2025 GMC Yukon

REVIEW AND TEST DRIVE

2025 GMC Yukon Review and Test Drive

Updated styling, a refreshed cabin, and improved technology give this full-size SUV real appeal.

Perry Stern | 

Apr 7, 2025 | 7 min read

Perry Stern

The big and bold 2025 Yukon stands tall as the flagship full-size SUV of the GMC lineup. This year, it boasts a fresh look; an updated, high-tech cabin that doesn't skimp on luxury appointments; and a powerful V8 engine. Combine all that with plenty of towing capacity, and the 2025 GMC Yukon is a strong choice for transporting the whole family in style.

GMC offers the 2025 Yukon in standard and extended Yukon XL body styles and five trim levels: Elevation, AT4, Denali, AT4 Ultimate, and Denali Ultimate. Rear-wheel drive is standard with the Yukon Elevation and Denali, and four-wheel drive is included on all other versions of the SUV. Base prices range from around $70,000 to more than $100,000, including the destination charge to ship the SUV from the Arlington, Texas, assembly plant to your local dealership.

For this Yukon review, I evaluated a standard-length Denali Ultimate 4WD in southeastern Michigan. Optional equipment included Titanium Rush Metallic paint, Night Vision, a Denali Ultimate Appearance Package, an Illumination Package, and a Floor Liner Package, bringing the manufacturer's suggested retail price to $108,955, including the $1,995 destination charge. GMC provided the vehicle for this 2025 Yukon review.

Perry Stern

Is the 2025 GMC Yukon a Good SUV?

The GMC Yukon delivers the attributes expected of a full-size SUV, including comfortable seating in all three rows, plenty of cargo space, and V8 power. A V8 is unavailable or not standard on competitors such as the Ford Expedition, Nissan Armada, and Toyota Sequoia. Opting for the Denali Ultimate adds a high level of luxury and an extensive standard feature list that I believe makes the Yukon a real rival to the Cadillac Escalade — while remaining considerably less expensive and arguably less ostentatious.

Perry Stern

What's New for the 2025 GMC Yukon Denali Ultimate?

GMC last redesigned the Yukon for the 2021 model year, so the SUV was ready for a refresh. The exterior changes include stylish new LED headlights and a bolder grille, and, for the first time, the Denali Ultimate can roll up with massive 24-inch wheels. However, the most significant updates for the 2025 Yukon are to the interior.

The new Yukon's cabin is much more high tech than before, highlighted by the standard 16.8-inch vertical touchscreen display showcasing a Google-based infotainment system. There's also an updated 11.0-inch digital driver display, an available 8.0-inch climate control touchscreen for rear-seat passengers, and an optional infrared-based Night Vision system, available exclusively on the Ultimate — another first for the Yukon.

Moving the gear selector to the steering column helps create a cleaner look, further enhanced by putting physical switches at the bottom of the display screen. The top-level Denali Ultimate ups its luxury game with 16-way power heated and ventilated front seats in full-grain leather; open-pore wood trim with topographical etchings; chrome accents; and contrasting stitching on the seats, dashboard, and doors.

Also new for the 2025 model year is the Yukon AT4 Ultimate, adding high-end features to the off-road-ready AT4. Standout equipment includes 20-inch wheels and a cabin full of leather trim and wood accents.

Perry Stern

Technology Upgrades for the 2025 GMC Yukon

Like GMC's small Terrain and midsize Acadia SUVs, the Yukon now features a large vertical touchscreen. In the Yukon, the screen is a generous 16.8 inches. During my test drive, I found it easy to customize to show preferred features on the home screen, and overall it's an elegant presentation of menus and data. Despite being Google based, the system can run Apple CarPlay or Android Auto through a wireless connection.

Climate functions show in the lower portion of the display, but rather than make everything digital, GMC deftly integrates physical climate controls at the bottom of the screen. A large volume knob is present, too, located in the center of the display.

A configurable 11.0-inch digital driver display is also new for the 2025 Yukon. I used it to show a full navigation map view, driver-assistance status, or relevant information like the current audio selection or step-by-step directions to a destination. The test vehicle also had a 15.0-inch head-up display projecting additional information directly onto the windshield in front of the driver.

Perry Stern

The Night Vision system is one of the new Yukon's more innovative optional features. It shows a live infrared view of the road ahead in the digital driver display, providing sight beyond the reach of the headlights. The system can recognize people and animals, highlight them in the driver display, and issue an alert in the head-up display.

The Yukon already had an extensive list of advanced driver-assistance systems, and the updated model receives further enhancements. New features include braking for pedestrians and bicycles, side bicyclist alert, rear cross-traffic braking, and intersection assist, which can apply automatic emergency braking when making a left turn in front of an oncoming vehicle.

GMC also expands its trailer-towing technology this year to include additional safety features. The Yukon, which can tow up to 8,400 pounds, now offers extended blind-spot warning with steering assist, guidelines that show the path of the trailer when reversing, and a Jackknife Alert that tracks the angle between the trailer and the SUV, warning the driver if a jackknife is imminent.

Perry Stern

On the Road in the 2025 GMC Yukon

My test vehicle had the Yukon's available 6.2-liter V8 engine, an upgrade over the standard 5.3-liter V8. The 6.2 delivers a plentiful 420 horsepower and 460 pound-feet of torque through a 10-speed automatic transmission. GMC also offers a fuel-efficient Duramax turbo-diesel 3.0-liter inline six-cylinder engine, which is more powerful for 2025 with 305 horsepower and 495 lb-ft of torque.

While the 6.2-liter V8 has excellent power, it's unlikely to win any fuel-economy awards. The EPA estimates that the Yukon Denali 4WD model that I test-drove will average 16 mpg in combined city and highway driving, about the same as the 15.5 mpg shown on the trip computer during my time in the SUV.

Compare that with the result in my recent review of the 2025 Nissan Armada, which has a powerful twin-turbocharged V6 and, during my test drive, averaged nearly 19 mpg. So while the V8 sounds great, it comes at a cost.

Perry Stern

Nevertheless, plentiful power is always available, whether accelerating from a stop or when already at speed, and the Yukon moves quickly. While the ride is smooth and quiet on the freeway, broken pavement and dirt roads make themselves known with a surprisingly bouncy ride. The Yukon Denali has a standard adaptive air suspension, but it struggled to smooth the ride on rough Michigan roads, likely due to the Ultimate model's 24-inch wheels.

Aside from its lackluster fuel economy, the Yukon Denali is an ideal vehicle for a long road trip. I thoroughly enjoyed the heated, massaging seats while listening to tunes on the new 22-speaker Bose Performance Series audio system, which includes speakers in the front-seat head restraints.

Super Cruise added to the relaxed highway cruising. Super Cruise is a hands-free driver-assistance system expected to be available on about 750,000 miles of road in the United States and Canada by the end of 2025. Seamlessly handling the steering, braking, and acceleration to provide a less stressful driving experience, the system can also automatically pass slower vehicles and return to its original lane.

Perry Stern

The GMC Yukon was already an impressive full-size SUV, and the updates to the 2025 model just make it better. The refreshed exterior styling and massive 24-inch wheels, standard on the Denali Ultimate, add to the bold look, and the clean interior design — with its appealing blend of luxury and technology — represents a welcome update. While the 6.2-liter V8 may not be as fuel efficient as the twin-turbo V6 engines in some competitors, the Yukon Denali excels at hauling people and cargo in the utmost comfort and style.

Perry Stern

As a small child, Perry was constantly playing with toy cars and trucks, and that enthusiasm for anything motorized with wheels never faded. After college, he moved to Seattle and began his long automotive career working in an automotive consulting firm, helping customers choose the right vehicle for their needs. In the late 1990s, Perry joined Microsoft to work on CarPoint, part of the new Microsoft Network (MSN). He went on to become editor of the site, remaining on staff for 20 years before venturing out on his own. Today, in addition to his work on Capital One Auto Navigator, he still contributes to MSN, as well as J.D. Power, TrueCar.com, and U.S. News & World Report. Perry lives in the small town of Dexter, Michigan, with his wife and dog, and he still smiles when he sees his 2006 Mazda Miata in the garage.