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Should I buy a 2008 GMC Yukon with blown flex fuel engine

skycomasskycomas Member Posts: 3
edited June 2016 in GMC
Hi All,

Just looking for some advice. I know the owner of this fully loaded Yukon. It has the bad engine and would need a new/used engine installed. My question is should I do this. I've read that you can plug in $200 chip that will keep the engine in V8 mode and will disable the AFM. I don't do much driving so having a big ride would be nice for the little driving I do. I'm told a used engine installed would be about 3-4k parts labor. I can probabaly get the Yukon for about $1500. Thoughts? Advice? Thanks!!!
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  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    How many miles on the entire truck?

    If you buy a used engine, it's probably going to have about 90K miles on it and cost around $2,000.

    Yes, you can buy a device that works through your truck's diagnostic port to disable AFM.

    Might not be a bad idea, presuming you don't run into snags. But if it's a high miles truck, I don't think I'd do it.
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited June 2016
    This is kind of a running discussion around here - at what point do you throw good money after bad?

    You can appraise it here - the values of a clean one with ~80,000 miles is around $15,000 to $20,000 dealer retail, $12,000 or so trade-in value. More miles would mean a lower value.

    Let's assume that it costs your $2,000 to buy it and pay the taxes and fees. Then let's assume your engine swap quote is off by half and it really costs $8,000 to get it running.

    So you're at $10,000 for an 8 year old truck that should be worth $12,000 if the miles aren't too high.

    If you could get into it for $7,000 with all the repairs, then you'd likely be set with a nice, fully loaded pickup.

    Lots of ifs, ands and buts in that scenario. :)
  • skycomasskycomas Member Posts: 3
    edited June 2016
    125k on the yukon right now. Thanks for your input! I know the current owner of the Yukon and I know the mechanic that is quoting me the 3-4k for engine/labor numbers. I'm just curious if this is something people have had success with given the poor performance and reputation of these engines.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Well that's the problem. You'll have to pick the engine carefully. I don't think I'd buy one that didn't have a warranty of at least 30 days, and some compression readings and oil pressure readings.

    How's the rest of the truck---- tires, brakes, front end suspension. Remember a $1500 truck that needs tires is a $2500 truck, and a $1500 that needs tires and brakes is a $3250 truck, and...blah blah....

  • skycomasskycomas Member Posts: 3
    edited June 2016
    right, new tires last year, no engine currently so tough to say how the rest would be, but your right, it's a gamble. I'm just attempting to mitigate risk if possible. I've looked at websites that say their used $2,800 engines have a 5 year warranty....but curious what that really means. I'm also curious if an engine with higher miles would be better than one with low (rationale being that lower would have yet to experience problems while higher mileage would indicate engine will not have these issues?)
  • dave_dudedave_dude Member Posts: 14
    I'd be curious to know what a Long Block would cost and what it would be to just rebuild the current motor.
  • dave_dudedave_dude Member Posts: 14
    well, a Crate engine Long Block GMC/Chevy 4.3L 262 C.I.D. costs $2109. So NOW your $1500 truck costs $3600. plus the cost for all the other parts + labor.
  • anzael_008anzael_008 Member Posts: 6
    A used 2008 GMC Yukon would cost around $9,988 for 175,823 miles to $17,250 for 113,441 miles. If you getting it for $1500 and getting a new engine fixed would cost around $4000 plus other accessories to get it running condition another $3000. Economically, getting it fixed looks like a close deal.
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