2019 Chevrolet Tahoe LT hire car
Discussion
I hired this for ten days in the US recently from Sixt. $650 in early July. I don't think I took the full insurance option, I can't remember.
2019 Chevrolet Tahoe LT. In this class (FFAR) they have this, the GMC Yukon, and the Toyota Sequoia. The Tahoe had 54 miles on it when I picked it up. I quite like it in white and when I got home I spec'd a similar model for fun and it came to $72k.
I loved it. Two adults and two kids, and we met up with another four-person family living in Florida and carried everyone for day trips out. We did nearly 900 miles up and down the state and it was the most comfortable car I've ever driven. I had a new diesel Touraeg hire car in the UK before this and couldn't get on with it, especially the DSG gearbox. In comparison the Tahoe with its torque converter box was very relaxing. It never felt too big either.
5.2 litre V8 looked a bit lost in the engine bay but plenty of room to work around it. Sometimes it ran in V4 mode to save fuel, you can see it on the dash in the last picture.
Column shift took a little getting used to, especially putting it back into Park when getting out of the car.
The satnav was excellent. Just start typing the address and it found the location very quickly. This summer I've used GM, VAG, and PSA satnavs. The one in a Peugeot 3008 was the worst by far. I didn't like much about that car in fact. The Tahoe's control layout was excellent and very instinctive.
It has 8-person seating capacity but with the third row up (electronic) there wasn't a lot of space for bags in the boot. I later learned that the GMC Yukon is a rebadged Tahoe. The Chevy Suburban has more space after the third row of seats than the Tahoe, and a GMC Yukon XL is virtually a Suburban.
The Suburban looked the same up to the C pillar, then it was longer at the back. The alloy wheels had an endearing simplicity about them that I really liked.
The Tahoe has apparently been the best selling full-size SUV in the US for quite a few years. I saw so many of them on the roads. We stayed at a Holiday Inn in the Keys and I counted about a dozen in the car park alone. It's amazing they can sell so many of these when they start around $50k.
I liked the styling even more than the GMC Yukon that I originally wanted when I booked the car. I didn't know that the Chevrolet logo is supposed to represent a bow-tie. The configurator lists black or illuminated bow-ties front and back.
It had some nice touches, for instance there was a small light in the roof that illuminated only the little box where we kept the key etc. This isn't a great photo of that. It had keyless entry and it took a while to get used to that and unlocking the doors etc. I assume you can change the behaviour of these in the Settings menus but I never got around to it.
Nothing complicated at the back and no air ride that I could see. It was unbelievably comfortable on the road though and felt like an air suspension car. I didn't think the roll was too bad but others might disagree. TBH most of Florida is on a grid system and apart from the freeway there isn't much scope to test a car's handling. It got pretty mindless driving around town.
25mp imperial gallon isn't bad at all. I drive slowly though. I imagine most people would get nearer 20. Petrol was around $2.60 per gallon.
Full leather interior. It had tinted windows in the back but really needed them in the front also because it got very hot even with the aircon working hard.
No filler cap.
Strange aerial location. I thought this would be something I wouldn't be able to unsee, but I quickly forgot about it and didn't notice it on other cars.
Electric third row seating.
2019 Chevrolet Tahoe LT. In this class (FFAR) they have this, the GMC Yukon, and the Toyota Sequoia. The Tahoe had 54 miles on it when I picked it up. I quite like it in white and when I got home I spec'd a similar model for fun and it came to $72k.
I loved it. Two adults and two kids, and we met up with another four-person family living in Florida and carried everyone for day trips out. We did nearly 900 miles up and down the state and it was the most comfortable car I've ever driven. I had a new diesel Touraeg hire car in the UK before this and couldn't get on with it, especially the DSG gearbox. In comparison the Tahoe with its torque converter box was very relaxing. It never felt too big either.
5.2 litre V8 looked a bit lost in the engine bay but plenty of room to work around it. Sometimes it ran in V4 mode to save fuel, you can see it on the dash in the last picture.
Column shift took a little getting used to, especially putting it back into Park when getting out of the car.
The satnav was excellent. Just start typing the address and it found the location very quickly. This summer I've used GM, VAG, and PSA satnavs. The one in a Peugeot 3008 was the worst by far. I didn't like much about that car in fact. The Tahoe's control layout was excellent and very instinctive.
It has 8-person seating capacity but with the third row up (electronic) there wasn't a lot of space for bags in the boot. I later learned that the GMC Yukon is a rebadged Tahoe. The Chevy Suburban has more space after the third row of seats than the Tahoe, and a GMC Yukon XL is virtually a Suburban.
The Suburban looked the same up to the C pillar, then it was longer at the back. The alloy wheels had an endearing simplicity about them that I really liked.
The Tahoe has apparently been the best selling full-size SUV in the US for quite a few years. I saw so many of them on the roads. We stayed at a Holiday Inn in the Keys and I counted about a dozen in the car park alone. It's amazing they can sell so many of these when they start around $50k.
I liked the styling even more than the GMC Yukon that I originally wanted when I booked the car. I didn't know that the Chevrolet logo is supposed to represent a bow-tie. The configurator lists black or illuminated bow-ties front and back.
It had some nice touches, for instance there was a small light in the roof that illuminated only the little box where we kept the key etc. This isn't a great photo of that. It had keyless entry and it took a while to get used to that and unlocking the doors etc. I assume you can change the behaviour of these in the Settings menus but I never got around to it.
Nothing complicated at the back and no air ride that I could see. It was unbelievably comfortable on the road though and felt like an air suspension car. I didn't think the roll was too bad but others might disagree. TBH most of Florida is on a grid system and apart from the freeway there isn't much scope to test a car's handling. It got pretty mindless driving around town.
25mp imperial gallon isn't bad at all. I drive slowly though. I imagine most people would get nearer 20. Petrol was around $2.60 per gallon.
Full leather interior. It had tinted windows in the back but really needed them in the front also because it got very hot even with the aircon working hard.
No filler cap.
Strange aerial location. I thought this would be something I wouldn't be able to unsee, but I quickly forgot about it and didn't notice it on other cars.
Electric third row seating.
I like that a lot.
I have a Voyager that has the column shifter. Personally, I think that for a conventional auto it is the best place to put it unless you insist on shifting gears manually.
It's a lot of car for $72k if you compare it with a similarly specified Range Rover, Q8 or Tourag. And I bet parts and servicing prices cost a fraction of what they do for those other cars.
I have a Voyager that has the column shifter. Personally, I think that for a conventional auto it is the best place to put it unless you insist on shifting gears manually.
It's a lot of car for $72k if you compare it with a similarly specified Range Rover, Q8 or Tourag. And I bet parts and servicing prices cost a fraction of what they do for those other cars.
They’re good vehicles. All based on the Chevy Silverado pickup platform.
Tahoe > Yukon > Escalade (in ascending price order) are the short body variants with the small boot. Yukon and Escalade are available with a 400+ hp 6.2 L, and the Escalade has a different, posher, interior.
Suburban > Yukon XL > Escalade ESV are the long body versions with the big boot. All versions have the same wheelbase length, so the difference is literally the length of the boot behind the rear axle.
The long body ones look better, they don’t have that stunted look. But they’re too long to fit in most garages, hence why they make the shorter versions, and why they sell so well. Also, nobody pays full price for them. They’re usually heavily discounted, and their residuals are good so monthly costs are comparatively low.
The latest Ford Expedition/Lincoln Navigator though is the current gold standard in the full size SUV world. It’s a much more modern and much better vehicle than the GM family offerings, which are due for replacement next year.
Tahoe > Yukon > Escalade (in ascending price order) are the short body variants with the small boot. Yukon and Escalade are available with a 400+ hp 6.2 L, and the Escalade has a different, posher, interior.
Suburban > Yukon XL > Escalade ESV are the long body versions with the big boot. All versions have the same wheelbase length, so the difference is literally the length of the boot behind the rear axle.
The long body ones look better, they don’t have that stunted look. But they’re too long to fit in most garages, hence why they make the shorter versions, and why they sell so well. Also, nobody pays full price for them. They’re usually heavily discounted, and their residuals are good so monthly costs are comparatively low.
The latest Ford Expedition/Lincoln Navigator though is the current gold standard in the full size SUV world. It’s a much more modern and much better vehicle than the GM family offerings, which are due for replacement next year.
mattman said:
Ford Expedition Max XLT - nearly 20ft long, 8 seats across 3 rows which averaged about 18mpg over 1100 miles
You must have been making at effort, I got an indicated 25mpg on the similar Expedition I had in December and I didn't hang around.(I had a Tahoe for a couple of days at the start of the holiday but it had a coolant leak to I swapped it for the Expedition. The Tahoe had the nicer interior but the Expedition was nicer to drive, and faster).
If I was a buyer for this class of vehicle I'd take the Expedition and do some mild tuning to gain a couple of hundred extra un-needed horses.
I'm going to LA next February on my own to ride a few MTB trails... As it'll just be me and a mountain bike a Dodge Caravan will be plenty big and comfortable enough for what I need as I'll be doing a fair amount of mileage, but as much as I can't justify it at all, I want to get a Suburban instead, just because!
dvs_dave said:
They’re good vehicles. All based on the Chevy Silverado pickup platform.
But at a big $ markup over the equivalent spec Silverado truck! Typically $15k more, just for an extra row of seats and a bit of extra bodywork...sugerbear said:
Had the 6.2l Tahoe and the performance was very underwhelming. Hit the gas peddle... wait.. wait.. wait.. wait.. wait.. go for lunch.. read a book.. oh it's started to pick up..
I'm surprised you were underwhelmed. Most American car magazines rave about the GM 6.2 engine. 400+ bhp, and vaguely related to the engine in the Corvette C7.spreadsheet monkey said:
dvs_dave said:
They’re good vehicles. All based on the Chevy Silverado pickup platform.
But at a big $ markup over the equivalent spec Silverado truck! Typically $15k more, just for an extra row of seats and a bit of extra bodywork...sugerbear said:
Had the 6.2l Tahoe and the performance was very underwhelming. Hit the gas peddle... wait.. wait.. wait.. wait.. wait.. go for lunch.. read a book.. oh it's started to pick up..
I'm surprised you were underwhelmed. Most American car magazines rave about the GM 6.2 engine. 400+ bhp, and vaguely related to the engine in the Corvette C7.
skyrover said:
Shame they don't sell them here in the UK.
We are critically short of proper SUV's these day's.
Toyota still sells the Landcruiser in the UK, and for a pretty reasonable price. I don't see many new ones on the roads, though.We are critically short of proper SUV's these day's.
Is the Tahoe/Suburban much use as an off roader? I assumed the main reasons for buying them were comfort, power, and towing ability.
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