VALVE STEM FAILED AND WAS REPLACED BY NTB, NO DAMAGE TO TIRE. MAY 2009, SECOND TIRE WENT FLAT DOING 70 MILES AN HOUR WITH MY KIDS DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY HOME FROM COLLEGE. TIRE WENT FLAT, IMMEDIATELY PULLED OFF TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. TIRE WAS DAMAGED AND HAD TO BE REPLACED, $225.00. CAUSE OF DAMAGE WAS VALVE STEM, TR 413. ONE WEEK LATER, THIRD TIRE WENT FLAT GOING BACK TO COLLEGE. IMMEDIATELY PULLED OFF OF HIGHWAY. MICHELIN TIRE ALSO RUINED, CRUSHED SIDE WALL, ANOTHER $225.00. WENT BACK TO NTB AND COMPLAINED. AT MY REQUEST INSPECTED 4TH TIRE AND IT HAD A BAD STEM AND WAS LEAKING. ALL STEMS WERE THE TR-413 AND NOT A HIGH PRESSURE STEM. THIS STEM IS FOR UP TO 40 PSI. RECOMMENDED TIRE PRESSURE IS 35 PSI, BUT AT HIGH SPEEDS AND IN HOT TEXAS, PRESSURE FOR SURE RISES ABOVE THE MINIMUM 40 PSI. ORIGINAL SPARE HAS HIGH PRESSURE VALVE STEM. LUCKILY NO ONE WAS INJURED. NOW I FOUND OUT THAT THESE STEMS ARE ON RECALL AND DEFECTIVE. NTB WAS NOT AWARE OF ANYTHING AND THEY ARE THE EXPERTS. HELP ME!! *TR

TAKING OFF FROM A STOP OR ACCELERATING FROM A LOW SPEED THE TRACTION CONTROL MESSAGE COMES ON AND VEHICLE LOOSES POWER. HAPPENS SEVERAL TIMES EVERYTIME I DRIVE THE VEHICLE. I HAVE 3 CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 10 THAT HAVE BEEN WITH ME WHEN THIS HAPPENS. I FEAR WE WILL BE INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT BECAUSE OF THIS POWER TRAIN FAILURE. DEALER CLAIMS THERE IS NO PROBLEM OR ERROR CODES. *TR

I OWN A 2003 GMC YUKON XL 1500 THAT HAS A CONTINUING PROBLEM WITH THE INTERMEDIATE STEERING SECTION MAKING A CLUNKING SOUND AND AS THE SOUND GETS WORSE, THE STEERING BECOMES LOOSE. THE PROBLEM STARTED OCCURRING SHORTLY AFTER THE FIRST 12000 MILES. THE DEALER LUBRICATED IT A NUMBER OF TIMES UNTIL THE WARRANTY RAN OUT. AT 62000 MILES FOR ROUTINE MAINTENANCE SERVICE, THE DEALER SAID A REPLACEMENT PART WAS AVAILABLE THAT WOULD CORRECT THE PROBLEM. AFTER ARGUING WITH THE DEALER, HE AGREED TO REPLACED THE PART IF I PAID FOR THE LABOR . THE PROBLEM RETURNED AT ABOUT 85000 MILES. THE DEALER LUBRICATED AGAIN. TODAY AT 102000 MILES THE NOISE AND LOOSENESS IS BACK. COULD NOT WIN THE ARGUMENT THIS TIME. HAD TO PAY $213.00 FOR THE LATEST VERSION OF THE REPLACEMENT. I THINK GM IS AVOIDING THE PROBLEM AND SHOULD HAVE ISSUED A RECALL. THEY ARE WELL AWARE THAT THIS WAS A POOR ENGINEERING DESIGN. *TR

FRONT RIGHT BEARING FAILED AT 50K MILES ON A 2003 YUKON XL. HAVING READ THE BLOGS THIS APPEARS COMMON. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 GMC YUKON XL 1500. THE CONTACT STARTED THE VEHICLE, ACTIVATED THE HEATER, AND CLOSED THE DOOR. HE STEPPED AWAY FROM THE VEHICLE AND, UPON RETURNING, HE NOTICED A FIVE INCH HOLE IN THE DRIVER'S SIDE WINDOW AND DOOR AND THE GLASS SHATTERED IN HIS WIFE'S FACE. THE FAILURE HAS ONLY OCCURRED ONCE, BUT THE CONTACT BELIEVES IT IS A SAFETY ISSUE BECAUSE A SEVERE INJURY COULD HAVE RESULTED. THE CURRENT AND FAILURE MILEAGES WERE 97,000.

SPEEDOMETER, TACHOMETER, OIL PRESSURE GAUGE READ INCORRECTLY OR NOT ALL . INTERMITTENT PROBLEM. THE ISSUE COMES ON GRADUALLY SO THERE IS A PERIOD OF TIME WITH THE SPEEDOMETER YOU REALLY DOT NOT KNOW HOW FAST YOU ARE TRAVELING. WITH SOME SIMPLE RESEARCH ON THE INTERNET IT IS OBVIOUS THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM ACROSS GM LINE. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 GMC YUKON XL. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE SPEEDOMETER IS ERRATIC AND BECOMES STUCK AT DIFFERENT SPEEDS. WHILE DRIVING 50 MPH, THE DIAL WOULD DROP DOWN TO 0 MPH AND DISPLAYS INACCURATE SPEEDS. THE CONTACT RECEIVED A RECALL NOTICE (RECALL NUMBER 07187) FROM GMC, WHICH STATED THAT THE RECALL WAS SEVEN YEARS OR 70,000 MILES. THE VEHICLE CURRENTLY HAS OVER 70,000 MILES; HOWEVER, NO FAILURES WERE OCCURRING AT THE TIME THE RECALL NOTICE WAS RECEIVED. THE DEALER STATED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS OUT OF WARRANTY FOR THE REPAIR. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 111,000.

WHILE DRIVING AT 65 MPH, THE YUKON JUST SHUT DOWN AND THE BATTERY LIGHT CAME ON. GOT TO SHOULDER OF ROAD, PUT IT IN PARK, TURN OF THE IGNITION AND STARTED IT RIGHT BACK UP. DID IT AGAIN, 15 MINUTES LATER - SAME RESULTS. THE NEXT 7 TIMES, THE CAR AT LOW SPEED (15-20 MPH) STARTED ACTING LIKE IT WASN'T GETTING GAS AND RUNNING ROUGH, NOT PULLING. PULLED OF ROAD. WOULD TURN OVER AND TRY TO START AND IF IT STARTED, WAS VERY ROUGH. AFTER ABOUT 15 MINUTES, THE YUKON STARTED LIKE NOTHING WAS WRONG AND WOULD RUN FOR 10-15 MINUTES. THIS ALSO HAPPENED TO ME IN JUNE. TOOK TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHO COULD FIND NOTHING WRONG. HAPPENED TO MY PARENTS IN 2006 IN THIS VEHICLE TRAVELING TO MISSISSIPPI. GMC DEALER COULD FIND NOTHING WRONG. CURRENTLY THE DEALER WANTS TO CHANGE THE FUEL PUMP. I HAVE RESEARCHED AND OTHERS WITH THIS PROBLEM HAVE REPLACED THE FUEL PUMP AND IT DOESN'T STOP HAPPENING. SPEEDOMETER JUST FAILED TOO. WONDER IF IT COULD BE AN ELECTRONICS/ELECTRICAL PROBLEM. *TR

WE HAVE HAD PROBLEMS WITH STEERING KNUCKLE/COLUMN FROM THE VERY BEGINNING. DEALER WOULD DIAGNOSE AS "JUST THE WAY THOSE CARS ARE, NOTHING IS WRONG". STEERING DOES NOT FEEL SAFE FOR A LARGE CAR LIKE THE YUKON. I PURCHASED AN SUV TO FEEL SAFER WITH FAMILY. BUT STEERING ALWAYS FEELS LOOSE ESPECIALLY WHEN TURNING OR GOING OVER BUMPS. NOISES ALSO WHEN TURNING. OVER TIME IT JUST GETS WORSE. IT OCCURS EVERY TIME YOU DRIVE. I WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE A NEWER MODEL YUKON BUT REFUSE TO WASTE MONEY IF THIS IS HOW THEY DRIVE. I DON'T THINK IT'S SAFE. THIS PROBLEM SHOULD BE CORRECTED BY MANUFACTURER. *TR

FRONT DIFFERENTIAL FAILS ON AWD VERSIONS OF YUKON/DENALI MODELS. UNUSUAL FRONT DRIVELINE NOISE IS EXPERIENCED ESPECIALLY DURING LIGHT ACCELERATION OR LOAD. NOISE IS A WHINE TYPE OF LOAD. THIS ONE FAILED @ 54,000 CAUSING DEALER TO REBUILD FRONT DIFFERENTIAL WITH NEW BEARINGS AND SEALS. OLD BEARINGS WERE BADLY SCORED AND ONE OF THEM BROKEN TO MANY PIECES. I ASKED FOR PARTS AND WAS GIVEN WHAT COULD BE PULLED OUT. INTERNET SEARCH INDICATES MANY OWNERS WITH AWD SYSTEMS WHICH WERE ALSO AVAILABLE ON YUKON AS WELL AS DENALI MODELS HAVE HAD SIMILAR FAILURES. COST TO REPAIR AS WARRANTY EXPIRED AT 40,000 MILES WAS APPROX. $1000. *TR