I own a bare bones 2001 Chevy Suburban, but it came standard with a stainless exhaust which has held up to this day. But a friend owns a '01 GM Sierra 4WD that is loaded that he claims does not have the stainless exhaust, which left me in doubt. Wouldn't both vehicles (with same engines) have a stainless system. Granted, the layout may be different due to him having 4WD, but still...

Could be matter of misidentifying types of steal. Some are aluminum steel, some are stainless but its not shiny.

(basing my response on the assumption of factory exhaust) 4WD won't make the exhaust layout different (versus 2WD). Pickup versus SUV might, but just a little. Either way, I believe they are both aluminized steel.

For what it'* worth, my 2001 YukonXL is a few hundred miles away from 300,000 on its original exhaust system. I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between it and a 100,000-mile exhaust system on the same car. And mine spent over half its life in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Even the end of the tailpipe has the original cuts in place, no rust eating out the back and bottom of it. Can't say as much for the left-rear fender skin or the sheet metal around the rear wiper arm.

Which leads me to ask: What'* the endgame of this discussion between you and your friend? Is one of your systems rotting out or something? Just curious.

I have the original window sticker for my '01 Suburban and a stainless exhaust was standard. My friend'* '01 GM Sierra is loaded where my vehicle is a base model, and I was just surprised to hear him say his exhaust was not stainless. He doesn't have his window sticker, but we just confirmed his system isn't stainless when part of it rotted out and was dragging on the ground. His repair was over $500. Apparently having the same year, the same frame and same engine didn't necessarily mean we both had a stainless exhaust, despite his vehicle being loaded...the difference between their pick ups and their SUVs obviously. Good to hear you're at 300K, mine seems like a pup at 235K. Illinois winters are ruthless too. But at the price of new ones, I can deal with it.

Wow, I never knew that. I guess it'* another way for GM to save $0.69 per car while disenchanting the poor souls that get stuck with the results.

I remember 235,000 . It was mid-August 2014. Things were different then. Simpler.

Yeah no kidding. Mine still does everything I need it to do, and surprisingly well considering the stats.