1st or 2nd Gen for Long Term Ownership

I currently have an ?04 which I like. But I want 4WD. So eventually I?ll be looking to upgrade and will probably hold out for a Z71. It will be a while but I?ll probably be looking at the $8-10K range. I?ve seen a few 2nd gen ?07-?09 in that range.  But for long term ownership (~10+ years) should I stick with the 1st gen for maintenance purposes ? Is it easier to work on a first gen?  Are they less complicated? I?d be doing most maintenance myself and I?m not a mechanic.

2nd Gen owner for going on 10 years. Have done all the maintenance and repairs myself without any trouble. If you can use an OBD scan tool and have reasonable mechanical skills the 2nd Gen trucks are pretty easy to work on. If you look at an 07 or 08 make sure you get a good service history. You want to make sure the early engine gremlins dealing with variable displacement and oil consumption are dealt with.

Very little difference between the two as far as how easy they are to work on. Similar motors, trans, etc till like 2010. I'd be more concerned with mileage, maintenance/repair history, options, etc.

I never understood the big attraction to the Z71. In that price range, the shocks are probably long gone. You got a couple of skid plates, big woop. I'd pay more attention to trim package,  is it stock or have a lot of aftermarket items on it, and were they installed right.

Good luck.

2002 still in my garage running... now I do not run every day

as always it is the amount of miles driven, maintenance, where and how driven and pure LUCK that determine how long one will live...

Both generations have their own sets of known issues.  If I was picking one today for longevity it would be an 03 or 04 WBH. Since they share front metal with that-gen Silverado replacements are more readily available. I believe the first few years of build received a higher level of attention to details on the build and had fewer issues.

I agree with all the above comments. I have owned both a 2004 WBH Z71 and a 2008 Z71 AV. Not much problems with either one.
Just my .02 but if you mainly focus on price range you will probably get what you pay for...that is a first generation AV for that price will probably have more bells and whistles but the trade off is higher mileage and more exposure to bad weather and road salts etc. Good maintenance is very important but many owners don't concentrate on things like undercarriage rust on things like brake and fuel lines much less rust under lower cladding if you choose the original cladded version.
Then you have the issue that older vehicles can be harder to find parts for unless they are universal things carried over many years or platforms.
Since you plan to keep it 10+ years I would save money and buy the newest, lowest mileage and best maintained AV I could even if it meant waiting awhile for the money to be saved. Then I would protect it with good undercoating products in addition to proper maintenance.
Another thing to remember when looking at used vehicles is that services like CarFax only have records on accidents or damage that was reported by a reporting garage, if the owner fixed damage on his own or at a small shop the vehicle may show a clean report.
Look real well for flood damage too in areas where hurricanes and other disasters have happened.

AFM was my main concern with the '07-'08 but I'm thinking if it hasn't been a problem for that vehicle yet, then it's probably good to to.  If there's nothing else to be concerned with that's good.

AirJunky, the main z71 feature I want is the locking rear. As I understand, that is part of the package. Someone please let me know if that is wrong.

Regarding carfax,  I do realize that may not show all the maintenance and repairs. But it does normally show transfers of ownership. I'll be looking for something that hasn't moved around much, preferably one owner.

Thank you for the responses everyone.  Your input is very much appreciated.

Was StabiliTrak available in first gen?

Yes.
This site will help research any vehicle. 

https://www.edmunds.com/?utm_medium=sem&utm_source=yahoo&utm_account=gemini_edmunds_brand_restructure&utm_campaign=brand-car_generic-exact_tier_1&utm_adgroup=edmunds-car&utm_term=edmunds_cars&utm_content=utm_migration&utm_device=c&utm_matchtype=e

1967DropTop said:

AirJunky, the main z71 feature I want is the locking rear. As I understand, that is part of the package. Someone please let me know if that is wrong.

Click to expand...

Then check the RPO codes on the glovebox door for G80. I believe your right about it being part of the Z71 package on the 1st Gen. But I would question if it is on the 2wd 2nd Gen Z71s.

JVZL1 said:

 Yes.
This site will help research any vehicle.  

https://www.edmunds.com/?utm_medium=sem&utm_source=yahoo&utm_account=gemini_edmunds_brand_restructure&utm_campaign=brand-car_generic-exact_tier_1&utm_adgroup=edmunds-car&utm_term=edmunds_cars&utm_content=utm_migration&utm_device=c&utm_matchtype=e

Click to expand...

Anyone notice the EXT is not even a choice in the search?

EXT4ME said:

Anyone notice the EXT is not even a choice in the search?

Click to expand...

    https://www.edmunds.com/cadillac/escalade-ext/2004/crew-cab/?EdmundsYear=&zip=97013&dma=820:ZIP&city=Canby&state=OR&lat=&lon=
Took me some searching on the site.

"It's gaudy, expensive and sucks gas like a '70s Eldorado, yet somehow manages to retain a level of desirability we can't quite figure out."

Yup, that about covers it.

Coming back around to '07+ AFM engines vs 1st Gen: When it comes time to replace or rebuild an engine, how much is cost difference between the 2 to replace?

Hard question to answer since a lot of the original 02 engines are still ticking after 200K,300K, and more?.  Just traded mine in with 205K and it runs better than most of the used Avs I looked at.  A lot of abused Avs out there.  Ignoring maintenance can make an average mileage 2011 perform worse than a well kept high mileage 2002. 

If I remember my sales figures correctly, 2007 was highest sales year for the second generation.  So there are a lot of thrashed 2007s out there and that year had the usual batch of extra gremlins causing things to go wrong that most trucks/cars have when a model revision comes out.  I have not come across a second generation yet that had outright engine failure but test drove a few that had been over tuned and sucking gas like it was 99 cents a gallon.

The EXT has the epic fail AWD that saves the engine from blowing by making it prohibitively expensive to keep the transmission going to 200k.

Senor Plata said:

The EXT has the epic fail AWD that saves the engine from blowing by making it prohibitively expensive to keep the transmission going to 200k.

Click to expand...

I am not sure I understand what you are alluding to with this statement.

My transmission went out at 125K, which is not uncommon as I have had plenty of GM trucks do the same, but the AWD is still running fine at 208K.

The AWD transfer case, being a single speed, always engaged device, is far simpler than the multi-speed, engagable transfer case in a 4WD truck.

The front diff is a open differential type, always engaged device, also much simpler than the front diff used in a 4WD system.

My front diff got rebuilt at 150K due to bearing whining, but not due to a failure.

Been nice and quiet ever since.

My rear diff has never been touched.

So, I would say the driveline is pretty normal, as far as reliability goes.

Your statements about all the repairs to the transmission are exactly what I meant.  Guess I should have said continuous AWD mated to transmission issues.  I shopped for EXTs a couple of years ago and they all had transmission issues.  Bigger dealers would do the multi point inspection on EXTs taken in trade, tinker with them, determine it was thousands of dollar to repair transmission issues, and then send them immediately to auction where it would end up on a small used car lot.

The 2002 Av I just traded in never had any sort of transmission work.  205K miles and maybe a little chatter when I had the AWD engaged on dry surfaces.  Still ran AWD circles around foundering Subarus and Volvos in calf deep slushy parking lots at the pass.

Just my experience and I did have one other 02 Av that I pushed to 175k before trading and it never had a transmission problem either.

I guess.

My previous 2WD Chevrolet pick ups and a Suburban each had their transmissions rebuilt at around 80K.

None of these trucks were abused.

My AWD EXT went to 125K, so I feel I may have gotten lucky with that one, even though there was evidence that it was used to haul horse trailers with a previous owner.

But, what I know?