I am possibly considering buying a GM product. This goes against my tradition of buying all Fords in the past, but the Excursion is getting some mileage on it and with a young family, it does not need to be front line with 150k on it. So I went looking. To my disappointment, Ford dropped the Excursion in '05. I do not trust used vehichles so the Excursion option is gone
I really didn't like the Suburban when I got the Excursion back in '03 but the new one is supposed to be a lot better. How does it compare to the Excursion? Any personal experienses and or info will be appreciated and thanks!
My family and I took a GM-owned company Suburban on a 5500 mile vacation. It was the best vehicle that we could have gotten. We were only gone for 13 days so we spent a lot of time in it. There is tons of room front and rear. There is an ungodly amount of cargo room if you fold up the third row. We had an LTZ so it was pretty decked out, but the 5300 still got 17.5 MPG on the trip. That is almost all highway though. It handles really well for the size of vehicle and the seats are very comfortable. I think that it is far superior to anything else its size.
I have looked inside of it and it just does not seem as big. Does anybody have any official dimensions to compare the Escursion and Suburban interiors?
Have you looked at the Expedition EL? I know it's not as tough as an Excursion (it's 1/2 ton based, when the Excursion is 3/4 ton based).....how ever if you're not doing any serious towing it might work for you.
Personally having spent a lot of time in 2008 Suburbans and Expeditions, I really prefer the Suburbans. Keep in mind I haven't sampled a 2500 Suburban though. Again I don't know how heavy duty you need to go with your purchase. I was shocked the Suburban felt as quick/strong (even with its 5.3 V8 and 4AT as the standard Expedition with 5.4 and 6AT). Neither is as quick or strong as my Armada though....but I do like the GMT-900's a lot!
All of these vehicles are suitably large, I mean you can use them as a vacation home :lmao: Passenger space is pretty unimpressive, if you want real space go get a Sprinter
A jokester are you? Well, FYI we use the Excursion to pull the vacation home to various spots throughout the course of the year and therefor need its towing capacity. See if a Sprinter van can pull what I need it to pull.
The Tow rating is a disappointment as my Excursion tows 4000 pounds more then the new Suburban according to the above link! Why dosen't Chevy make a diesel in the Suburban?
I think that this with a 3/4 ton suspension with a diesel that can actually tow at least 10k lbs would be pure sex. Well, at least more ''bang'' for your buck
why not a conversion van? my family has a 02 or so ram 1500 van that we've taken to florida numerous times- sucking in all the luggage for a family of 7 (even when 2 of which were in diapers). do they make 3/4 ton versions of those? why not i ask. the chevy express seems real nice as well.
Hmm yeah, do they make 3/4 ton conversion vans? You could get the Duramax or Powerstroke but I believe both are detuned from their truck versions and the Duramax still has the 4 speed, I believe due to size
And what? Lose all off road capability. That is why I went with the Excursion 4x4 diesel. Plenty of power and plenty of off road capability to get the job done. A van would be little more then a concrete hugger. With towing the horses and an occasional boat, as well as the vacation house, I don't need something that has to stay on hard surface if it rains. I'm going to stick with the SUV on this one but at least you all tried. Now, which SUV?
Doesn't or at one time didn't chevy offer 4 wheel drive full size vans?
If the excursion is all that will do why not stick with it? take good care of it and I'm sure your chances of being left stranded won't be any different than anyone else's.
If the Excursion is all that will do and it was retired in 05 that is an extremely sad statement! Why even retire it if nothing could step up and take its place? Why don't they offer a diesel 4x4 large SUV? Anybody? Worst yet, Ford had it and dropped it!
And Smaart Aas Saabr, how do you suppose you are going to park the trailer around the back of the barn and get things from the storage shed where there is no 'dirt road'? I assure you, a 2WD van would stick up fast, you need a 4x4 of some sort
And Smaart Aas Saabr, how do you suppose you are going to park the trailer around the back of the barn and get things from the storage shed where there is no 'dirt road'? I assure you, a 2WD van would stick up fast, you need a 4x4 of some sort
No I mean it will be fine on a dirt road, I mean I don't know the terrain around your barn and storage shed but where I am I don't have any issues with even a car... or 2wd pickup getting the trailer etc etc
I like to race cars on dirt roads :drive:
Now when there is a foot +of snow on the ground, but even then the 4x4 truck is also stuck, need to get a plow :lmao:
Now the 4x4 tractor, that will go through anything, 4 feet of snow, "brooom!" it goes on top :yup:
4 wheel drive really only seems to be necessary for really bad mud or snow, if you can walk on the ground fine the 2wd is fine
I now know what you need to be able to tow and so a Sprinter really wouldn't be a consideration, but the lack of off road capability on a van-argument doesn't go far, look up Quigley...
Rest assured that if there are not 4 wheels pulling, even Quigley would stick up at the horse farm. We dump manuer around the woods line and when it rains, it gets really soupy. If it wasn't for the four wheel drive, we would not be able to cross it to get through it. I like that you can get a diesel in the vans, but the lack of 4x4 makes it useless to me.
but the Quigley's are 4x4...gee I come up with a full size van with enough room, a turbo diesel to tow your horse trailer, AND 4 wheel drive and I'm still shut down
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