need help looking for an SUV

[03ozwhip]

so my sister is in need of an SUV that seats 7 with low km and she doesnt want to pay more than 11k for it.

ive looked around and really dont know much about what would be good but was looking at a toyota sequoia, honda pilot and an envoy/trailblazer.

any insight on these vehicles or does anyone have any advice on what to look at for her? she needs the space for her kids and hockey equipment, help her out!

also, if anyone has anything that fits the criteria, let me know! she needs one within a week. oh, gas mileage isnt really an issue as she doesnt generally drive too far or much at all. TIA!!

[speedog]

Our 7 passenger Trailblazer - great ride with the big V8, but guzzles gas pretty good, averages 16MPG in the city, maybe 21 on the highway with a wind pushing you. Ignition switch problems still plague this beast, chews up front and rear sway bar links like crazy. Still the 300HP V8 means a fair bit of get up and go even for such a heavy beast - this thing is my wife's vehicle and she quite enjoys driving it, too big for my tastes although for any highway trips, it is the go to vehicle as it will comfortably seat 6, even 7, haul our enclosed trailer full of camping stuff and keep the kids busy with movies on the DVD/video system. If she's just hauling herself and 2-3 kids with hockey gear, it will accommodate all of that with ease - personally, if she can get away with a five passenger, I'd say get the SS version with the 390HP Corvette engine as it will still haul a fair amount of stuff while providing more serious get up and go.

[03ozwhip]

Ya I've noticed both issues with my in laws envoy, I've changed the endlinks on it before. As for it being big, I agree, it feels heavy and unstable in my opinion so I'm unsure of it for a 4 foot 10 inch woman lol but its on the short list.

Anyone know about the 00-02 sequioa's?

[AE92_TreunoSC]

The early sequioas are great, bit thristy but thats expected.

I worked on a lot of them and never saw any issues. All 4.7 toyotas are bullet proof.

I have a Pilot and enjoy the unibody feel of a 7 seater midsized SUV. The highlander is another good choice. Both are hard to find with low km's around 11,000$ though.

The pilot and highlander are much easier to drive in the winter due to the FWD bias of the AWD systems.

[corsvette]

If you're looking at Sequoia's you may as well consider Tahoes and Yukon's, they're roughly the same size. We're on our second Yukon now and both have been super dependable, they are also very simple and cheap to maintain. We have the awd Denali version with AWD and it gets 17-18.5 highway average, I've seen as high as 21mpg on long trips. Pretty close mileage to what you can expect out of any 7 pass SUV. They are super stable and solid too, even strong crosswinds don't bug them. My Wife loves it and finds it hard to drive minivans or cars after driving Yukons for the last 9 yrs. Between my two Yukons and well over 200,000kms driving my most expensive repair was a leaky water pump, and that repair I did myself in about 1.5 hours.

[03ozwhip]

Thanks guys, good info. Anyone want to chime in on an 03-04 acura mdx?

[Sugarphreak]

...

[ExtraSlow]

Ford Expedition.

[Kloubek]

Lots of engine issues with the Expedition.

Sequoia is very good; only real issues I ever had was it eating o2 sensors. And it has a few of them.

MDX is an excellent vehicle - though it is getting pretty dated by this point.

Trailblazer is good - and I think the 6 is easier than the 8 on fuel while still being peppy enough.

Yukons are surprisingly decent vehicles with a nice ride and good power with the 6.0.

[ddduke]

I wouldn't get a trailblazer. When I had mine I had a bunch of issues come up.

One big one I realized is that batteries will drain, onboard comp will tell you that your alternator is fucked when it isn't and you're left with your hands tied. I searched online and I guess this is a super common problem with no real fix. Ignition problems are a bitch. CEL will come up from time to time for some vacuum line issue (maybe once or twice a year) that also have no real fix.

I swear it was in the shop every 3 months for something costing atleast $500.

The interior finish is cheap too, the leather is shit and the paint rubs off of all the buttons making everything look like shit.

Worst part is that every time it was in the shop I got everything checked and it would always leave like a new car then unexpected problems just kept coming up. I ended up just selling it for cheap to not have to worry about any more fuck ups.

[03ozwhip]

nothing seems to be working out for her, so we are still on the hunt. she really liked the MDX, but only one of them was really good and we couldnt meet on the price.

saw a few volvo xc90's, how are those, anyone have experience with them? are they expensive to maintain?

[CapnCrunch]

Have you looked at a Honda Pilot?

[03ozwhip]

yep, just looked at one today, she likes them, that one just had some issues.