Used 2003 Chevrolet Suburban Consumer Reviews
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Superior Quality in a Huge SUV
Michael C, 09/05/2018
updated 09/08/2020
2003 Chevrolet Suburban 2500 LS 4WD 4dr SUV (6.0L 8cyl 4A)
4 of 4 people found this review helpful
I purcased this rare 3/4 ton SUV after it was about a decade old with over 150K miles. A 2003, Chevrolet, Suburban, LT, 2500, 4wd, White with Grey interior. After a lot of research and owning the same model and year, 2003, in a 1/2 ton, 1500, LT, 2wd, for several years, I justifiably sought the BIGGER version. With a family of six very active people who seize the opportunity to take vacations as much as possible, we most definitely used this vehicle to its fullest potential. We all were quite fond of our "BIG BURTHA" & it was slightly emotional trading her in, but with slightly over 300,000 miles, I'm sure there was possibly a big pricey bullet to be dodged. I chose to enhance performance by having it custom tuned. Unfortunately tuning did nothing to improve the typical/usual 12.5 mpg, but it definitely unleashed more performance from the 6.0L beast. I never had it dynoed, but it seemed to often invoke other truck drivers to a race, with its aggressive appearance, including great looking grill, extended finders, and stance. It was always fun watching the cocky smirks on the faces of newer vehicles, convert to shocked frowns, after Big Burtha ran off from their expensively disappointing performance turds. Being a LT package, this traveling Suburbia was simply luxurious with roomy comfortable four Captain Chair seating and overhead DVD entertainment console. Hauling sheetrock or plywood was simply feasible with a simple, yet somewhat cumbersome, removal of the rear bench seat and folding the middle row seats forward and down. One of the primary reasons that we purchased the 2500 version, was specifically due to a superior ride, control and handling. The 3/4 ton models are equipped with heavy duty leaf-springs! There's a night & day difference from the typical 1500 truck chassis with cool springs. The road hop/shake is eliminated in the beefier 2500 truck. Handling around corners with the 2500 Suburban is better than our 2013 Escalade, ESV, Platinum! Over 300K miles on a well enough maintained vehicle and nothing major was replaced. At trade-in, it still ran like new and had great compression, to include a tightly shifting 4L80E tranny. I maintained "Big B" better than most and perhaps not as well as some. Things like the bump-stops needed replacing about a dozen years into its life. We traded it in in 2018, & reason that it will likely be one of the best vehicles that we will have owned during our, to date, more than four decades of driving. In 2014, with no reservations, we took an epic vacation totaling over 5000 miles, which included taking Big Burtha on Rocky Mountain, Colorado offroad trails where small 4X4 Jeeps are common. With nine people piled in our big beast, she climbed everything with the greatest of ease. No lift kit necessary. I just leveled the truck with tweaking the torsion bars, which allowed for bigger tires, and a very slight rub in the rear of the front wheel wells that a BFH alleviated. A unnoticeable slight modification, that proved well worth the effort. This truck conquered Cinnamon Pass and well as a few other off road dirt trails around Silverton, Colorado, and got us back home without any troubles. Despite the poor quality white paint that begin to flake off in small patches around the eleventh year of this vehicle's life, it was, and possibly still is, a very dependable truck, and one that will likely always invoke great memories which it afforded to a large family set on seizing life as fully as possible. For us, not many other vehicles would have sufficiently accommodated our needs like the mighty 2500 Suburban did for about eight years. It was always entertaining to see commercials of much newer vehicles, boasting of amenities that our 2003 model had. In fact, this vehicle offered amenities that the majority of luxury vehicles don't provide. Heated parking assist rearview mirrors, with integrated flashing turn signals in the glass, and they both fold in and out to accommodate those situations. Power adjustable acceleration and brake peddles that are part of the eight way power seats that are heated with two options, and part of an automatic power recall that's programmable to the two separate security remote controls! Temperature and direction display in the rearview mirror, along with automatic tilt at night for bright light dimming. A two way sliding sunroof. The rear hatch glass opens separately from the gate. XM radio capacity, along with On-Star. In my opinion, this Suburban seems to be one of GM's greatest success stories despite the inferior fuel economy. The trade off was worth it for our large family to be accommodated. Now, for a little bit longer we will extend luxury accommodations with a Cadillac, Escalade, ESV, Platinum and then likely migrate into something smaller. After being spoiled by the 2500 LT, I'm not sure we will willingly abandon the amenities and comforts that are designed for bigger American people. Big Burtha was sold at an auction in Oklahoma.
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Electronic nightmare
Brooks1, 01/25/2003
2003 Chevrolet Suburban 1500 LS Rwd 4dr SUV (5.3L 8cyl 4A)
4 of 4 people found this review helpful
I purchased a brand new 2003 LT with all the gadgets (including DVD). It was extremely comfortable and smooth riding. However, the electronic climate control system had a problem where the A/C would go wide open no matter what temp. setting you had it on. Also, the headlights flicker on and off. After 4 trips to the GM dealership, I left it with them and got my old car back. I also have a 2001 Suburban LT which has been great. However, because of GM's lack of service and knowledge on the 2003, the next one I buy will be from another manufacturer. Warning - If you buy the 2003 with all the electronic gadgets, don't expect much support from GM.
The best in large SUVs
quickjack, 09/01/2012
2003 Chevrolet Suburban 1500 LS 4WD 4dr SUV (5.3L 8cyl 4A)
6 of 7 people found this review helpful
I had my Suburban for 2 years, and during that time racked up 25,000 miles without issue. Aside from being one of the most reliable vehicles I have had, it was also the most comfortable, more so than my Jaguar or Cadillac. I averaged 15 mpg city and 19 highway. I used it as a tow vehicle at times, where it pulled a 4000lb car plus trailer without breaking a sweat, even managing 14 mpg on the freeway doing it. The big truck was deceptively easy to drive, even in the worst of weather. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a large people mover.
Disappointed
snotned, 07/25/2003
2003 Chevrolet Suburban 1500 LS 4WD 4dr SUV (5.3L 8cyl 4A)
5 of 6 people found this review helpful
I use my Chevy to puck up friends from the airport and to take trips to neighboring states. The dealership tells me that it is normal to burn 1 1/2 quarts of oil between oil changes (every 3500 miles) Chevy says it sent out letters saying this was normal.???
Not very good off road
sft, 08/26/2003
2003 Chevrolet Suburban 2500 LS 4WD 4dr SUV (6.0L 8cyl 4A)
3 of 3 people found this review helpful
I work at a university and we have used suburbans as field research vehicles so we really need good, stock 4X4 trucks. Old (1980's) suburbans were very good off road, lots of clearance, tough, simple. Our 2002 suburban is very comfortable but not very good off road. It has about 1/2 the ground clearance of our old suburban and it has way too many bells and gadgets that won't hold up to off road use. It's a big station wagon that is built as a highway cruiser.
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