Millennial Mom's Review: The 2024 GMC Yukon is an elephant | Reviews
This full-size sport-utility is huge and heavy, but that also lets it boast some great interior space for bigger families
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Let’s talk about the elephant in the room. The elephant, of course, being the 2024 GMC Yukon, seen behind me in the top-of-the-line Denali Ultimate trim. It’s huge — no, scratch that. “Huge” is an understatement, and it’s also nothing new. We all know the Yukon is huge. You don’t ever think “Yukon” and think small — unless maybe you’re thinking of Canada’s smallest territory. It’s so cute, right?
You know what’s not so cute? The price of gas! These big SUVs always get me because when I picked up the car, the Yukon showed over 600 kilometres (373 miles) of estimated driving range — that’s a lot of kilometres for a tank of gas. And throughout the week, I felt like I was getting such good mileage, considering I hadn’t made it past half-a-tank in a little under a week.
Then, when I was finally ready to fill it up, I quickly realized it just has a massive tank that holds 91 litres of premium fuel. You can imagine how expensive that tank was, meaning, no, I wasn’t actually getting good mileage out of the Yukon (rookie mistake). In fact, it has a combined average of 15 L/100 km (15.7 US mpg), which isn’t that great, and despite getting our hopes up for a bit, we saw that coming. That said, over the course of a week driving 70 per cent on city roads, the Yukon was showing 14.2 L/100 km (16.6 US mpg) which is quite a bit better than its NRCan rating.
What’s new with the GMC Yukon for 2024?
Nothing really. The 2024 GMC Yukon will get a makeover for 2025, but for 2024 it remains pretty much unchanged. Priced at over $130,000, this tested Yukon Denali Ultimate is fitted with a 6.2L V8, making 420 horsepower and 460 lb-ft of torque. There are two other engine options available for the Yukon, but all are mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission.
What’s it like to drive the GMC Yukon?
The GMC Yukon is loaded with safety features
The Yukon is huge and it’s heavy — over 5,000 pounds. And while some big cars may seem smaller in the drive feel, this one definitely does not. And maybe that’s a good thing. You definitely shouldn’t be thinking you’re driving something small, because this monster takes up a lot of space. It barely fits into mall parking spaces, and even then a bit of its nose sticks out.
It’s also important to be aware of just how big this SUV is, especially around young children, considering many little kids can barely be seen if they’re standing right in front of it. That said, it’s got awesome safety aids that include emergency front braking with pedestrian detection — and intense butt vibrations to make sure you’re aware of the people around you. Those vibrations are persistent if people continue to walk past while you’re in reverse.
There are also buckle-to-drive and rear-seat reminder options, as well as enhanced parking assist, and a really clear backup camera with a panoramic view. There’s also a trailer-view camera that comes with the $1,110 trailering package, and while we didn’t get a chance to test it out, the Yukon can tow up 8,000 pounds (3,629 kilograms).
But back to the drive: it doesn’t drive very smoothly on city roads; in fact, it’s a really heavy drive. I’ve never been on a cruise, but I’ve been told you don’t even feel the boat moving; however, sometimes the feeling I get while driving the Yukon feels similar to what I imagine people feel when they’re about to be seasick.
Making a U-turn takes a little muscle — or maybe I just have none, and that’s the real problem — and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t just take the long way around instead of making a U-turn on a street parallel to my kids’ school. It’s also slow to pick up, but that doesn’t mean it can’t or won’t, it’ll just do so loudly and begrudgingly, much like waking up a kid in the mornings. If you’re pulling out onto a busy street, it’ll throw you a bit by its force to pull itself forward. It is possible to get a smooth start and stop, but it’s not likely that you’ll always be in a position to do that, so be cautious of anything in the car that isn’t strapped down and could be prone to flying around.
Super Cruise is a cool party trick
On the highway, it’s a completely different monster that has a much smoother drive feel. That Bose sound system is amazing, great for blasting Norah Jones (or whatever the cool kids are listening to), which is exactly what I did while Super Cruising on Highway 401.
I’ve used Super Cruise before in the XT6 and Escalade, but one thing that always surprises me is when the car changes lanes without me asking. Sometimes I’m quite comfortable in the lane I’m in, thank you very much — but also, I see you Super Cruise, and thanks for finding a passing spot for me. Additionally, I wasn’t expecting Super Cruise to work on parts of Highway 7 in Guelph, but it did. It was for short bits, as I wasn’t on that road for very long, and it also made me take over at both stop-lights I encountered, but it did work, and that’s kind of cool since it’s not a major (busy) highway in Ontario.
Is the GMC Yukon comfortable?
Since the car is doing most of the work itself — though not to be considered a fully autonomous vehicle in the least — it lets the driver relax and get comfy with heated and ventilated front seats, and there’s also a heated steering wheel for the roads where your hands need to remain on the wheel. The front seats are also equipped to give a massage but I’ve never been too impressed by that feature in any car. The head-up display reminds me of the universal remote controls that have massive buttons and large lettering for old people. It’s a really big projection onto the windshield but it kind of works here, with big and bold themes that make the information easy to grasp.
The infotainment screen is clear, but looks somewhat outdated when using Android Auto — in comparison to what it looks like in other vehicles — which is wirelessly connected. At first, I found the Yukon’s operating system to be a bit confusing and cluttered, but it’s actually really customizable. For example, I was originally seeing a CarPlay icon, which is completely useless if I’m using Android Auto. Getting rid of it was as simple as dragging it out of the left side of the screen and replacing it with a different icon.
One thing the Yukon does well is use a variety of actual buttons instead of reverting to a screen for everything — although, of course, that could change in the future — but man, there are sooo many buttons. They’re everywhere!
Is the GMC Yukon a good family vehicle?
By far, the best feature in the Yukon is the power sliding console. At first I wondered why the centre console was so small, but then while fiddling with the buttons on the roof and trying to open the sunroof, I realized the centre console slides backwards revealing a secret storage space. That was a game-changer for me — I love a hidden pocket and extra storage space for mom’s car accessories.
My kids said the Yukon is like a house and the design of the seats seems “well thought-out.” They’ve never commented on the design of a car before, so I guess there’s something to be said about that […that you are raising our next generation of auto reviewers! –Ed.].
We’ve been doing a long-term test of the all-new Toyota Grand Highlander, which is also fairly large, but it doesn’t have as much space in between the second-row captain’s chairs, and this is obvious, as my son can so easily walk through with his backpack on and I didn’t need to put a seat down or move it forward for him to get back there. It’s awesome for families who might have two car seats strapped into those captain’s chairs, making it a pain if you need to get people to the third row. Once back there, there’s a lot of legroom for young children in the third row.
Additionally, while I need to lift my four-year-old into the Grand Highlander, the running board on the Yukon allows her to get in completely on her own, after I open the heavy door for her.
There’s rear-seat entertainment, but it was not user-friendly to get set up, and while I’m not thrilled about that, I don’t really care because I’m not a fan of rear-seat entertainment systems overall. I have yet to encounter a simple one from any auto manufacturer. It’s mostly just a pain for parents who really can’t do much from the driver’s seat without getting massively distracted, especially while driving.
Heading to the back, the Yukon boasts 722 litres (25.5 cubic feet) of space with the third-row seats up. That may sound like a lot, but it’s not, at least not in the Yukon. Unless you’re stacking groceries on top of each other, it’s not going to work out in this vertical space, and neither will packing for a road trip if you’ve got more than four passengers.
However, if you fold down the 60-40 third row, there’s plenty of floor space to pack tons of toilet paper, or whatever you stock up on at Costco. And thank goodness for all the buttons that do the hard work, because I don’t think I could reach in there to pull it back up. With the second-row seats folded, there’s 3,480 litres (122.9 cu ft) of space, which seems like just about enough space to fit a baby elephant.
What competes with the GMC Yukon?
While it competes with the other full-size SUVs like the Jeep Wagoneer and Ford Expedition, I question why, when the GMC Yukon is already over $130k, someone wouldn’t just make the leap to a mid-level Cadillac Escalade. But then again, for some reason, the Yukon tends to be and feel a little less flashy than the Caddy, and some people want to go big and go home. To each their own.
Final thoughts
After spending a week with the 2024 GMC Yukon, I can see its appeal. Not everyone will be able to get past its monstrous size, pricing, and 91-litre fuel tank, but — and that’s a big, vibrating butt — if you can get past all of that, then it can be seen as a great family vehicle with tons of space. It certainly made my week easier than previous ones with SUVs with far less interior room; it was a nice week off from my kids arguing about shoulders touching, that’s for sure.
Maybe I shouldn’t have called the Yukon an “elephant.” After all, the Yukon weighs just under 6,000 pounds, and the average African elephant weighs double that, at about 12,000 pounds, which is also only half of the weight of the heaviest elephant on record. The Yukon is actually a baby elephant, but even that’s still pretty hefty. One thing’s for sure — I wouldn’t want to be standing in the way of a baby elephant or the GMC Yukon, at any speed.
Check out the latest GMC Yukon model or click here for more Millennial Mom’s Reviews.
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