What to Buy? Tahoe vs Yukon Denali

[Doubeleive]

if you want something to sort of take off-roadish I would try and stick with a 00-02 it didn't (or shouldn't have) all the traction control nannies
on the other hand 03+ were improved a bit, but the nannies can suck, just pull the abs fuse when off roading.

 

[a4edwin]

Denali just for the 6.0 a reliable motor compared to the 6.2.it has the 4l60e which is the only bad thing but the Tahoe has it also. 5.3 are everywhere if some thing goes bad. You can go to a junk yard spin around in a circle with you eyes closed and when you stop and look there’ll be a 5.3 laying there.

 

[S33k3r]

Denali just for the 6.0 a reliable motor compared to the 6.2.it has the 4l60e which is the only bad thing but the Tahoe has it also. 5.3 are everywhere if some thing goes bad. You can go to a junk yard spin around in a circle with you eyes closed and when you stop and look there’ll be a 5.3 laying there.

Actually, I think the Denali has the 4L65E, which is a beefed up version of the 4L60E. That said, it is still the Achilles heel of the platform; it's going to die well before the rest of the running gear does, under most circumstances.

 

[rockola1971]

I own (2) 2003 Tahoes and (1) 2005 Denali and the difference between them is night and day even with both of my Tahoes being LT trim. Id get the Denali 6.0l AWD over the Tahoe LT 5.3L every time! In fact ive been looking for another Denali to replace one of the Tahoes. The difference between the 5.3L and 6.0L is night and day. Not having to mess with buttons and being in AWD all the time is nice. No waiting for the 4WD to engage after you are already stuck. Even the difference between LT trim and Denali trim level is night and day. Go with the Denali EVERY time!

 

[S33k3r]

Keep in mind your MPGs are going to be lower with the 6.0, though.

 

[rockola1971]

Keep in mind your MPGs are going to be lower with the 6.0, though.

Its not really that much to worry about. From my experience with the 2 engines the 6.0L with AWD combo gets about 1-1.5 miles less per gal for combined highway/city driving. Most of my driving is highway since my office is off a highway and my house is on a highway to town so I cruise alot at 50-55mph.

 

[5x10]

Why isn’t an Escalade being considered ?

 

[S33k3r]

Its not really that much to worry about. From my experience with the 2 engines the 6.0L with AWD combo gets about 1-1.5 miles less per gal for combined highway/city driving. Most of my driving is highway since my office is off a highway and my house is on a highway to town so I cruise alot at 50-55mph.

Yessir! Just thought I'd mention it. Your bias toward freeway driving is definitely in your favor. The 6.0 seems to be a lot more fun, for sure.

 

[Scott in AZ]

Price and mileage are same/same.

LS trim is pretty bare.1-owner Denali with good service records would be an easy choice for me.

What did you decide?

 

[adventurenali92]

Welcome from another GMT800 Denali owner. I looked at several models across the platform and I’ll still take my 6.0 over a 5.3 Tahoe or 5.3 Yukon any day. The 5.3 is a solid engine. Good option. But the 6.0 is a crazy fun motor, easy to work on, for maintenance, repairs and upgrades as well. like he said above^ gas mileage is minimally different. Not enough to notice. The full time All Wheel Drive has its limitations but there isn’t much it can’t handle. I live in a ski town and run in snow for roughly 4 1/2ish months a year. It’s not met much that has stopped it in the snow. And we just had the storm of the decade late February, 10 feet of snow in 10 days. We’re just not equipped to handle that much snow all at once. Denali ran through it totally fine.