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Mailbag: Why Can’t You Delete Rear Seat Displays In GM SUVs?

Modern vehicles are equipped with a plethora of infotainment features that cater to the convenience and comfort for drivers and passenger. The GM SUV lineup is certainly no exception, offering high-tech features like the Rear Seat Media System (RPO code UW9). However, not all customers find these features useful, which leads to an important question: why can’t you delete the rear seat displays in GM SUVs?

Rear seat displays in a GM SUV.

GM Authority reader Michael P. posed this very question in a recent message:

“I would like to order the GMC Yukon Ultimate, but feel they’re overcharging me by not allowing me to delete something I’ll never use,” Michael writes. “I happen to be older, but even families with young kids would have more use for something that holds personal devices like tablets and phones rather than having to pay for the screens. I wouldn’t pay as an option for a VCR in my SUV, why must I pay for the video screen?”

We think Michael raises a valid point – in an era dominated by personal devices like tablets and smartphones, rear seat displays can feel redundant, if not obsolete. It’s a sentiment that likely resonates other GM SUV buyers, as well.

For reference, the Rear Seat Media System in question (RPO code UW9) includes dual 12.6-inch diagonal color-touch LCD HD screens mounted on the rear seats. The package also includes with two Bluetooth headphones and two HDMI ports located on the back of the center console. The system is standard on luxury trims like the GMC Yukon AT4 Ultimate and GMC Yukon Denali Ultimate.

While some customers may enjoy the entertainment capabilities for long trips or family use, others see it as an unnecessary addition that inflates the overall cost of the vehicle. Critically, GM’s approach to rear seat entertainment contrasts with competitors like Ford. For the 2025 model year, Ford removed rear seat screens from its Expedition lineup in favor of simple device holders, adding simplicity and reducing overall cost.

Indeed, the argument for making the Rear Seat Media System optional is compelling. Entertainment technology is evolving rapidly, and built-in screens may not keep pace with the devices most people already own. Forcing buyers to pay for a feature they might never use diminishes the perceived value of high-end trims like the AT4 Ultimate and Denali Ultimate.

On the flip side, offering the system as an option would lower the base cost of luxury trims, cater to buyers who prefer their own devices, and enhance customer satisfaction by providing greater choice.

Do you agree? Vote in the poll and let us know!

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Jonathan is an automotive journalist based out of Southern California. He loves anything and everything on four wheels.

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Comments

  1. Honda no longer offers them in Pilot models. Ahead of GM as usual.

    Reply
  2. Uniutl they get rid of them entirely (which seems inevitable), they could do as some competitors do and just allow a factory delete of the screens. I’ve done this a couple of times…you don’t get a price reduction, but you do get rid of the 90’s cheese factor

    Reply
  3. I feel like this article was written specifically for me, because it’s exactly how I feel. I have an AT4 Ultimate on order and I really like all the lux features, except I have absolutely no use or need for the rear seat screens.

    Reply
  4. I just ordered a Tahoe High Country and wanted the Hands Free Liftgate but in order to get it i had to buy the rear entertainment screens which I have no need for.

    Reply
    1. GM has been doing this for awhile now. They tie a popular option to a less popular, and generally more expensive (often completely unrelated) option, then force you to select both, or neither. They already know everybody wants the popular option, so they know they’ve got you.
      Clever…

      Reply
      1. You hit the nail on the head!! But because of this practice, Gm is pricing these large utilities out of the average consumers reach. Typical GM, they run down the rabbit hole after COVID and along with all the inflation thinking the demand will continue. They did the same thing with EV’s and CARB. Not everyone wants to be a Californian…

        Reply
  5. GM has been doing this for decades. I had a useless screen in my 2012 Yukon Denali.

    Reply
  6. This describes about 80% of today’s vehicle technology. Most of it is something that you’ll never even notice. But it’s all standard on a new vehicle, as if everybody asked for it, and the main reason is to have an excuse to charge more, while claiming it’s to make the vehicles “competitive.” Literally, the biggest criminal in vehicle inflation is technology.

    Reply
  7. I’ve been waiting for several years to order a 2WD Summit White diesel Suburban.
    Was all set to order the 2024 when at the last minute GM decided to delay the installation of the improved LZ0 engine until 2025. Happy that it happened so I can get the refreshed interior and exterior changes.
    However…. somebody PLEASE splain to me why I can order all (5) models of the
    GMC Yukon XL in Summit White but I can’t order a Summit White Suburban in the either the Premier of High Country model.
    Efficiency my ass !!!
    More like Harvard MBA stupidity !!!

    Reply
  8. Absolutely should be an option item. In today’s tech savvy world I would think they would hardly ever be ordered anyway. I also like the Denali Ultimate but hate the idea of being forced to buy the package that forces you to include the rear seat entertainment system…a complete waste.
    I’m also questioning why the Denali Ultimate level also only gives the buyer ONE interior color option. Really?? At that premium price you don’t give the buyer a choice of interior option colors that even the lowest trim vehicle has?? Not sure who thought that up or why….
    Come on GM – you can do better.

    Reply
  9. You also cannot have the diesel without them adding super cruise as well.

    Reply
  10. This is what happens when you leave it up to the “dreamers” to design and market..

    Reply

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