I bought my 2006 Escalade new in June 2006. Tried to talk my wife into waiting for the new body style, but just had to have this one. I've got 225k miles on it. I've replaced three water pumps. One oil pressure sending unit. The entire shock absorber system to the tune of around $1400.00 dollars, that included the pump. Dropped a valve spring on #3 cylinder around 160k miles, $1700.00. Replaced the front drive gearbox, $1200.00. Replaced the transfer case, got a used one for $1500.00. The nav unit quit working about a month ago. Looking into getting a decent aftermarket brand. Needless to say, this Escalade is the reason a new Navigator is parked beside it in my garage. I'm going to keep it till it won't run no more, but I'll not buy another GM. Some of you may have a gazillion miles on yours and put tires on it, gas in it, and changed the oil. But that's not my experience with it.
Unfortunately, your experience is what many owners of newly acquired 2002-2006 used Escalade with high mileage(over 150k) will probably have unless the Caddy was maintained well by the previous owner. Neglected items like transmission fluid, differential gear oil, and transfer-case fluid usually mean these items will probably fail after 150k miles or be on the way out when a new owner buys the Escalade.
Any car or truck will need new suspension parts after 100k miles no matter the brand. However, any car or truck with active suspension and air bags will be expensive to repair. Lexus active suspension is common failure point in its high mileage SUV as well and Lexus is the most reliable luxury brand in my opinion.
In my opinion, the Escalade is pretty reliable if properly maintained. However, GM engines does have gasket/cooler line leak issues that usually began after 150k miles regardless of high well maintained the engine was. Always prepare for a engine gasket/cooler line leak. The rest of the drive-train hold-up fairly well if the fluids are changed by every 100k miles or sooner.
The problem is that many of the used Escalades never had a drive-train fluid change in over 150k miles if ever at all; which means the components have fatal wear when a new owner gets them and usually fail soon after leaving the new owner with a large repair bill.
It is a luck of the draw when buying a used Escalade based on if the previous actually owner kept up with the maintenance or not that will determine how long the engine and drive-train will run before major work is needed.
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