Showroom visit: GMC Yukon ... 2021

[trinacriabob]

This visit was brought about by getting an oil change and wandering around the sales floor while it was being done.  The GMC Yukon of 2021 vintage was at one corner, taking up a lot of room.  This one was an SLE yet, somehow, it had cloth interior seating.

Pros:

- big and roomy, with 3rd row seats

- commanding seating position; seating comfort was acceptable

- 5.3 liter V8 that puts out over 350 hp, coupled to a geared automatic transmission ... this engine was previously badged a Vortec, but is now an Ecotec product 

- simple layout of engine bay

- nice enough instrument cluster, with dash mounted gear selection through buttons

- climate control panel layouts keep getting more sensible 

- wide and spacious console

- attractive alloy wheels

- safe, traditional styling

Cons:

- a little challenging for individuals of average height (or less) to get into the driver's seat

- visibility out to the rear is sub-optimal

- seating wasn't particularly impressive in its finish, and, while I like cloth seats, this vehicle costs too much to have had cloth seats

- not a fan of the infotainment center

- some generic styling aspects and typical cavernous GMC grille that has been around for a while, it seems

- $ 60K MSRP ... PLUS a market adjustment of $ 5K (what happened to going in the other direction from the MSRP?)

Neutral (factoids):

The 5.3 liter V8 engine is a 318 c.i. and it is definitely an American built GM V8 engine.  (A Mopar 318 V8 was what would have powered your childhood friends' parents' Dodge Dart Swinger one level up from the base "Slant Six.")

Engine displacements can be "funny."  The number 307 clearly belonged to Chevrolet small blocks at one time, seen in Impala/Caprice, Malibu/Chevelle, and Nova.  Years later, the Olds 5.0 liter V8 was also a 307 c.i. engine, but it stuck around to power the top of the line Cadillac sedans, such as the Fleetwood Brougham, and full-size Olds/Buick wagons up to about 1990.  But, back then, it made less than 200 hp.

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PHOTOS

Side view

Front view

Rear view

It sits a good ways off the ground

Nice alloys; expensive tires when it's time to replace them

Thankfully, there is at least one keyed door lock

From this vantage point, it looks like a nice dashboard, comfortable cabin, and the console is wide

Cloth seating

When you open the door, you get this

I liked when Chevy/GMC had 4 analog gauges across the top; here, they're digital while speedo and tach remain analog.  This set-up is the inverse of some mid-'90s Caprices, where the speedo readout was centered and digital, with 4 analog gauges inside small rectangular boxes

This is not a Plymouth Barracuda from the '60s.  Things and styles often come full circle, like these automatic transmission buttons.

"Hey, buddy, you left your laptop open."

Simple yet easy to use corporate GM switches

Climate control panel layout makes sense (photo a little grainy)

Wow, those are some pillars ... (photo a little grainy)

Amazing that OBD II diagnostics seem to be conceptually much the same, but there's the new GM logo

This is the view of the engine compartment after lifting the hood ... this is an Ecotec small block V8 with a cast aluminum block and cast aluminum heads, which has been the norm since the late '90s

You can count ... there are 4 spark plugs on each side ... and, at 355 hp, this is not your grandparents' 318 c.i. V8, either.

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End of review and photos

Edited January 17, 2022 by trinacriabob

[balthazar]

• 'SLE' is the bottom trim level in the Yukon (SLE/ SLT/ AT4/ Denali).
You can't get leather in an SLE, in the SLT it's standard.
• That is a tremendous blind spot from the inside- yikes!
• I'm not tall (5'8"), I specifically didn't order running board on my Sierra; I have a hop/pull method of gettin up into it, but it's not bad. A trade off for more ground clearance/better sight lines.