8.0

pretty bad
Typical Repair Cost:
No data
Average Mileage:
54,000 miles
Total Complaints:
2 complaints

Most common solutions:

  1. not sure (2 reports)
Get notified about new defects, investigations, recalls & lawsuits for the 2009 Chevrolet Suburban:

Unsubscribe any time. We don't sell/share your email.

This problem may be covered under warranty. Ask your Chevrolet dealer.

problem #2

May 012012

Suburban Z71 5.3L V8

  • Automatic transmission
  • 80,000 miles

5.3L has no power, don't know if the excessive oil problem I have is related but i will add 3 quarts to a 5 or 6k oil change. Never had a truck that this is standard protocall.

- Brady J., Mansura, LA, US

problem #1

Oct 012011

Suburban LT 5.3L V8

  • Automatic transmission
  • 28,000 miles

After paying a pretty penny for what we thought was a quality American automobile (we also own a 2002 with 185000 miles & it runs great!), less than two years after purchasing brand new, our 2009 Suburban started chugging blue smoke when we'd start it. Took it to the dealership & left it overnight so they could recreate it in the morning, then they called & said it didn't really do it - we told them to keep it another day and lo & behold, they realized the same issue. After changing the oil & monitoring the oil level every 1000 miles (not very convenient by the way) and realizing it was using more than the usual amount of oil, they replaced some valve gaskets (sorry, don't know the exact terminology). Thought we were doing ok, but took it in for a scheduled oil change at about 3500 miles and were down 1.5 quarts again. The advice was to keep bringing it in for fixing since they are covering it under warranty... well the "fix" didn't work! Irritated that there just doesn't seem to be a fix for this & our expectation was to have this vehicle for 10 years and I don't know if it'll even last long enough for us to pay it off! It also runs like a tank most of the time, not smooth when idling, sluggish take off, just not the vehicle we came to expect... Sorry Chevy, not thrilled with this one!

Update from Apr 2, 2012: Update, we brought it in again at the 2,000 mile mark since our last oil change and we were 1.25 quarts low again. The service agent said to bring it in one more time in 1,000 miles for documentation & if it's still occurring (which I think we all assume it will be) that they'll have to "replace" the engine. Not entirely sure what that means, but stay tuned. My husband also said he did notice it puffs the smoke again when it's started which was the original issue that brought us in. To boot, the electronic tailgate is not working since the weekend and now has to be manually opened.

- J O., Green Bay, WI, US