Chevy Yukon

[booger]

My wife's Pilot got rear ended by a young girl talking on a cell phone in a Ford Explorer.
Bad news was that the Explorer came out with a cracked grill and bent front bumper, the Pilot had a scrapped bumper and two buckled rear quarters that needed to be replaced. $5 K later and the honda is as good as new.

So for 3 weeks we got to drive a brand new GMC Yukon and here is what I found.
Yukon pros:
Despite what anyone on this board tells you, you can roll the rear windows down at 60 mph and not have your eardrums destroyed. I've only experienced this on the Pilot and now believe that it's a Honda problem, not an SUV problem.

Much roomier with much more comfortable seats (of course this leads to what my wife sees as a con below). General seating postition was much better for a tall driver.

Sits higher for more visibility.

Great gas milage on a highway trip (22 mpg running at 80-85 with 6 people in it).

Ride is firmer which makes the handling better on mountain roads(con in the wife's eyes, she likes the smoother ride).

Rear air controls are much more sophisticated and keeps everyone confortable.

Much less road noise at highway speed (anything over 50 mph). It was very well insulated and very quiet.

There are probably some I'm missing, but now onto the cons:

Bad city gas milage - 15 mpg, but then I was running the crap out of it so would probably do as good as the pilot if I took it easy.

Even with the rear air controls working much better, the overall temp was not held as well and seemed to need to be fiddled with depending on where the sun was coming in.

Steering wheel controls seemed weird compared to my Dodge and the Pilot (caused by On Star).

Wife complained about the size when parking which I didn't mind, but it wouldn't fit in the garage next to my truck (at least so you get out ).

So discussed this with the wife, and we came to the same disagreement that we did when we bought the pilot. If it was up to me, we'd be driving a GMC, but since it's her car, she likes the Pilot better. And if she's happy, then I'm happy!

[why2kmax]

Originally posted by booger
My wife's Pilot got rear ended by a young girl talking on a cell phone in a Ford Explorer.
Bad news was that the Explorer came out with a cracked grill and bent front bumper, the Pilot had a scrapped bumper and two buckled rear quarters that needed to be replaced. $5 K later and the honda is as good as new.

So for 3 weeks we got to drive a brand new GMC Yukon and here is what I found.
Yukon pros:
Despite what anyone on this board tells you, you can roll the rear windows down at 60 mph and not have your eardrums destroyed. I've only experienced this on the Pilot and now believe that it's a Honda problem, not an SUV problem.

Much roomier with much more comfortable seats (of course this leads to what my wife sees as a con below). General seating postition was much better for a tall driver.

Sits higher for more visibility.

Great gas milage on a highway trip (22 mpg running at 80-85 with 6 people in it).

Ride is firmer which makes the handling better on mountain roads(con in the wife's eyes, she likes the smoother ride).

Rear air controls are much more sophisticated and keeps everyone confortable.

Much less road noise at highway speed (anything over 50 mph). It was very well insulated and very quiet.

There are probably some I'm missing, but now onto the cons:

Bad city gas milage - 15 mpg, but then I was running the crap out of it so would probably do as good as the pilot if I took it easy.

Even with the rear air controls working much better, the overall temp was not held as well and seemed to need to be fiddled with depending on where the sun was coming in.

Steering wheel controls seemed weird compared to my Dodge and the Pilot (caused by On Star).

Wife complained about the size when parking which I didn't mind, but it wouldn't fit in the garage next to my truck (at least so you get out ).

So discussed this with the wife, and we came to the same disagreement that we did when we bought the pilot. If it was up to me, we'd be driving a GMC, but since it's her car, she likes the Pilot better. And if she's happy, then I'm happy!

wow, Im surprised at the highway mileage on the Yukon. As for city, my pilot only gets about 15-16mpg even with driving it gently .

Thanks for the info.

[Alexandra242628]

I love the Yukon. My friend just traded the Tahoe in for the Yukon. Apparently there were a couple of differences between the 2 models. It is a very solid looking and feeling SUV.

[Stevie B]

Since I keep my cars for at least 7-10 years, I have longevity and reliability in mind when I purchase vehicles. The Yukon made the short list and we could've gotten one for less than we paid for the Pilot. However, I kept thinking ten years down the road and knew, if put side by side, the Honda would have far fewer problems and be in better condition after years of wear and tear. I will say that IMO GM is getting better as far as quality, but they still put out an inferior product.

[booger]

Well Stevie, just don't let one of those "inferior" products rear end you or you'll be sending your Uni-body Honda to the scrap heap a lot sooner than 7-10 years!

Just noting what I found to be true after a 3 week "test drive". There is no need for you to call other manufactures "inferior" (you know, if you can't say something nice, then don't say anything at all).

Sheez

[Stevie B]

Originally posted by booger
There is no need for you to call other manufactures "inferior" (you know, if you can't say something nice, then don't say anything at all).

Take it easy, booger. My comment was better left said for a different thread. I had about five things going on, and lost sight of the initial thread posting. I apologize if I made you unhappy, but I don't retract what I said.

[RipRocK]

Originally posted by booger
[snip]
Yukon pros:
Despite what anyone on this board tells you, you can roll the rear windows down at 60 mph and not have your eardrums destroyed. I've only experienced this on the Pilot and now believe that it's a Honda problem, not an SUV problem.

I think it's a "some SUV" problem. My mother's MB ML430 does this, as does my brother's Infinity Q45.

So discussed this with the wife, and we came to the same disagreement that we did when we bought the pilot. If it was up to me, we'd be driving a GMC, but since it's her car, she likes the Pilot better. And if she's happy, then I'm happy!

That's all it matters, right?

[osteome]

Originally posted by booger
Well Stevie, just don't let one of those "inferior" products rear end you or you'll be sending your Uni-body Honda to the scrap heap a lot sooner than 7-10 years!

Refer to this thread for a crash between a Pilot and a Yukon XL with pictures....you may not like who "wins".

At least the Yukon fit on the ramp truck.

Just noting what I found to be true after a 3 week "test drive". There is no need for you to call other manufactures "inferior" (you know, if you can't say something nice, then don't say anything at all).



Sheez

GM inferior? Let's just say that most of what they put out is inferior except for a few rare examples. Unfortunately the inferiority permeates multiple levels within that company...the end result reflected in their products.

Do you really think that this is a great company if almost every vehicle has to be heavily incentivised to sell?

If products like the Aztec can actually making through the design process looking the way it does, only to be killed off because almost no one would buy one?

If they though it was a good idea to keep pumping out crappy, non-inovative, never-changing Cavaliers and Grand Ams while Honda and Toyota put them to sleep in these two segments with Civics, Corollas, Accords, and Camrys?

If they appear to be putting all of their eggs in the truck and Cadillac basket (the higher profit margin vehicles)...while letting the compact, midsize, and non-existent crossover niche be neglected?

If they feel that bringing a $50K SSR market (flat sales) over building a better Saturn for the masses makes any sense? Does anyone really covet a new Ion?

If they think that platform sharing between Pontiac, Buick and Chevrolet will ever produce a standout car for either one of them? I guess we'll go to our Holden division in Australia to obtain a hot enough vehicle to be called a GTO. In the meantime we can always tack some more plastic or a new wing onto the same old car and called it improved

If a company takes about eight years to go from idea to execution on a new economy car line (Saturn) and produces a mediocre product, when it took Toyota and Nissan about two years to go from idea to excecution on new luxury car lines that sent Mercedes back to the drawing baord with Lexus and to albeit a lesser extent with Infiniti?

While labelling any company or vehicle inferior is harsh...I gotta say that GM certainly isn't try hard to rise from mediocraty. They seem to be happy if the bucks keep rolling in, but I have to think that with the amrket share dwindling something is going to ahve to come to a break point (Hey how about we buy V6 engines from Honda for our Saturn VUE...it would cheaper than expending wasted money into R&D)

My apologies to any GM owners out there...if you're happy great! I'll stick with Honda and Toyota and keep regularly retiring my cars with well over 100K on them.

It takes years to build a reputation and a single model or two to destroy it.

Sorry for the rant....

[jsevlie]

Originally posted by osteome It takes years to build a reputation and a single model or two to destroy it.

Sorry for the rant....

Nicely stated, osteome. I have never been all that impressed with the GM line of products (probably proved by the fact that I've never owned one). I always had Chryslers until I met my wife, who was driving a Civic at the time. Since that time we've had 2 additional Hondas and I couldn't be happier.

My '00 Dakota was a great truck though, and I sorely miss her! That little 4.7L V8 with the 3.92 LSD rear-end sure was fun to drive. Had to sell it as a compromise for the family... Onward!

[jay]

I'm with you osteome. I've owned two Chevy's, bought 15 years apart, and with both I vowed never again. The last was a '96 Blazer that was in the shop 22 times in 20 months for warranty work. The first month of ownership was great, though.

[tracy]

One other con - the rear seat does not fold down (at least not in my SIL's, but I don't know how old hers is). This was a huge issue when we bought a large item and had to make a second trip to bring it home because her rear seat would have to be removed in order to put it in the Yukon.

[andyschneider]

I'm one of those odd folks who am a fan of both Honda products and GM products - probably some inner conflict I have from childhood that has never been resolved. :-) But anyway, I've had the pleasure of owning 4 SUV's that fall into this discussion over the years:

99 Chevy Tahoe - old style, 2dr (wifes previous)
01 Chevy Tahoe - new style, 4dr (mine previous)
03 Pontiac Aztek - unique style, mine today
04 Honda Pilot - solid style, wifes today

The old-style tahoe was a truck, plain and simple. Wife bought it thru GM supplier discount at a great deal, had fun with it for a couple of years, then ditched it for a car for a while. Brakes stunk, handling was topheavy, enough said.

The new-style tahoe was something completely different. I owned mine for almost 3 years with about 45k miles, and I'll state that it was the most solid, smooth riding, comfortable vehicle I've owned (and that includes the Pilot - see below). Had the 3rd row seats and tons of room inside. Why did I get rid of it? It was expensive to buy in the first place ($40k sticker) and was real expensive to run fuel-wise. It had 4WD, and the best mileage I got out of it was 17mpg on a primarily highway run. Typical mpg was in the 13-14 range overall. Between the payments and the gas, I ended up passing it on so I could bring my cost down due to a son entering college.

The Aztek wasn't my target vehicle to replace the tahoe, but my criteria was seating for 5, ability to tow my small trailer, comfort bells and whistles, better gas mileage, and reduced cost. It's tough to get all that, but the aztek fit the criteria even though its looks are (ahem) subjective. I've owned mine for about 18 months so far, put on 27k miles, and really like it. Handles amazingly well, very comfortable in size, gets 22-23mpg on average (rural/highway mix), and at just under $20k was in the right price range. Not everyone will agree with my choice, but the price was right, it's been reliable as heck, and I'm not giving up a whole lot from what the Tahoe gave me.

The Pilot was the wife's choice to replace her Regal in August. She wanted comfortable size, reliability, 4wd, nice driving feel, and an affordable payment (lease). She drove a bunch of stuff (including the Murano, Equinox, MDX, TrailBlazer), and really fell in love with the Pilot. 3rd row seats give her minivan flexibility without the "I drive a minivan" stigma she doesn't like. End of season lease prices put us in a great position, adn she's happy as can be. I like driving the pilot - it's different than my Aztek because they do different things - but I'll be honest that the driving of the Tahoe was actually better for me - but the size was an issue in parking and mileage - so there are always tradeoffs...

andy

[Titans Fan]

Originally posted by booger
... Despite what anyone on this board tells you, you can roll the rear windows down at 60 mph and not have your eardrums destroyed. I've only experienced this on the Pilot and now believe that it's a Honda problem, not an SUV problem....

I guarantee you that the same effect is present in a '97 4-Runner and a '96 Jimmy. Worse in the Toyota, about the same (IIRC) in the GMC.

[osteome]

Originally posted by Titans Fan
I guarantee you that the same effect is present in a '97 4-Runner and a '96 Jimmy. Worse in the Toyota, about the same (IIRC) in the GMC.

Our '96 Camry wagon does the same thing...guess it' not a Honda thing nor SUV thing, but rather a large rear cargo area thing.

Perhaps the noise was not heard well on the Yukon, because the whirring of the gas guage falling covered the noise.....

[dbudds]

"Despite what anyone on this board tells you, you can roll the rear windows down at 60 mph and not have your eardrums destroyed. I've only experienced this on the Pilot and now believe that it's a Honda problem, not an SUV problem."

We had an 03 Forester befor the Pilot and had the same problem.