Topic: The enduring appeal of the Yukon/Tahoe

[ktm525]

Look at the sales of the Tahoe/Yukon over the past 20 years. It is not only steady but has been steadily increasing the past few years. No idea they still  sold so many.

[WP v3.32]

Co worker just bought one.  they look nice

[bridgecity]

Look at the sales plummet in 2008.  Effects of the financial crisis at that time I'm guessing.  New model year was '07?

[ktm525]

Yeah what amazed me is they are back to almost 200k units/year.

Perhaps it's time for KTM to look at old man Tahoes. If new the Z71 with the 6.2L V8 is what appeals to me. Still mostly button controlled, they know their market.  Hopefully in a few years  there are some decent used examples.  To me a Z71 Tahoe blows the Defender out of the water.

[ktm525]

Z71

[WP v3.32]

Look at the sales plummet in 2008.  Effects of the financial crisis at that time I'm guessing.  New model year was '07?

Yeah, company cars for management

[revalations]

We’ve tried, but can’t live without one. The perfect family do everything vehicle. I’d love a new diesel Yukon XL or Suburban. One of my good friends bought a Suburban diesel, it gets better fuel economy than their 2014 CR-V.

[BWII]

If new the Z71 with the 6.2L V8 is what appeals to me.

Argh...but they're so slow!! (because that is what is important!)  Oddly enough, it's better on gas than a Toyota TTV6 eco hybrid thingymajiggy. If only Toyota weren't a bank...money back guaranteed...whereas the Tahoe will depreciate Like a Rock (no?).

I'm in agreement though...I'd take the 6.2, it sounds nice. er.

[ktm525]

We’ve tried, but can’t live without one. The perfect family do everything vehicle. I’d love a new diesel Yukon XL or Suburban. One of my good friends bought a Suburban diesel, it gets better fuel economy than their 2014 CR-V.

I have scaled back my requirements. I think I could deal with a shorty since it's more of a empty nester run about. I may be getting my father's 2003 Yukon Denali at some point. It needs some TLC but it only has 220k kms so could serve me for another 10 years.

I thought the diesels were disasters?

[revalations]

We’ve tried, but can’t live without one. The perfect family do everything vehicle. I’d love a new diesel Yukon XL or Suburban. One of my good friends bought a Suburban diesel, it gets better fuel economy than their 2014 CR-V.

I have scaled back my requirements. I think I could deal with a shorty since it's more of a empty nester run about. I may be getting my father's 2003 Yukon Denali at some point. It needs some TLC but it only has 220k kms so could serve me for another 10 years.

I thought the diesels were disasters?

You hear about the 2% that have had issues. Mostly hard start conditions that’s fixed. Also, a very vocal bunch about the rear mounted belt that drives the oil pump. GM recommends changing it at 160,000 Miles, they’ve since upped that to 200,000 miles. It’s an oil bath belt that you need to remove the transmission to replace. Enough of these out with high miles and I haven’t heard of a failure yet.

My friend lives in the middle of Kansas, they have just about 150,000 km now. Aside from the hard start he’s had zero issues with the engine/drivetrain. Has had quite a few electrical bugs along the way mostly the infotainment stuff.

[Fobroader]

Yeah, no, run away from any modern diesel that you do not plan on immediately deleting and "bulletproofing". I still think an early 2010s 3/4 Burb with the 6L would be the way to go. None of the variable displacement BS to deal with, seats the whole neighborhood, can tow a lot and its fairly modern with an update to its head unit.

[revalations]

Yeah, no, run away from any modern diesel that you do not plan on immediately deleting and "bulletproofing". I still think an early 2010s 3/4 Burb with the 6L would be the way to go. None of the variable displacement BS to deal with, seats the whole neighborhood, can tow a lot and its fairly modern with an update to its head unit.

I agree. However, they’re making it very hard to delete/tune these new diesels. I’m hearing less and less about issues with them though. Mostly frozen DEF tanks when it hits negative 30. Seems the nightmare of problems we saw from the start of the diesel emissions regulations is easing significantly. Even in big trucks it’s been much, much better.

And yeah, the 2007-14 era Suburbans were one of the better looking.

[Fobroader]

Yeah, no, run away from any modern diesel that you do not plan on immediately deleting and "bulletproofing". I still think an early 2010s 3/4 Burb with the 6L would be the way to go. None of the variable displacement BS to deal with, seats the whole neighborhood, can tow a lot and its fairly modern with an update to its head unit.

I agree. However, they’re making it very hard to delete/tune these new diesels. I’m hearing less and less about issues with them though. Mostly frozen DEF tanks when it hits negative 30. Seems the nightmare of problems we saw from the start of the diesel emissions regulations is easing significantly. Even in big trucks it’s been much, much better.

And yeah, the 2007-14 era Suburbans were one of the better looking.

I know a guy that owns a diesel shop, besides of course the plethora of the Ford powerchoke junk he deals with, he is still not a fan of the modern stuff. He says they are getting way too complicated for their own good and he still will not trust anything besides his Fummins swapped 2018 superduty with a 5.9 24 valve.

[Firm]

I've preached these in here before, so I won't bother repeating myself, but like Rev, I can't see us being without one (I am counting the Slade here).

Those sales numbers on the GMT800s are insane, I knew they sold a lot, but that's a ton of vehicles....No wonder you can't go anywhere down here in the south without seeing one. 20 years later they're still one of the most common vehicles on the road.

[revalations]

^^^And also one of the most dependable vehicles ever made. I’d put a 800 series against anything Toyota even. Those trucks were tanks and I can’t begin to count how many I’ve seen with north of 400,000 km on their original power train.

[ktm525]

My father has basically followed an "ignore it" level of maintenance and his 2003 is still chugging along.

[OliverD]

Then add Suburban sales on top of that.

[revalations]

Interesting to see the huge spread between Chevy and GMC sales in the 90’s- early 2000’s. Some are six figures in favour of the Chevy. Now they’re very close to one another. Personally I think the GMC was always the better looking SUV (even if it was just a grill setting the two apart) except for the 07-14 where the Chevy looked much better.

[marcus_go]

If I needed a vehicle this size for sure I am going GMT800 all the way and finding the nicest/cleanest example.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2001-chevrolet-suburban-26/

I love the Quadrasteer models with the flared our wheel arches.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2003-gmc-yukon-xl-quadrasteer/

[warp]

And GM will keep on building them, all of them at a single assembly plant in Arlington, Texas, because kaching!!

Why is the Arlington plant so profitable?
Last year, GM’s average per-vehicle earnings before interest and taxes on all of its trucks and SUVs was $10,678, Benchmark auto analyst Michael Ward told Reuters in June. He based his calculations on GM’s SEC filings.

Using that metric, GM stands to earn up to $7.5 billion a year in pretax profit on its full-size combustion trucks and SUVs, based on AutoForecast Solutions’ estimates for production at the Flint, Fort Wayne, Arlington and Oshawa plants through 2035, Reuters reported.

The Arlington plant is scheduled to build GM’s full-size combustion SUVs through 2034.

“Arlington produced 345,000 units in 2022, and by our estimate generated about $25 billion in revenue and $4 billion in (pretax income) – or about 30% of total company EBIT,” Ward told Reuters.