Denali exterior vs All-terrain exterior - thoughts?

mrsullivan · March 16, 2014

I know that I am in the minority, but I do not like all the chrome and bling of the Denali exterior. I love the Denali interior. I am within a whisker of pulling the trigger on my Denali, after a lot of good advice on this forum about options, other models, etc. The "last mile" for me is resolving this issue. I do not like the interior on the all terrain... the carbon fiber look alike feels very out of place to me, I just don't like it. I LOVE the exterior look of the All Terrain. I feel that exact opposite about the Denali. I don't like the outside chrome bling as much, but I love the interior. Why not an SLT? A couple reasons - I don't like the chrome bumper as much as body color and I very much want a 6.2l engine. Yes I could order one, but if I want to buy off lot/inventory for a better deal, the vast majority of 6.2 are in the Denalis. Like the configurable gauges and a few other things too.

So bottom line, anyone else change the chrome bling exterior look on their Denali? I know for many, they seek that part out. Not me. I would bubble wrap the grill and just replace with an OEM All Terrain grill. Anyone else do that? Is it doable? thanks

Cliff14Denali · March 16, 2014

I'm not a big fan of all the bling on the Denali as well but I ordered it anyway. I plan on de-badging my Denali except for denali badges. As far as the grill, I would love to see the grill surround to be color matched instead of chrome but leave the chrome honeycomb denali grill opening. I already have white door handles, mirror caps and black window moldings ready to go as soon as I get the truck. Even debated having the denali emblems blacked out.

mrsullivan · March 16, 2014

I like the All Terrain exterior much better, but prefer the Denali interior/options... thinking about de-chroming my Denali exterior after taking delivery... too much bling.... change out grill and wheels....i personally could not live with the All Terrain quasi-carbon fiber interior, or I would have bought that truck...but its purely a personal preference/opinion. I wish they made a truck with All Terrain outside and Denali inside! :-)

bdbake01 · March 16, 2014

I'm an AT man myself. I like the interior personally. Usually I look at fake carbon fiber and cringe, but in this case it's so very subtle that I didn't realize at first that it was supposed to be carbon fiber, just kinda looked like houndstooth or something. Also love the red stitching and the pseudo blackout inside. Exterior, definitely like the looks of the AT better. For my $$$, the significant extra coin for the Denali was just not worth it considering you really don't get all the much in terms of extra goodies, and I didn't like the looks as much. Just my opinion.

PickUPS · March 16, 2014

I’m not a fan of faux carbon-fiber weave either. Even the real stuff can be in bad taste when used for form rather than function IMO. The fake wood panels in the interiors of the mid trim levels are even worse. As fake wood goes, it’s not the worst I’ve seen. The underlying plastic is well suited to carry-off the illusion of highly polished wood. The wood-print colors, punchy-contrast and fine resolution are also top notch. The affect is still Fake-Fake-Fake.

I’ve been coming back to the General for my transportation needs for the last 2/3rds of my auto-buying life. One reason has been that the interiors have struck me as being better than the competition. To my mind, they still are better but these slabs of plastic printed to imitate materials they clearly are-not belong inside a 1970s Oldsmobile, not a modern truck.

roadblock · March 16, 2014

Only thing I like better about the Denali is the upgraded DIC, otherwise the All Terrain all the way. Fake carbon fibre is better than fake wood and over abundance of chrome.

Although you're correct, could just de-chrome the Denali, but the All Terrain costs alot less too.

redwngr · March 16, 2014

I'd get a Denali, IF they made it in a double cab.

I want the shorter wheelbase, but don't want the 5'8" box.

KMGZ400 · March 16, 2014

It's all personal opinion.. There isn't one the better or worse then the other. I like the Denali better but I don't like the rims that come with the Denali. The AT GMC rims are awesome looking

mrsullivan · March 16, 2014

Sort of hearing the same opinion, wish you could mix and match :-) I love the interior of the denali, including the wood. Fake or not, its darker/greyer and subtle (and different) compared to the other trim levels. I would rather have it, all the rest of the goodies, than the psuedo-carbon fiber stuff, red stitching, etc. I am not insulting anyones truck, I know this is all very personal. But for me, belongs in a GT3, not a truck. But boy I hate all the chrome on the exterior. I think I will just need to buy a Denali and de-chrome it. I have a post over in the accessories section asking how to do that. I sure do like the look of the AT from the exterior, including those great wheels.

MotoMedic · March 16, 2014

I really wished GM would offer an upper end Anglo package that did not have all the ghetto chrome or huge wheels.

I'm sure your local dealer would be willing to swap all those "ghetto chrome" Denali parts with with black ones off a Sierra work truck for free! ha

Shier32 · March 16, 2014

I know that I am in the minority, but I do not like all the chrome and bling of the Denali exterior. I love the Denali interior. I am within a whisker of pulling the trigger on my Denali, after a lot of good advice on this forum about options, other models, etc. The "last mile" for me is resolving this issue. I do not like the interior on the all terrain... the carbon fiber look alike feels very out of place to me, I just don't like it. I LOVE the exterior look of the All Terrain. I feel that exact opposite about the Denali. I don't like the outside chrome bling as much, but I love the interior. Why not an SLT? A couple reasons - I don't like the chrome bumper as much as body color and I very much want a 6.2l engine. Yes I could order one, but if I want to buy off lot/inventory for a better deal, the vast majority of 6.2 are in the Denalis. Like the configurable gauges and a few other things too.

So bottom line, anyone else change the chrome bling exterior look on their Denali? I know for many, they seek that part out. Not me. I would bubble wrap the grill and just replace with an OEM All Terrain grill. Anyone else do that? Is it doable? thanks

You said you "love" the Denali interior, but "LOVE" the exterior of the All Terrain. It seems to me that your love for the All Terrain exterior is greater than your love for the Denali interior.

Jon A · March 16, 2014

So bottom line, anyone else change the chrome bling exterior look on their Denali? I know for many, they seek that part out. Not me. I would bubble wrap the grill and just replace with an OEM All Terrain grill. Anyone else do that? Is it doable? thanks

Yes, you should be able to get an AT grill new, sell your Denali grill on ebay and probably roughly break even. I was originally planning to do that--actually taking it one step farther and replacing the center section of the AT grill with a black mesh aftermarket insert--and I still might eventually, but I've put it on hold for a while as the Denali grill has sort of grown on me. I'm thinking the Denali grill will hide a lightbar behind it better than the others as well. Body color surround with black mesh center would look pretty good though....

I mainly liked the configurable dash on the Denali, but also felt the darker real wood trim, fancy leather & stitching did look a bit classier than the other options.

Imcrazy · March 16, 2014

I'm not a fan of the chrome grille on the denali or chrome in general I prefer the AT package exteriors to any othe option. I'd love it if my SLE had painted bumpers instead of chrome!

GTD · March 16, 2014

Initially I wanted an AT because I too like the minimal chrome look. However, if I recall correctly heated/cooled leather bucket seats weren't available. A few other factors came into play, think options I wanted were included in Denali base model. My original thinking was it might be easier to get the 6.2 during the time of engine constraints in the Denali. Had also talked with sales manager about swaping for AT grill.

Anyway difficult time picking color, ended up going with silver. To me all the over-chrome of a dark colored Denali doesn't stand out, sort of blends in. I like it just the way it is.

Initially I wanted an AT because I too like the minimal chrome look. However, if I recall correctly heated/cooled leather bucket seats weren't available. A few other factors came into play, think options I wanted were included in Denali base model. My original thinking was it might be easier to get the 6.2 during the time of engine constraints in the Denali. Had also talked with sales manager about swaping for AT grill.

Anyway difficult time picking color, ended up going with silver. To me all the over-chrome of a dark colored Denali doesn't stand out, sort of blends in. I like it just the way it is.

Initially I wanted an AT because I too like the minimal chrome look. However, if I recall correctly heated/cooled leather bucket seats weren't available. A few other factors came into play, think options I wanted were included in Denali base model. My original thinking was it might be easier to get the 6.2 during the time of engine constraints in the Denali. Had also talked with sales manager about swaping for AT grill.

Anyway difficult time picking color, ended up going with silver. To me all the over-chrome of a dark colored Denali doesn't stand out, sort of blends in. I like it just the way it is.