04 Yukon Xl 4wd Leather Buckets 80k Miles Certified Warranty Net Direct Auto Tex on 2040-cars

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Porsche and Buick earn top honors in J.D. Power Sales Satisfaction Index Study

Customer satisfaction with car buying has been at a low point over the past few years, as price increases, inventory shortages, and COVID restrictions have complicated every part of the process. There are signs of improvement, however, as J.D. Power’s 2023 U.S. Sales Satisfaction Index Study showed that customer satisfaction has improved slightly from a year ago. J.D. Power rates satisfaction on a 1,000-point scale, finding that it improved seven points to 793 from last year. Improving inventory levels and a slow leveling off of prices have contributed to that improvement, and fewer people are paying above MSRP for new cars. Some auto brands performed better than others with sales satisfaction. Porsche ranked highest among premium brands, followed by Alfa Romeo. Buick took the top spot among mass-market brands, with GMC, Chevrolet, and Mitsubishi behind. J.D. Power also handed out segment-level awards: Premium Cars: Porsche Premium SUV: Porsche Mass-Market Car: Chevrolet Mass-Market SUV/Minivan: GMC Mass-Market Truck: GMC Despite the increase in sales satisfaction, thereÂ’s still room for improvement to reach pre-pandemic levels. J.D. Power noted gaps in salesperson knowledge as an area of improvement. Buyers rated salespeople much better during a gas vehicle purchase than with EVs, citing their expertise as a challenge. Pricing remains a challenge despite an improvement since 2022, and satisfaction is still below pre-pandemic levels. Mass-market buyers reported a slight bump in satisfaction, while premium buyers felt that pricing was less fair than a year before. ItÂ’s an interesting contrast, showing that dealer pricing tactics can significantly impact satisfaction with the sales process. Fewer people may be paying more than MSRP, but several premium models still list with significant markups. Even more interesting is PorscheÂ’s top spot on the satisfaction list, as its cars often sell with huge upcharges, and itÂ’s exceedingly tricky even to get a build allocation for some models. Buick Chevrolet GMC Porsche Car Buying Ownership

GMC's Denali offerings are going great guns

The Denali trim that GMC uses to denote its top-of-the-line vehicles was introduced back in 1999, partly as a way to challenge the recently introduced Lincoln Navigator. Fifteen years later, and with GMC the tenth-largest US automotive brand by itself Denali has become a sub-brand that keeps the cash registers ringing at the Renaissance Center HQ. While GMC increased sales by 9 percent in 2013, TheDetroitBureau.com reports that that Denali sales rose by 20 percent.
There are currently five Denali models in the GMC line, with the Denali trim available on all but its commercial vans. In 2010, when the now-discontinued Yukon XL Hybrid was also on sale, GMC sold 32,886 units of its top trim. Last year, that number had increased to 75,558, with almost no help from traditional marketing spends. Go to YouTube and search for "GMC Denali commercials" - the few actual commercial results are from years ago. GMC marketing director Roger McCormack tells TheDetroitBureau.com, "It's largely all been organic."
As sales have grown, so has the tide of money GMC rakes in from the additional luxury features on Denali models. The 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe starts at $44,600, yet its 2014 Yukon Denali doppelganger starts at $58,320, pricing that includes additional features like the larger 6.2-liter V8, nicer interior, head-up display and magnetic ride control suspension. The Yukon XL Denali starts at $60,965, but the article says the "average customer" likely to spend "up and above $70,000" to take one home. How does that happen? On a top-trim Tahoe LTZ, the top-tier wheel option is a set of 20-inch chrome wheels for $400; on the 'base' Yukon Denali you can swap for a set of 22-inch chrome alloys for $2,995. Add it up, and an analyst at AutoTrends Consulting said that kind of margin "epitomizes the concept of obscene profitability." We say when it comes to Denali, GMC appears to stand for "Grabbing More Cash."

2022 GMC Acadia gets small changes, price hike

GMC put conspicuous effort into the 2020 Acadia, adding a few more embellishments this year. For 2022 the Acadia gets another nuanced rework, the most important change being the elimination of both the base SL trim and the 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine. The Acadia SLE, the next trim level up from the SL, this year offers the 2.5-liter four-cylinder and 3.0-liter V6 in front-wheel-drive guise. Next year, the only engine available for the front-driver SLE will be the 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder. The spec rearrangement jacks up the Acadia's barrier to entry to $35,995 for the new base model, a $5,000 increase over 2021. There's some give-and-take in the details to even out the exchange. Buyers this year needed to step up to the SLE in all-wheel-drive trim to get access to the 2.0-liter, which started at $38,295, and keeps that price for next year. But SLE pricing only goes up by $900 to swap the 2.0-liter for the 2.5-liter, not much money for a lot more power. The 2.5-liter produces 193 horsepower and 188 pound-feet of torque, the 2.0-liter makes 230 hp and 258 lb-ft. One more cut sees the Acadia AT4 with the five-passenger cabin struck from the menu, six- and seven-passenger seating the only choices. And one more swap sees the $495 Red Mahogany Metallic premium exterior paint replaced by the $495 Light Stone Metallic. Upgrades include new 18- and 20-inch wheel designs, and all 2022 Acadias get the Pro Safety Plus package standard. That installs driver assistance features such as Automatic Emergency Braking, IntelliBeam headlights, Front and Rear Park Assist, Forward Collision Alert, and Rear Cross Traffic Alert. And Traction Select, GMC's name for road surface and terrain modes, is also standard across the lineup.  The 2022 Acadia entered production at GM's Spring Hill, Tennessee plant at the end of last month, the configurator is live now. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.