Has anyone had any knowledge of the newer Suburbans? We are thinking about trading up for size as we have 4 children and a great dane and just found out we have twins on the way..NEED MORE ROOM! Test drove 3 excursions, including one Diesel, Which I must say I wasnt overly impressed with the diesel in that vehicle, seemd like a bit of a dog, I did however LOVE the 6.8 v10... FOund a 2001 w/ 30,000 miles on it and a good price, but also found a 2002 Suburban that was a dealer demo, with 8,000 miles on it now but a much better price.. Like 7,000 dollars cheaper, maybe they arent in demand like the Excursions..It has the 5.3 in it, so it certainly doesnt have the oomph of the excursion, but is much more road friendly, rides better. IM leaning towards this and wanting to take over the expy as my work vehicle, But was curious as to whether anyone here has had any experience with them (suburbans) Its to good of a price to pass up if there are no glaring faults. I know we all represent a diverse group of people here, many of us with alot of vehicle expereince with other than Expy's... ANy thoughts Appreciated.. Nope, not Trading the Expy on a GM, just need some more room.

Ron
99 Expedition XLT

p.s I Looked at an 03 Expy, it seems to have less room in the back than Mine does.. anyone know the cargo are comparison?

 

my brother just bought a new yukon xl (suburban) & I am actually impressed with the truck. It was not top of the line, but it had a lot of goodies on it. It rides great & has better acceleration than my Expy & more room for his family of six.

 

Has anyone else relaized how hard it is to find a large SUV WITHOUT leather??? ARgh!!!

Ron
99 Expedition XLT

 

Isn't the suburban just a few inches longer than the Expy? Even if it were 6", get a ruler out and decide if you are really getting any additional room.

I recently shopped GM's vehicles and decided I couldn't live with the ugly interiors even though they are dirt cheap (price) right now. I've only been in one Excursion, but I was impressed....obviously most people aren't since Ford is discontinuing production in a year or two.

 

Damn Man... You don't need another SUV...

You need a BUS!...

I would defintly look at the size like the post said. I know the newer Suburbans? are smaller than they userd to be.

 

yes Im going to measure I think, as suggested.. I can fit everyone in the Expy, but with the thrid row, there is absolutely no room behind the seat.. ARGH... So I will Shop around and see what I come up with, Thanks for the info.. go measure tonight!

Ron
99 Expedition XLT

 

the 5.3 is just not enough egine for a burb . . . the excursion is built on the SuperDuty chassis so it weighs a ton (actually almost 4 tons!) so it takes a real motor to move it.

I know a couple guys with Excursions, one has a 6.8L V-10 2WD . . . a real nice ride and decent power.

the other has a 4WD Limited with the 7.3L PSD . . . he thought his could use a bit more power so he got a SuperChips MicroTuner, a Magnaflow CATback exhaust and a K&N FIPK . . . damn diesels REALLY repond to these easy mods! thing is at least 2 seconds faster 0-60 mph and gets better mpg then when stock!!!!

 

with the excursion was the ride, it RODE like a truck, I know its based on one, but it was rough, where the suburban was much more pleasant and smooth on the road..I agree with the 5.3 theory, but coming from a 4.6 in my Expy its still a HUGE improvement..Really on the fence on this one.. I dont LIKE the low look of the suburban, i hate the way the wheels looked stuffed up in the fenderwells, but im sure thats what gives it a good ride. But with new babies, its just hard to justify the extra 7,000 dollars for the excusion.

Ron
99 Expedition XLT

 

I'd keep looking for an Excursion.

It's everything the Suburbmom mobile wanted to be.

If you found one that was $7,000 more than an 02 Suburban with less miles on it then you were looking at the wrong place. One of the great things about the Excursion is that you can get them for dirt cheap. I know...I owned one before I downsized to my 03 Expy. (Don't ask...it still kinda hurts to talk about it.

 

You need to pick up one of those big Ford vans. Something with EASY access to all the seats.

I wouldn't use my Expy 3rd row for kids. If you were in an accident, it would be awfully tricky getting those kids out of there... especially if they had to be in a car/booster seat.

Forget the SUV... go with a real nice van.

Just my 2 cents...
Mike

 

I have to agree. My parents raised 4 kids and 6 dogs in a Volkswagon Vanagon GL. A decade after the van was finally deep-sixed, my mom still swears that it's the best vehicle they've ever owned - and she drives a Porsche!

Looking back on it, that van was a war machine! great seats, plenty of room, rugged carpet, and no mechanical problems whatsoever - seriously! My dad just had the oil changed every so often.

sigh....memories!

I see these minivans at work that have no room and no utility value and all I can think is "why was our '86 Volkswagon Van so much more useful than these pigs?"

XXL

 

You may be correct about the van.
I have thought about the Van But not sure if I would miss the 4x4 or not, even if Im keeping the EXPY. We looked at some and they sure look Nice and can get one 1-2 years old for a steal. I agree, HATE the mini vans, as theres really no more room than I have, usually less! and I really cant be seen driving one of those by the guys at work as I would never be able to live it down. As far as the Suburban/excursion..It doesnt matter because they sold the Suburban out from under me, even with a small amount down for holding.. ARGH. SO I will keep looking, maybe check the Van Idea Out a bit more!
Thanks for the Info!!!

Ron
99 Expedition XLT

 

One 'weakness' that Ford needs to address on the Econoline is a lack of driver's side doors . . . cheby has them availible on their full size vans . . . other then that, it's not even close.

I was really looking at a E350 7.3L PSD, 2WD limited slip with 1st & 2nd row captains chairs and a 3rd row bench (still had over 4 feet of floor space behind it for the dog!) that folded down into a bed . . . dang good price too . . . my wife said NO VANS! so we then went searching and found our Expy

 

Whenever anyone types the word "van" here, Ken ought to **** it out like he does cuss words.

 

Uh.... I'm sorry!