My wife and i have been in the market for a new family vehicle for a while. For the last year, we've discussed/debated and even argued about the choices. To judge a vehicle like this, you must understand the market it was intended for, hence I'll describe our needs.

1) it had to be able to comfortably sit a growing family
and guests if needed.
2) it had to have a significant towing capacity in
order to pull our travel trail ( over 5000 lbs)
comfortably and safely on annual cross country road
trips.
3) in addition to the above, it had to be comfortable
enough to be my wife's daily driver around town


My wife was convinced that we should separate the second requirement from the above list, get a minivan for her needs and a larger truck (currently an F150) for the towing needs. However, even with a crew cab, seating capacity would be a maximum of 5 with bucket seats, being rather uncomfortable and cramped for the long trips we take.

Thus for the last year, i had been trying to sell her on one of the following two vehicles:

- Ford Excursion with the PowerStroke Diesel
- Suburban / Yukon with the big gasser
(the Duramax Diesel isn't yet available in them)

I honestly leaned heavily on the Ford because of the PowerStroke's reputation as a trailer puller (last year i would say almost every fifth wheeler we encountered at camp grounds was pulled by a Ford Super Duty with the diesel). I've been weary of GM quality for a long time and my F150 has been rock solid.

Well a few weeks ago, we finally agreed to spend a Saturday test driving (with the agreement that we wouldn't buy anything on the same day - (grin)).


We started out at the Chevy lot. They had a few on the lot, but none with all the options I desired (in fact none came even close). The 2500 (a.k.a. 3/4 ton chassis) was the base requirement. We live in Florida, so 4x4 wasn't needed (a good thing too as they didn't have any). No 8.1L big block engines at all (apparently these are very hard to find). The engine had been my next highest desire after the chassis as i wanted the maximum towing capacity as the ability to upgrade to a larger trailer with bunk beds for the little ones in the not too distant future. We wanted the Cargo (swinging/barn) style doors (to ensure they could clear the trailer's tongue jack), the extendable camper mirrors, the larger locking differential for traction and more towing capacity.

We test drove one of the ones they did have (decked out in options) and i think we both fell in love with it - this was simply a pleasure to drive (felt better than my 99' f150 which i thought had a pretty good ride). We wanted to give the Excursion a shot, so we test drove one of those at the Ford lot as well. It is definately much bigger and even i felt much more confident driving the 'burb. When my wife got in next, i could tell her mind was made up after the first turn out of the lot. In fact, her mind was so made up, she was willing to go back to the chevy dealer and try to get them to do a vehicle transfer and get an 8.1L from another lot ASAP.


Hence after a year of drooling over the idea of the diesel engine, my dreams of an excursion and the 500K mile engine were shattered... But who said we know what's best !?!?!?!

Anyway, so sold were we (and so set on making a sale was the dealer) that we looked at the towing capacities on the 6.0L Vortecs which they had on the lot with some of the options we wanted. 7900lbs with the 3.73 differential, 9900lbs with the 4.1. Again, the number of options is a killer as the dealers have to guess what options are important enough to buy... So they only had 3.73 on the lot (reasoning, most customer would prefer the improvement in mileage over the towing capacity - i think that's goofy, this is a massive towing machine, mileage is already shot).

Well thinking that i can always pay $500-600 to do a rear end swap up to the 4.1 gears when the vehicle's out of warranty, we decided to go for it. When you combine the fact they came close to matching the supplier price (you can no longer combine them with our nearly $3,500 in GM Card earnings), we got the 0% financing, we just couldn't pass it up. Even got a $500 rebate for owning a ford!

Got home and spent two days cleaning out the garage as i was not parking this vehicle in the Florida sun all day. BTW - fits in my garage with about 12" total to spare lengthwise. Clears the door and header by maybe 2-3 inches (4x4's might not fit vertically - not sure?)



Now the real part of the review

the specs:

2500, 4x2, Light Pewter (the metallic tan color), 6.0 Vortec (320 HP / 360 ft.lbs), 3.73 rear end (locking), LS prefered equip (captains, bose audio with in dash 6cd), side impact air bags, cargo package, trailering equipment...


The Exterior

Fit and finish seem solid. No defects in paint. Factory wheels for the 3/4 ton vehicles look great in my opinion. Doors seem to need a little extra push to close, but that's ok. We often don't get them shut all the way on first try. The cargo doors are a little noisy when you close, but in both counts in a way it makes me feel like i got a heavy duty vehicle. The factory roof racks will make it easy to load up a canoe when we want a nice trip down a local spring/river.


The Interior

LS includes cloth. In Florida, the wife really didn't want leather, so we saved a bit of money by not going with LT package. The LS preferred package (includes equipment noted above)is nice. The captains chairs were a must for us. We use the center console for food, other items and to place a laptop as the dvd player for the kids on trips.

Floormats throughout are standard (even in the cargo area). Cupholders are located for all three rows of seats. Power outlets abound - 2 up front (including the lighter), One in the middle console, one in the right pillar in the cargo area (would be great for a 12V cooler/fridge or blowing up a matress when camping, etc)

Seats are fairly comfortable. I haven't taken a long trip yet, but so far no complaints. I'm not a big fan of the partial powered driver seat you get with this package. There's no memory for seat positions and i could just grab a bar and move the seat back in a fraction of the time i have to wait on the motor to move it for me. The Middle seat (60/40 split) folds forward and the rear is removable or you can fold it forward and still keep in the vehicle. The 40 portion of the middle row folds forward to access to the rear. Only complain would be that the 60 portion doesn't. Meaning if you're sitting 8 (or 9) passengers, all three rear folks must enter on the passenger side. Could be a pain if it's raining.

The Audio system ("premium Bose") seems pretty decent for a factory system. I'm a little weary about more to wrong with an in dash cd changer, but it sounds good. The subwoofer (enclosed in the center console) puts out some bass, but it seems a bit under powered/smallish (i think it's likely a 6/8"). With the bass cranked almost all the way up, i like it enough that i'm not rushing to upgrade anything. The rear of the center console has a panel for rear audio controls with headphone jacks. They can choose a different source than the front seaters. It automatically mutes the rear speakers when that happens.

Now my big complaint here: the head unit has radio/cd/aux listed as inputs. But the aux only applies if you have a slave unit (like the factory dvd option). The interface is such that you can't even select AUX if the slave isn't sending a power type signal to the head unit. PAC-audio is developing an interface to allow for this input to be used for other source (custom DVD, XM radio, VCR, etc). I'll be one of the first buyers as i'd love to put the laptop's line out into the aux so i can hear the sound track for 'Back to the Future' while the kids watch it in back :)



Driving Impressions

If my summary of my wife's falling in love with this vehicle after pressuring me for years for a minivan isn't enough proof, trust me or go drive one for yourself. The ride is awesome. There was no comparison between the Ex and the Burb in my opinion. This was so much easier / more comforable. It corners very well (no noticable leaning at all). Parking is a breeze - i honestly think it's easier then my extended cab truck which is a couple of inches longer.

Towing has been a dream - only pulled the trailer once so far - will be taking it on a three week trip at the end of the week. It has much more off the line ability to move as well as keep high speeds than my F150 (w/ 4.6L) did. Can't imagine what the 8.1 would have done. I would definately go with larger gears and/or engine if you're going to approach the GCWR: 6.0(3.73/4.1): 14/16K OR 8.1: 17/19K


Odds and Ends

I don't recommend these vehicles for the average family looking for an SUV as a normal family vehicle. If you're not towing (or only towing 2 jet skis), in my opinion you would be better off with an SUV/minivan with a lighter chassis and a smaller block engine. You'll have better selection at the dealer lots in addition to saving thousands at initial purchase, thousands more on fuel and even more on maintainance (these things take a lot of fluid - engine,tranny,rear diff).

However, for those with serious hauling/towing needs, the suburban has been around to meet those needs for decades. I think the Excursion is a good choice too if you like the ride and don't mind the size, but it would be challenging in my opinion to men and women alike as a daily driver around town.

Hope this was helpful and i hope I'm as happy with this vehicle in 10 years as i am today!




Update (11/9/03)

We've have taken two trips with the trailer so far and put a total of 6000 miles on it. First camping trip was through FL/AL/TN/KY and back home again... Second just to Stone Mountain, GA. Though i didn't see nearly the grades and elevations i punished my F150 with out west last year, the first had a lot of hilly terrain. This pulled the trailer very well. What's amazing is that i'm getting better milage towing than my average when i'm not. Most of the first trip i was getting over 13MPG, averaging between 11 and 12 usually around town (hoping this goes up and was partly due to breakin). Granted, it's highway driving, but still - i'm impressed with towing milage - not much off what the diesel folks claim.

As for Gm reliability, I'm still skeptical. Two things so far had to be replaced: my EBCM (the control module for ABS) went out at around 5000 miles. This is a common problem on these vehicles (and the brother trucks) but usually it happens much later in life. There are posts all over the internet and guys that will fix the unit for hundreds less then replacing it if you're out of warranty, but still - it's been happening for years and despite the documentation, GM still hasn't fixed the root problem. Second thing was a leak on the one of the cargo door seals (which let a lot of water in and soaked the rear carpets during a heavy FL rain). Anyway, both fixed under warranty. A little hesitant on trusting the GM Oil-Life system as well. I went over 5000 miles (most of it towing) and never got the change oil warning (did it anyway for sanity's sake). I'm probably gonna stick with 5000 intervals with Mobile 1 with the mixed driving/towing and not rely on this system...

On the other hand, while changing the oil/lubing the otherday, i was pretty impressed with the number of Zerk fittings on the front end (i think it has 11 off top of my head). I think my F150 only has one in the steering linkage - this vehicle seems very well lubed!

One more comment i can make after alot of driving, even though the middle of the cargo doors (between windows) is only a few inches wide, it really hurts visibility (if you test drive, consider this - we use the side view mirrors a lot more because of this). The dealer tried to warn me of this, but i 'm stubborn. In hind site, i probably should have measured the trailer's tongue jack before shopping, though i still like them for access.

Finally, still waiting on pac-audio to release the aux-interface (see above for audio comments), though they've announced pending release on their website.

Update (5/18/04)

Couple of more short towing trips, no sweat - taking another 3 weeker to New England soon and looking forward to seeing it's competence again. Have installed the PAC Aux Interface and am quite happy with it - should make long trips a little quieter with the kids watching their own movies...

However, i continue to have problems though - needed a new SRS (airbag) coil and even after that my SRS light continues to come on sporatically, but this time it's not setting a code and the dealer can't diagnose it as of yet. GM would have you believe their quality isues are fixed (based on recent commercials), but don't be fooled - i beg to defer. I've had this vehicle less than a year and i've had more trips to the shop (7 or 8 at last count) than the whopping two repairs (power window motors) i've had to make in over 6 years on my f150. Excluding that frustration, still pleased overall.

Update (9/25/04)

After having this to the dealer at least 6 times for the airbag light and getting the same "can't reproduce" garbage, i decided to take it to a local shop. As soon as i mentioned that i could turn the light off by kicking the driver's side floor panel, they said "bingo!" They apparently had an Avalache in a few weeks before with same problem and it turns out it's a known issue with bad connectors in the harnesses running in that vicinity. Why no TSB or recall if it's a known issue? I also had a bad body mount that needed replacing which caused loud clunks that could be felt through the floorboard. My confidence in GM continues to decline and the possibility i would consider another GM product is pretty remote at this point.

At this point, I am dropping the overall rating to 3 stars (from the original 5) at this point. Regardless of the great engineering/capabilities, quality this poor (esp in safety devices like SRS) is unacceptable on a vehicle that lists for over 40K.

Too bad i can't pull my trailer with my 97 Giant Yukon mountain bike which is what i use to get myself around everywhere else, or i'd sell it before i run out of warranty - i may do that anyway and go with the Excursion even though i like the design of this vehicle better.

Update (7/1/05)

More problems since last update, namely ongoing (but sporatic alternator whine in the rear right speaker). We had an issue where right rea door was also reporting as ajar in the the DIC. This turned out to be a bad latch mechanism (switch was built in) Held up for a couple of months, but this week same problem.... I'm 1000 miles away from being out of warranty and the problems keep coming.

I am actively lobbying the wife to take our loss and go for the excursion - hoping if she agrees we can test drive this weekend. I will never buy another GM product in my life no matter how many incentives they offer with my gm card earnings. Backed by GM doesn't mean squat when you reach 36,000....



Update 7/3/05
 
Will how fickle i am... After many discussions, the mrs made it clear the excursion was not an option. She remembered the test drive from 2 years ago and said there was nothing that could have changed in order to deter her opinion.

Anyway - my wife mentioned all the friends we have who have Yukon XL's and Suburbans who never had the kind of problems we did and the many people on rv.net who are hapy with theirs. Telling ourselves that ours was a fluke with a ton of electrical issues, we went looking again... Purchased an 05 4x4 big block LS in order to just get out of this before our 6000 mile trip out west this year where we would be out of warranty. Unfortunately someone else we be on the receiving end of this piece of junk.


GM, you have one more shot. You botch this one and i promise i will do everything in my power to insure no one i knows ever buys a GM product (and i have a lot of extended family/friends/colleagues at work with whom this review would be very persuasive)...

Good by 03 burb and good riddens!


FYI - within a month after i sold this, i logged into Owner Link and the thing had been in the shop three times just before going out of warranty... nice.

Link to 2005 review:

http://www.epinions.com/content_209929670276
Amount Paid (US$): 30000
Condition: New
Model Year: 2003
Model and Options: LS