2018 GMC Terrain Gets a Price Bump; Denali Model Gets Even Denalier

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

Not surprisingly, you’ll pay more for the redesigned 2018 GMC Terrain than its squared-off predecessor, but you’ll pay considerably more for the top-flight Denali variant.

Perhaps this isn’t surprising, as the luxury Denali trim is General Motors’ favorite way to squeeze profit give consumers what they want from GMC’s lineup.

A base front-wheel-wheel drive 2018 Terrain SL carries a pre-delivery MSRP of $25,970 — $1,900 more than its 2017 equivalent. Early production models will only come with a 252-horsepower, turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder. Later, customers can opt for a turbo 1.5-liter making 170 hp or a 1.6-liter diesel four that offers 240 lb-ft of torque on top of its 137 hp. Both gasoline engines come with a nine-speed automatic transmission.

The diesel, which retains the six-speed, can be mated to front-or all-wheel-drive Terrains in mid-range SLE and SLT trim.

Customers will obviously have to wait for an entry-level Terrain when the upgraded model goes on sale this summer. Denali customers needn’t worry, as the 2.0-liter comes standard. However, those buyers can expect to pay a pricier premium to move up to the top of the trim ladder.

A front-drive 2018 Terrain Denali retails for $38,495 before its $975 delivery charge —a $4,220 increase over last year’s FWD Denali. Moving up to an all-wheel-drive model brings a MSRP of $40,245, or $3,295 above a comparable 2017 model. Of course, the two models aren’t equal.

For 2018, the Denali variant, having dropped the old model’s available V6 engine and six-speed automatic transmission, adopts standard 19-inch wheels, a host of driver’s aids, a 8.0-inch infotainment system with navigation, programmable power liftgate and GMC’s industry-exclusive rear seat warning system.

[Image: General Motors]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • Buickman Buickman on May 03, 2017

    rear quarter panels create blind spots and give this thing the look of a reject from a Lincoln design studio. in other words, yuck!

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    • Sam Hall Sam Hall on May 04, 2017

      @Drzhivago138 My prediction is that these will sell like hotcakes in China, because something about the styling just screams Asian to me. And yeah, while I kinda like the floating roof from a visual perspective, it just so fake-fakety-fake-fake, like "hardtops" with hidden b-pillars, or those silver-painted bumper inserts on CUVs that are made to resemble skidplates.

  • Hummer Hummer on May 04, 2017

    Who puts their money on this and then looks at it in their drive way thinking how proud they are of their purchase? Jeez, 20 years ago if a manufacturer threw something this awful on consumers it would bomb harder than the Aztec. The outgoing model was such a terrible engineering and design failure I expected them to let that nameplate die. I wonder if rolling down the rear windows still makes the car sound like it's going to implode.

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    • NormSV650 NormSV650 on May 07, 2017

      @28-Cars-Later The Encore was returned at lease end. Impressive car with not a single problem from Korea. We have a Buick Envision now

  • Wolfwagen Is it me or have auto shows just turned to meh? To me, there isn't much excitement anymore. it's like we have hit a second malaise era. Every new vehicle is some cookie-cutter CUV. No cutting-edge designs. No talk of any great powertrains, or technological achievements. It's sort of expected with the push to EVs but there is no news on that front either. No new battery tech, no new charging tech. Nothing.
  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
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