2022 Midnight Blue Z71 Tahoe - ordering experience and initial thoughts

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todayusay

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Bought a 2022 Tahoe, Midnight blue, Z71 with the luxury package and 2nd row buckets
First pic was before tinting the windows – other two are in its street clothes
Sold a 2021 Yukon AT4 that had the premium package (sunroof, RSE, auto steps, air ride, HUD, etc) – had issues with almost everything so dialed the tech back some on the Tahoe...would have included the RSE if available


Placed the order first week of January, required $1k refundable deposit
Order accepted mid February (wasn’t notified by the dealership – found out via GM chat)
TPW initially set at 4/11
Found out mid-march via GM chat (confirmed with Linton) TPW moved up to 3/28
Built 3/28
Window sticker 3/29
Moved to Midlothian 3/30 (from the Jack cooper website)
Linton initially told me ETA was 4/14 the week it was built - believe it was still at 3800... the next week he couldn’t track it as the dealership marked it as sold
Vehicle arrived 4/21
I asked the dealer a few times while it was waiting to be shipped and they never could/would provide an ETA
It populated on the dealer’s website when it was built and was removed when it was delivered to the dealership (not when I bought it several days later) - just thought that was odd

Paid sticker – there are some things the dealer could’ve done to communicate the process better, but at the end of the day we feel lucky in that our order to delivery timeframe was just under 4 months

Will see how we like the color (don’t normally own darker vehicles) and will probably place an order for a 23 (RST/Z71/AT4) at the end of May/June for possible delivery early next year (we average 40k miles/year) – if we go back with a Tahoe, we’ll try to use the same dealer.

I've seen several Dark Ash Tahoes in person and my opinion on the differences is that the dark ash has a slight purple-ish tint to it as compared to the midnight blue. Would like for GM to bring back a true silver for the Tahoes/Yukons

Had a couple orders in with the dealer we bought the 2021 Yukon from – had several conversations with them since we were having so many issues out of it…none of those orders have been accepted/materialized as we finally determined they weren’t going to "help us out" and get one ordered even though that is exactly what they said they were going to do…

Thoughts:
The new cluster for the driver is a slight upgrade over the 2021 with the additional customization aspects
Working through the Google infotainment system, no real issues so far
I feels as though the radio/HVAC knobs on the 2021 Yukon felt cheaply done and the 2022 Tahoe’s feel like they are better quality (wife thought the exact opposite so there’s that FWIW) – maybe we just haven’t got them good and loose yet
Outside of the options we deliberately left off, the AT4 had cooled seats and fog lights which the equivalent trim…Z71…doesn’t - and yes we knew this – I somewhat understand the cooled seats…not so much the fog lights
Interior looks a little plain but that’s to be expected coming from the AT4 (leaning towards ordering an RST the next time for this reason)

Only negative that we really haven’t researched much is that the Tahoe’s notifying chime/dinging is 1) loud – at least compared to the Yukon 2) has a different “melody/cadence” that makes it quite a bit more noticeable/annoying than our Yukon’s was..

Don’t know if GM changed the chime from 21 to 22 or if this is just a Chevrolet thing. Our last Tahoe was over 10 yrs ago when we switched over to Yukons.

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CASTLEDFW15

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Awesome choice and color selection. I strongly recommend Ceramic Coating, ClearBra and tint.

For the ClearBra I went with pretty much all leading edges. Full front Fascia, about the first 1/3 of the hood and front fenders, A Pillar exterior including up to about the end of the Sirius/XM antenna just forward of the moonroof. As a final touch I added the mirror caps.

30% full external side window….(25% is TX Legal but I like the uniform look And my Tint shop does such good work that I can give them a pass on not having 25%. I did go 20% on the moonroof glass and 5% on upper windshield…eyebrow.

I don’t normally darken vehicles this much but with the Midnight Blue exterior it works. I went with the Z71 to get the darker accents, grille. The off-road was not my main goal with the Z71 but at least available if needed.

I am impressed so far. I went one step further on the blacked out Accents. I had a set of 22“ Premier TX Edition rims. Same pattern as the Premier but the black powder coating. Yes A touch pricey but got new TPMS Sensors reprogrammed and put the Z71 OEM 20”s in the garage and rolling on the gloss black 22’s with Michelin Defender.

Whatever tire you go with….or Stay with in the case of OEM I recommend a visit to Costco for the N2 Conversio. Was under $29 for all four corners.

Good choice and color combination. I have been personally been spoiled with black interiors over the last few years.

There is probably two Premier items I miss but I can obvi survive without.

HUD, and ventilated font seats. TX Edition but since the TX edition is only the 22” wins and badging I basically have a TX edition without the badging.

I haven’t installed them yet but I have the black chrome Z71 fender badging, I purchaed in December so was waiting for the spring to get more sunny days to help the adhesive cure.

The only major technology flaw is the inside rearview mirror. Way to small and IMH… totally useless. Losing the rear view camera option from the Premier was not a major loss since that was useless too. I purchased a clip on panoramic wide angle mirror from Amazon and works way better.

You will like it but keep clean. I will admit that I would strongly recommend against automated car washes, yes even the dealer ones. When my ceramic coating installer was doing th paint correction to prep fort the coating he showed me the very fine swirls and scratches….yes car wash brush and Terry Cloth drying towel induced. The coin washes should be good but again recommend bringing your own wash mitt and drying towel….Microfiber preferabl.

Great color choice but be keep on top of the washing. Scratches and swirls will probably show more on the Midnight Blue and Black. They blend in a but better on lighter colors.
 

CASTLEDFW15

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I haven’t done it because I switched to the 22/s but the 20 machined accents on the rims are not my thing. I get the contrast but looks to contrasting. Had I planned on wearing the 20” I would see about getting the “Pizza Slices” powder coated with a slightly darker shade to either match the pockets or blend in better.
 

Stbentoak

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Rear view camera useless? Uh… prob one of its best features. Especially loaded with cargo….The whole camera system on the Denali is one of the best I’ve ever used.
 

WVBKW

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You have a photo with the black 22’s? I’m thinking of ordering my next suburban in that color. I also have z71 and put black OEM 22’s. Looks so much better.

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CASTLEDFW15

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Stbentoak…..

Interior rear view mirror useless, for me yes. Maybe it was the rear window tint but the interior rear view mirror as a mirror was useless. As the monitor for the rear camera it worked fine. Since I already had a dual Dashcam installed it was no big deal. Installed the clip on panoramic mirror and haven’t had to touch it since except when I bump it when cleaning interior glass. Panoramic allows me to get a decent view of 2nd, 3rd row, cargo area dull width and a…”ScoutCam” for my puppy on road trips.

If your looking for 22” wheels, try to find the 321/22 TX edition 22’….check eBay. The ones that are on my 22 Z71 are the same pattern as the polished aluminum 22” TX edition…..only powder coated gloss black. The center caps with the red Bowtie Logo add some class and contrast. I will try to get some photos tomorrow.
 

CASTLEDFW15

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As I was……This forum is a lot easier to add photos than forums from previous Vehicles. This is a oblique view to show the design and red contrasting center caps. The fresh from the local self spray….”Rain Locler” with the recent ceramic coating is a bonus. Again same pattern as the 21/22 TX edition polished aluminum but gloss black powde coatin. When I switched to the black rims I went full out. MIchelin Defender LTX M/S. These 22” ran on the 21 Premier for about a month until I reinstalled the OEM Polished Aluminum for trade in. These 22” with new TPMS sensors have been uneventful since installation. Although the Z71 doesn’t have a 22” option the other trims do, so getting it to fit was actually easy. Dropped off one day, kept overnight they dismounted, installed new TPMS sensors, re-mounted, balanced and I picked up the next day. Since installation I have had one foreign object debris FOD incident. Dropped off at NTB, they swapped to the spare, left overnight and came back the next day to reinstall.

The only other event was the N2 Conversion at Costco….about $15 for all four corners.
 

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Wwes

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You have a photo with the black 22’s? I’m thinking of ordering my next suburban in that color. I also have z71 and put black OEM 22’s. Looks so much better.

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Your truck looks great. I had decided on satin steel, but might go white as it looks clean with this body and the black accents.
 

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