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The Diesel Burb Is Back for 21

JayTheCPA

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For those whom want a new oil burning Suburban or Tahoe, the '21 MY lineup has that option with a 3.0L I-6 diesel.

By sporting a tow rating of 8K# (+/- a couple hundred pounds depending on 2WD or 4WD), GVWR of 14K#, and IRS (which I am presuming is tuned to passenger comfort and not utility use), this hardly falls into the bragging rights territory and sadly falls well short of my personal requirements. But, hey, it is a diesel, right? So far, the only thing going for the new Burb is that its pricing is less than Ferd's big SUV, but the Ferd still looks like the more capable of the two machines.

For those whom tow heavier and do not want to leave family members and / or gear at home in order to also pull the RV, fortunately GM is still making a HD passenger van. Going the HD van route is the smart money move compared to the new Burb as it is rated to tow a good 1,500 pounds more than the Burb and costs a *LOT* less.

Sadly, I see the move of dropping a diesel back in the Burb as a design with failure in mind. The 'decision makers' get to claim that they listened to the customer and sell it as a huge win. But the same decision makers get to also get to kill it in a nother couple years with the justification that it did not sell (because it was not designed to compete in the first place (but they will not not publicly admit this)). Lets hope that time proves me wrong...
 
Unless I am missing something, the frame and driveline will not handle a current V8 DMax. And, equally do not see GM setting up two assembly lines for the Ho / Burb: one for high volume with the current frame / body / driveline, and one with a HD frame / body / driveline.

A realistic expectation is that GM will continue leaving it up to upfitters for filling the void which is a lost opportunity. Were GM to recognize and endorse this path, it could save everybody a *lot* of effort and money by way of providing new parts for assembly by the upfitter versus the current path of forcing the customer (and upfitter) to find donor parts from two (or more) vehicles and cannibalize accordingly.
 
fortunately GM is still making a HD passenger van. Going the HD van route is the smart money move compared to the new Burb as it is rated to tow a good 1,500 pounds more than the Burb and costs a *LOT* less.

Ummmm... Another Mediocre under powered diesel shoved in a 2500 van. :facepalm: 2.8L 4 Banger turbo making less HP than the 6.5TD's did. I was shocked GM quit using the 6.6L V8 Duramax in vans. And then found out they put this in...

The 6.0L V8 is being discontinued and replaced with the L8T 6.6L gas V8. The L8T does not use GM fuel saving technologies such as Active Fuel Management (AFM), Dynamic Fuel Management (DFM), or Auto Stop-Start (ASS). Maybe that will be less TROUBLE on an already not fun to work on van.

At least GM's vans are still RWD as Ford and RAM have gone with FWD.
 
WW, did not see diesel in the '21 Express van lineup. Would not touch it anyway no matter how much displacement. Am just not seeing a TCO advantage of diesel anymore. Actually, it looks like cradle-to-grave costs are higher than gas when accounting for maintenance.

And if GM thinks that a HD (ie: 3/4 ton) Suburban is not worth the effort due to lack of customer demand, perhaps they should take a look at current listings in AutoTrader. Asking prices are running from the low $30Ks to almost $50K for something that went out of production nearly a decade ago, and in some cases over a decade ago. New prices were maybe $45K - $60K for the respective vehicles. Ok, sure, COVID pricing might play a factor here, but even two years ago the prices were still crazy high for a used vehicle. So, it seems that nobody at the corporate level cares about tracking the used vehicle market and the focus is solely on shoving new ones out the door.

Oh well, I am not a GM executive. And even if I were, the internal bean-counters likely would have had access to better lawyers.
 
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