2003 GMC Yukon Xl 1500

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

2003 YUKON XL REAR GLASS HINGE (DRIVER'S SIDE) FAILED WHILE DRIVING. HEARD WHISTLING SOUND, DIDN'T KNOW WHAT IT WAS, STOPPED AT HOME DEPOT AND REAR GLASS HATCH WOULDN'T CLOSE AFTER I'D OPENED IT. HINGE ITSELF APPEARS TO BE INTACT, JUST DEBONDED/DEWELDED FROM THE GLASS. GM WANTS $1100 TO REPLACE WITH A DIFFERENT WINDOW- THE ORIGINAL DESIGN LIKE THE ONE THAT FAILED HAS BEEN 'IMPROVED UPON' AND IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE. WHAT'S FUNNY IS THAT THERE'S A RECALL FOR SUBURBANS OF THE SAME YEAR, BUT NOT YUKON XLS EVEN THOUGH IT'S THE SAME PART... *TR

DEFECT. RIGHT PASSENGER AIR BAG SIDE MODULE (FRONT SEAT) WAS DEFECTIVE AND REPLACED AT MY TOTAL COST OF $476.10 ON 4-20-07. THE DASHBOARD INDICATOR LIGHT ALERTED ME AROUND 4-2-08 THAT THE PROBLEM HAS RESURFACED (THE REPLACEMENT PART IS DEFECTIVE), AFTER ONLY 5,500 MILES OF VEHICLE USAGE. A PASSENGER IS IN THE SEAT FOR SOMEWHAT LESS THAN HALF OF THOSE MILES--A DEFECT AFTER LESS THAN A YEAR AND LESS THAN 2,300 MILES OF EQUIVALENT SERVICE. THE SPECIFIC NATURE OF THE PROBLEM WAS IDENTIFIED BY AN INDEPENDENT EXPERIENCED SERVICE TECHNICIAN. I SHOULD HAVE NEVER HAD THE FIRST PROBLEM, LET ALONE THE 2ND. *TR

SPEEDOMETER INDICATOR SETTLES AT VARIOUS PLACES WHEN STOPPED, AND INDICATE INACCURATE FORWARD TRAVEL SPEED. AS AN EXAMPLE, THE SPEEDO WILL INDICATE 90MPH WHEN ACTUALLY TRAVELING 55MPH. THE SETTLE POINT, AND RESULTING INDICATOR POSITION AT ANY SPEED IS RANDOM. I HAVE BEEN READING SEVERAL FORUMS ABOUT THE HIGH RATE OF THIS TYPE OF FAILURE IN GMC VEHICLES, AND FEEL THAT IT IS CERTAINLY A RECALL ITEM. *TR