OK guys convince me...................

[Mike2006PSD]

why I should buy an Excursion over a Suburban.

This will be the wifes daily driver, I don't need it for towing, and I'm afraid it will be too big for the wife to handle around town. Se drives my truck on occasion, but complains about the clutch being too stiff. Plus, for the money, the Suburban seems to have a lot more "plush" features.

[coldair]

Just take the Exursion for a test ride without a salesman go to the chevy lot sit them side by side and compare, check out the fit and finish how doors line up etc. check out hom much cheaper built the chevy is on the inside. plus a diesel X is alot cheaper then a diesel burb.

[POLR BR]

Mike,

That plush Suburban will be junk in 120,000 miles or so. A PSD X, given reasonable maintenance, will just be broken in. The Suburban is really a passenger car with a big cargo box whereas the X is a real truck with an even bigger cargo box.

My wife uses our X as a daily driver. She was a little skeptical about diesels and even more skeptical about a big SUV. She was leery of the 295 tires and even more leery of the 550 springs the combination of which lifted the vehicle by almost 4". Despite the skepticism, she absolutely loves her vehicle and she wonders why people, herself included, have such apprehension about such vehicles.The versatility, size, power and durability are unrivaled by the Suburban. As for comfort, when you find yourself getting into the X to take a ride to relax, you know you have a comfortable vehicle, even if it isn't plush.

[vettmike]

Mike,

I can't keep my wife out of our X, we tow an 8500 pound car trailer.

When we towed with our Chevy truck, she would drive every once-in-awhile, now she drives all the time.

This is great for me.

When we are towing, we lay down the second seat and put a cooler and snack bag with-in reach. Most of the time I sit in the 3rd seat with my laptop and GPS mapping program, have fun and let her drive. [img]images/icons/cool.gif[/img]

[Worm]

The Excursion has BRAKES!!!!!!!!!!!

[PSDExcursion]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Mike2001PSD:
why I should buy an Excursion over a Suburban.

This will be the wifes daily driver, I don't need it for towing, and I'm afraid it will be too big for the wife to handle around town. Se drives my truck on occasion, but complains about the clutch being too stiff. Plus, for the money, the Suburban seems to have a lot more "plush" features.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hmm. My wife uses our 4x4 as her daily driver. She started with a Cavalier, we bought an Explorer, and then traded it for the X. She was concerned about it being too big, so the dealership let us borrow one for the day on a bailment so she could check it out. Well, I've yet to get her out of it! [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] She really likes it. She said it was 'too big' but changed her tune quickly, as she found it handled much like the Explorer.

Don't worry about the clutch, it's got an automatic. [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

Buy the X and don't look back. You'll be glad you did. [img]images/icons/laugh.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/laugh.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]

[AXTINC]

The only reason I bought the X PSD was to tow. If I did not tow I would not have bought it for more reasons than I can list here. It is a great vehicle for towing and in combination with my family needs and living in Denver towing at high altitude it was our only reasonable choice. If you are not planning on towing and you wife is the primary driver it would be a big mistake (my humble opinion) to not let her make the choice. I forced an Expedition on my wife and she hated it. She backed into three people during our lease of 39 months. This time I let her decide on a used E320 Wagon and she loves it. It's safe and she can handle it much easier in tight parking situations. The X PSD is a loud/noisy truck so it handles and rides like a loud/noisy truck. While I live with it, my wife refuses to drive it.

Just food for thought.

[Rover]

Mike:

Seems to me like the size is not realy and issues as you make it sound like the decision is an X or a Sub...

That said, the size difference between the two is not really that much...

I recently had the chance to drive a Sub for a day and my honest opinion is that I HATED it. We had test driven the subs before we bought the X and had the same experience. The interior is not as well designed, the seats are uncomfortable and the steering wheel is 'thin'...

I am not a Ford, Dodge, Chevy, etc. person, actually the Excursion is the first domestic vehicle I have ever owned, so this is a pretty unbiased decision.

The ONLY thing I would be carefull of is where your wife needs to park everyday...my wife had to park in a tight lot everyday and did not like driving the X to work. However, this would probably be just as bad in the sub.

The three 'must haves' are the PSD and the Trailer Towing mirrors (even if you don't tow...)and new shocks...

Rover

[Mike2006PSD]

Thanks for the replies guys.

I'm not so sure I can convince her to go diesel. I would have it in a heart beat, but I'm a bit biased. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

It will ultimately be her decision but I will put my 2 cents worth in. We had a Suburban back in 94 and quite honestly we both loved it. Unfortunately due to financial reasons, we had to trade down after about 14 months.

The other thing is that most of her driving is in town driving, parking, etc.. so the size may be a factor. She has trouble with my truck most of the time.

[Don_B]

My wife likes hers! I like mine!

[UTAH]

Mike - an easy choice for me. I wanted a diesel in a full-size SUV. Only the X fits that category.

Having said that - I have had good experiences with Tahoes (merely a short Suburban) and would seriously consider a Sub if they put the DMAX in it.

BTW - my wife was also leery of the X until she drove it a few times.

Best to y'all [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[POLR BR]

Mike,

A brief follow up to your comments. Having two vehicles that are essentially alike for maintenance purposes is great especially if you do the work yourself. You can justify oil, coolant and fuel filters by the case from DIS. Also, it is easier to track maintenance and to figure out the idiosyncracies of the vehicles.

Fortunately, my wife tried out a gas version for a day before driving a PSD X. The gasser was sluggish, wallowed and swayed and got about 9 mpg. We almost didn't get an X because it handled so poorly, until I figured out I could redo the suspension. When she drove the X, she was thrilled with the power and economy. She quickly adjusted to the higher noise level of the X. In fact, even though she runs the maximun security unit at a State Prison and frequently parks in the adjacent State Police parking lot, she let me install a Dynomax race muffler. [img]images/icons/laugh.gif[/img] Even with the straight through muffler, it is not that noisey. The X's are much better sound insulated than the pichups.

[krdadlamb]

How many kids do you have? If you do not need the X to pull anything the only reason I can think of for needing one is to haul a bunch of rugrats around. We have 5 kids and we own an Excursion and a Expedition. My wife prefers the Expedition as far as driving comfort goes but hates it when it is time to put gas in. The Expedition gets 12 mpg's consistenly while the Excursion gets 16. Both are figured by Miles/Gallons. This is regular driving, mostly around town. So the Excursion gets 4 mpg better and costs about $.10 per gallon less to fill. Because we got such a good deal on the Excursion ($8,000 off MSRP and 0.9%) and because it is more economical to drive we are getting rid of the Expedition. Also, the Exursion has so much more cargo space. We looked at the Yukon XL before purchasing. The diesel isn't available yet and they come off of MSRP about $1.98. We even went to several GMC dealers and none were dealing. While the exterior on Yukon XL's look nice the interior is dated, plastic and cheap looking. The Expedition and Excursion are the only American vehicle I own my car and my wifes are German, (Now they can build cars) so I don't have any loyalty to Ford. But in my mind the X is the choice if you need the hauler for kids and cargo. Also, I have no reference point to comment on the stock ride vs replacement springs or upgraded shocks. My X is straight stock bumper to bumper. I wouldn't mind upgrading, but if I do so the monster wouldn't make it into the garage. This is important to me. One of the reasons for getting the diesel was because it will last so long, 300,000 miles +. So I don't want my baby to look all faded out and weathered like all the other X's in my neighborhood will, at 80,000 to 100,000 miles. The PSD is just getting broken in then. The difference in power is also a consideration even without pulling anything. About 2 or 3 times a year we venture out to visit grandmas. The trip is 1,000 each way. There are a couple of mountain passes on the route. The Expedition would get us there, but didn't like it. I set the cruise at 80 and just go. The Expedition would shift up and down on the hills, on some long stretches the cruise would just shut off because the hill was too long and steep. You should have seen the smile on my face with the first trip in the X. Cruise at 80 and get out of my way. The X never even hesitated. We had the cargo area completely filled to the roof. I had a 20 cu/ft backpack that went into the hitch totally loaded, and 6 suitcases straped to the roof rack. Plus wife and five kids and one dog. We were loaded. The X had enough power and then some. It never even slowed down. The only time I had problems with the cruise control was when someone was driving slow in the fast lane. On this trip at 80 mph and totally loaded we got 16.5 mpg. The Expedition only gets 17 mpg on the highway when empty and about 13 or 14 when loaded. I know you are trying to decide between a suburban and an X and all my experience is between an Expedition and Excursion, but except for a little less cargo room the Expedition is basically the same as the suburban. Hope this helps. But the problem with convincing women is they get confused by the facts and logical thinking. My wife hated the thought of buying the X. Nothing I said mattered, because it was all facts. (Better mpg, more power, longer life...etc.) Finally I said that it was on sale and they were practically giving it to us because of the % rate. That was the sale, we drove it home that night.

[PSDExcursion]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by krdadlamb:
Finally I said that it was on sale and they were practically giving it to us because of the % rate. That was the sale, we drove it home that night.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well, you know how women are about sales! &lt;duck&gt; [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Honestly, I can't see why anyone would want a 'burb over a PSD X. Unloaded, I reliably get 16-17 in town and 20-21 on the hwy. That and a WD chip and this is one fun bugger to own! [img]images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]

[H ED S]

Mike if you can get your dealer to let her test drive a PSD X for a day, I think she will change her mind. Heck with the backup alarm I can parrell park the joker. In parking in a mall it is not to bad either. I just sort of aim at the rear of the the car on the passengers side with the center of my hood and one countersteering backing up then straight in-easy [img]images/icons/laugh.gif[/img].

One other thing to consider that I did not notice mentioned is that I feel it is one of the safest vehicles on the road. It has 8,000 lbs. of mass and diesel fuel does not catch fire easily either.

The backup alarm is a God send, because I have to back into my garage or crawl out the passengers side. GRRRR.

It is much easier to drive than my previous 99 PSD SC with a fiberglass shell on it.

Take care and let us know how it works out.