Hi,
I'm new to this forum and this is my 1st post here.
I'm in the market for the large SUV and deciding between 2018 Expedition or 2018 Yukon Denali. Price wise, they are similar. I wonder if I could get your input on the followings if you have considered/owned Yukon Denali before.
1. Quality/Reliability of both builds
2. Resale value
3. Repair costs
4. Maintenance intervals
5. Safety rating
6. Leave or Buy
Thank you in advance for your support on this!
Good question. Many people here have and/or are considering the same options. I think most people I have spoken to believe the Yukon (XL) Denali looks amazing, and better than the Ford/Lincoln products from the outside. Inside is a different story. Go check them out, the Expy looks nicer than the Denali and the Navigator pretty much blows anything under $200k out of the water in my opinion. IN other words, the Navi really, really shines, interior wise. Back to the Expy.
1. Quality. Its too early to tell on the 18 Expy. However, the tahoe/suburban/yukon/escalade 2015+ platform has had many quality issues. They're getting better, but still, some of the common issues are unacceptable in an $80k vehicle.
2. Resale value. I think its too early to tell but historically, there has been a greater demand for the GM trucks, as is evident in their sales being 10x that of Ford. But the 2018 Expy is a game changer, so who knows.
3. Repair costs. I have not heard of Fords costing more or less than Chevrolets to fix. I think the answer will come back to how #2 above turns out, quality.
4. Maintenance Interval. No idea if there is anything special to consider outside of normal for trucks. Someone else here might know more.
5. Safety rating. Again, too early to tell however the 17 Expy has better safety ratings than the GM product for both crash and roll over prevention. The Toyota Sequoia is the only one that I know of that matches the 17 Expy for roll over prevention. We'll see what the 18 Expy gets rated at but weight is a huge factor in how occupants fair in a crash and they are all very heavy trucks compared to potential other vehicles one might hit.
6. Leave or Buy. I assume you mean "lease" or buy. I think this depends on how long you want to be in a vehicle like this and how much you enjoy having the latest and greatest. One thing you could do if you're on the fence is "lease TO buy" which is where you NEGOTIATE a decent lease, then in 3 years when the lease period is up, decide if you like the vehicle enough to buy it. If you do, then you can just buy it at that point. Your payments will be low because you'll be buying it for the residual value. Also, they'll tell you at that point that you cannot negotiate the residual price as its already in the lease contract, but remember that everything is negotiable. And the dealer would much rather get rid of it by selling it to you than have to clean it up, have a mechanic go through the entire vehicle and possibly fix issues, then go and try to sell it to someone else.
Also, I agree with Garrett's other factor's he mentioned above which you really should consider.
1- Ride quality is much better with the Expy
2- Interior space is much better with the Expy
3- Family friendly features are better on the Expy (more cup holders, USB ports, panoramic sunroof etc). Although one thing that having the pano sunroof prevents is having drop down screens from the ceiling (like on the Denali) which some people, including me, prefer.
4- tech is better with the Expy. For example, the Denali still has no 360 degree surround camera if you can believe that.
In the end, it may come down to money...lol, doesn't it always? If the 18 Expy MSRP is $83k in Platinum and they are not budging, but the 18 Denali MSRP is also $83k BUT they are offering it to you for $66k as mentioned above, then that becomes a harder decision because the Denali is a good vehicle too, and for that low a price it might be too hard to pass up!
I hope this helps.