The ESV is the Escalade that solves the problem the standard car does not. Both seat seven; only the ESV still has a boot once the third row is up. That single difference is why it is the car that meets flights, moves a wedding party, and carries a production crew with their cases — nobody has to travel with a bag on their lap and nobody follows in a second vehicle.
Inside, the current car is genuinely quiet. Independent rear suspension and adaptive dampers keep the freeway expansion joints on the 105 out of the cabin, the third row is a place an adult can sit for an hour without complaining, and the second-row captain's chairs have their own climate controls. The 6.2-litre V8 is unhurried and never sounds like it is working.
Honest hook: it is a very large vehicle. It is superb on a freeway and at a kerb, and it is hard work in a tight Santa Monica parking structure. If the week is mostly city driving for two, a smaller SUV in the fleet is the better car.
- Seven seats AND luggage space behind the third row — the ESV difference
- Independent rear suspension: quiet and settled at freeway speed
- Second-row captain's chairs with their own climate controls
- The default airport and wedding car · $399