My post (#2) tells my story, and the Yukon XL Denali 3.0L I had three different identical orders placed for at one time since last October is now at Dealer #3, which I will be picking up on Monday of next week supposedly:
- 2024 GMC Yukon XL Denali 4WD 3.0L Duramax
- Sterling Metallic
- Bright Machined/Painted 22"
- Very Dark Ash Gray/Dark Walnut
- Panoramic Sunroof
- Illuminated Power Steps
This is a rare bird. I have looked for six months and never found one exactly like it that didn't also have the Rear Seat Entertainment System and/or Max Trailering Package.
To update my story:
My order did arrive last week, and I dropped by this past weekend to get a sneak peek, prior to getting ready to pick up today.
Unfortunately, after I told literally everyone I talked to (multiple times) at the dealership to be sure that there is NOT any window film, door edge guards, etc. installed, their in-house tint guy grabbed my truck and threw their garbage on right when it got on the lot last Thursday or Friday.
In retrospect, I should have printed and delivered signs that said "NO TINT, NO PPF" in advance, but I resisted my urge to micromanage, as three different individuals there assured me that no aftermarket items are ever installed on customer-ordered vehicles.
Typical window tinting procedures of course introduce moisture to the backside of the leather door panels, then condensate into the hidden areas of the leather while drying (which can cause shrinkage or discoloring later on). Also, the water/slip solution used in the process that runs down the visible areas of the door panel often contains sulfates or detergents which can etch or even discolor the material. This was a huge issue on the 2015-2020 GM SUV/truck models with black and brown interiors. All this is not to even mention the awfulness of clearly visible debris, creases, and atrocious gaps that are somehow acceptable in the new vehicle pre-load industry.
Then of course the sloppily-applied door edge guards are going to have scratches near them from that installation since those guys usually spend about 10 seconds per edge guard. Laughably, the addendums at dealerships in my market will commonly show the 16-minute window tint and 40-second door edge guards as $299-499 EACH.
So, I'm not buying it--the whole point of ordering precisely what I wanted, and buying brand new, was so that everything would be as perfect as possible from the start. This morning I went right over to Dealer #2 from my timeline, and placed a brand new, identical order (Now Order #4 for me) for allocation/build who knows when...summer maybe?
I have more experience with dealerships work than I'd like to. So while this was all extremely disappointing after all of the effort and time I have spent, it was not totally unexpected.
After having been in the window film business for 25 years, I have found that the best way to execute an installation on these trucks, and especially anything with leather door panels, is to carefully, and completely remove them, remove the horizontal sweeps, cover everything possible with towels, and install the window film in one step (not the top 3/4, then bottom 1/4 as is done in a "two-stage" approach). This nearly eliminates even the possibility of edge creases and debris, and allows for more complete coverage.
I install window film on these trucks all the time, and by doing this, can attain coverage of 1/4-3/8" past the front/rear vertical seals, 1" down below the bottom seal, and 1/64" or smaller gap at the top on these trucks (due to the squared top edge on the laminated glass).
Do most people care? No, but they should! I feel like if you are spending $75-105k on a vehicle, you should expect a level of quality appreciable from 6" away, and not just 6' away--that way, if you do look closely, you are not disappointed. It's very sad that the new car industry has effectively lowered the bar for consumers' expectations of quality when vehicles cost so much compared to just a short time ago, then has largely taken away their ability to add or omit aftermarket add-ons.
So it looks like another 3-6 month wait for me if I can get an allocation...good thing I don't need it!