I bought a TB new in '04.
It was nice because I could buy a really stripped down utility model- only options on mine were a limited slip rear diff, 4wd, and a power driver seat. Cost was around $20K after I my chief negotiator (my wife) was doen with the dealer
Right now it has close to 80,000 miles on it.
Only issues so far have been with the computer module which crapped out and went into 'limp home' mode at about 10,000 miles. Dealer said it was part of a service bulletin to reflash the cpu, fixed it for free, and never had a problem again.
The other issue has been with cheap gasoline- don't put cheap gasoline in these trucks. We usually fill up with Mobil or BP, but on occasion filled up with a cheap no-name gasoline when out of town. Often times we get an engine error code, I'd take it to Advance Auto parts where they'd hook up the OBDII to it and find a 'misfire on x cylinder.' Probably due to GM using some sort of electronic timing wizardry to run a 10:1 compression engine on 87 octane, you put in some crap gasoline and you get a ping or missfire.
Dislikes:
Rear wheels squeal around tight corners- but its what I would expect with a short wheelbase, tight turn radius and a limited slip diff.
Transmission feels too 'car-like'- kind of mushy instead of solid positive shifts.
gas milage- not the best but its not unexpected. Usually 17-18 for daily commuting, 19-20 on long highway trips.
Sheetmetal quality- the bottom edges of my doors are starting to rust. This to me is unacceptable for a 5 year old vehicle that kept relatively clean/waxed and kept in a garage.
Likes:
Very tight turn radius- its nothing to whip a quick u-turn on a normal street. Turn radius is tighter than any other car/truck I've owned.
Plenty of power- the 4.2L straight six puts out around 270 hp. I towed a large pontoon boat 85 miles with it 2 weekends ago- only issue was the short wheelbase made it somewhat hairy at times, but power wasn't a problem.
Good offroad capability.- most of these are driven by soccer moms, but they have a short wheelbase, good ground clearance, plenty of power. They are very good in snow. I take mine through some pretty rough crap on weekends on forest trails in Upper michigan. Never got stuck, did hit a rock pretty hard once and dented a skid plate, but no problems otherwise.
Size- they are 'just right'. They aren't as big as the Tahoes/suburbans, and are quite a bit bigger than the blazers. They are built on their own truck frame- I'm not sure if any other vehicle uses the same frame except the GMC Envoy. Dimensionally they are very close to a Ford Explorer- my Father in law has one of these that I drive occasionally.
Quiet- the road noise is less than expected. The engine is so quiet that they are built with a starter cut-off so that the starter cannot be engaged while the engine is running. The starter is electronically controlled- you simply turn the key to the start positon And let go of it, the electronics start the engine.
-Spark plugs/ ignition parts are easy to get to. This might seem sort of odd unless you changed spark plugs in a vehicle made in the last 15 years. You just pop off the air cleaner assembly, and unscrew/remove each ignition coil on top of the engine to get to the plugs. Each spark plug has its own ignition coil which also serves to seal each cavity in the head to keep grit/grime away from the plugs. I needed no special u-joint extensions nor did I skin any knuckles while changing the plugs a few weekends ago.
