Compare the2025 GMC YukonVS 2025 Cadillac Escalade

Both the Yukon and Escalade have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Yukon has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The Escalade’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.

The Yukon has a standard front seat center airbag, which deploys between the driver and front passenger, protecting them from injuries caused by striking each other in serious side impacts. The Escalade doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.

Both the Yukon and the Escalade have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, around view monitors, rear cross-path warning, available all wheel drive, night vision systems and driver alert monitors.

There are almost 3 times as many GMC dealers as there are Cadillac dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Yukon’s warranty.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2024 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that GMC vehicles are better in initial quality than Cadillac vehicles. With 13 fewer problems per 100 vehicles, JD Power ranks GMC higher than Cadillac.

The Yukon’s 3.0 turbo diesel produces 35 lbs.-ft. more torque (495 vs. 460) than the Escalade’s 6.2 V8.

On the EPA test cycle the Yukon gets better mileage than the Escalade:

The Yukon Denali 4x4 handles at .73 G’s, while the Escalade Sport Platinum 4WD pulls only .67 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

The GMC Yukon may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 50 to 200 pounds less than the Cadillac Escalade.

The Yukon has .2 inches more rear legroom, .3 inches more rear hip room and .5 inches more rear shoulder room than the Escalade.

The Yukon’s cargo area provides more volume than the Escalade.

Maximum trailer towing in the Cadillac Escalade is limited to 8100 pounds. The Yukon offers up to a 8200 lbs. towing capacity.

In case you lock your keys in your vehicle, or don’t have them with you, you can let yourself in using the Yukon’s available exterior PIN entry system. The Escalade doesn’t offer an exterior PIN entry system, and its OnStar® can’t unlock the doors if the vehicle doesn’t have cell phone reception or the driver can’t contact the service.

Insurance will cost less for the Yukon owner. The Complete Car Cost Guide estimates that insurance for the Yukon will cost $1400 to $2545 less than the Escalade over a five-year period.

The Yukon will cost the buyer less in the long run because of its superior resale value. The IntelliChoice estimates that the Yukon will retain 53.72% to 56.98% of its original price after five years, while the Escalade only retains 48.69% to 51.52%.

According to The Car Book by Jack Gillis, the Yukon is less expensive to operate than the Escalade because typical repairs cost much less on the Yukon than the Escalade, including $105 less for a muffler, $16 less for front brake pads, $610 less for front struts and $885 less for a power steering pump.

The GMC Yukon/Yukon XL outsold the Cadillac Escalade by almost two to one during 2023.