For 120k, I agree with you, you better get what you want. I usually do a full write up of the suvs I drive, but I can't remember if I did one for the escalade. Ill do one and post.
I hear you about taking my wife to look at an Escalade, however, she has. My dad has one, shes been in it extensively, even driven it. All roads, highways, byways, city, she understands the product. No, his truck isn't fully loaded, but the basics are there, his has everything id want but supercruise and the 36 spkr stereo, and his still was 110kmrsp. We couldn't afford a fully loaded escalade anyway, let alone a bl nav, but the reserve is in my budget. A lot of the things you don't like about the nav and like about the escalade is opposite for both my wife and me. Especially after coming from a 20 nav and having driven them back to back on many occasions.
My wife prefers the handling and braking of the nav. The 6.2, though a smooth motor, takes more throttle to get it going. Also,the brakes take too long to slow it down. The nav felt more flexible, more predictable, nore stable. Its also quicker, and it gets better gas mileage on cheaper fuel.
The seating position and sightings were better in the nav than the escalade. The escalade hood sits way too high, and the seats are low compared to window height. Not having a hud is still a miss, but we dont miss it, we dont think the screen is distracting, and sits at the perfect height, though my wife wished the steering wheel go set a bit lower. Also, not having adjustable pedals is a huge no-no for my wife. Idk about the turning circle. The escalade did feel more maneuverable than our old nav, but the same as the new one.
The older nav seats were better than the escalade. The new ones are still softer and more comfy overall, but I agree with you, long term, those aggressive adjustment points would become a huge issue. Also I agree that the lower lumbar is the problem, and it was the same in the 2nd row seat with massage. I think its the trucks with massage seats, the expy without them aren't nearly as bad. Speaking of expy, All seats are crazy comfortable. Also, the center console on both fords is superior to the escalade, though the tahoe is slightly better, in terms of cubbies, space and flexibility. For the pre refresh escalade, the wireless charger is fantastic, why they moved it away from the driver on my25 is beyond me.
My biggest disappointment with the nav is the interior details and decor. My nav was a reserve and it felt special inside without the extra flourishes you get with the bl. The new one, though better built, feels lacking. Where's the metal finishes, why the
ambient lighting g so basic, where's the metal speaker grills? The nautilus bl has all those things, why not the nav?
The second row seats are a huge deal breaker for us. For our needs, back to back, we could never buy in with the tumble seats over the tilt seats. For dogs, I can see why its preferred, but for a family, the tilt option is way better to us. Also, my dads seats would also hit the seatback, as well as my nav, if the front seat is set all the way back. An annoyance with the escalade though, when returning the seat up, it always set itself in the middle of the track instead of the rear. People getting in always get squished and have to move the seat to its rear most position. Rarely ever had that issue with my nav or previous expy.
The escalade has more tech. Idk about the 25 escalade, but the 22 isn't the most user friendly either, a huge readon i oreferred my 20 nav. My dads truck doesn't have supercruise, it doesnt even have lane centering. Their performance using adaptive cruise control seems about the same. I haven't heard the 36 spkr stereo, but its a popular consensus its one of the beat in the biz. The 28 spkr unit in the nav is great and i got chills listening to it, I can still see it not being as good though. I liked the 14 spkr revel in my nav,and thought it sounded a tad better than the 19 spkr akg though less surrounding in the rear. The 22 spkr in the expy is as good as the 19 akg, which I actually happy about.
Also, like I stated before, we think the new nav and expy rides better than his current escy. Literally drove them less than a cpl days apart(expy and escalade), and we both agree the fords are better. His has the mrc suspension, no air. Though I want to drive one with air, the slightly better ride will not sway her over everything else. Without air springs, the fords still ride incredible, way better than the my22s I've tested and better than my 20 nav by far, and better than everything else weve driven. Idk if you've driven anything but the escalade, but i will say your navigator is better than the qx80, lx600, and grand wagoneer. We didnt really feel the nvh through the pedals or steering, but looking back, there is a slight jiggle upon start up and taking off. The escalade does have a "smoother" feel on smooth roads, with more of a calm glide with barely any seat or floor jitters. The build quality was very apparent between his and my nav, but the new nav and expy feel as solid and substantial. However, over bumpy backroads or imperfect pavement, the fords feel tighter and less crashy.
Also also(lol), she didnt like the qx80 or gw for her reasons. The qx80 was too stiff and didn't feel any different from the
armada, she also wasnt a huge fan of the dash. The gw is too ugly, though to me is one of the better pkgd fs suvs. I tele like the escalade though thanks to my dads. He had a 15 and i did not like it, the 2022 is a huge improvement and more impressive. I liked the denali and escalade pre refresh, but now i think the tahoe is the best looking gm, which is why i wanted her to test one(her cousin had a 22 tahoe, and even her cousin said our 20 nav was a better car). If my wife liked the tahoe, i wouldve tried to get one of the remaining escalades on sale, there was a rele good lease deal for one with the options i wanted. We've driven tahoe,
armada and sequoia, and none are as nice or as balanced with content, drivability and comfort as the expy, though I did think the
armada was gonna be in our driveway before we drove the expy.
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