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Duramax (LM2) Escalade (and yukon/tahoe)


gregtay

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ahopkins22LSV

That thing is sweet and nice review! The new tech is amazing for sure. I have a truck on order but didn’t get any of the new tech (budget) and couldn’t bring myself to get the diesel. Everything I read is amazing but it is a bit more, would have worked and I just didn’t want to risk having any potential issues with the stricter emissions stuff, deal with the added maintenance and def. I know it’s probably all minor and too worrisome but those are my reasons lol

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1 hour ago, oldjeep said:

Normally not a fan of the somewhat gaudy Cadillac front ends, but that new one looks nice.

I am with you. I NEVER thought I would own an Escalade, my opinion of them (and the people that drove them) was always quite low. A waste of money for "status" of some badges tossed on an mediocre SUV.  I have loved my Germany SUVs and I had (actually still "have") a new Grand Wagoneer on order, but I ended up finding the new Escalade to be the sweet spot. The new Grand Wagoneer is impressive (10k towing!)... but it looks like a school bus and it is huge (wider, taller and longer than the Escalade)

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Beautiful rig!  Do you miss the Durango SRT? You consider a Hellcat Durango?  

Edited by RedWakesetterVLX
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On 6/28/2021 at 10:51 PM, RedWakesetterVLX said:

Beautiful rig!  Do you miss the Durango SRT? You consider a Hellcat Durango?  

I miss it when the light turns green :)... it was a fantastic vehicle.  Yes... I wanted a Durango Hellcat, planned on ordering one on day #1... but ever dealer was a POS so I gave up.  I wanted one to drive, not to collect and have it sit in a garage. I wasn't going to pay an insane mark up or play games.  Super happy with the Escalade... more impressed then I thought I would be.  The Durango SRT had a higher tow rating (8700#) but the Escalade tows better.

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One of my favorite features is when using the hitch ball camera in my GMC AT4 3.0 it auto applies the electric parking brake to prevent any rolling when shifting to park.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Great write up, thank you! 

My wife is trying to convince me to get her a new car and she has been looking at the Denali/Escalade. I have a 2020 Ram Eco-Diesel which we use to tow our 23LSV over that same stretch of I-90. I love the truck and get similar MPG, but over COVID, the wife decided to get a second big dog. Now 3 kids + 2 full size dogs dont fit in the truck. I was looking at the 6.2 vs the 3.0 and was really leaning toward the 3.0 + Max towing package, so this write up is helpful. 

Question: how did the escalade do over Snoqualmie and Vantage hill (westbound)? Pulling my 23LSV with a previous eco-diesel, I would enter Vantage hill (and Blewett pass) at 65/70 and come out doing barely 45. With the new Eco-diesel, I enter going 65/70 and exit at ~60/65. So it was a big improvement. We used to have the 6.2l Denali and that would pull no problem, but the trans temp would climb really fast. 

We have an M220 on order and am worried that the Denali/Escalade will really struggle to pull over those sections. 

Separately, would love to hear about who you bought the escalade from and how your experience was. I went into the local Eastside Caddy dealership over the weekend and got into a pretty heated discussion with them when they tried to convince me that it was Cadillacs fault that the sales price started at $35k over MSRP....

Edited by NewMalibu
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2 hours ago, NewMalibu said:

I went into the local Eastside Caddy dealership over the weekend and got into a pretty heated discussion with them when they tried to convince me that it was Cadillacs fault that the sales price started at $35k over MSRP....

I think this is just a supply issue that won't be solved until the global supply of microchips stabilizes with demand.  Dealers don't have many cars to move right now so they need to get every ounce out of every car they have to keep their doors open.

Side note, I just got quoted almost 40% over MSRP on a side by side that was coming in (not on the lot yet) from a dealer that usually discounts for me, I scoffed, and they sold the damn thing the next day.  

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the supply shortage is definitely due to semiconductors, resin, etc caused by the temp. shut down of the fabs, fires, earthquakes, tariffs, shipping containers, delays at ports, etc. Im in the automotive industry and we have task force upon task force dealing with this on a daily/hourly basis. 

what got me upset with the local Cadillac dealership is that they tried to blame Cadillac for the price gouging. Cadillac is still charging the dealership the same amount of money for their vehicles. it is the dealerships who are choosing to add the additional mark up because they know they can get it. after I walked out and they chased me into the parking lot, they finally admitted that 1) I can get a Cadillac at MSRP if I am willing to order and wait (I had heard that GM actually paused ordering on some vehicles until Sept) & 2) they have customers who are willing to pay $20-40k extra just so that they can be moved to the front of the line.  

I understand why they are doing this, but honestly it doesn't sit right with me. especially when they try to pass the blame onto someone else. 

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13 hours ago, NewMalibu said:

Great write up, thank you! 

My wife is trying to convince me to get her a new car and she has been looking at the Denali/Escalade. I have a 2020 Ram Eco-Diesel which we use to tow our 23LSV over that same stretch of I-90. I love the truck and get similar MPG, but over COVID, the wife decided to get a second big dog. Now 3 kids + 2 full size dogs dont fit in the truck. I was looking at the 6.2 vs the 3.0 and was really leaning toward the 3.0 + Max towing package, so this write up is helpful. 

Question: how did the escalade do over Snoqualmie and Vantage hill (westbound)? Pulling my 23LSV with a previous eco-diesel, I would enter Vantage hill (and Blewett pass) at 65/70 and come out doing barely 45. With the new Eco-diesel, I enter going 65/70 and exit at ~60/65. So it was a big improvement. We used to have the 6.2l Denali and that would pull no problem, but the trans temp would climb really fast. 

We have an M220 on order and am worried that the Denali/Escalade will really struggle to pull over those sections. 

Separately, would love to hear about who you bought the escalade from and how your experience was. I went into the local Eastside Caddy dealership over the weekend and got into a pretty heated discussion with them when they tried to convince me that it was Cadillacs fault that the sales price started at $35k over MSRP....

An M220 weights 6200 pounds add on 79 gallons of fuel + 120 pounds for batteries and then you add the trailers and other miscellaneous weight and your at about 10000 pound. I really think you should consider getting a 3/4 ton 4x4 diesel crew cab with a camper shell for the dogs.

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13 hours ago, NewMalibu said:

Great write up, thank you! 

My wife is trying to convince me to get her a new car and she has been looking at the Denali/Escalade. I have a 2020 Ram Eco-Diesel which we use to tow our 23LSV over that same stretch of I-90. I love the truck and get similar MPG, but over COVID, the wife decided to get a second big dog. Now 3 kids + 2 full size dogs dont fit in the truck. I was looking at the 6.2 vs the 3.0 and was really leaning toward the 3.0 + Max towing package, so this write up is helpful. 

Question: how did the escalade do over Snoqualmie and Vantage hill (westbound)? Pulling my 23LSV with a previous eco-diesel, I would enter Vantage hill (and Blewett pass) at 65/70 and come out doing barely 45. With the new Eco-diesel, I enter going 65/70 and exit at ~60/65. So it was a big improvement. We used to have the 6.2l Denali and that would pull no problem, but the trans temp would climb really fast. 

We have an M220 on order and am worried that the Denali/Escalade will really struggle to pull over those sections. 

Separately, would love to hear about who you bought the escalade from and how your experience was. I went into the local Eastside Caddy dealership over the weekend and got into a pretty heated discussion with them when they tried to convince me that it was Cadillacs fault that the sales price started at $35k over MSRP....

No issues coming up from Vantage. Didn't struggle at all, had the cruise set at 65 or 70 and it never had an issue maintaining that speed.  I watched the tranny and engine temps during the climb, tranny didn't move much, engine temp came up a few degrees but the cooling system did it's job.  It was 115 or so on our way east and 100ish on our westbound trip.

As already noted... I think an M220 would be well over the 8200# rating. my 2019 23LSV (which now seems like a light small boat! compared to all the latest boats) tips the scales at 7500#s.  You could go with the new Grand Wagoneer which can tow 10k#s (and I saw one pulling out of the Kirkland Jeep dealer today... I know they just started production this month so maybe they are finally rolling in.  I actually have one on order with the Bellevue dealer but I will cancel now that I have the Escalade.  The 6.2 can tow more weight.... the tow ratings from the truck provide that clear picture, but for 8000 or less pounds the 3.0 does a better job.  The issue with getting the 3.0 to a higher tow rating is related to the cooling needs.  The Duramax LM2 has a lot of stuff under the hood creating heat and they need to find a way to better mitigate heat soak in extreme conditions.  GM said they are working on it.

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I will also add that we averaged 13.0 MPGs on the return trip with the cruise set at 72mph.  The difference between 72mph and 65mpg seems significant... at 65 it allows the RPMs to drop to 1500 and just chug along, but I wasn't willing to go that slow:).  Also.... coming down i90 from Snoqualmie pass we had a deer decide to go on a suicide mission.  Jump right out across the freeway about 20 feet in front of me.  We were three wide, I was in the center lane, and going about 75MPH downhill.  I just yelled "DEER" and hit the brakes, realizing there weren't any other options.  Thankfully the dear kept moving and cleared my lane just as we went by.  The car next to me (Audi Q5) swerved into the shoulder but still managed to clip the deer.  Not sure how bad, my wife said she say the deer go sideways as it jumped off the freeway and the Audi pulled over and stopped, but I didn't see any serious damage when I looked back in the mirror.  the point is... the Escalade didn't wobble, sway, etc in a panic stop with 7500# behind it.  Felt rock solid.  Trailer brakes locked up, but that was about all there was to it.

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1 hour ago, gregtay said:

The 6.2 can tow more weight.... the tow ratings from the truck provide that clear picture, but for 8000 or less pounds the 3.0 does a better job.  The issue with getting the 3.0 to a higher tow rating is related to the cooling needs.  The Duramax LM2 has a lot of stuff under the hood creating heat and they need to find a way to better mitigate heat soak in extreme conditions.  GM said they are working on it.

The cooling system might need more capacity, but it is very sophisticated.  It cools in zones to make sure the parts that need to stay cool stay cool while the emissions get hot enough quickly to work properly.  They spent a stack of cash developing the cooling system.  I watched a few videos on it and the system is impressive.

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17 hours ago, NewMalibu said:

the supply shortage is definitely due to semiconductors, resin, etc caused by the temp. shut down of the fabs, fires, earthquakes, tariffs, shipping containers, delays at ports, etc. Im in the automotive industry and we have task force upon task force dealing with this on a daily/hourly basis. 

what got me upset with the local Cadillac dealership is that they tried to blame Cadillac for the price gouging. Cadillac is still charging the dealership the same amount of money for their vehicles. it is the dealerships who are choosing to add the additional mark up because they know they can get it. after I walked out and they chased me into the parking lot, they finally admitted that 1) I can get a Cadillac at MSRP if I am willing to order and wait (I had heard that GM actually paused ordering on some vehicles until Sept) & 2) they have customers who are willing to pay $20-40k extra just so that they can be moved to the front of the line.  

I understand why they are doing this, but honestly it doesn't sit right with me. especially when they try to pass the blame onto someone else. 

I was shopping around for a new Raptor. All dealers are only allocated a few Raptors. I started checking with different Ford dealers and I was told anywhere from 5k - 20k over MSRP. I found one dealer that would sell it at MSRP so I placed my order yesterday. I couldn’t justify spending anything over MSRP on an already expensive truck.

Keep shopping around. If you have Costco, try to go that route.

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  • 1 month later...
On 7/9/2021 at 10:16 PM, bretcole said:

An M220 weights 6200 pounds add on 79 gallons of fuel + 120 pounds for batteries and then you add the trailers and other miscellaneous weight and your at about 10000 pound. I really think you should consider getting a 3/4 ton 4x4 diesel crew cab with a camper shell for the dogs.

 

Agreed, i had gmc sierra 5.3, pulling 18 23lsv.  It was always slow over high passes , like 45 to 50mph.  Switched to 21 gmc 2500hd at4 with 6.6 diesel.  Cant even tell the boat is there, 75 over high pass with plenty to spare.

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