Suburban 2500 or Yukon XL Denali?

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jsoltren

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Bear in mind that the Denalis and Escalades, with the aluminum 6.2L V8, recommend premium gas for maximum fun. At least around here premium gas commands a premium price.

I got my 2500 because I plan on keeping it forever. Test drive both and see.
 
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norcalboon

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In the end I purchased a local 2012 Yukon XL Denali with 100K miles. Unable to close a deal on a 2009 XL Denali, I convinced myself a 2500 was the rig for me...and then I found this Denali and gave it a look, and a week or so later it was mine. Here's the details if you are interested.

Replacing: 2005 Yukon XL SLT, 158K (5.3, 3.42, Tru Cool 40K Trans Cooler, Powerstop K36 brakes/rotors)
Stats: Family of 5 (kids ages 3,5,7) and a German Sheppard (6 months)
Purpose: Wife DD, several trips per year up and down I5 from NorCal to SoCal, Tow Vehicle for approx. 7K Travel Trailer making 8-10 trips a year within 100 miles and typically one longer trip.

I say 7K for the TT but haven't been weighed. It's 5.5K dry and I don't tow full of water so using 7K is a more than reasonable estimate IMO and likely a little high.

The 2005 has been great for the last 3 years I've had it, and tows "OK". It's gotten us everywhere we've gone without too many issues, but any grade requires 2nd gear and if I don't maintain at least 3500 RPM we crawl up hills at 35 MPH. It feels like it's working hard. I wanted a better (safer) towing experience, and it was starting to feel a little dated.

I've been researching options for the past few months and started this post by asking members to compare a 2007 Yukon XL 2500 (4 spd, 6.0) to a 2009 Denali XL. The feedback was mixed, the Denali option received more votes but a compelling case was made for a 2500.

After the 2009 Denali deal fell though (details in earlier post) I was pretty resigned to waiting to find the right 2500. Basically wanted to complete the swap well before a long trip planned to bend, OR this summer. Then this 2012 Denali popped up, literally 2 miles from my work. Offered by a small broker/dealer who cherry picks auctions and tries to turn 5-10 vehicles/month working out of a small industrial warehouse = low overhead. He'd had this one for almost 2 months and reduced from $22.9K to $20,491, which got my attention, so I decided to check it out. He said he paid $19K at auction FWIW.

It was the exact version we wanted; tri-coat pearl (see pic), black leather, captains 2nd row, integrated TB, (obviously tow package). I drove it adn did an initial inspection (visual, fluids, under carriage, tried most all the 'bells and whistles'. Everything worked, it was in Very Good condition.

It was a 2 owner, Bay Area vehicle, and using the Carfax report I spent the next couple of days contacting all the service providers and obtaining all the service records. No red flags, some TPMS issues, regular oil changes, nothing major. I even 'Zillowed' the previous owners home addresses (yes, privacy loophole here) and saw that it had come from 2 Very Nice homes. Hitch cover was still on so I removed and saw no evidence of previous towing. All indications are it was a soccer mom rig for the first part of its life.

I did not have a mechanic do a pre-inspection. I considered it, but decided against it. The dealer had a local brake shop put new pads/rotors on and had changed the oil. The Bridgestone tires are mismatched (pet peeve) front/back, but have decent tread left.

We've had it a week or so and I've only had a chance to drive it one time to work, otherwise we put it right into service. So far we love it. I plan to drive it a couple thousand miles then have it in to:

-trans flush ( I've read all about pros and cons, but prefer to flush and have a trans shop I trust)
-trans cooler (will likely stick with the Tru Cool 40K)
-differentials, coolant, brake fluid, flushes
-plugs/wires

And I've made it all this way without even mentioning the biggest concern I have with this rig, AFM.

My understanding is that GM made a change to the AFM hardware sometime around 2011 which improved the reliability of the system somewhat. I also understand that since the AFM lifters are oil pressure triggered, clean synthetic oil is very important. So I plan to reduce my oil change interval to 5K miles.

The other negative might be that it prefers premium gas, but I commute in a hybrid so I figure I balance out our gas costs and it doesn't cause me great concern.

So far we are very happy and planning to take it from 100K miles to 200K miles (5-7 years) and then decide if to take out of DD rotation and just keep as TV.

Will I regret not getting the 2500 unicorn? Perhaps, but at the end of the day, especially considering what we are coming from, I believe the Denali will suit our needs just fine. and to be frank it's probably the better vehicle for 90% of the uses we will put to it.

Driving Impressions: the 6 spd trans will take a little getting used to - early shift points in the lower gears, and I find the throttle response lags just a bit. It sounds throaty but not annoyingly, and I do like the 400hp when you stomp on it. It rides quiet and solid. The kids really like the "hallway" in between the 2nd row. We love the bells and whistles, I just need to change some of the settings (remote start, mirror positioning in reverse, lights and locks).

Thanks again for your responses, I find this forum to be a good source of information on these rigs.

Here's some pics of the new and old:

Denali 1.jpg Denali 3.jpg Olema Easter 2018.JPG Denali 8.jpg
 

swathdiver

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In the end I purchased a local 2012 Yukon XL Denali with 100K miles.

Great write up Clay! Your new ride already has a trans cooler but I know folks like to stuff those bigger ones in there. Consider a tune anyway for the improved transmission performance and get a Tech-2 so you can work on it.

Then take the TT & rig out to the scales and find out what it really weighs.

Measure the tread depth of the tires, AWD doesn't like differences between tread depths at all.

Looks real nice, ya done good! Check the Nav unit for previous addresses and the Onstar phone book too.
 
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norcalboon

norcalboon

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First camp trip in the books and I finally got to tow with the Denali. First, it sits higher than my 2005 Yukon XL, and the air ride works great - the compressor(s) come on once hooked up and then stop once level. However I need to adjust my WD hitch mount a couple inches lower now. We only went about 100 miles round trip, but I finally was able to get weighed fully loaded - 12,740 lbs. The curb weight of the Denali is listed as 5,860, so with 5 people (2 adults, 3 kids) and a dog I figure we're at about 6,500# for the Denali, and about 6,300# for our TT. It's 5,280# dry and I had been conservatively estimating a max weight of 7K - so 6,300# seems reasonable (don't carry water). That leaves me 1,260# under the GCWR of 14K# - or approx 90% of max. I'm comfortable with these numbers.

Pretty flat tow, one medium 2 mile grade, but the Denali pulled great. I'm not a fan of the shift points in non-tow/haul mode - to quick IMO. But in tow/haul mode the shift points are great, and it pulled easy in 4th & 5th gears - power to spare. Even up the grade it was easy 2K RPM steady speed.

I should mention that in the 6 weeks I've had it, I had the trans flushed (clean, no codes from Trans), added a 40K trans cooler, replaced the radiator, and both the trans & engine cooler lines. Had some seepage from the lines and small radiator leak and since we plan to keep long term and use for towing I went ahead with those now. Still need to get the plugs and wires done, and will be getting new tires before a long trip this summer, and rear brakes, will likely stick with OEM.

Wife has been getting about 11/12 MPG around town - mostly short trips, lots of stops/starts. Only one longer non-towing trip, but up into elevation (3-4K ft), encountered some snow (AWD worked great) and got over 17 MPG on that trip. Didn't get a chance to figure the towing MPG yet. Using Premium 91 octane, in California. No E85 conveniently located near me so will likely stick with this.

So far everything else is working, kids like the DVD although we only turn that on for long trips, and then sparingly. Initial impressions are very positive, hoping for a long and reliable lifespan from it.
 

intheburbs

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Glad things went well.

With regards to weights, the GCW and GCWR are not the important numbers. Do you still have the weigh slip? GVW/GVWR and RAW/RAWR are the critical numbers. You'll overload your rear axle long before you reach 14,000 lbs GCW. And reweighs are generally free, so what I've done with a new rig is weigh the combined rig, then unhitch the trailer and weigh again, to see both numbers. The result is something like this, and it's usually an eye-opener:

eOlCU27.jpg
 
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norcalboon

norcalboon

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Thanks - can you interpret what am I looking at in your picture? I only received a Gross Only weight - it was a quick stop so I can definitely go back, but would like to better understand what your post means from a practical interpretation standpoint.

The result is something like this, and it's usually an eye-opener:

eOlCU27.jpg
[/QUOTE]
 

swathdiver

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CAT Scales have three scales so you can weigh the steer axle, drive axle and load. You can weigh the tonque of your trailer on the first scale and both axles on the second. Then move the trailer up to weigh each axle separately and this way you can see if she's loaded properly.

One should also weigh the whole setup, truck and trailer, to make sure the axles aren't too light or overloaded and if they are, adjust the weight distribution accordingly.
 

thompsoj22

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To the original post, You mention using the carfax to contact dealers to get complete vehicle history? If the carfax say's replace rear brakes/rotors will the dealer have a more detailed report? I have a carfax report also with all the maint done exclusively by one dealer, If i call them they can give a better breakdown of what they did?
 

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