Suburban vs. Excursion questions...

[jim_wilson]

Wondering if anybody out there has any opinions of or ownership experience of Chevy Suburban/GMC Yukon XL and Ford Excursion. I have been thinking of buying a used truck and what I have want is something that I can tow a decent load with, carry a number of people in, and fit a 4x8 sheet of plywood inside. What I am really interested in is the basic quality and reliability of each. I would prefer the Suburban/Yukon but the prices of used Excursions makes them tempting. This also sets off a little bit of a red flag for me as low used prices are usually an indicator of problems - for instance Jaguars used to have wicked depreciation - drive it off the lot for 40K and 7-8 years later they would be worth less than a good used Honda of the same vintage.

 

[DUMBDOG]

Have a 99 Suburban LT, have not had any more problems than with any other vehicle, water pump and a tie rod, oil changes and tires, have 108k on it. I believe that the reason the fords are less money is that the mileage is not as good on them.

This April, coming back from Florida and gas was 1.85 (gasp) per gallon, drove about 60-65 miles per hour or about an average of 5 miles per hour under the speed limit and obtained 19.5 miles per gallon on the trip back.

Last year pulled an 7X14 enclosed trailer quite a bit but the mileage sure drops when pulling, about 8-10.

A 4 by 8 sheet of plywood fits real nice into the back when the center seat is folded up.

 

[tpost]

The Excursion looks like a monster of an SUV,I would like to have one. I believe they are bigger than the Suburban maybe ??

 

[Dargo]

I had 'em both. (heck, I've had the Expedition and Tahoe as well) I prefer the Excursion between them. It is considerably larger and the quality of the interior seemed to be far superior. I honestly sold my '03 Suburban because it had so many frickin' squeaks and rattles that it drove me nuts! For the top of the line 50k LT, GM should be embarrassed! /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif I spent hours and hours trying to hunt down and stop the rattles. I gave up and had to consider it a loss for me. My wife isn't bothered by interior noise like me, and she couldn't stand to drive the thing.

 

[HGM]

I'm not going to recomend one over the other. If you drive them both, you'll make the right decision.....

The reason you see low priced Excursions is that some folks just wanted a low maintenance gasoline engine. When the realized the not so favorible fuel economy of a heavy truck with a gasburner, they dump it. This is a very popular family hauler for soccer moms. I would, without a doubt chose the diesel over gas...... Much better fuel economy,17-21mpg and can tow anything.....Within reason of course /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Dont try to tow the airplane or ice breaker they show you in the comercials... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( For the top of the line 50k LT, GM should be embarrassed! )</font>
Dargo, you should have bought the cheap model. Less stuff to go squeak... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

OK, my Sub is a 99 LT (leather) and I'll never buy another leather anything. Not because of quality issues, but hot and cold and breathing issues. Cloth for me for the rest of my life. I've sat on the nicest of seats, perforated leather helps but is hard to clean. Sheepskin covered aviation seats are nice at 10000 feet where the air is cool. The 350 engine is hard to beat for durability. Replaced water pump, drivers electric window motor, intake gasket manifold.

I carpool and every other week, I'm driving my friend's 2001 Excursion. It is a fully loaded, V10 Gas, leather setup. We drive on some roads that are bumpy. Not chug hole bumps, but asphalt over clay bumps. The ford drives a bit quieter maybe, but is much rougher over bumpy roads. A good ride on smooth highways but bone and kidney jarring over our roads. It gets terrible mileage. 10-12 compared to 16-17 for the sub with the 350. The sub will out accelerate it too based on my seat of the pants feel. The sub absorbs the bumps better(1/2 ton). The ford's check engine light has been on for some time (guess its the EGR). All the electric locks are broken. A kid broke the rear side window and it cost $1100 !!! OUCH!!!.
So, if you have plenty of money for gas, the roads are smooth and the ford is cheap, Buy it. Otherwise, the sub gets my vote.

PS. I rented a 2005 Tahoe with cloth for a week. My carpooler and I agreed it was much nicer than either of our vehicles.

 

[_RaT_]

I'm with you on the leather thing. I always wanted leather, got it and will not have it again. It wears considerably faster then a high quality fabric and frankly, looks pretty bad after 5 or 6 years. It's not that leather is bad, its just that what goes into vehicles just cannot be top grade.

 

[HGM]

Good point on the 1/2 ton vs 3/4 ton....It does depend on what you want it to do..

You really cant slam a neglected vehicle for quality issues though
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( The ford's check engine light has been on for some time (guess its the EGR). All the electric locks are broken. A kid broke the rear side window and it cost $1100 !!! OUCH!!!.
)</font>
Although the V-10 is a good engine, I would'nt want one. The mileage is pretty bad..

To each his own... I may be a bit partial, but I still recomend driving both.

 

[beagdog]

I can only speak of the Excursion, I'm on my second one, an '04, traded an '01 for the '04 when the word first got out that '04 would be the last year for them, as it turned out, that was '05.

Both have been diesels, wouldn't have a gasser. You'll find the diesels are holding their value quite well, the gassers on the other hand are not. Understandable though.

I love the Excursion, they are fantastic road trip vehicles, I recently did a 500 mile day trip pulling my 18' trailer and averaged just over 19 mpg. All interstate and all at an average of just over 70 mph. Had a hefty tail wind going and a hefty headwind returning, so it should have balanced out.

As someone else said, I'm not going to recommend one over the other, as you really need to drive both and decide. The availability of the diesel made my mind up for me, there was just no other choice.

 

[JSUnlimited]

I'd say stick with FORD. We have several new of GM trucks (Suburban, P/U, 1 ton chassis) at work......

The dealer must have seen the city coming with taxpayers checkbook.

Look around at some of the smaller ambulances.....95% are Ford E or F-350's with the powerstroke. Imagine......many cold starts then going like ****, then frequent idles, and like most municipalities......poor maintenace.

Make up your own mind, I see where GM is laying off........