rai

Hey all, we currently have both MDX and RDX and we are planning to add a additional vehicle.

My wife drives the MDX but it's got 88K miles and we are going to hand that down to our daughter when she gets her license in a few months.

So, my wife will get a new SUV, must be AWD and she doesn't like the smaller mid size ones like the RDX or RAV4 which we just had as a rental.

Usually I would consider getting another MDX but my wife feels that she is not as impressed with the current gen as she was with the previous gen and as a side note, we would save money by stepping down to the non-luxury brands like Honda, Hyundai or Toyota.

I was thinking either Pilot or Santa Fe (when we got the last MDX in 2013 we did look at the Santa Fe and I was impressed but for some reason my wife wanted to stick with the Acura).

We are generally looking at the mid to top of the line.

What's the recommendation from you guys?

airgas1998

I think the pilot has the overall win on 3rd seat room.

pbm317

New pilot is pretty phenomenal. Great fuel economy on the highway as well.

But if you can deal with a smaller 3rd row, i think the revised Hyundai Santa Fe is impressive as well and has a ton of updated technology/safety features available. An even slightly smaller 3rd row would be the Kia Sorento which is pretty nice in the top level trim.

JDR76

We just went through this ourselves over the summer, as we wanted to replace our RX with a 3 row vehicle.

The Pilot was a very good vehicle. Couldn't really put our finger on any one thing, it just didn't speak to us.

We also looked at the MDX but didn't like the new ones (styling). Looked at the Lexus GX but my wife wasn't that comfortable in it and it seemed overkill to drive a V8 SUV just to drive herself and the kids to/from work/school each day, though I really liked it.

We looked at the Kia Sorento and really liked those. Not much to complain about there, though the third row is pretty tight. Great vehicles. We did not look at the Hyundais.

I recently had a Pathfinder for a rental and did not like it, so that was out.

We looked at the Sienna but the interior was unimpressive and we weren't really that on-board with the minivan thing.

We found that the Highlander was the vehicle we liked the most. It was a lot like our beloved RX in how it drove. We loved the panoramic sunroof, and my wife was very comfortable with its size. It had a lot of the great features we liked in our RX, like BSM, heated/ventilated seats, nav, radar cruise/PCS, parking sensors, rain sensing wipers, etc. But in addition to the RX features, it had Lane Departure Alert, Rear Cross Traffic Alert, heated steering wheel, auto high beams, heated second row captain's seats with their own climate control interface, the panoramic sunroof, rear window shades, the third row (obviously), better interior storage, 2 years of free maintenance, etc., plus it is a hybrid so the gas mileage is fantastic. Having captain's chairs in the second row enables access to the third row without having to remove our kids' car seats, and we found that to be quite a plus. We also really like the look of it.

I think most of the three row vehicles out there are fantastic.

mmarshall

Welcome back, rai. I haven't seen you post here in Car Chat for quite some time. And congratulations to your daughter getting her upcoming license. .

JDR76 is pretty much correct. It's hard to go wrong with either a Highlander, Pilot, Sorento, or Santa Fe.....and, of course, the Santa Fe and Sorento have the long 10/100 and 5/60 warranties, although those warranties are not fully-transferable outside of the immediate family if the vehicle is re-sold (which means husband, wife, or son/daughter, but no one else). The Mazda CX-9 could also be a choice if you like something a little more driver-oriented in the chassis...its overall reliability rating, according to Consumer Reports, is average, though its history does show some drive-line problems.


There are also some competent entries from Ford, GM, and the European manufacturers, though, with them, long-term reliability is not as likely to be as solid as with the Japanese or Korean brands. One possible (?) exception might be the Audi Q7, as Audi's reliability has been dramatically improving lately...but the Q7 is quite pricey, and would probably be more than you would want to spend.

Good Luck.

rai

Thanks, we are not concerned about the size of the third row. I think just getting a up size for overall comfort or stability (longer wheelbase). We hardly ever use the third row.

rai

Thanks, we are trying to stay in the $40s so that probably knocks out the Volvo, Audi etc..

For some reason, my wife or myself tend to prefer Honda to Toyota. But I'll probably look at the Highlander. We owned two Odysseys and in between a Sienna and for whatever reason we preferred both Honda mini vans.

We have not set foot on the dealer lot but I wanted to get a short list together like

Pilot, Santa Fe and Highlander (maybe Kia), I know Mazda has a new one but not sure if we want a I4 turbo as most others have been V6 and we are happy with that configuration

rai

how timely, I had just added to my prior post when you posted this point.

mmarshall

The Mazda CX-9 is slightly more driver-oriented then the other Japanese models, and the point about the I4 turbo is well-taken (I'm not sure that's the engine I'd want, either). Consumer Reports, though ranking the CX-9 average overall in reliability, does note some drive-line problems with previous ones.

JDR76

Oh yes, I forgot to mention the new CX-9. I cut it from our list because of the 4 cylinder.

ssmoked

What about Qx60 and LR4 or Discovery

mmarshall

LR4 is at (or close to) the bottom of the barrel when it comes to reliability.

ssmoked

4 year 50k miles basic warranty.

The interior fit and finish, basic standard functions, engine output and brand prestige trumps any Toyota or Honda. Buy extra warranty for $3k for 7 yr 100k if want to keep the vehicle

rai

I'm looking anything below the MDX meaning to keep it in the 40's don't care about engine output this is basic transportation, safety, reliability and comfort etc.. are paramount. We're not off-roading or bringing the car to the drag strip.

ssmoked

a LR Discovery base with 3rd row seating has msrp right under 40000