The Lemon Index

Repair costs · Engine replacement

Chevrolet Tahoe engine replacement cost.

What 7 Chevrolet Tahoe owners reported paying.

What owners paid

$8,600 middle bill · most between $5,600 and $13,100

Compared with every car

About the same as the $8,000 middle bill owners of all 168 models reported.

Model years reported

2001–2022 Chevrolet Tahoe

Chevrolet Tahoe owners reported paying a median of $8,600 for a engine replacement, with the middle half of bills between $5,600 and $13,100. That's from 7 owner reports (7 complaints to NHTSA). Costs vary by shop and region.

What owners paid

  • Under $5000%
  • $500–$1,0000%
  • $1,000–$2,5000%
  • $2,500–$5,00029%
  • $5,000 and up71%

Share of the 7 owner reports in each price band.

By model year

Reports per model year, with the middle bill where there are 3 or more. YouTube amounts count for the generation the video covers.

How often owners report the failure

Owner complaints to NHTSA whose own words name a engine failure. Raw counts: popular years get more complaints. A complaint is a report, not proof of a defect.

Engines in these years

5.3 V8 (L83 / L84) · 6.2 V8 (L86 / L87)

Engines with a page of their own that this model was sold with in the years above. Owners don't always say which engine they had.

Keep going

Other repairs Chevrolet Tahoe owners reported

Brake repair (50) · Transmission replacement (13) · Strut and shock replacement (10) · Lifter replacement (8) · Fuel pump replacement (7) · AC condenser replacement (5) · Brake booster replacement (5)

The details

How we count

Every number here is a repair bill an owner reported, never a shop's price list. Two sources: the bills owners wrote in their own complaints to the U.S. government (NHTSA), and the dollar amounts owners said out loud in YouTube repair and ownership videos. A figure counts for a repair when that repair is the part named nearest to it. Left out: purchase prices, payments, rentals, towing, warranties and deductibles, amounts under $50 or over $15,000, parts-only prices ("the part was $80 on Amazon"), bills for two different repairs named together, and money someone else paid. One number per complaint (or video) and repair: the biggest, so it's the bill, not the diagnosis fee.

The range is the middle half of the bills (the 25th to the 75th percentile), so one wild number can't swing it. Owners who complain to the government often had expensive repairs, so a typical bill can be lower. Costs vary by shop and region, by dealer vs independent shop, by parts and by miles. This is what owners reported, not a quote for your car.

Check the bills yourself

NHTSA complaint numbers (search them at nhtsa.gov): 11766915, 11676621, 11652775, 11641074, 11514830, 10663026, 10214113.

Quick answers

How much does engine replacement cost on a Chevrolet Tahoe?

Chevrolet Tahoe owners reported a median of $8,600, and the middle half paid $5,600 to $13,100, from 7 owner reports. Costs vary by shop and region.

Is a Chevrolet Tahoe engine replacement more expensive than on other cars?

The Chevrolet Tahoe middle bill of $8,600 is about the same as the $8,000 owners of all 168 models we have reports for paid.

Where do these Chevrolet Tahoe repair costs come from?

From 7 complaints to NHTSA: what owners themselves said they paid. They aren't verified bills or a shop's quote.

Which Chevrolet Tahoe years report this failure most?

In complaints to NHTSA, owners of the 2023 (55), 2021 (42), 2022 (29) Chevrolet Tahoe named it most. Raw counts, not a failure rate.

Sources: NHTSA owner complaints and YouTube videos (amounts said out loud), sorted by The Lemon Index. Owner reports, not a price quote. Costs vary by shop and region.

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