Any regrets not getting a Suburban/XL instead of Tahoe/Yukon?

[Eighthtry]

My wife drove her suburbans starting in 1985 and never complained. Bought her a 2023 GMC Denali XL with the air suspension to put on the road. She complained about parking and being able to see over the hood. I had to agree. It was a fantastic and comfortable road car though. We totaled it two months ago. I would buy another one but may try to find a very low mileage older one. She had 203,000 miles on her 2011 GMC Denali XL and loved it.

As for me, I would stay away from the shorter wheelbase. Ride is my first priority. Premium gas comes in about 4th or 5th.

 

[EddieC]

We have had three Tahoes and we are well into retirement ages. The current one is feeling big at times. It needed body repairs when someone ran into it and their insurance covered a rental which turned out to be a Suburban (rental company determined an equal or larger equivalent to ours). It felt HUGH and we brought it back and accepted a smaller SUV.
I can imagine large families may need the extra room but it would not be our choice.

I'll add that the back seat came out in the first month and the floor depression leveled with a bit of wood framing.
We can sleep in there for travel or camping if we choose.
It hauls our wound up dogs to performance competitions comfortably and the rear heat and ac are greatly appreciated.
It's our sedan delivery with windows.
Plenty big.

 

[BacDoc]

Bottom line is get the biggest version and you will never regret it!

I have a 2024 Tahoe and love it but my 2 biggest regrets are - first, no Supercruise and second, not getting the Suburban!

Size matters and the extra length is better for cruising and cargo.
If you’re getting a Tahoe or Yukon you are probably not concerned about size.
I think the Suburban would still fit in my garage but it would take a little more space and attention to parking but the extra room is priceless!

 

[fredcook]

I'm in the Tahoe camp. The main reason is our off-roading. Suburbans are too long for some of the places we wind up going. We manage to high center them, even with 4-5" lifts. And there's nothing like teetering a Suburban on three wheels on tight steep switchbacks with white knuckle exposures. The extra space would be nice, but useless if we get stuck.

 

[GMCChevy]

Bottom line is get the biggest version and you will never regret it!

I have a 2024 Tahoe and love it but my 2 biggest regrets are - first, no Supercruise and second, not getting the Suburban!

Size matters and the extra length is better for cruising and cargo.
If you’re getting a Tahoe or Yukon you are probably not concerned about size.
I think the Suburban would still fit in my garage but it would take a little more space and attention to parking but the extra room is priceless!

Bottom line is get the shorter version and you'll never regret it... so really get whatever suits you best. Or get one of each

 

[Bigburb3500]

Really appreciate all of the feedback and the conversation on this topic.

My wife is leaning towards the XL, primarily because she isnt the one having to daily drive it! We do have 2 dogs (70 pounds, 25 pounds) + the upcoming addition to the family.

We do long road trips a couple times a year but that will probably increase since its easier to drive than fly with a young one (in certain scenarios). Plus if we want to bring the dogs, we will need to fit them and all their luggage.

The Sierra has spoiled us for space, you can throw anything in the bed and not really worry about it. Its really going to come down to day to day of driving this thing and if i want something shorter than the truck (wild that a tahoe/yukon is 15 inches shorter) or if I am fine with the size and get something overly practical.

I was in the same boat last yr. 1 kid and a 100+ lb dog and lots of road trips. Dont think, get the long wheelbase. The rear doors are bigger and you don’t lean over the wheel like you do in the short wheelbase. We haul so much stuff on our trips we fill up the whole thing and have 4 big totes in a hitch platform…

 

[vcode]

Based on sales, customers prefer Tahoes over Suburbans by a margin of 2.4 to 1....... LOL!

 

[Marky Dissod]

Based on sales, customers prefer Tahoes over Suburbans by a margin of 2.4:1!

Says more about:
buyers' families
where buyers live / driving environment
dwindling number of average children per household

 

[Stbentoak]

I was in the same boat last yr. 1 kid and a 100+ lb dog and lots of road trips. Dont think, get the long wheelbase. The rear doors are bigger and you don’t lean over the wheel like you do in the short wheelbase. We haul so much stuff on our trips we fill up the whole thing and have 4 big totes in a hitch platform…

Sounds like you need a Sprinter van....

 

[Bigburb3500]

Sounds like you need a Sprinter van....

Don’t get me started… I’m ALMOST regretting I didn’t find a long wheelbase 3500 conversion van…

My wife said this past weekend when we were coming back from SC, “It’s a little cramped back here…” I don’t even know where to go with that…

 

[Sir_Hiro]

I bought what I could afford at the time. I needed a Tow Rig/Bigger Family Ride. All the Suburbans in my price range were 2WD which was a deal breaker.
I ended up finding a 2010 Yukon with 100K for 6K and I instantly jumped on it. While I dont need the room..I sure did want it. But happy regardless.

 

[Blueinterceptor]

The dog boxes are against the second row seat. In a 26 suburban

 

[CMoore711]

So in closing, if you plan on having more than one kid (plus the dogs) and don't want to be swapping out vehicles every 3-5 years, go for the long version of whatever you buy (Suburban, Yukon XL, ESV)

This was us to a T!

Had our first; wife got Escalade SWB.
Had 2nd; SWB still worked, but could only put the double stroller in the back if the 3rd row was folded or removed.
Had our 3rd; swapped the SWB for an Escalade ESV.
Now we have 4 and we won’t ever get anything less than LWB model.

Now we both each drive Escalade ESV’s cause due to our work schedules and kid schedules we both need to be able to pick up and take the kids wherever whenever.

The only time you’ll notice is in a parking lot. Back into parking spots as much as you can so you can just pull out and you’ll be fine!

 

[EddieC]

Sounds like you need a Sprinter van....

Around here it's Ford Transits that seem to come in many different sizes, lengths, heights and configurations.
I have to think they hit a home run with those with respect to sales.

 

[fondupot]

While I would love the extra capacity of a Yukon XL. It wouldn't fit in our garage. So the short wheel base model is sufficing for our family of 4.

 

[Protect1989]

Yall are swaying me into a LWB and I dont know how to feel about it lol.

The LWB will fit in my garage with no issues. In my specific case, it comes down to if I want to continue driving a long vehicle vs. if I want something slightly shorter.

The SWB is 15" shorter than what I drive today, so a pretty significant difference. However I am already well versed and comfortable driving a larger vehicle...

 

[Double J]

Had 3 Tahoes and 3 Suburbans over the years. As we had 6 kids and with a party of 8, we just had enough room plus storage. Friends of ours with 8 kids and a party of 10 had 2 suburbans and it looked like a Presidential motorcade when we all went out to dinner as ours was black like theirs. The Holy Grail suburban we still miss had 1st and 2nd row bench seats. (Good kids up front, unruly kids were banned to the last row) My wife who drove it regularly could back that into any tight space but I routinely lost track of the rear corners as there were no parking aids like my daily driver had. Also, that big body never was pushed around while towing the boat.

Now not needing the space, the short wheelbase Yukon is a great drive (especially leveled with Bilstein 5100s, Nolathane sway bars to tighten up road manners in the curvy mountain roads and Powerstop Brakes to help address the problem that all shared), but I do miss the road presence and cruising ability of the long wheelbase. Vote “Go Big!” if you can fit it.

 

[DuraYuk]

Yall are swaying me into a LWB and I dont know how to feel about it lol.

The LWB will fit in my garage with no issues. In my specific case, it comes down to if I want to continue driving a long vehicle vs. if I want something slightly shorter.

The SWB is 15" shorter than what I drive today, so a pretty significant difference. However I am already well versed and comfortable driving a larger vehicle...

I drive sports cars as my daily. And the lwb vs swb driving dynamics and feel is exact same. As long as the physical size isnt an issue the dynamics wont be.

 

[vcode]

Yall are swaying me into a LWB and I dont know how to feel about it lol.

The LWB will fit in my garage with no issues. In my specific case, it comes down to if I want to continue driving a long vehicle vs. if I want something slightly shorter.

The SWB is 15" shorter than what I drive today, so a pretty significant difference. However I am already well versed and comfortable driving a larger vehicle...

Drive them both and see how you feel. The new Tahoe is 7" longer than the old one. I wouldn't look at a Suburban if I was getting a new one. My Yukon XL fits in the garage but I have to park close to the door if I want to be able to open the rear hatch.

 

[Protect1989]

Drive them both and see how you feel. The new Tahoe is 7" longer than the old one. I wouldn't look at a Suburban if I was getting a new one. My Yukon XL fits in the garage but I have to park close to the door if I want to be able to open the rear hatch.

The SWB or LWB will fit in my garage, neither will be able to open the hatch.

My internal dilemma is the day to day. Having the useable space of the LWB is great, but having to haul around that much empty space for the occasional road trip or family in town is a tough sell.

On the flip side, I am already driving a vehicle that is longer than the LWB. So i will be giving up a ton of functionality plus i am already familiar with the driving dynamics of a larger vehicle.