EDIT: Helped me decide - went with Denali

[s4cruiser]

I am finally ready to place an order for a new SUV and found a local dealer that gets allocations regularly, will do supplier pricing and doesn't require extra BS to pad the price. Now I just need to decide which trim to go with.

I have narrowed it down to two choices, either this Z71 or AT4. They are both optioned very similarly or as similar as the supplier build tool allows but the AT4 does include a few notable extras - HUD, ventilated front seats, panoramic roof and power assist steps. Only the panoramic roof is available as an option for the Z71 but it appears the Z71 can't be ordered with HUD, ventilated front seats or power assist steps.

So...the AT4 with those extras or the Z71 for ~$7k less?? I don't really care about the panoramic roof, but the ventilated seats would be nice (my wife's 2020 Lexus GX has them). The HUD and power assist steps seem like a nice option but I've never had them on a vehicle so no real clue what (if anything) I am missing.

Are there other things the AT4 has (e.g. quality of leather, interior finishes, etc.) that make it worth the extra $$?

Appreciate any and all perspectives here!

 

[Wwes]

Which interior color are you going with?
The AT4 only has the black with umber inserts, whereas the Z71 can have the black or the cocoa dune brown (IMO a very nice combo).

Power assist steps are wonderful, and the HUD is nice to have but I regularly ignore it. My wife likes the ventilated seats more than I do, but I do like the perforated leather material.
The interior quality will be the same between the two.

The interior color would drive it for me - if price wasn't a concern, then if I was going black interior that'd be the only case in which I'd chose a AT4 over the Z71.

 

[tom3]

My first thought was save the 7 grand. But with the overall price of these machines these days you might as well get exactly what you want.

 

[WalleyeMikeIII]

All yukons have Fog Lights, the Chevy's do not.
AT4 gets Magnetic Ride Control Standard
You have the option for the electronic Limited Slip Rear Diff (as part of the Premium Capability Package), but not sure if that is on your order or not.
You have the option for the Adaptive Air suspension on both, not sure if it is on your builds or not.
I enjoy the power running boards, have them on my denali. I believe they are available on the Tahoe as an option? They are optional on AT4, so you must have added a package that adds them? (AT Premium Plus Package?)
The GMC will have laminated front driver and passenger side windows, in addition to the windshield to help quiet the cabin.
The interior seats are probably a bit nicer on the GMC (will have slightly more leather--whole seat surface vs just the center panel).
You have the option for the 6.2L engine in either of them if you want it.

Those are probably the biggest differences.
Guessing the bulk of the price difference is the Sunroof and the Running Boards, that is $4k right there.

 

[s4cruiser]

Which interior color are you going with?
The AT4 only has the black with umber inserts, whereas the Z71 can have the black or the cocoa dune brown (IMO a very nice combo).

Power assist steps are wonderful, and the HUD is nice to have but I regularly ignore it. My wife likes the ventilated seats more than I do, but I do like the perforated leather material.
The interior quality will be the same between the two.

The interior color would drive it for me - if price wasn't a concern, then if I was going black interior that'd be the only case in which I'd chose a AT4 over the Z71.

Interior color will be black. Price isn't a real concern but I also don't like paying for something that I wouldn't really miss.

 

[s4cruiser]

All yukons have Fog Lights, the Chevy's do not.
AT4 gets Magnetic Ride Control Standard
You have the option for the electronic Limited Slip Rear Diff (as part of the Premium Capability Package), but not sure if that is on your order or not.
You have the option for the Adaptive Air suspension on both, not sure if it is on your builds or not.
I enjoy the power running boards, have them on my denali. I believe they are available on the Tahoe as an option? They are optional on AT4, so you must have added a package that adds them? (AT Premium Plus Package?)
The GMC will have laminated front driver and passenger side windows, in addition to the windshield to help quiet the cabin.
The interior seats are probably a bit nicer on the GMC (will have slightly more leather--whole seat surface vs just the center panel).
You have the option for the 6.2L engine in either of them if you want it.

Those are probably the biggest differences.
Guessing the bulk of the price difference is the Sunroof and the Running Boards, that is $4k right there.

Both optioned with mag ride, eLSD, air suspension and 6.2L.

Yes, added Premium plus package on the AT4 that gets the power assist steps. I will need to check with the dealer to see if power assists can be added to the Z71 (build tool didn't allow it).

Nice call out on the laminated windows...I was not aware of that. I prefer as quiet of a cabin as reasonably possible.

 

[WalleyeMikeIII]

Both optioned with mag ride, eLSD, air suspension and 6.2L.

Yes, added Premium plus package on the AT4 that gets the power assist steps. I will need to check with the dealer to see if power assists can be added to the Z71 (build tool didn't allow it).

Nice call out on the laminated windows...I was not aware of that. I prefer as quiet of a cabin as reasonably possible.

I didn't think eLSD was available on the Chevys. But I see it is now...

 

[TXNJ]

For me it honestly came down to ventilated seats, and a sun roof (wife's only request). we live in Dallas, so it's important. . I always liked the looks of the AT4 a bit more than the z71, but I could easily have lived with the z71, but for those ventilated seats. I'm not a brand loyal guy. We've had an Acadia since 2015. it's been...fine-ish. So for me I didn't have any dog in the fight heading in.

 

[WalleyeMikeIII]

One more thing.
All GMC's include 3 years of "connected services: OnStar, Wireless Data, etc" So this is about $1.25k if you bought it on the open market. Up to you whether it is a difference maker on not.
The Chevy's will include 1 or 3 months...then its on you.

Full Disclosure: I ended up going Denali after owning Chevy's forever...mostly based on exterior looks...its a personal thing, but I just liked the GMC better...and liked the upscaled Denali interior, and the availability of a lighter interior...If I was deciding between AT4 and Z71, the availability of a lighter interior may swing me toward stomaching the Chevy exterior...again, these are personal things..they are very similar...the GMC intended to be slightly more upscale...and thus commanding a bit more cash.

 

[s4cruiser]

For me it honestly came down to ventilated seats, and a sun roof (wife's only request). we live in Dallas, so it's important. . I always liked the looks of the AT4 a bit more than the z71, but I could easily have lived with the z71, but for those ventilated seats. I'm not a brand loyal guy. We've had an Acadia since 2015. it's been...fine-ish. So for me I didn't have any dog in the fight heading in.

This is my only real reason I keep considering the AT4...but for $7k more I cringe, sigh.

 

[swathdiver]

AT4!

 

[WalleyeMikeIII]

An interesting thought might be run a KBB on a 2021 Z71 vs a 2021 AT4, both with same mileage and see what the resale looks like in 2 years. I have no idea, but might be interesting.

 

[s4cruiser]

Full Disclosure: I ended up going Denali after owning Chevy's forever...mostly based on exterior looks...its a personal thing, but I just liked the GMC better...and liked the upscaled Denali interior, and the availability of a lighter interior...If I was deciding between AT4 and Z71, the availability of a lighter interior may swing me toward stomaching the Chevy exterior...again, these are personal things..they are very similar...the GMC intended to be slightly more upscale...and thus commanding a bit more cash.

I do like the interior of the Denali the best and the cost of it over the AT4 / Z71 isn't a deciding factor, but we have a 3 year old boy that is not easy on things and having the nice Denali interior seems like a waste. We also have a chocolate lab that travels with us so I would feel less conflicted with them dirtying up the Z71 or AT4.

 

[WalleyeMikeIII]

I do like the interior of the Denali the best and the cost of it over the AT4 / Z71 isn't a deciding factor, but we have a 3 year old boy that is not easy on things and having the nice Denali interior seems like a waste. We also have a chocolate lab that travels with us so I would feel less conflicted with them dirtying up the Z71 or AT4.

My gut says you should go for AT4, but again, its personal...I think if you get them equipped equivalent, the upcharge for the GMC is added value (Included Connected services, fog lights, laminated glass, nicer inside, ventilated seats). Your current 7K difference added some relatively expensive options over how you equipped your Tahoe. But, only you can decide if that is worth it or not.

 

[Saltydog]

I vote the AT4!

 

[todayusay]

we went through this same process a couple years ago.

dealer had a white AT4 and a white Z71 (with black interior) and another local dealer had a white Z71 with tan interior. All three were 5.3s that were loaded out.

Wife had seen the original pics of the white AT4 that GMC was using as their promo vehicle and she wasn't going to be drawn away from that.

Bought the 2021 AT4 and put 45k miles on it...the vehicle in general was what we expected and served our purposes. She had a 2019 Yukon at the time and one of the main options she noticed missing from the Z71 was the ventilated seats. But that was more of an excuse than a reason as she just liked the looks of the AT4 better.

Our overall experience with it was bad though because it stayed in the shop (17 visits in 10 months when we just stopped trying to fix stuff)....i wouldn't say our experience would be typical though...probably just first year of the redesign.


The difference between your two builds:
AT4 has power steps ~$2k, sunroof $1500, 3yrs connected services $1500, color upcharge $500, HUD $500 (part of the tech package so just guessing here)...The extra $1k or so difference I'd assign to the fog lights, ventilated seats, multicolor interior, and "it's a Yukon" so it's more $$$ than a Tahoe.

Noticed that you didn't have second row buckets on either build...just mentioning it


Some of the issues we had like sunroof leaking, power assist step motor going out and air ride not failing but I could see the writing on the wall... led us to where we are now...have a 23 Tahoe Z71 with only the luxury package and buckets...got away from the "wants".

Will admit that going from the AT4 to the Z71 the interior looked a little plain, but 6 months in and don't even notice anymore. RST interior with the red stitching in a Z71 would be a good complement. If you're going straight to a Tahoe then you'd probably never notice.

 

[todayusay]

as far as the power assist steps, the perimeter lighting on them was cool, but considering the overall function of them, we got to where we didn't like them with our two kids...we weren't like the A team and all jumping in/out at the same time...usually they'd get in before us and close the door and the step would be cycling back up when we were opening the front doors..so you ended up "waiting" a sec or two on the step to cycle back down. I know, what's a couple seconds...

and although I liked the HUD, it was the wife's vehicle and she said she never used it - was almost a distraction to her...no comment

 

[steiny93]

Vented seats are a deal breaker for us.
We don't like the sunroof's; we've ordered without those for quite a while now.
Wife really likes the powered running boards, but they will have issues in the future which will be a pain.
The HUD is better then it was, still lagging behind other brands.

I wouldn't order another one without a diesel.

 

[s4cruiser]

@todayusay great perspective, thanks for sharing. Yes, we prefer the second row bench over the buckets - only one child (no more), grandparents and dog so we liked having the extra room in the back with the 3rd row folded down and the 2nd row bench keeps the dog in her space.

@steiny93 i keep coming back to the ventilated seats. My 2006 Duramax has been relegated to daily driving on and off since I bought it in 2008 and summer heat = sweat. Also, I considered the diesel but want the get up and go of the 6.2L.

 

[TXNJ]

This is my only real reason I keep considering the AT4...but for $7k more I cringe, sigh.

I'm not sure I would pay $7K more for the AT4 if the ventilated seats were the only thing I really wanted and was paying for the power boards and sunroof or other stuff. $7K isn't nothing. However, I can say that I originally ordered a Denali that did not have the power boards. i ended up with the AT4 because I found one available, but it did have the power boards. My wife and kids love those running boards. I'm 6'4" so I couldn't care less, but it's been something i didn't want that has ended up being something they like more than the ventilated seats (that I still very much care about).