The Car Connection Expert Review
Likes
- Crisp styling
- Interior keeps getting better
- Denali and Ultimate luxury touches
- Super Cruise availability
- Grunty, powerful V-8
Dislikes
- Some garages need not apply
- Escalade features=near-Escalade prices
- No need for this turbodiesel
- You’ll wish you owned a gas station
Buying tip
features & specs
The 2025 GMC Yukon bristles with flagship-level technology and conveniences, particularly as a Denali Ultimate.
What kind of vehicle is the 2025 GMC Yukon? What does it compare to?
In either standard-wheelbase form or as a supersized long-wheelbase SUV, the GMC Yukon and Yukon XL take General Motors’ biggest sport-utility form and make luxury a deciding factor. Sold in trims that include an Elevation, AT4, and Denali—the latter two now have Ultimate upgrades available—the 2025 Yukon rivals the Cadillac Escalade, Chevy Tahoe and Suburban, and Ford’s Expedition and Lincoln Navigator.
Is the 2025 GMC Yukon a good SUV?
It’s been a player in the large-SUV niche thanks to its Cadillac-quality features and its impressive towing and hauling ratings. Last year’s model earned a TCC Rating of 6.3 out of 10. We’ll update that score once we drive this refreshed model. (Read more about how we rate cars.)
What's new for the 2025 GMC Yukon?
The Yukon wears some freshly tailored duds this year, with mild updates to its front and rear styling. A blocky grille, big C-shaped LED headlights, and tastefully cloaked slab sides remain its hallmarks. The bigger news comes inside, where a restyled dash factors in a 16.8-inch touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and on some versions, an 8.0-inch touchscreen for rear-seat passengers for climate controls.
Powertrains include the excellent base 5.3-liter V-8 rated at 355 hp; a 420-hp 6.2-liter V-8; and a 3.0-liter turbodiesel-6, now rated at 305 hp and a stout 495 lb-ft of torque and now offered on every model. All three pair with a 10-speed automatic and either rear- or four-wheel drive. Fuel economy’s abysmal in the gas V-8s, falling to about 16 mpg combined; the diesel has been rated at 23 mpg combined, but it’s expensive, and so is its fuel.
Across the lineup, the Yukon sports front and rear independent suspensions that work best when shod with the available air suspension and magnetically controlled dampers. Wheel-and-tire combinations increase in size from standard 20-inchers to 22s to the massive 24-inchers on the Denali Ultimate, wrapped in 285/40R rubber.
Towing ratings peak on the Yukon at 8,400 pounds, and at 8,200 pounds on the Yukon XL. GMC fits the Yukon with all sorts of systems to aid that use, from trailer-reverse assistance to an auxiliary camera for use on the rear of trailers to maintain that view once hitched.
With a wheelbase of 120.9 inches on the Yukon and 134.1 inches on the XL, these SUVs are among the most spacious on the road. Up to nine passengers and cargo can be accommodated, and in the Yukon XL, the third-row seat’s good for even the largest passengers—though access to it remains a stretch. At almost 19 feet long, it barely fits in many garages. Cargo volume maxes out at 122.9 cubic feet behind the Yukon’s front seats, and at a gargantuan 144.7 cubic feet behind the front seats in the Yukon XL.
The Yukon includes automatic emergency braking that detects pedestrians, bicyclists, and cross-intersection traffic. It also can be equipped with GM’s excellent Super Cruise driver-assistance system, which maintains safe driving hands-free on what GM says will be a network of 750,000 miles of Canadian and U.S. roads by the end of 2025. If only the Yukon’s crash-test scores were better: The NHTSA has given the current vehicle just four stars overall in crash tests.
How much does the 2025 GMC Yukon cost?
Last year’s Yukon started in the low $60,000s, and that should rise at least a couple thousand dollars. The best amenities and tech come with the Denali, which has been priced upward of $75,000. Those top features will include 24-inch wheels; 16-way heated and cooled front seats; a 22-speaker Bose audio system; and an AT4 Ultimate package with a front skid plate and 20-inch wheels, open-pore wood trim, and three-row leather seats. Stay tuned for all prices and equipment lists later this year.
Where is the 2025 GMC Yukon made?
In Arlington, Texas.
