Anyone Driving a Huge SUV? Suburban or Yukon XL?

I know, it seems so gluttonous to want to go out and buy such a gas guzzler but we really do need a large vehicle for our family of 6. Sasha is 5, Bennett is turning 4 and the twins are 13 weeks. We do a lot of sailing/boating, have a 90lb yellow lab and like to do road trips, plus carpooling for preschool, etc.....so the best vehicle for us is either a Chevrolet Suburban or a GMC Yukon XL Denali.

If you are driving either, do you like it? How BAD is the gas mileage? Bruce and I have dragged our feet long enough and have to go trade in our Volvo S80 sedan for something bigger. The sedan is his car and I drive a Volvo wagon......worked out great for having just two kids! Now adding the twins adds a whole other dimension to the "family vehicle"!!!!

We are going on Saturday to pick one out, a used one with low mileage......the prices on these SUV's are amazing right now because no one wants to drive them with gas prices being so outrageous. I will only be driving the SUV around town for the kids and errands and family day trips.

We are a green-conscious family and feel so guilty buying such a huge vehicle! Minivans just wont cut it for our lifestyle and the cargo area is not large enough.

Share with us why you like or dislike your ginormous SUV..... thanks! ~jillian

 

I have a diesel Club Wagon. Its low sulfur (less pollution) and gets great mileage. I fill up for $120 an get almost 500 miles per tank. Seats 12 (we have three dogs and four and a half kids.) Parking isn't awful (I didn't get the extended for that reason) and there's room for the kids to bring friends. The storage is decent (not as good as you'd think in that size of a car though.)

 

We bought an 07 Chev Suburban when our twins came as we had three carseats to haul and we live away from family so need to be able to fit extras when they come visit. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT!! Awesome mileage on road trips as the 07 has the flex engine (can do 4 or 8 cyl) and you can use ethanol fuel if it's near you. All three car seats fit across in a row and when we have visitors we move our toddler to the third row. HUGE cargo area when third row folded up, not bad with third row down (fits a Graco tandem stroller with room to spare). Downside-gas milage stinks around town as all the stop and go tends to make it run on 8 cyl. For me it's about $100 a pop to fill if I let it get down to 1/4 of a tank (I try to fill at 1/2). Overall definately a great vehicle for a larger family and not as monsterous as you would think!

 

The price of gas is so hard on all of us families of 5 or more-it is not fair! I drive a Durango and I like it okay-I hate the gas mileage though...I only have three kids but it fits us all fine, not a lot of cargo space when using the third row seat, I honestly could use something bigger-Sigh!

 

We have a 2007 Yukon XL Denali. I love the ride in this car. The middle row has captain's seats, so you "lose" a place for a passenger, but the trade-off is that the kids in the third row don't have to climb over the seats to get back there. I absolutely love the way that this cars drives over DH's old Yukon. It seems more responsive and less bus-like, KWIM?

The DVD player is great. Heated seats. Rear camera (a must have in my next car). Big engine means quick speed when you need it. There is something called a limp mode so that when you get on the highway, you are more fuel efficient. We just got back from CO and I think we used 1 1/2 tanks of gas for 750 miles. Seriously. DH was floored.

 

Hi Jillian!!

We had a Suburban and loved it and just traded it in on the Ford Excursion (which they didnt make after '05) and I LOVE it too! I would say the suburban would work well for your family, it pulls things great... but the Excursion has a V10 and tons of power so it pulls even better. The newer Subs. dont have much for a bumper/grill so if you hit something it will be toast. We have tons of deer here to worry about and Dh builds grill guards so it is a requirment for any of our vehicles that you can attach a grill guard to it. With the brand new subs. you have to order a grill guard from Chevy in order to have one, and they are not worth a whole lot when it comes to stopping something going through your grill. KWIM? But the Subs. also are better for strapping carseats to, the Excursion we have to put the twinks in the far back and big girls in the middle in order to have everyone's carseats strapped down into the safest possitions. In the Sub we had the twinks in the middle seat (middle and drivers sides) and left the middle passenger seat folded down at all times in order to load big girls and dog into the back seats.

ETA... Excursion gas mileage is 13MPG and the Sub was 15~17MPG

 

Hi Ladies

Thanks for the insights on driving a larger SUV. I am actually SO excited.....I have YET to venture out with all 4 kids alone. We have a nanny who comes every week day and stays with the babies while I drive the big kids to preschool. So after this weekend, I look forward to loading my babies up and going possibly to the park! I love being a mom to 4, it is awesome ( of course my extreme cheerleader enthusiasm right now comes from my glass of wine with dinner LOL!!! :laughing:

We go to my parents every Sunday for dinner and have had to drive two cars over. Bruce and the big kids in the wagon and me and the babes in the sedan. I have started to dread the 20 minute drive packing up two cars and not being all together.

Oh it is going to be a fun spring! Have a great night ladies and thanks for your replies! (hi Briana )

xojillian

 

I tried an excursion for a few days and didn't like the feel of it. I drive a 06' suburban that we bought new at closeout right before the change in body style. I LOVE it. Wouldn't drive anything else with the kids, I have five by the way. Two carseats and two boosters plus my older DD. We have the fold down bench in the second row, otherwise it would be tight on room, I love the fold down seat and just have my oldest sit there now that we have five, before I just left it down. Definately a good buy. Overall gas mileage is about 15mpg, about 22 highway loaded. We also pull trailers for quads and snowmobiles so it's nice that we only have to take one vehicle now on a family trip! Have fun shopping!

 

We are expecting twins and have been giving our car situation a lot of thought. We also have to labradors and are sailors as well. We do tons of traveling, etc..

Currently we have a Volvo suv and a Suburban (we need this for the occasions when we tow a boat). The problem that I see with the suburban that we have is the who situation with folding the seats down to get to the back row while you have car seats in the middle row.

Volkswagen is coming out with a new minivan in the fall. It looks awesome! I think we are going to get one of those for our road trips and stuff because I like the idea of not having to pull over to get in the back and tend to someone. http://www.trucktrend.com/roadtests/van/16...utan/index.html It is basically a german town and country with some of the classic vw features. It is not quite a classic vw though, it will be made by Chrysler with a partnership. A bit of a disappointment for someone like me who used to be a die hard vw fan. But, what can you do.

Good Luck!

 

I bought an 04 Yukon XL last year when the twins were born and I LOVE IT!!! It is expensive to fill up (75 bux here in TX) but it seems to last a long time. Were a family of 5, but we always seem to be toting other people as well. I think it is a fantastic truck, good luck with your purchase!!!

 

We bought the suburban - it was that or drive two cars every time we went somewhere as a family. There is a hybrid Yukon...I don't know much about it, just that it's out there.