Chevy Tahoe: Oregon Holiday Trip, Day 1

Did they ever have one in the first place?
 
Are you the guy who was clamoring for Edmunds to add this to their fleet?
 
I have no clue why. The vehicle itself is not very significant. It's just a hybrid version of the best-selling luxury SUV in the country.
If everybody and their mother drives it, and it's a Lexus, exactly what do you hope to learn long-term from Edmunds?
 
If you want to know about fuel economy, you can look that up in five minutes on the internet.
You don't need an SUV--much less a luxury one, if fuel economy is your concern.
Buy used. A used wagon, that is--and hold.
 
In any case, most people who would even consider a Lexus in the first place are probably going to buy one anyways.
So why clog up our Edmunds blog just to soothe a need for validation?
Because you certainly couldn't be worried about long-term reliability of a Lexus (...and one under warranty at that!).
 
It's an obscure vehicle of dubious value to the public.
I know I'd much rather read about cars that we buy on a daily basis, rather than some from a brand that's supposedly perfect.
It's a Lexus, it's "perfect", go buy it.
 
As for me, I'd like to hear about Volkswagens, Hondas, Chevrolets, BMWs, Cadillacs etc.
 
By the way, good blog entry.

The picture of the 63.5 lbs x 2 rear seats sitting in your garage, and the thought of wifey trying to deal with them, says it all for me...

The main reason our family got the EL instead of the Suburban was because of the third row seats. Truthfully My Grandpa, my Dad, and myself all hate it compared to the Suburban. Wanna know why? Well, it's a Ford. I come from a big anti- Ford family, even though we have had a Volvo and several Lincolns, but my family doesn't consider em true Fords. I personally never want to own a Ford or Toyota (because of more family reasons) and even if that's the only vehicle I can get, I'd rather walk to work.

Yes, they did buy an RX400h. http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/LongTerm/articleId=106271

Shame about the heavy seats. But, I'm thinking about a GMC Acadia, and would like to know what the suburban offers for the higher price(higher assuming similar options ).

priuscrusher
  
 The Chevy Surbarban is the same thing with the seats, they do not fold flat because they are built on gm b900 plateform, but the GmC acadia does have fold flat seats, and gets good gad mileage.

There is one good thing about heavy, removable seats. In a 90s Dodge Caravan, without the seats, the car performs better, and gets better mileage.

thank you zach101. If you analyze the information, they went on a roadtrip and had a POWER STEERING FAILURE!! So much for the PERFECT Lexus.
 
I'm eagar to know what happenedto it and why there isn't a blog for it like the rest of the cars.
 
-Cj

Hmmm...
 
Looking at the newly inserted image, it looks like the load floor is rather high. From what I can see, there looks to be 4" – 6" space between the top of the step bumper (where the bottom of the tailgate rests) and the rear cargo area load floor.
 
I don't recall there being that much space between the interior load floor and the rear step bumper on other SUVs?

autoboy16 - Yes, we do own a 2006 Lexus RX 400h, but since it's used mostly around town, we were unsure if it would accumulate enough miles for it to be worthwhile blog fodder. This blog started as a test, and not all of our vehicles migrated over. The Lexus is the last hold-out from the old format, and it kinda slipped through the crack.
 
We've recently decided to add it to the long-term test car blog, and you should see it appear within the next week or two.
 
Kelly

The floor height on our Tahoe is pretty typical for truck-based SUVs. Based on my experience with earlier ones, it feels about the same. Remember that the body rests on the frame, and a full-sized spare hangs just beneath. I think we've gotten used to the low floor offered by car-based unibody SUVs. Their floors are so much lower because the body IS the frame. And they don't always carry full-sized spares, opting instead for compact ones. And then there are minivans, which have a deep well back there capable of swallowing the third seat whole.

Is the cargo floor height vs. bumper height like this on the new Expedition that you just tested? What about the Armada or Sequoia?

I do not have the data at my fingertips, nor physical examples of those other SUVs.
But I do have a tape measure handy. From ground to top of bumper, our 2007 Tahoe 4x4 measures 28 5/8". From ground to load floor scuff plate, it measures 32 5/8". And the bumper protrudes 11.5" out from the load floor at the center, its furthest point. The receiver hitch is dead flush with the bumper, so it isn't a shin-buster.
I'll measure the others when I get the chance, but that could be weeks. Those of you at home are welcome to play along too.

Looking at the open rear hatch of the Inside Line test Kia Sedona, the rear load floor is almost level with the top of the rear bumper, unlike the Tahoe.http://66.160.188.111/roadtests/622Well, actually, the rear load floor is below the bumper height.I still think a comparison with other body-on-frame SUVs on this issue would be interesting, and perhaps even enlightening.

I'm gonna go for the Acadia when it comes out... and even then it'll be a couple of years before I am ready for one. I don't really need the "size" of the Suburban so a Tahoe would've fit the bill, a Trailblazer doesn't seat enough people and since the only reason I would buy a vehicle such as a Tahoe would be to haul more people around than a sedan. Since the Acadia offers as much room or more than most mini-vans and promises as good or better fuel economy and has more room than even the Tahoe, I am eying that more and more.