Need 7 Seater SUV

[afrotl]

Originally posted by r3ccOs
Highlander/RX350, Pilot, MDX FTW

Pathfinder has issues with the CVT

Toureg, Durango and Cherokee are overpriced and the dodges/heeps are imo unreliable

Another series are the Traverse/Acadia which are an exceptional value and have shown to be quite reliable

if you can tolerate the gas, the new Expedition with the 2nd gen ECO or the Tahoe/Suburban/Yukon/Escalade with either the 5.3 or 6.2 are going to be solid choices

heard great things about sorrento, santafe XL and CX9, but I'm not sure they are in the class for reliablity or resale when compared to yota/Honda

The cx9 looking good so far. Dont think the RX350 has a 3rd row.

[afrotl]

Originally posted by r3ccOs


there is a reason why the pathfinders are showing up so discounted on the used market... the CVT just doesn't hold up and I don't even know anyone other than Nissan that has kept with it

Thanks for the heads up ..i saw that on the reviews.

[bh87]

Originally posted by cjblair
Lexus GX460. Still 7 seater, smaller than LX570. Bulletproof.

+1, love mine.

PM me if you need a contact person at Lexus, a family member works in management at Royal Oak.

[afrotl]

Originally posted by bh87


+1, love mine.

PM me if you need a contact person at Lexus, a family member works in management at Royal Oak.

Thanks I will for sure when I am ready. What year is yours?

[Mitsu3000gt]

I very recently drove the following 7-seaters:

Kia Sorento (Santa Fe): Really nice vehicle. 2.0T feels a lot better than the V6 and works better with the transmission. Full of technology. Great interior, easily on par with the competition. Drove nice, just generally a good vehicle. Only thing I would be worried about is residuals/resale. If you can get over the Kia brand name, it really is quite a nice vehicle. Looks good too IMO. I think a lot of people don't even bother looking at it because it's a Kia but they might be missing out.

Honda Pilot: I was shocked at how crappy the interior was. Cheap, hard plastic absolutely everywhere. Everything felt cheap. I couldn't believe that $50K non-American vehicle was appointed like this. The Touring model was slightly better, but still very disappointing IMHO. Other than that it drove nice and had all the features you'd want. It felt big. Kind of a boring, uninteresting vehicle but you are guaranteed the usual level of reliability and resale.

Mazda CX9: By far the best interior. I was really surprised how good it was. We were in a 2015 X5 previously and everyone thought the Mazda's interior was put together significantly better. Looks really good for this year IMO, kind of like a XC90. It felt under-powered, inexplicably has no Android/Apple Auto in 2017, and you can't use the climate controls while in park but other than that we really liked it. The drive was great as was the transmission. It would be on the short list I think, if we could find a Mazda dealer that was OK to deal with (I always hear horror stories...)

Haven't driven a MDX recently but I remember them being overall the nicest to drive with the SH-AWD. Really good residuals/resale as well. Very safe choice, can't go wrong. Will probably drive one soon.

Also +1 for minivans. Aside from the soccer mom stigma, they are honestly amazing. They drive great, are decent on gas, have super easy access for all seats, have more room than any comparable SUV, and have lots of cool features. I feel like everyone shops for an SUV, looking for the one closest to minivan spec haha.

Still need to try the Highlander.

Didn't even bother looking at Durango again. Very overpriced and I don't know many people who would buy a Dodge these days with how strong the competition is.

[bh87]

Originally posted by afrotl


Thanks I will for sure when I am ready. What year is yours?

Mine is a 2014, the GX received a facelift for 2013MY and still has the same look currently. Packages and standard options have changed throughout the years. I wouldn't hesitate to buy my GX again, it is and has everything that I wanted.

[afrotl]

Originally posted by Mitsu3000gt
I very recently drove the following 7-seaters:

Kia Sorento (Santa Fe): Really nice vehicle. 2.0T feels a lot better than the V6 and works better with the transmission. Full of technology. Great interior, easily on par with the competition. Drove nice, just generally a good vehicle. Only thing I would be worried about is residuals/resale. If you can get over the Kia brand name, it really is quite a nice vehicle. Looks good too IMO. I think a lot of people don't even bother looking at it because it's a Kia but they might be missing out.

Honda Pilot: I was shocked at how crappy the interior was. Cheap, hard plastic absolutely everywhere. Everything felt cheap. I couldn't believe that $50K non-American vehicle was appointed like this. The Touring model was slightly better, but still very disappointing IMHO. Other than that it drove nice and had all the features you'd want. It felt big. Kind of a boring, uninteresting vehicle but you are guaranteed the usual level of reliability and resale.

Mazda CX9: By far the best interior. I was really surprised how good it was. We were in a 2015 X5 previously and everyone thought the Mazda's interior was put together significantly better. Looks really good for this year IMO, kind of like a XC90. It felt under-powered, inexplicably has no Android/Apple Auto in 2017, and you can't use the climate controls while in park but other than that we really liked it. The drive was great as was the transmission. It would be on the short list I think, if we could find a Mazda dealer that was OK to deal with (I always hear horror stories...)

Haven't driven a MDX recently but I remember them being overall the nicest to drive with the SH-AWD. Really good residuals/resale as well. Very safe choice, can't go wrong. Will probably drive one soon.

Also +1 for minivans. Aside from the soccer mom stigma, they are honestly amazing. They drive great, are decent on gas, have super easy access for all seats, have more room than any comparable SUV, and have lots of cool features. I feel like everyone shops for an SUV, looking for the one closest to minivan spec haha.

Still need to try the Highlander.

Didn't even bother looking at Durango again. Very overpriced and I don't know many people who would buy a Dodge these days with how strong the competition is.

Yeah I am hearing great things about the Kia and you are right when I hear Kia I feel like meh. But I will go test drive one. The CX9 has received good reviews and is on my list.
Yes to me the Pilot is not on top of my list.
MDX ok if I get a good deal but a bit weary about the 3rd row seats.

[afrotl]

Originally posted by bh87


Mine is a 2014, the GX received a facelift for 2013MY and still has the same look currently. Packages and standard options have changed throughout the years. I wouldn't hesitate to buy my GX again, it is and has everything that I wanted.

Cool I will take a look at one as well.

[StairQuesadilla]

The CX9 Signature is a nice looking car. Didn't get to drive one myself but our salesman gave us a test ride in one. Engine and transmission seemed really smooth.

FWIW I had a decent experience at North Hill Mazda. I think Sunridge Mazda and Kramer are under the same ownership.

[gpomp]

Originally posted by StairQuesadilla
The CX9 Signature is a nice looking car. Didn't get to drive one myself but our salesman gave us a test ride in one. Engine and transmission seemed really smooth.

FWIW I had a decent experience at North Hill Mazda. I think Sunridge Mazda and Kramer are under the same ownership.

The salesman didn't let you drive?

[afrotl]

Originally posted by s_havinga
We had a Jeep commander- it was a unique 7 seater with a real off road type feel to it. We have 3 kids and it started to feel a little small. Sold it and bought a Sequoia and love it. Plenty of room for the kids and can fit a hockey bag in the back.

Both options have horrible fuel economy but for the extra room in the Sequoia it's worth it

The Sequoia looks nice but I am leaning more towards a midsize.

[StairQuesadilla]

Originally posted by gpomp
The salesman didn't let you drive?

It wasn't the car I was purchasing lol. The CX9 had just arrived and we were waiting for the finance manager so he offered to give us a ride in it to kill some time.

[Mitsu3000gt]

One thing I'll mention is the sales experience at Eastside Kia was a joke. Maybe more dealerships work like this and they just hide it better. First, they sat us down in the office and asked us a bunch of annoying, pointless, survey-like questions, etc. Wasted a full 15-20 min of our time, and then the salesperson had to go 'present' that info to the manager like they were 8 years old while we waited another 5-10 minutes. Now that they have built this completely useless 'profile' on us, we were able to go on some test drives. After that, the manager then came to talk to us like he'd known us forever based on the info given prior, asked if there was anything he could do to sell us the car today, and the whole thing just came off as very sleazy. No other dealership we went to that day did anything even remotely close to that. Oh and they kept referring to the Autonomous features as "Anonymous" Cruise Control, "Anonymous" Braking, etc. At least read the brochure on the vehicle you're trying to sell...

[carson blocks]

Yeah Eastside Kia and Eastside Dodge are part of the same dealer group, and both are the scum of the earth in my opinion. They hire the sleaziest sales and finance managers and pull all the old school car sales trickery. I won't consider a vehicle at any McManes group dealership.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by carson blocks
Yeah Eastside Kia and Eastside Dodge are part of the same dealer group, and both are the scum of the earth in my opinion. They hire the sleaziest sales and finance managers and pull all the old school car sales trickery. I won't consider a vehicle at any McManes group dealership.

Everyone working there looked like they were hating life, hunched over in their offices scrolling on their phones waiting for customers which on a Saturday afternoon were few and far between. The employees had to report everything to the manager like little kids in a classroom, and ask the manager before they did ANYTHING, it seemed so degrading. We drove 3 different Sorentos and before each drive, the salesperson had to go sit down with the manager for ~3-5 mins, presumably to get permission, again like a little kid asking their parents if they could do something.

The salesperson was OK, I have nothing bad to say about them except they need to at least put some effort into understanding the product they wanted to sell. I got the sense they would have been better under different management.

We did really like the Sorento, but the full Kia sales experience would probably be excruciating.

[afrotl]

Originally posted by carson blocks
Yeah Eastside Kia and Eastside Dodge are part of the same dealer group, and both are the scum of the earth in my opinion. They hire the sleaziest sales and finance managers and pull all the old school car sales trickery. I won't consider a vehicle at any McManes group dealership.

Good to know I will make sure I avoid those dealerships.

[Masked Bandit]

One thing that works well in Kia / Hyundai's favour is the fact that their warranty is 5 year / 100,000 KM whereas most others are 3/60. We're almost four years and 85,000 KM into our Santa Fe XL and it's been trouble free. A couple of stupid little electronic things fixed on warranty so far and that's it. Gas & go!

[afrotl]

Originally posted by Masked Bandit
One thing that works well in Kia / Hyundai's favour is the fact that their warranty is 5 year / 100,000 KM whereas most others are 3/60. We're almost four years and 85,000 KM into our Santa Fe XL and it's been trouble free. A couple of stupid little electronic things fixed on warranty so far and that's it. Gas & go!

Yeah that is true...one of the reasons I went with a Mitsu the first time.

[afrotl]

Ok so I narrowed it down to the following and in no particular order.

2009-2010 Mazda cx9 gt
2008 MDX SH AWD
2009 Toyota Highlander 4WD 4dr V6 Limited

[max_boost]

Originally posted by afrotl
Ok so I narrowed it down to the following and in no particular order.

2009-2010 Mazda cx9 gt
2008 MDX SH AWD
2009 Toyota Highlander 4WD 4dr V6 Limited

http://forums.beyond.ca/st/402271/fs...ology-package/