Just drove my '17 Tahoe Premier round trip from southern Connecticut to Martha's Vineyard for a week long vacation. It was its first real test. The truck is less than 2 months old. My wife is the primary driver and uses it around town...I drive an '02 Yukon SLT. I knew it was a nice highway cruiser and would do fine there, but I was worried about taking it off-road onto the sandy beaches given it has lost some of its truckiness compared to prior years..but I was very wrong.
I drove the new truck all week and what a pleasure it was to drive! The DVD player helped keep the kids quiet in the back. Plenty of room for cargo. I had it packed to the brim. I also had a cargo rack on the back for a gigantic fishing cooler loaded with food for the week. My '02 did the trip last year and sagged a bit with the payload. The 17 handled it like a champ.
I got the thing filthy on the beach. I like to surfcast so the thing was loaded and beaten with sand by the end of the trip. It handled the soft sand just fine and muddy, dirt roads just the same. No issues at all once the 20" tires were aired down a bit. I had to use 4x4-lo in one soft spot to get out of a jam, but the electronic 4wd worked well. Otherwise 4x4-hi did the trick. I washed it when I returned and it's shiny and new again.
Compared to the '02...well there really isn't much of a comparison. While I beat up my '02 and it has never failed me, the 2017 is an awesome truck. I can't say enough good things about it. The seats were comfortable. I didn't feel the need to get out and stretch at all while driving. The truck is luxurious, and can handle off-road situations at the same time. We hauled people around all week and everyone was comfortable in it.
While no doubt, the Tahoe is expensive, I saw a lot of $40-$45k 4-door Jeep Wranglers around and while that may have better off-road capabilities to an extent, they ride like crap, have a lot of wind noise, have cloth seats, no rear legroom, no cargo room, etc. The extra expense gets you a lot.
So, my final thoughts to anyone considering buying a Tahoe/Yukon, buy it. Don't look back. And don't be afraid to beat it up a little bit.
I drove the new truck all week and what a pleasure it was to drive! The DVD player helped keep the kids quiet in the back. Plenty of room for cargo. I had it packed to the brim. I also had a cargo rack on the back for a gigantic fishing cooler loaded with food for the week. My '02 did the trip last year and sagged a bit with the payload. The 17 handled it like a champ.
I got the thing filthy on the beach. I like to surfcast so the thing was loaded and beaten with sand by the end of the trip. It handled the soft sand just fine and muddy, dirt roads just the same. No issues at all once the 20" tires were aired down a bit. I had to use 4x4-lo in one soft spot to get out of a jam, but the electronic 4wd worked well. Otherwise 4x4-hi did the trick. I washed it when I returned and it's shiny and new again.
Compared to the '02...well there really isn't much of a comparison. While I beat up my '02 and it has never failed me, the 2017 is an awesome truck. I can't say enough good things about it. The seats were comfortable. I didn't feel the need to get out and stretch at all while driving. The truck is luxurious, and can handle off-road situations at the same time. We hauled people around all week and everyone was comfortable in it.
While no doubt, the Tahoe is expensive, I saw a lot of $40-$45k 4-door Jeep Wranglers around and while that may have better off-road capabilities to an extent, they ride like crap, have a lot of wind noise, have cloth seats, no rear legroom, no cargo room, etc. The extra expense gets you a lot.
So, my final thoughts to anyone considering buying a Tahoe/Yukon, buy it. Don't look back. And don't be afraid to beat it up a little bit.
