Another in a series of my reviews that appeared in the online version of African Americans On Wheels, a now defunct automotive magazine that was included as an insert in the Sunday newspapers of major cities.
The Suburban was my first mishap with a press car. At the time, my day job was located in an office building in Arlington, VA, with a cramped underground parking garage. I actually convinced the magazine to pay for it in order to “keep the cars safe.” As it was a relatively narrow building, the main ramp was a corkscrew design, with big concrete support columns on either side. On the first day, I slowly, carefully, and successfully navigated to an open parking space. The next day, I figured, “I’ve got this.” Going down the corkscrew at a slightly faster clip, I glanced to my right and thought, “Wow, that support beam seems really clo-” [crunch].
I’d put a large dent into the passenger-side rear door. I called the Maryland company that handles GM’s press cars, and they told me not to worry about it, but don’t do anymore damage until they picked it up the following Monday.
Other than that, it felt no different from the Yukon I’d reviewed several months prior. Just bigger.
Here it is: The Big Cheese, the Texas Limo, the Granddaddy of ‘em all — the Chevrolet Suburban. It’s the largest SUV you can buy. Would you believe 47.5 cubic feet of cargo space behind the third row of seats and a mammoth 149.5 cu.ft with the seats removed?
Chevy’s hallmark truck, along with its GMC twin, is entering its eighth model year, but the straight-lined, smooth-edged, flushed-glass styling doesn’t look dated. Available in two and four-wheel drive, half and three-quarter ton configurations, the Suburban has no real domestic or foreign competition. It shares many pieces with its smaller siblings: the Chevy Tahoe, GMC Yukon/Denali and upcoming Cadillac Escalade. If you must have the newest model on the block, an all-new Suburban is due for the 2000 model year. But don’t count this one out yet.
Our model was packed full of goodies, including: front and rear air conditioning, rear heater, remote keyless entry and other power accessories. The dash is the same that is used in all of GM’s large trucks. It’s not exciting, but all of the controls are in reasonable reach. The GM/Delco stereo is still one of the best sounding and easiest to use in the business. Furthermore, the 255-horsepower, 5.7-liter V8 engine is among the most powerful in an SUV and moves the behemoth with authority. An even more powerful 290-horsepower, 7.4-liter V8 is optional in three-quarter-ton Suburbans. The standard four-speed automatic generally shifts smoothly.
The Suburban’s four-wheel drive system is for off-road and foul-weather only. However, an automatic setting will engage the front wheels automatically if either of the rear wheels begin to slip. Although much better than previous generation Suburbans, the ride is still more truck-like than car-like, with constant activity on less-than-smooth surfaces. Turns must be taken wide, slowly, and carefully, or you’re likely to whack the side of the Suburban on a corner pole (or support column of a parking garage in my case…oops). Handling? Fuggedaboudit.
But Suburban buyers don’t care about this stuff. They want to be able to haul themselves, eight passengers and a week’s worth of their luggage to their place in the mountains. And that the Suburban does admirably.
For more information contact 1-800-950-2438
SPECIFICATIONS
Type: 4-Door Sport-Utility Vehicle
Engine: 255-horsepower, 5.7 liter V8
Transmission: 4-speed Automatic
EPA Mileage: 13 city/18 highway
Tested Price: $38,173
After “Fuggedaboudit,” my editor left a note to the copy editor: “<Olive, I am inclined to change this to For get[sic] about it. What do you think. jm>” The funny part is that I wrote that a year before The Sopranos premiered. Since then, the Suburban twins (or Suburban/Yukon XL with regard to the later generations) have been forever linked to the NJ mafia.
This is one of my favorite truck designs ever, especially with the mild facelift as seen in the picture. It’s a clean design and well proportioned. It could be released in 2020 and still seem pretty fresh (except for the chrome bumpers, though I like them).
Definitely… this design has aged remarkably well. It’s amazing to consider that this generation of Suburban would qualify for historic license plates in many states.
And Adam, your story of scraping the parking garage beam sounds incredibly stressful… doing that in a loaner car must be unimaginable. But at least it seems that the GM folks handled it well. I’m curious though: Did GM give you any hassles about taking their cars after this episode?
Fortunately, for me at least, journalists wrecking press cars are nothing new or unusual. Only if there’s a pattern would any red flags be raised.
Nice writeup and I agree with you. I’ve only ridden in one of these and it delightfully reminded me of my 1987 Caprice Estate. The one I rode in back in 2009 was a base model with the work truck front end, peeling white paint, seating for nine I think, and crank windows if I recall correctly.
While not as common as the pickups and Tahoes, these Suburbans are still a semi-regular sight here in Oregon if you know where to go.
Might I just say I thoroughly enjoy the exchanges you had with your editor, and I get an extra kick when you include and denote her own typos. Looks like the copy editor didn’t agree with her either. LOL!
Did the Suburban lag behind the pickups in generation change? The body looks like the 1998 and earlier GM trucks, whereas 1999 was the first year of the 1999-2006 generation of pickups.
Yes, the pickups debuted in 1999, while the SUVs came a year later. By the way, this was a huge improvement over the previous generation. The pickups debuted in 1988, but it took GM FOUR YEARS to adapt the platform for the SUVs. #NobodyMissesRogerSmith.
Right. My great uncle still has a 1990 Suburban, which–rather than being a GMT400–is on the older body/frame that dates back to 1973.
Yes, the SUVs did lag a year behind, as did the 2500/3500 trucks. Chevy offered both generations of the 1500 pickup in 1999, calling the older one “Classic”. GMC did the same but called the newer one “New Sierra”. Chevy again offered both body styles in 2007, but only amongst the pickups, calling the older variant “Classic”, again. When Chevy updated again in 2014, they did not offer both variants, however, the 2014 was introduced in spring 2013, making for a long model year. Interestingly, Chevy again withheld updating the 2500/3500 pickups and SUVs until spring 2014, as 2015 models. Most recently, Chevy’s new bodystyle in 2019 was also accompanied by the older style, which was denoted as a “LD”, and only offered in lower trims. Again, the 2500/3500 update was held back until this model year of 2020. And, the SUV update hasn’t been released yet, but will soon be as a 2021 model.
Ford offered both styles in 2004, and Dodge did, too, in 2019; however, I think Dodge (I mean Ram) was only a refresh, not a complete redesign.
To me, they are…and remain, the king of the highway. Along with their Tahoe and Avalanche counterparts.
These ones had no Avalanche counterpart; that was the GMT800. But Googling “GMT400 Avalanche” brings up all sorts of backyard Suburban hack jobs, some cleaner and more well-thought-out than others.
This is one of those cars you just keep around forever, because they’re always useful, and they’re inexpensive to maintain. Well, unless you’re Big Momma, who let her ’98-ish fully-loaded GMC Suburban go for a paltry $2,500 as a trade-in on a then-new 2012 Ford Escape Limited. She could’ve gotten a local contractor to pay her at least $5,000, most likely.
Was this GM’s last grand slam home run of a new vehicle? In my corner of the world these were simply everywhere. Of the 3 sets of siblings with families in the late 90s (in the extended families of me and my wife) each one had one of these. I was the odd man out with the Ford Club Wagon, but in truth there was a lot about these Suburbans to like.
I have also noticed that these were a *lot* better against rust than the generation that followed. I could very easily be talked into one of these, even now.
The newer models also haven’t matched the GMT400s in fuel tank size. Over 42 gallons!
Popular with ranchers and farmers, these were the “Cowboy Cadillacs,” that became popular with the upper-middle classes who need (or think they need) a large vehicle for their hobbies. The Suburban has become a replacement for the full-sized station wagon.
Oh, and the article still has the phone number for the “Chevrolet Information Center.”
I own a 99 burb now growls great
Theres a lifted Suburban running around here it seems to have a turbo diesel either originally or implanted judging by the RUC label and large intercooler under the front bumper looks cool but I dont want one. That appears to have been a common theme down under Suburbans appeared down here wearing Holden badges briefly they simply did not sell and the model was withdrawn, too big, drank too much gas, whatever the reason they vanished, The local one like a lot of Chevy and GMC’trucks’ on local roads is ex USA and LHD so the real deal not a bodgy rebadge.
I think one of the reasons for the wide appeal of the new Suburban in 1991 (or was it 1992?) amongst the upper middle class set, was due to the discontinuation of the Grand Wagoneer, the previous “Country Club” SUV. There were others out there, but none with the affordability or competitive price of a Chevy product. The ‘Burb being a bit longer than the Grand Wagoneer is the direct reason for the Tahoe in 1995, and for Ford jumping into the fray in 1997 with the Expedition. The Land Cruiser pumped itself up a bit, but still was a little too small, too foreign, and too expensive to properly compete. Why those morons over at Chrysler Corp didn’t produce a full-size SUV version of their wildly successful new for 1994 pickup eludes me.
People really like these body-on-frame SUVs, and for good reason. They’re not wholly unreasonably priced, and in fact may be considered a good value due to their durability. The resurgence in popularity of the Toyota 4-Runner is a case in point. Durable, versatile, civilized, as well as decently priced, yet in a smaller, more manageable package. Makes me wonder why Chevy hasn’t developed an SUV version of the Colorado, or Ford of their new Ranger. Instead , they sully the Blazer name, and Ford is soon to do the same with the Mustang. Then again, I’m not a market research and product development professional.
I owned a 99 ‘Burban at 200k and put 40,000 generally trouble-free kilometres on it in two years. I loved the comfy seats, the rumble of the engine and the driving position. Another vehicle I regret selling when I did.
I replaced it with a 99 Expedition which was better in every way save the extra room in the back. More refinement, slightly more power, better ride and handling. It was better-engineered and I completely trusted it to manage long distances. However, the Ford didn’t quite have the soul and character of the Suburban nor the good looks. But I put 100k on it in four years and have fond memories of it.
These didn’t have many major issues, except for the transmission. But the little stuff, good grief!
101 items would just fall apart: Door handles, heater control, dash cluster, seat hardware, door panels, window hardware, console doors…