It’s hard to believe it, but we’ve already had our 2018 Chevy Suburban for a year, so I figured I’d give it a one year review blog. TL;DR — we love it!
RELATED: FULL REVIEW: HOW THE HELL DO YOU GO FROM DRIVING A BMW 335I TO A 2018 CHEVY SUBURBAN
The Good Stuff
It Drives Awesome
Everything is subjective, but I really like how the Suburban drives, which is strangely very BMW like! If BMW ever wanted to make a super-sized North American only market SUV called the “X9” while partnering with either GM or Ford, the Suburban would be a great starting place. The Suburban already has a 50/50 weight distribution which is where its balanced feel comes from, it already feels smaller to drive than it is, the Magnetic Ride Control suspension is amazing and is already used in very high-end and even exotic cars, and the steering is already on-point with a great feel and weighting that gives you a lot of confidence while driving, unlike a lot of the newer BMWs! Just add in the BMW twin-turbo V8 mill, the world standard ZF8HP automatic transmission, and the independent rear suspension coming on the next-gen SUVs, and you’re pretty much there as far as the overall drive goes.
It was sad to leave the BMW brand and that the X7 just wasn’t what we needed, but it hasn’t felt like I’ve needed to go all that far. That’s how good the Suburban is.
5.3L + 3.42 + Mag Ride = Sweetness
The standard 5.3L 355hp V8 with the optional 3.42 axle ratio in the Max Towing package is the sweet spot in the lineup that helps the truck feel lighter on its feet and more than able to keep up in traffic and then some, while saving you the expense of the bigger 6.2L V8 and technically being required to put premium fuel in. If you don’t care about 0-60 in 7ish seconds versus around 8 then feel free to skip, but my brain is hard-wired to be happy with any vehicle that can hit 60 mph around this range or better, and not once have I ever felt like it hasn’t been enough and that I should have sprung for the 6.2, even fully loaded.
It turns out that the shorter 3.42 axle ratio is greater than the 10% paper difference suggested versus the standard 3.08 gearing. They’re just short enough to have the engine ‘on-cam’ on the highway at 70 mph and in a significantly meatier part of the engine’s torque curve, whereas the 3.08 gears land just below that. Based on GM’s published power curve for the L83 engine, you have about 200hp available in top gear at 70 mph and 1750 rpm with the 3.42 gearing, versus only about 160hp available at the same speed with the 3.08 gearing and 1550rpm, a 25% difference! It’s hard to believe that only 200rpm more in cruise can make that much of a difference, but it does. That’s huge for going up highway grades while remaining in top gear, lets the engine better utilize the V-4 cylinder shutoff mode for better efficiency, and the shorter gearing is also more responsive around town and while pulling out of slower 2nd and 3rd gear corners. There’s literally no way to lose with the 3.42 gearing. They’re a win-win and a must-have option.
Combine the better responsiveness of the shorter optional gearing with the Magnetic Ride Control suspension on the LTZ/Premier trim trucks, and you really have a crisp handling and driving truck. I’ll stop short of saying that it feels “agile or “light on its feet”, but with the Mag Ride, there’s no nose diving during hard braking, and hardly any body roll in turns, all of which helps to keep my motion sickness prone family members from puking. If you’re not a former a—hole BMW driver that demands a vehicle actually turn well, and don’t have family members prone to motion sickness, you can probably save a big bundle of cash with an LT spec truck with the standard suspension.
The Ultimate Road Trip Machine
The Suburban is without a doubt the ultimate road trip machine. It’s supremely comfortable on the highway and rides great, you always have a commanding view of what’s going on, it has plenty of passing power when needed, and it’s super quiet with a physics defying lack of wind noise. It will get a no joke 23-24 mpg on straight highway runs, everybody has plenty of space in the cabin, our kids have never fought (hallelujah!) and we have all the room we need for whatever cargo we’ve needed to haul along with us. All of the windows from the 2nd row on back have very deep tints with excellent solar rejection, so there’s never any issues with the cabin becoming an oven, and the air-conditioning system is powerful and quiet. And last but not least, GM’s infotainment and navigation system works pretty darned good, and is easy to use. It’s just amazing.
We arrived in Virginia Beach early before we could check into our AirBnB, but no problem. We all just hung out in the lounge!
One of my favorite trips of the year, taking William all the way down to VIR (Virginia International Raceway) for Hyper Fest 2019!
Up in Shenandoah National Park over Memorial Day. We cruised the entire length of Skyline Drive from top to bottom.
On a Cub Scouts Camping trip with William.
On a week long trip to Virginia Beach this past summer with 5 humans plus a dog, we packed all of the luggage you’d need for said 5 humans for a week at the beach, plus two extra bags of bedding for the AirBnB rental, folding dog crate, folding dog fence, dog food, supplies, and toys, two boogie boards, folding 10x10 beach canopy, beach chairs, beach toys, camera bags, backpacks, folding “large wheel” beach wagon, and several bags of food. It all fit while only needing to fold down a single rear seat, leaving room for 6 passengers. We could have brought one more!
The photos below show the two-thirds side of the third row folded down just because it shows all of the stuff we brought better, but I actually figured out how to get all of this to fit with just the single right side seat folded.
I actually figured out how to get all of this to fit with just a single seat folded down in the 3rd row.
I’ve Never Been More Relaxed Driving
Nobody f—-ing “misses” a Suburban, and nobody in their right mind wants to f—- with one either, and I like that quite a bit at this point in my life.
As much as I loved blasting around in my beloved BMW 335i for years, I’m sad to say it got tiring driving the car. I could never relax driving it, not just because it’s a smaller car that nobody wanted to see especially with the top down, but because it was a target for all of people’s aggression. I literally could not go more than a day or two without some moron nearly running me off the road, either because they were Toyota driver style oblivious and just didn’t see the car, or deliberately because everybody wants to run a BMW 335i off the road if given the opportunity, “because BMW drivers are a—holes and deserve it”, right?
It’s been a bit more forgiving for my wife as a female 335i driver, but as a male 335i driver, you have to drive the car in a kill or be killed manner, or else. If we don’t drive “assertively”, people will go well out of their way to run us off the road, but we BMW drivers are the a—holes? I’m sorry but if you’re going well out of your way to run me off the road while I’m cruising along in my BMW, I’m not the a—hole, okay? Not once have I ever tried to intentionally run someone off the road, and I also use my turn signals properly every time, but yup, BMW drivers are the jerks. :)
I think that the human behavioral sciences folks could have a field day analyzing all of this, but at 42 I’ve long since grown out of the phase of life of wanting to compete or “race” or otherwise “play with” or do stupid things on the roadway around other cars. I’ve had 99 problems in my life already and just want to chill when I drive, and I can finally do that in the Suburban.
It Haulz Allz
This really needed to be its own section. The Suburban has enormous hauling capacity. There’s 39.3 cubic feet of cargo space with all three rows deployed, 76.7 cubic feet with the third row folded, and a whopping 121.7 cubic feet with second and third rows both folded. What’s more, there’s also an incredible 102 inches (8.5 feet) of bed length with second and third rows folded, which is longer than a long bed Chevy Silverado pickup truck at 98 inches, and way freaking longer than the “CCSB” (Crew Cab Short Bed) configurations that many truck owners are purchasing these days, at a mere 70 inches in length. You are limited somewhat by the high load floor of the Suburban, but other than that this thing is just a beast at hauling stuff.
The following is a sampling of what the Suburban has hauled for us just in the past year.
The Burb backed in unloading its latest ‘kill’ is a very common sighting at our house.
In addition to road tripping, the Suburban has hauled a few couches, leather chairs, ottomans, deck furniture pieces, and even bed frames. It’s also hauled several tons of replacement soil for landscaping repairs (not all at once), several tons of mulch (not all at once), a thousand pounds of landscaping stones for a new fire pit, and a 24’ extension ladder, in addition to hauling volumes of trash away from several home renovation projects, and so many other things that I’ve honestly lost track. If you routinely need to haul lots of cargo, but also need to routinely haul 5 or more people and a dog, sometimes at the same time, the Suburban is the perfect vehicle for you.
The Burb hauled this entire living room set, but not all at once, and from different locations. We’ve easily saved over a thousand dollars in delivery fees for furniture from various places just in the past year alone.
The Burb swallowed our new 70” TV and brought it home from Costco, no sweat.
It’s also really saved my —s for work by hauling this “erector set” around.
Bringing home a bunch of new deck furniture!
Hauling away a set of cabinets from our old kitchen. Our entire old kitchen cabinetry set was donated to the local Re-Store, which definitely took a few trips!
It also brought this 24-foot extension ladder home.
And a thousand pounds of landscaping stone for our new fire pit.
Our new fire pit is awesome, and actually put out enough heat to keep us warm!
Our Suburban’s biggest haul yet has been this Air Hockey table from Costco measuring 92” x 50” and weighing a freaking ton. It would not have laid flat without it sticking out of the bed in anything other than a long bed pickup truck, but the Suburban swallowed it whole, and its cargo area was exactly wide enough to accommodate the box.
Friends of ours lost a few trees on their property and now have a lifetime supply of firewood, and said to help ourselves! I had hoped to back the Burb down their property to the bottom of their hill where the big stacks of firewood are, but they weren’t actually there when we swung by and didn’t want to drive on their grass without asking first. Also, I’m not even sure if I could have made it.
And of course, a big load of firewood from some friends who lost a few trees and have basically an unlimited supply of firewood. There are three rows of firewood stacked in the back, and still room for two rows of passengers.
One thing the Suburban really can’t do is go off-road. The chin spoiler helps improve fuel mileage by about 1 mpg on the highway, but it totally kills the approach angle. The maximum break-over angle of a Suburban is also a big LOL. Just no. It’s funny, but as capable as the Suburban is, most crossover SUVs are more adept off-road simply because of better approach and break-over angles. I probably could have backed down their hill, but would have had to back up it also, to avoid the highly likely possibility of getting hung up on or ripping off the chin spoiler. Didn’t want to chance it, so we just three-person relayed all of this up the hill and into the back of the Suburban, and that counted as our workout for the day! :)
May 2020 Update
My son and I got new mountain bikes, so the Suburban’s latest trick is hauling all of our bikes around. I was dreading having to pickup a bike rack of some sort because of the expense, only to realize I didn’t even need to. Although there’s only three bikes in the back here (my wife doesn’t ride), it can no joke haul 4 bikes in the back with the 3rd row of seats folded down separated by furniture pads, and still has plenty of room for 4 people and a dog.
The Less Than Good
True grips are few and far between, but in the interest of full objectivity, here are a few.
Nitpicks
The enhanced 8” driver information display is gorgeous and even has accurate shadowing rendered for the digitally rendered quad analog gauges, but ends up wasting a lot of space and potential because GM largely just re-used the information screens from the lower-tier clusters without giving everything the proper reworking that it needed. A lot of screens could easily be combined, and there’s no single screen that shows everything you might want. This leads to a lot of pointless flipping and becomes somewhat of a distraction, and so is a bit of a let down.
The adaptive cruise works well, but is far too aggressive at trying to recover speed than it ever needs to be. Dude, it’s a Suburban — it’s okay if it takes a few seconds longer to get back to the set speed. GM probably has a one-size fits most type of calibration, but misses the mark here with totally unnecessary multi-gear kickdowns and a roaring engine just to get back to 75 mph from 65.
I’ve never really figured out the exterior lighting modes, and the manual is vague all around. By default they just stay on Auto and do their thing, but that’s not the problem. The issue is that the Auto lights tend to switch on pretty aggressively and especially in high contrast situations with a lot of glare. When it does this, it also dims the interior instrument and navigation lighting down to about nothing, which is precisely when you still need them to be at full brightness. They almost become unreadable, which is a major pain if you’re in the middle of using the navigation screen. Turning the exterior light control to off then kills all the exterior lights including the daytime running lights, which are precisely the lights you want left ON in high-contrast roadway lighting conditions. This also doesn’t reset the interior lighting back to normal daytime levels, and the interior lighting adjustment dial doesn’t have a notch to manually reset interior instrument lighting back to full brightness, as many cars do. This just doesn’t make any sense. Luckily this condition doesn’t last for more than about a minute when it happens, and often it’s less than that.
None of these are huge deals — just various annoyances and things that clearly weren’t thought through quite as well as they should have been. No car is perfect.
Nature Of the Beast Issues
The following could be genuine complaints, but because I did my homework before buying (for 2 years!) expectations were properly set and there were no surprises.
Expect about 12-14 mpg during local driving, but at least it only needs regular grade fuel. You don’t want to buy one of these trucks unless you know you’re going to need and use it.
Yes, the high load floor from the truck frame and live rear axle does inhibit the loading of some bulkier items compared to a minivan. It’s only been an issue for me once, but what I was loading was so oddly shaped that I’m not even sure it would have fit in a minivan, either. Keep a tool kit handy so that you can do partial tear downs of bulkier items before loading.
Body on frame trucks do have more or “different” vibrations over the road than the unibody cars and SUVs that many are used to. While this generation of “K2xx” GM trucks have been problematic here, it was really only an issue on 2015-2016 model year Suburbans, especially with 22” wheels. My 2018 definitely makes more noises than your typical unibody vehicle, but again no complaints from anyone, it’s just something that will take a little getting used to. It was nice and quiet on the highway except at 63 mph, and swapping out the factory Bridgestone tires for Michelins resolved what few issues there were. Definitely take any of these trucks for a thorough test drive before buying, especially up to full highway speed.
Lastly, since this is a truck based SUV, it also has a truck based 4WD system, which is much more rugged and capable than the AWD systems in many crossover SUVs. Leaving the 4WD system engaged on dry pavement can damage the drivetrain. It does have an Auto mode that you can use and leave on when there’s a mix of slippery and dry conditions, but it’s noisier and less efficient. The 4WD system is really intended to be left in 2WD mode in normal conditions. I know this is a big step for a lot of people, but you’ll actually need to be conscious and think about something while driving, and if perhaps you should be in one 4WD mode or the other. God help us all if you’re piloting a 6000 pound SUV, but aren’t really “there”.
See here: https://www.gmc.com/gmc-life/how-to/when-to-use-four-wheel-drive
Part of my job as an engineer is to find faults and deficiencies in new products before they find their ways to customers. Although I don’t work in the automotive industry, it’s actually a huge compliment if the biggest fault I can find in a truck with a $74,000 MSRP is wasted space and potential in an optional display, and some relatively minor human factors engineering grievances.
Believe me, I’ve had far bigger complaints in some other vehicles I’ve owned, including a Honda and a Toyota, neither of which I could stand to drive after a year because they were so freaking awful and poorly thought out in various ways. The Suburban is nothing of the sort, and is an overall very well engineered and thought out product.
Snow
On the topic of snow, we didn’t get a whole lot of snow in the D.C. area last year, but the one time we got a good couple of inches of snow, I took the Burb out at night when no one was really on the roads just to see how it handled. I put it in 4HI mode, which is only for “off pavement” or slippery conditions and NOT dry pavement ever, and it was a beast. The chin spoiler still gives you 8” of clearance, but pull that off and put a set of winter tires on, and these things are basically unstoppable.
A big part of the Suburban’s prowess in slippery conditions is from its G80 auto-locking rear differential, which gives it an incredible amount of traction even in 2WD mode. When roads are merely wet or slushy, you can leave it in 2WD mode and you’ll still have plenty of traction. (Click here for a cool video).
Everybody asks about two things — fuel mileage and parking — so I’ll address these in the next two sections below.
About Parking
Here’s the litmus test. If you already have a mid to large-sized SUV or a minivan, and you don’t have long scrapes down the side of it, you’re going to be just fine. If you do have long scrapes down the side of your vehicle, then maybe buying a nearly 20 foot long vehicle isn’t such a good idea, not just for your own sake, but for whomever or whatever you might end up hitting to cause more of those long scrapes!
If you don’t have long scrapes down the side of your vehicle, but maybe you’ve hopped a few curbs and scraped up wheels, pay close attention. You’ll need to make some adjustments, or else these minor things can and will escalate to the big long scrapes!
Believe me when I say that it’s just better, overall easier, and safer for all involved if you back this thing into a parking space most of the time.
Unless you’re going to need to load a significant amount of cargo into the rear, or the parking lot is big enough to make head in parking doable, like at Costco or many grocery stores, just back in. It’s better, easier, and safer for everyone.
You wouldn’t believe how sharply these things can turn. They’re far more maneuverable in crammed parking lots than you’d think possible. That said, they are still nearly 20 feet long, so here’s what to expect.
Head-In Parking is usually a 3-point maneuver
Pulling head into a parking space is easy when the outside parking space isn’t occupied. You can just let the nose of the truck swing wide through the outside space, and then you can pull straight in. As tight as the Suburban turns, it’s still really long, and it’s generally not possible to pull head into a parking space with another vehicle parked in the space to the outside in a single maneuver, as the nose will smash into the outside car.
For head in parking when the outside adjacent space is occupied, you’re generally looking at a 3-point turn. Go about a full parking space past your intended space while going full lock on the steering, turning in to complete the first third of the turn. Then go opposite lock and reverse while getting the next third of the turn, and then you should be able to pull into the space while completing the last bit of the turn without the Suburban’s large ass hanging out to the side at a weird angle. Even people with regular length SUVs and minivans ought to be doing this from time to time, but get lazy and don’t, and this is how they end up with long scrapes down the sides of their vehicles!!! This is NOT a vehicle you want to half-ass your parking maneuvers with.
Reverse-In Parking is Usually just a 2-point Maneuver
To reverse in, start from the same side as the intended parking space if possible (so if the parking space is on your left, you’ll want to dive to the opposite side of the parking lane first), and then go full lock on the steering turning away from the parking space while pulling about two parking spaces beyond. Remember, this is a much longer vehicle than most, and you need the tail of your Burb lined up to enter the spot. Now you should be able to reverse straight in while going opposite lock on steering. The combination of the backup camera, which is excellent, and the auto tilt-down on the side view mirrors giving you a clear look at the parking space lines and how well aligned you are, makes this a piece of cake and usually only a 2-point turn.
Why Reversing In Is Better
The reason why reversing into a parking space is generally easier is because the front wheels that steer remain in the clear the whole time. Once the front wheels are buried between two cars while head in parking, you’re extremely limited on steering angles and overall maneuverability. This is why you can usually back into a space in a quick 2-point maneuver, whereas head-in parking usually requires a 3-point. You can keep the steering at the bump stops half way into a space while reversing in, whereas with head-in parking you need to be pretty much lined up already as soon as the nose is between two cars. That forces you to complete the required turn in less space, hence needing an extra point for your turn.
If you think head-in parking is going to be “easier”, you’ll probably change your mind the first few times you try reversing out a nearly 20-foot long truck with limited maneuverability due to the front wheels being buried deep in your parking space, and limited visibility behind you for both other cars and pedestrians. The camera is great, but not as good as your own two eyes. It’s far easier and safer to be able to pull out of a parking space going forwards rather than reversing.
Plus, when you back in with a grassy area behind you, you can let the Suburban’s long ass hang out over the curb, and you’ll effectively consume less of the parking space than the bozo next to you who half-assed their parking job with a car half the size. Backing in also means that the person exiting a parking space next to you only has to peer over your hood, as opposed to the much taller and tough to see through rear glass, so it’s safer and easier for others to egress from a parking space next to you if you back in as well.
Plan Your Ingress For Your Egress
This is one of those vehicles where you really ought to think about how you’re going to get out of a spot before you enter it. The best example is if you need to make a sharp turn when exiting a parking space in a garage. Whichever direction you need to turn in, make sure there’s not a large structural support column for the garage in the front of your space and in the direction you need to turn in, as it will cut into your turning radius and make exiting your space a total pain. Been there, done that, and had to have my family members get out and spot me because it was that close, and the garage was really tight. Choose another spot if possible. In that case it wasn’t because it was literally the last space in the garage, but we made it.
Watch Out For Parking Garage Clearance
YES! You need to start paying attention to the maximum vehicle heights for parking garages. The Suburban is 74.4” tall, or just round up to 6’-3”. I don’t like going into garages that are any less than 6’-6” tall. MOST of the time you’ll have enough clearance, but once in awhile you won’t, which is why you need to pay attention at all times! There’s definitely some shorter garages that you can NOT park in with one of these, and you definitely don’t want to find out the hard way!
It’s not just the vertical clearance either, but also the sharp turns and narrow ramps that can really be problematic, and are tougher to gauge.
It’s a freaking miracle that I made it out of this garage without anything more than a little curb rash on the right front wheel. There’s a reason why there was no surcharge for oversized vehicles in this parking garage, because they don’t actually fit! LOL! So it’s not just vertical clearance that matters, but also the tight and narrow turns. Umm, we won’t be parking in this garage again, and my wife is fired from SpotHero. :)
SQUARE OFF YOUR TURNS
Remember, this is a nearly 20 foot long vehicle. What you can get away with in a Toyota Corolla or even many SUV’s, you can’t in one of these. When you pull out onto the street with a 90 degree turn, you need to pull out a little bit further, and then turn a little bit more sharply to avoid hopping curbs. In general, you need to turn a little bit later and then a little more sharply during slow speed maneuvers (or as late as possible and then as sharply as possible in tight garages), as you need to let the extra six feet of vehicle behind you that you’re not used to, clear an obstacle such as a curb or another car before you start cutting your turn.
When you’re in a tight spot, you also need to be looking behind you on the inside of your turn in addition to looking in front of you, to make sure the back half of your vehicle is clearing any obstacles!
There are many, many, many vehicles in the D.C. area that have long scrapes down their sides because their drivers failed to do this, even with far smaller vehicles. You definitely need to pay the <bleep> attention when maneuvering a large vehicle in a tight space like this.
For Kids used To Minivan Doors
If you’re worried about your kids that are used to sliding minivan doors flinging their doors and smashing the cars next to you, well, that’s going to be a problem with any vehicle, and not just a Suburban. As long as you park centered in a reasonably sized parking space and the idiots adjacent to you are also reasonably well parked, you’ll always have enough space to open the doors “one notch” and get out. The doors opened one notch is going to be plenty for most people, and especially for kids. Just be sure to remind them before getting out. And come on, paying attention to surroundings and not slamming into other people’s thing is kinda a life skill anyway!! They’ll be fine with proper guidance!
Don’t Worry, YOU’ll BE FINE TOO
As long as you meet the litmus test above and have only merely been guilty of hopping some curbs or perhaps scuffed a few wheels, you can do this. If you’re the long scrapes down the side of the vehicle type, just don’t. Do us all a favor and just stick with your beat to sh*t Toyotas.
Debbie can park it!
My “car brain” has no problems driving whatever I need to. I hadn’t driven a stick-shift car in 12 years, but rented a little turbodiesel Renault Clio while we were in Italy with a 5-speed manual, and it was like I’d never stopped driving a stick. There was never any question of if I could drive a Suburban, but rather of just how big of a pain it might be to drive and park one of these in the crammed D.C. suburbs. It wasn’t until I really started looking for them that I realized just how many of these full-sized GM SUVs are on the road of all generations, driven by both men and women, plenty of which don’t have backup or 360 degree cameras, or even “self-parking” systems, but are pristine with no scrapes on them at all! Reality check. If these things were really that bad to drive and park, would sooo many people be driving them? No.
Yes, it’s an adjustment, and yes it can be a little intimidating at first, but trust me you’ll be fine. If you’re worried, just find an open parking lot to practice in as soon as you bring one home, and your brain will very quickly re-calibrate itself. I don’t even really have to think about parking anymore, and just do it.
About Fuel Economy
Awwww, a puuuuuppppy!!!! Lol
The bottom line is that if you find yourself in a place in life where you’re routinely hauling around 5 or more people, and if you have a dog, and if you’re an active family that goes places and does things, and if you sometimes have one or two more along with you as well, and if you have a home and property that you’re doing a lot of renovations on and are constantly needing to haul things for, and if you’re often needing to haul both people and piles of cargo or gear at the same time, it’s pretty much one of these or a minivan. And a minivan won’t typically haul bulky or larger cargo while also hauling three rows of people, so that can definitely help narrow it down!
A legit 24 mpg straight highway absolutely fully loaded.
20.5 mpg combined on an 880 total mile road trip.
23-24 mpg on straight highway runs absolutely loaded to the max with two vehicles worth of people and stuff is actually pretty freaking good, and you’re still usually looking at just over 20 mpg for full road-trip combined fuel mileage including all local driving. If you’re to the point where you’d have to take two cars everywhere, two separate vehicles would both have to be getting 48 mpg highway and 40 mpg combined each to match this, so that’s pretty efficient.
One fully loaded Chevy Suburban is as efficient as two Toyota RAV4 Hybrids. These are efficient vehicles within the proper context.
While the highway efficiency can be considered impressive, 16 mpg combined and 14 mpg city can be a little tough to swallow. The Suburban will definitely be doing a lot of that, as the (revised) EPA mileage estimates more or less match up with reality. You have to make these trucks work for you to really make sense. According to the EPA, my Suburban cost me about $500 more to drive over the past year than the Chevy Traverse that I almost bought. It’s easily paid its own fuel bill many times over in terms of the delivery services we haven’t had to pay for, trucks or vans that we haven’t had to rent, and from the convenience of being able to haul everything or everyone in one trip or with a single vehicle rather than multiple, saving both time and fuel.
You don’t buy a Suburban because fuel consumption is your top priority. You buy one because you’re an active family like us that goes places and does things, because you need to haul things, and because you need the capability that lesser vehicles don’t offer. Yes, minivans and large crossover SUVs are more fuel efficient, but have less capability. As soon as you start talking about bulky cargo like dog crates and fences, folding cots for glamping, and large coolers and other bulky items, you have to start folding seats down and compromising on passenger space in a minivan, whereas you can keep using all rows of seating completely with a Suburban.
And do you know how many minivans and even mid-sized SUVs I’ve seen with completely bottomed out suspensions that look like their wheels are going to fall off? The Suburban is a truck based vehicle with an actual frame. It’s designed to haul stuff, and tow too. In the photos below, there’s 1400 pounds of replacement soil loaded into it. There’s hardly any suspension squat due to the air-leveling suspension, and when driving it home it barely felt like anything was there at all. Nice.
If you can’t make one of these things work for you like that, there might be better options. My truck most definitely works for me.
We Love Our Burb
Swish! The Suburban has been a slam dunk for us.
Buying a car is always tough and pretty nerve wracking. The automotive press is completely bought out which can lead to ridiculously biased and misleading reviews, plenty of things can mask themselves on short test drives that are usually only a few miles long, and I’ve ended up buying some cars in the past that I’ve ended up hating as a result. Vehicles tend to be long-term investments for us, so we try to get things exactly right. You can tell after a year if something is going to be a “keeper” or not, and the Suburban is definitely one of the big winners.
“The poor man always pays twice!” I was worried that if I didn’t buy a Suburban, I’d just end up kicking myself, and sure enough there have been more than a few occasions over the past year where we’ve managed to fill this baby up completely with gear and people and stuff that a lesser vehicle wouldn’t have been able to swallow. Even Debbie — who swore up and down that I was crazy and that we’d “never need anything this big”, and who came home from the Chevy dealership all pouty faced because it wasn’t an X7 — has really come to appreciate everything our Suburban has been able to do for her that an X7 could only dream of.
Near Misses
As for the BMW X7, we didn’t get to see one until after we had already bought our Suburban. Cargo space numbers and online photos don’t process for Debbie, but as soon as she saw it in person she knew it hadn’t a prayer. The gap between the second row captain’s chairs is so tiny that even our 20 pound mini Goldendoodle wouldn’t have been able to hang out there. And while the third row of seats are more adult-sized, there’s virtually no cargo space left at all at less than 10 cubic feet. By the time you fill an X7 up with six passengers and a dog, there’s no room left for anything else, whereas you can still bring half of your house with you with a Suburban.
Vehicles like the X7 and the Mercedes GLS aren’t at all designed to do what the Suburban can do. They’re designed to haul a regular-sized family around, for taking friends out to a swanky dinner in the city when you don’t need any cargo space except for your leftovers, and for impressing professional and business clients, and that’s it. Nobody in their right mind is going to be loading over a thousand pounds of mulch or landscaping stones into one of these. These things are clearly built to impress and coddle, and not to do actual work.
The most shocking thing about seeing the X7 wasn’t the X7 itself, but rather seeing Annamarie Pistone, who had sold us both of our BMWs down at Passport BMW years ago, sitting in the office right behind the X7 at Rockville BMW! It was short-lived and she was only there for a few months, but we just happened to catch her and it was nice to see her again. Annamarie is the only “good” car salesperson I’ve ever had!
The Kia Telluride has also come out and looks really nice, but it’s a competitor for the Chevy Traverse and Volkswagen Atlas, and definitely not a Suburban replacement or alternative, either. The only thing like the Suburban on the road is the Ford Expedition Max, but the shockingly inadequate cargo space for even 5 people without starting to fold down the third row of seating in the Expedition Max was an instant disqualifier for us. Reviews that state that the Expedition Max has “similar” or “matching” cargo space to the Suburban, of which there are many, are just flat out lying.
I’m not surprised that the Chevy Suburban and all of its Tahoe and Yukon / Yukon XL platform mates continue to outsell the much newer Ford Expedition by a 3-to-1 margin even in the GM platform’s last year, and excluding all of the Escalades. Pardon the pun, but Ford really missed the boat, and since it has to do with hard points in their design, they’ll never be able to fix it in a refresh. I’m not sure what Ford was thinking designing a vehicle with enough space for 7-8 people, but not even enough cargo space for 5.
If I Had To Do It All Over Again
If I had to do it all over again, there’s a couple of things I would change.
First, I’m still not overly crazy about the Pepperdust Metallic exterior color, but when you’re trying to find a really good deal on a closeout “on the lot” 2018 model as the 2019’s are rolling in and you want very specific features, you have to be flexible somewhere, and exterior color ended up being it. It hides dirt and grime well, and it’s a lighter color so stays much cooler in the sun and will never be mistaken for an UberXL. I much prefer the looks of the pearl and cream colors, and the dark blue looks stunning. I do get a bit jealous when I see them, but the Pepperdust is okay — it’s just not a very exciting color.
A near twin spotted at Costco — 22” vs 20” wheels.
I’d also skip the 22” dubs. They look cool, but are more trouble than they’re worth, and contribute to a lot of the body noises and vibrations, since having been minimized by swapping to Michelin tires. I had actually intended to buy an identical model with the 20” wheels like the above instead, but it had just been sold the day before. The problem is that most Suburban LTZ/Premiers already come with 22” wheels from the factory, so it can actually be tough to find one with only the 20” wheels. If you’re getting a GMC Yukon Denali or a Cadillac Escalade, then yeah you “need” the 22’s as it completes the look. Denalis and Sclades look a bit barren with the 20” wheels, but the lowly Chevy looks just fine.
No Sun & Entertainment package in ours (moonroof and flip-down TV screens). Nobody has ever missed not having a moonroof, it cuts down on the potential for body vibration issues and leaks being parked outside 24/7, and our kids are more than happy to stare at their iPads all day. We’d just assume have a bit more vertical headroom for some taller family members, so no regrets not getting this stuff.
Last Call for the “K2xx” GM SUVs
The next generation Chevy Tahoe
The new “T1xx” generation of GM’s large SUVs based on the latest Silverado pickup trucks are due as early as the Spring of 2020 as 2021 models, so now is the last call for these outgoing “K2xx” models. I’m sure the new trucks will all be great (eventually), and they’re supposed to have independent rear suspensions with a bit better ride as well. Good luck.
I’d never buy a first year model of a brand new vehicle from any manufacturer, including from Toyota, and especially not from GM. Yeah. No! The best vehicles to buy have always been at least third year models after all of the kinks are ironed out and major issues addresses, and especially the mid-cycle refresh models with all of the planned feature and styling upgrades having been made. Some people just love having the latest sheet metal, but I need my vehicles to work for me and not become yet another “problem child”, so no thanks.
The worst car I’ve ever owned as far as overall quality and reliability was a second year model that I thought would be safe enough. It had a never ending stream of recalls, had to have the transmission replaced, was terrible to drive and had the most atrocious road manners and behavior, and it even left me stranded in my driveway once and had to get towed — and it was a Toyota! Go figure. I’m certainly not knocking GM or Chevy as it’s just the nature of buying a brand spanking new vehicle in its first year of production, but I’m sure Chevy will get their new generation of SUVs right by about the 2023 model year!
The End
That’s it! I hope you enjoyed this blog, the photos and the story, and find them useful. We love our Suburban and it’s definitely been the 100% correct choice for my family. They drive, handle, and perform well, are far easier to drive and park than you’d ever expect, are more fuel efficient than ever before, pretty darned reliable, and will haul 7 full-sized adults and your dog in comfort while also hauling all of your luggage and bulky cargo for a road trip. It’s also my first American built vehicle, and I’ve found it to be a very well engineered and well-rounded product of good overall quality. We couldn’t be happier with it, look forward to driving it for many more years to come, and know that it will be able to handle whatever life throws at us next.
STAY TUNED…
When you have a family that’s reached “critical mass” as ours has, one thing that happens is that it just becomes a major pain and prohibitively expensive to fly places for shorter duration trips. And do dogs really like getting shoved in crates and put into the bellies of aircraft, or having to get boarded? Nah bruh. We’ve all enjoyed traveling in our Suburban so much and have found it so pleasant to drive, that we have some true long-haul road trips planned that we’re very much looking forward to. So there will definitely be some Suburban road trip blogs in the future!
