Reliability; Denali XL RWD vs. Escalade ESV RWD

[CTX-SLPR]

Howdy folks,

With the transmission on my 13 Yukon XL back to it's old trouble I'm weighing the possibility that I have a bad reman 6L80 from the previous owner and no real way to track down who did it for any sort of warranty action. To quickly summarize, we got this SUV because we take people to church, the airport, etc. on a regular basis but I tow the Scout trailer about monthly as well. Without being able to trust this thing to tow I'm really considering a different GMT900, specifically one of the AXN equipped units. There's some other minor nitpickings that make we want to spend the $3.5k on a different vehicle vs. putting a Streetsmart reman in this one.

Which is most likely to be reliable in terms of the failure rate of the gizmos on board between the GMT900 Denali XL and the Escalade ESV, both in RWD? Cost wise, they are comparable. Mechanically I can handle keeping up with fluids, bushings, ball joints etc.; I'm more worried about things like the HVAC dying or other things that are basically line replaceable.

Thanks

 

[homesick]

As a general guess, the Caddy might have more trouble with gadgets.

Only because manufacturers' fancier [more expensive] offerings tend to get new 'technology' first; so might be more likely to have new feature bugs.

joe

 

[swathdiver]

Drivetrains are identical, the AWD trucks are supposed to have 8.6" axles and the RWD have 9.5" axles but we have seen some late production AWDs with AXNs.

There's an old saying, "Better the devil you know, than the one you don't".

If you don't want to spend any more on the Denali, can you buy the Esky and decide later which one to keep? Might try that route if you have the room.

 

[GMCChevy]

Keep in mind you could also be buying some else's problems or have to spend money fixing stuff on the new one also. If the transmission is the only major problem you could very well be better off fixing it or getting a used one put in.

 

[CTX-SLPR]

Drivetrains are identical, the AWD trucks are supposed to have 8.6" axles and the RWD have 9.5" axles but we have seen some late production AWDs with AXNs.

There's an old saying, "Better the devil you know, than the one you don't".

If you don't want to spend any more on the Denali, can you buy the Esky and decide later which one to keep? Might try that route if you have the room.

I have an SLT RWD currently and I definitely don't have room budget wise to hold onto my current vehicle.

Keep in mind you could also be buying some else's problems or have to spend money fixing stuff on the new one also. If the transmission is the only major problem you could very well be better off fixing it or getting a used one put in.

Yeah I know... If I fixed the items that I think would give biggest return on investment to sell my current one I'd be a good fraction of the way towards getting rid of those other items that make me want a different one. The only thing that I'd truly gain is the AXN axle.

 

[Joseph Garcia]

Once you get past the trim and 'features' differences, they are basically the same otherwise.

As @swathdiver says, there is a LOT of truth in knowing what you currently have, versus somebody else's potential problems/issues.

 

[petethepug]

If it’s time to change, do so and get what you want over the long run. When the trans on the 08 YXL Denali was giving signals it was time, I bought the 09 Esky ESV.

In the long run I wanted e85, a/c seats, a no-crack leather dash, no peel clear coat, no AFM and no replace led headlamps. Selling the Denali and getting the Esky was a $2.5k difference. Both had 140k miles.

It was a good move. I have what I really wanted and when the trans died in the Esky @ 185k mi it deferred having to do a trans job as well as the right vehicle got the new trans.

The only bummer, I was 3-6 months too early to get the new 2019+ 10sp trans installed. It was still being developed.

The Esky headlamps are superior to the Yuke but with the addition dampening of the Mag fluid in the z95 the ride isn’t as cushy. Here’s a configurator that allows you to switch between 2WD & AWD on an 09.

https://www.caranddriver.com/cadillac/escalade-escalade-esv/specs/2009/cadillac_escalade-escalade-esv_cadillac-escalade_2009