EDIT: Helped me decide - went with Denali

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WalleyeMikeIII

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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.
 
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s4cruiser

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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

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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.
 

todayusay

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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

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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 :cool:
 

steiny93

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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.
 
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s4cruiser

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@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

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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).
 

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