Help me choose an SUV

[momof1princess]

I was in a similar situation. I've been driving a 2001 Grand Caravan for almost 12 yrs and it was starting to fall apart a little (leaking oil, power steering is having slight issues). My problem was fitting four kids into a different vehicle, though. I did not want another minivan, as practical or comfortable as it would be for the whole family. I was looking at Ford Explorers, Dodge Durangos, and then last week was turned onto the Honda Pilot while looking at the Oddysey in the showroom (dh insisted I at least look at the van!). The Explorer is really too tight for four kids. I drove a Durango two days ago and I can't see very well around the B pillar behind the driver's seat. The Pilot had 8 seats, came with a hitch, rear camera, bluetooth and I like that the rear window hatch opens up.

I went to one Honda dealer Friday who only offered me $1000 for my van. I knew it was worth at least a thousand more. I didn't feel like the salesman was taking me very seriously. Although the Durango salesman was trying to get me to sign without my husband, which I thought was a little pushy (and he also claimed to be 6 ft tall when he was showing me how much room was in the rear seat for an adult and he couldn't have been taller than 5'9", LOL). So yesterday I went into a different Honda dealer so dh could test drive the Pilot too and we were happily surprised with a $2300 trade in offer and a great sales price of $26,700 . As soon as she told me the trade offer I told her the Pilot was sold (we were going to try and sell it privately and hoped to get $2500). The salesWOMAN did ask me how soon I was looking to buy, so maybe that helped motivate the sale price, or the fact that I told her a different Honda salesman had totally lowballed my trade value.

I can't believe I pulled my husband over to the dark side of buying a foreign car (he is a Chrysler fan) but besides the minivan, there was nothing that really fit our needs and the style I was looking for. I can't wait to pick it up Tuesday !

tell your DH not to worry. the pilot is made in lincoln, al. my DH builds them all day long. YAY! i'd love to have one myself (LOVE the color too!), but with DD getting her license in september and needing a vehicle, i won't be getting a new car for a while!

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Check the most recent issue of Consumer Reports (April 2013); it's the car issue. Lots of good recommendations.

 

[Kellydelly]

tell your DH not to worry. the pilot is made in lincoln, al. my DH builds them all day long. YAY! i'd love to have one myself (LOVE the color too!), but with DD getting her license in september and needing a vehicle, i won't be getting a new car for a while!

My husband works in the auto industry so was aware it is made in the States . He said he'd rather fund the paycheck of an autoworker down South than some union rep up here .

 

[TexasErin]

I was in a similar situation. I've been driving a 2001 Grand Caravan for almost 12 yrs and it was starting to fall apart a little (leaking oil, power steering is having slight issues). My problem was fitting four kids into a different vehicle, though. I did not want another minivan, as practical or comfortable as it would be for the whole family. I was looking at Ford Explorers, Dodge Durangos, and then last week was turned onto the Honda Pilot while looking at the Oddysey in the showroom (dh insisted I at least look at the van!). The Explorer is really too tight for four kids. I drove a Durango two days ago and I can't see very well around the B pillar behind the driver's seat. The Pilot had 8 seats, came with a hitch, rear camera, bluetooth and I like that the rear window hatch opens up.

I went to one Honda dealer Friday who only offered me $1000 for my van. I knew it was worth at least a thousand more. I didn't feel like the salesman was taking me very seriously. Although the Durango salesman was trying to get me to sign without my husband, which I thought was a little pushy (and he also claimed to be 6 ft tall when he was showing me how much room was in the rear seat for an adult and he couldn't have been taller than 5'9", LOL). So yesterday I went into a different Honda dealer so dh could test drive the Pilot too and we were happily surprised with a $2300 trade in offer and a great sales price of $26,700 . As soon as she told me the trade offer I told her the Pilot was sold (we were going to try and sell it privately and hoped to get $2500). The salesWOMAN did ask me how soon I was looking to buy, so maybe that helped motivate the sale price, or the fact that I told her a different Honda salesman had totally lowballed my trade value.

I can't believe I pulled my husband over to the dark side of buying a foreign car (he is a Chrysler fan) but besides the minivan, there was nothing that really fit our needs and the style I was looking for. I can't wait to pick it up Tuesday !

Very nice! I have a Honda CRV and love it! What year model Pilot did you get?

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I adore my Toyota Highlander and would buy another one in a heartbeat. It's 3 years old now.

 

[S. C.]

My husband works in the auto industry so was aware it is made in the States . He said he'd rather fund the paycheck of an autoworker down South than some union rep up here .

Where is here?

 

[SUSIEQ]

We too are looking fro something to replace a minivan (windstar). We like the Kia Sorento and the Dodge Journey. I still want to test drive the Traverse before making a decision.

Yes, do test drive a Traverse. I think you wll like it.

 

[emilymad]

We went car shopping this weekend. We test drove the Explorer and the Enclave. I think we are going with the Explorer. The technology blew everything else out of the water. It also has the most options for the price.

 

[Kellydelly]

Where is here?

Metro Motor City .

 

[Kellydelly]

Very nice! I have a Honda CRV and love it! What year model Pilot did you get?

It is a 2013. The thing I love about it is that even though I bought the base model, the only difference in exterior is the fog lights, which we can add factory version for about $300. The trim is all the same for the most part, unlike if you bought a base Explorer and you end up with cheap looking grey trim and you can tell it is a base. There is still some pretty chrome on mine .

 

[indigoxtreme]

We have tried them all and the Traverse is for us. Good Gas milage for type of vehicle, reliable, roomy. Will be purchasing in a couple of months cannot wait. My car is 10 years old a 2004 Chev Trailblazer with 200,000 and still running strong.

 

[momof1princess]

My husband works in the auto industry so was aware it is made in the States . He said he'd rather fund the paycheck of an autoworker down South than some union rep up here .

awesome! DH has only been at honda since may of 2012, but it's a MUCH better job than the one he had.

 

[brooke789]

We just bought a 2013 Toyota 4Runner. We love the car (my kids think it's a bus ), but we're having trouble using it as we intended. We got the optional 3rd row. We only have 2 kids, but don't need it often, but wanted the option of having additional people riding in the car w/us when needed (a few times a year). The problem we've found is that we cannot find a car seat that will fit two side by side on the 2nd row and allow access to the 3rd row. We have Radians which when we bought them over 2 years ago were "the thinnest seat on the market". We did use the 3rd row one time since we bought it a few years ago, but DH got into it from the back hatch. It was a little embarrassing, but we were in the parking lot at Walmart, so I guess no one thought anything about it.

 

[nboicepardee]

Thank you all so much for the wonderful suggestions. Gives me a great starting point.

 

[xCourxCorex]

I bought a 2010 limited edition Hyundai Santa Fe in November. I love everything about it! It's very roomy, does great in the snow (awd model) and gets good mileage for an SUV ( I average 23ish).
Mine seats 5, with a good size trunk.. They do have 7 seat models though you'd have to check which year that became an available option.

 

[Hanover]

We love our 2 Honda Pilots. We bought them in 2005 and 2009 and will be buying another Pilot this summer when our then 16 year old gets the 2005. We love the way they drive, the style, the way they hold up over time/still look great, the space, and the resale prices we can get.

 

[amylevan]

According to Consumer Reports:

Top 3 row midsized suvs:
Toyota Highlander
Mazda CX-9

Top Family Friendly Large SUVs:
Chevy Traverse
GMC Acadia
Ford Flex

 

[mickeyplanner08]

So funny, I could have written this exact same post right down to the 11 year old Caravan! We have been searching for the right thing for us, and I'm going to go drive a Pilot today. We've been flopping back and forth on how much to spend because the other runner car needs to be replaced, too. (And I'd like to go back to Disney at some point). I'm going to drive a 2005 with 100,000 miles on it. Trying not to freak about the mileage...they can get to 200K, right?! We'll see. I drove a Mitsubishi Outander this weekend. Very fun to drive, but that flimsy thing they call a 3rd row wouldn't even hold my 12 year old and one friend! Car shopping is stressful, for sure!

 

[Ginny Favers]

The major drawback for me about the Traverse is that it's extremely long, even if it doesn't look it. It's 205" long, which does not fit in our (very tiny) garage!

We just went out a test-drove a 2012 GMC Acadia. It was really nice, had a lot of features, and because it was a leftover, the price tag was under $30k.

We'd probably get that if we were going for a bigger SUV. However, since we don't want to be asked to take anyone else's kids with us, we're probably going to go with the 2014 Grand Cherokee.

 

[crjack]

We have a CRV & a Pilot. The Pilot replaced my 11 year old Odyssey so I also went from a van to a suv. We researched all of the same cars listed here already but here were our pro's & con's.....eventually it was the pro's combined with the price that lead us to the Pilot.

Pro's:

Price - Honda had a great deal on Pilots at the time.
Reliability - Owned many Honda's and always had great long term record with them.
Resale/Trade Value - All of our other Honda's really held their value so we have received great trades even though we keep the for a long time.

Con's

Don't like the boxy hood - I'm tall but even I find it a little truck like looking over it while driving
Like many suv's, getting to the third row isn't as easy as a van or a model with a different seat configuration.

Loved the Acadia but couldnt come close to the Pilot in price....best we could do at the time was a $7k difference for same features.....Acadia's were hard to come by in my area and there was no negotiating on price.

Our local Honda dealers were all discounting Pilot's so in the end I was fine with the boxy hood and having to flip down the seats to get to the third row.

We have a 2005 Highlander as well that my teens now use. It is the older style so smaller than the new ones and mine only seats 5 but we have been happy with it.

Best of luck.