tex2670

Based on my month-long ownership of a Santa Fe, check these (minor but potentially annoying) details if you test drive (or find an on-line version of the owner manual):

-Can the seat memory positions be tied to each key fob? They cannot on the Santa Fe--which is in a lower class than the Palisade (but my mom's '15 CRV has this ability). Not a deal breaker, but kind of annoying since my wife is much shorter than me. I just never would have even thought to look into this.
-Can the nav screen be set to default to the last function when the car starts up? The SF always default to the "Home" screen, which is split between nav and radio. Personally, I'd prefer it just went back to where I left it. I can't find a setting to change this--only a setting to automatically go back to the nav screen within XX seconds if you select another function. Again, annoying but it would not have made me not get the car.

Good luck.

pbm317

Sometimes I hate the seat memory position tied to the key fob. It does it on our Odyssey, but when my wife and I are both getting in and both have our fobs, usually she is walking up first and the seat goes to her position, but I might be the one driving, and have to stop the seat and push my preset.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

First world problems.

i only use one fob on my car so don’t know if it ties presets to key fob but i don’t mind using door button memory settings either way.

FrankReynoldsCPA

Memory seats are the one thing I miss from my LS400.

tex2670

That's on you. Why aren't you opening the door for her?

SW17LS

So I tried to drive a Palisade today but the dealer closest to me doesn't have any. They have a couple in Rockville but didnt feel like going down there. I did get to drive a Telluride though which I really liked. Rides well, nice and quiet, powertrain is very smooth and refined, transmission shift logic seems good, and the vehicle overall feels very premium. I like the Telluride too, but in general prefer the Palisade.

I did also get to sit in an Explorer Platinum, the Platinum trim helps the Explorer a lot, and I was surprised that in person the portrait mode screen doesnt bother me. Sticker on the Platinum Explorer was just over $60k, but already marked down to $55.5k.

mmarshall

Agreed. The Palisade, in general, just seems a little nicer both inside and out.

Even for the Platinum-level, 60K, IMO (or even 55K), is pushing it for an Explorer. For that kind of money, you are getting into Lincoln SUV territory. A Nautilus starts at only a little over 40K, the MKC at 34K, and the much nicer new Aviator at 51K (Corsair pricing apparently hasn't been announced yet). Of course, you won't get Lincoln's Black Label perks at those prices, but you will still get the Lincoln warranty and, especially with the Aviator, an interior and sheet metal that will make the Explorer look and feel like a toy in comparison.

SW17LS

You're comparing loaded to base though. Explorer is a better vehicle than the Nautilus and certainly the MKC which are both transverse FWD vehicles and not nearly as robust as the Explorer. I'd much rather have a Platinum Explorer than either Lincoln. $51k is a totally base Aviator, and will lack much equipment the Platinum Explorer has. From a sheetmetal and exterior basis I don't see any difference in sheet metal and paint between the Navigator and the Expedition so my guess is we won't for the Aviator and Explorer either.

The loaded Atlas I drove yesterday was $53k, and right now the dealer I drove the Telluride at is charging $5k over sticker, which makes a loaded Telluride $52k. Loaded GC Summits are $60k+.

If the vehicle is nice, I don't think mid 50s-60k is insane anymore for a fully loaded mainstream SUV. Bear in mind a loaded Expedition is $75k.

A lot of it also is what is your mission for the vehicle. For me this is my family vehicle, I like it to be a little rugged, I like my SUVs to have a little offroad attitude. Frankly, I prefer the Explorer package to the Aviator for that mission. If it were my daily work car it would be a different story. For instance, when I got the Grand Cherokee, I could have easily afforded a Summit but I got the Laredo X the first time because it was a little more rugged, and stayed with the Overland vs the Summit the second time for the same reason.

mmarshall

Agreed....the MKC is a FWD/AWD Cute-Ute, and was not designed for the same purpose as the new RWD Explorer. But the last-generation (2011-2019) Explorer was also a crossover FWD platform...the new 2020 is a significant departure in the drive-train, despite retaining unibody.


Have you seen the Aviator yet? We'll see (I've been wrong before), but I think that the new Aviator, when you see the hardware, fit/finish, interior, and sheet-metal quality, will truly impress you. I had a chance, a couple of months ago, to sit in one, but not drive it. I was stunned.....except for the tacky-looking upright-mounted housing for the video-screen that all the new Lincolns see to share, I can assure you the Bean-Counters were away having a coffee-break when this vehicle was designed...while not a Rolls-Royce or Bentley, and still using a couple of Ford parts-bin stuff here and three, this vehicle does not skimp on quality. You get what you pay for.


Over sticker, IMO, is robbery....particuarly 5K over list. The Palisade looked at a couple of days ago was selling at list...that was the Internet asking price. And that was for an entry-level version, which traditionally has less mark-up than the top-one models.

Yep...your estimate is pretty close. My next-door neighbor brought home a new black Expedition, a couple months ago, that was 73K. Jill said she saw a new Navigator for over 100K.

Actually, what you say may make some sense in the rugged-department. Our roads, here in the D.C. area, aren't quite the moon-craters you will find in the Snow Belt (particularly in Michigan)...but the pavement and infrastructure-deterioration in the last few years has been notable.

SW17LS

I have no doubt the Aviator will impress me, its just not the total goal for this specific vehicle.

tex2670

That won't last long.

mmarshall

I agree that over-sticker deals shouldn't last long, but not everyone thinks like you or I do, and you would be surprised at the number of people who will pay for the privilege of either being the first on the block to own something brand-new or simply keeping up with the Jones's.

I can remember watching a Chrysler PT Cruiser, when they were brand-new and all the rage, going out the door for some 5-6K over list (the guy didn't care...he and his wife had money and simply wanted the car), and a new white 2-seat Thunderbird (where price-gouging for the first two years was legendary) going out the door for (Gulp) 17K over list. It listed, as I recall for 38K...the dealer asked 55K, and some starry-eyed lady walking into the dealership and taking it home that morning.

tex2670

The PT Cruiser and Thunderbird were unique, even if not actually good cars. There's nothing unique about the Telluride. One it's main selling points is you get more equipment for less money than Honda and Toyota. This dealer strategy is not sustainable.

mmarshall

Well, IMO, the Telluride or Palisade certainly is not worth the 5K over list that Steve said he saw...and definitely not worth the kind of mark-up that lady was shellling out for that T-Bird. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I doubt if you would pay over list for a vehicle yourself.....in most cases, I certainly wouldn't.

(BTW, most of the few Palisades and Tellurides I have seen in stock had Internet-asking-prices that were right around factory-list)



Still the case, but not as much as in the past. As Kia and Honda have vastly increased the quality of their products over the years (in some areas, now better than Toyota or Honda itself), they have been forced to raise prices and/or cut vehicle-content.

Dealers often operate sale by sale....one at a time. If they can get away with price-gouging today, I doubt if they really care whether they can still do six months from now. In the world of business, money talks....often in the here and now. Short-term profits, not necessarily long-term, are the long-established religion of American business.

tex2670

This is why I said this practice won't be sustainable.