Denali XL with 104K asking $17900.... black with Tan interior, captain chairs in second row!!! Looks real clean for a 8 yr old SUV. I told my wife I would buy this now, to get out of my 97 Subaru rust bucket for now, and get a durango or a SRT8 jeep later in time. Never been in one, again I have 4 kids and need the room. Saw it last week at a gas station around the corner of my house. Whatcha think!! I know this is a durango fourm, sorry for the none realeted topic.

 

Depends if those are highway miles or in town

 

I just traded in my 2007 Escalade with 114k on it for the Durango. The Escalade is pretty much just an overpriced Denali. I got in trade about what they are asking for that Denali, so their price seems fair. I only owned the Escalade for 9 months and took quite a hit on it between what I paid, what I spent on repairs and improvements, and what I got for it as a trade in. But I was VERY happy to get away from that Escalade. IMHO, you'd be much happier with a Durango. The ergonomics of the Durango are much better, the interior space is more useable, the ride is better, the interior is quieter, reliability is better, and the Durango is also a lot more "driver friendly" both in handling and size. Oddly, the in town fuel economy of that big Escalade with the 6.2L is about the same as what I get with the Hemi Durango.

I have a long list of gripes with the Escalade that I can share with you offline if you are interested. So far I'm very pleased with my trade. As long as the Durango tows my camper well I'll continue to be happy to be away from the Escalade.

And in case you're wondering, I'm neither a "Dodge guy" or a "GM guy". I've owned several (and continue to own) Ford products. The Escalade was the first GM I've owned and this Durango is the first Dodge I've owned. Admittedly, if I had to get rid of one of my vehicles tomorrow, it would not be the Durango. And that's not because I have problems with either of my other vehicles (2011 tuned Taurus SHO and 2010 Lincoln MKT EcoBoost). I really like my 2011 Durango.

-Rod

 

My dad bought a 2003 yukon xl slt new, has 275k miles and no major problems. If maintained well they can go for a long time.

 

I think I just got new car fever!! I'm sick of driving a old car and want something NOW!!! I think I need a cold shower to cool off!!!

 

The engine and transmission seemed fine on my Escalade, my complaints were more with everything else. The rear seat was uncomfortable, even for my petite 10 year old daughter, I had to cut the spare tire bracket with a angle grinder to get the spare tire down, transmission oil lines were leaking, the load leveling suspension airbags in the rear had holes, the suspension front and rear made noises over bumps, and the wind noise was ridiculous.

When I first hitched up the camper, as soon as I got up to 50 mph the rear window/lift gate area started whistling, loudly. The front doors had a lot of wind noise as well. I replaced the weather stripping around the front doors and the rear liftgate and liftgate glass which helped with the wind noise, but the whistle was still present. I had to take apart the rear lift gate and move in the latch mechanism to get the whistle to stop, but this also meant I had to close the liftgate glass with more force to get it to latch. I cleaned, lubed, and welded the spare tire hoist back together, but that was still an afternoon project that I don't think I should have needed to do. I'm just glad I decided to check that in the garage instead of discovering it on the side of the road.

I replaced the anti-sway bar bushings to try to quiet the suspension down over bumps, but all that did was allow a bolt to break off in the frame that had to be drilled out. The new bushings didn't fix the rattle on bumps. The rear air shocks were not hard to replace, but they were expensive and while they helped with towing ride, they didn't help with the rear noise on bumps.

There were no signs that this truck had been abused by the previous owner either. The only abuse was it appears it was mostly washed by automatic car washes since the black raven paint had many fine swirls. That was another weekend of my time to get those out, but I kind of enjoyed that and I was able to get favorable results from that labor.

Hmmm, I have a lot more complaints, but I said I'd take this offline if anyone as interested.

-Rod

 

I had an 05 Denali. The truck was great and never once gave me any problems and I drove it well over 100k miles. The engine was strong and transmission smooth. Oil changes and services was fairly inexpensive and the brakes lasted the whole time. I didn't have any problems with panels coming loose or any noises developing over time. My only gripe with the truck was the horrible mileage. My running average was around 12 mpg on a good day. Handling was to be expected as it handles like a truck.

 

Went back to take a picture!! Still their!!!

 

I'm surprised the dash panel near the VIN plate isn't cracked. That's a pretty common issue, and a $185 piece of plastic.

-Rod