twisted Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 - Thinking about trading the LGT -Keeping the 08 Forester though its small and can barely handle a baby car seat and gear. - Expecting a child in June^ so I can manage for the first few months but at some point we need a new SUV. Options: -Acura MDX (will hv to buy used as brand new is out of budget. hows the 3rd row comfort? SH-AWD) -New Honda Pilot (shitty AWD system but can seat 7 in decent comfort) -Nissan Murano (I hate how it looks on the outside...like an elephant. Its a capable suv otherwise with a decent AWD system. Only seats 5). -Tribeca (ugly and soon to be phased out but proven AWD and can seat 7). - Highlander...(how is its AWD? dont know about 7 seats ? -Sienna AWD (minivan too early for it but its a people hauler and I might have family move in soon and a 7/8 seater would help over a 5 seater) -KIA Sorento (like the looks how's the AWD and 7 seat comfort?) -Hyundai New Santa Fe (like the looks, how's the AWD and 7 seat comfort?) So as you can see the must have features seem to be: 1. Decent AWD 2. Seat for 7/8 3. Looks decent on the outside. 4. With a 13K trade in on my LGT I don't want a note of over 20-24K...so budget is 36K...give or take. Any options I missed? Touareg? (cheap german crap?) Acura MDX seems to be the best fit on all accounts....except budget Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NWSPECB Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 Touareg is something to steer clear of. Acura MDX's seem to be pretty good all around SUV's. Friend of mine has a Nissan Murano - crap. Don't know about the rest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twisted Posted May 10, 2012 Author Share Posted May 10, 2012 Friend of mine has a Nissan Murano - crap. My sister has the Murano 3.5 AWD and I have driven it, its got decent power/acceleration and decent interior room for 5. It just looks ugly as sin on the outside....all bulbous and balloon like with its snout front.....:puke: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NWSPECB Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 What year? Maybe the one I drove was older. I thought it was gutless and cheap feeling. I will agree it has good interior room and is comfortable though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShrinerMonkey Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 You live in Texas, why do you need AWD? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carpe_Diem Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 Others to consider: Mazda CX-7 Audi Q7 (used of course) These three..Acadia/Traverse/Enclave If you want to consider it there is also the Ford Flex (dunno if it can be had in AWD) We would have gotten an Acadia until we found out we were having twins so we were going to have 3 kids two and under. Ended up biting the bullet and got a VW Routan...I like it for what it is. Minivans have a lot more space than any SUV you can get and the seats remove super easy to throw 4x8 sheets of anything you want. Still, once the kids can all get themselves in their own seats we are ditching it for a nice looking SUV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CL21376 Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 We have a 2011 MDX for the wife..you are only about $3-4k off the invoice price on a new one, and interest rates are lower on new vs used, something to consider... The 3rd row is for kids only, and with the 3rd row up, there isn't much space for cargo. SH-AWD is fine for us, but we don't see much snow. It's heavily FWD biased--90/10. The claim to fame is that it can overdrive an inside wheel when cornering. It seems to work, but I don't really enjoy pushing a 4600 pound suv. That being said, its not a bad car to drive. Lower latch points in all 3 rear seating positions is nice. My wife loves it, and with just one kid, it offers plenty of room. Acura has decent leases too. We leased ours as we want to have another kid, and at that point I'd like to move into a minivan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdisco Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 Wife had two MDXs. The first an '02 was on it's second transmission (replaced @60k) we traded it in on an '06 MDX (she really liked it) tranny replaced @ 75K. http://www.mdxers.org/forums/58-transmission-problems/ The MDX was at one time the fastest mommy soccer mobile out there. Off the line pick up was nice but only got 17mpg. We only used the third row about a dozen times not made for adults. The second row was wide enough for the mom-in-law and two car seats. Traded in for a '12 Touareg TDI. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploads19/0411320842888.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CL21376 Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 Were transmission problems specific to the first gen MDX? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdisco Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 My dad has an '04 MDX that he tows behind his motorcoach. He is on his third tranny. Acura stopped the use of 4-wheel down towing arround 2006. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
05GT Guru Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 I am not saying do not get a SUV if that is what you want but why is it that people think a LGT is too small for a family with 1 child? I never had any problems fitting a child, baby gear in my LGT. I can see once you have multiple kids it being to small or your child gets older and has friends who you will eventually drive around but 1 little baby? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsmith40a Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 Picked up a 2012 kia sorrento to haul baby and all baby related items. We got the base model (LX) with convenience package. 2.4l di 4 gets us around and is surprising comfortable to drive on long trips. We didnt opt for third row and I coudn't imagine it with a third row. Space would be very limited. Bottom line - it was cheap but didn't look cheap and had a 100k warranty which is what i was looking for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CL21376 Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 I am not saying do not get a SUV if that is what you want but why is it that people think a LGT is too small for a family with 1 child? I never had any problems fitting a child, baby gear in my LGT. I can see once you have multiple kids it being to small or your child gets older and has friends who you will eventually drive around but 1 little baby? Agreed...lifting a car seat in and out of my legacy is easier than the acura. We are taking our 10 month old on her first vacation this weekend and taking the LGT over the MDX. Plenty of room and more fun to drive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twisted Posted May 10, 2012 Author Share Posted May 10, 2012 Agreed...lifting a car seat in and out of my legacy is easier than the acura. We are taking our 10 month old on her first vacation this weekend and taking the LGT over the MDX. Plenty of room and more fun to drive A car seat barely fits in my 08 Foz....it starts to hit the front seats (even if the car seat is in the middle) and it doesnt leave enough room for adults on the side. Plus with a baby its not just a car seat, there's the stroller, diaper bag etc and that fills up the rear hatch pretty quickly leaving little space for shopping/grocery bags. Not to mention when family is over from out of country then we need to haul them around as well. I used to have 2004 Pilot, it was great to haul people. I knew they had problems with towing due to 2nd gear getting insufficient oil. I thought that Honda resolved that issue since. I am surprised to hear people say the new MDX 3rd row is not usable. I will need to check it out. I thought the 2nd row could be slid forward to give more leg room to 3rd row. No one has comments on Tribeca ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twisted Posted May 10, 2012 Author Share Posted May 10, 2012 You live in Texas, why do you need AWD? Always a good to have feature...say....for rain or other inclement weather and for quick accident avoidance. Or if we decide to drive up to CO or MN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twisted Posted May 10, 2012 Author Share Posted May 10, 2012 Traded in for a '12 Touareg TDI. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploads19/0411320842888.jpg How is that working out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CL21376 Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 A car seat barely fits in my 08 Foz....it starts to hit the front seats (even if the car seat is in the middle) and it doesnt leave enough room for adults on the side. Plus with a baby its not just a car seat, there's the stroller, diaper bag etc and that fills up the rear hatch pretty quickly leaving little space for shopping/grocery bags. Not to mention when family is over from out of country then we need to haul them around as well. I used to have 2004 Pilot, it was great to haul people. I knew they had problems with towing due to 2nd gear getting insufficient oil. I thought that Honda resolved that issue since. I am surprised to hear people say the new MDX 3rd row is not usable. I will need to check it out. I thought the 2nd row could be slid forward to give more leg room to 3rd row. No one has comments on Tribeca ? I have a 5th gen and the car seat doesn't even touch the seat backs I know the 2nd row seats in the MDX recline, but I don't think they slide forward. And you can only access the 3rd row from the passenger side. It's not that the 3rd row is unusable, its just more kid sized. And utilizing it eats up most of the cargo space. If you are just toting family around town you would be fine. But I don't think there would be enough room to fit 7 people and luggage for a road trip. And congrats on the kid! Enjoy your sleep while it lasts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
05GT Guru Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 A car seat barely fits in my 08 Foz....it starts to hit the front seats (even if the car seat is in the middle) and it doesnt leave enough room for adults on the side. Plus with a baby its not just a car seat, there's the stroller, diaper bag etc and that fills up the rear hatch pretty quickly leaving little space for shopping/grocery bags. Not to mention when family is over from out of country then we need to haul them around as well. I used to have 2004 Pilot, it was great to haul people. I knew they had problems with towing due to 2nd gear getting insufficient oil. I thought that Honda resolved that issue since. I am surprised to hear people say the new MDX 3rd row is not usable. I will need to check it out. I thought the 2nd row could be slid forward to give more leg room to 3rd row. No one has comments on Tribeca ? If you think it wont work well then by all means get something bigger. Just stating I never had a problem with my child in my LGT and all the baby gear that goes with her. I also fit a backwards facing car seat and baby gear in my 2000 Trans am quite a few times but that was a tighttttt fit. Once the child is old enough for the car seat to face forward it opens up a lot of roo mbetween teh back of the front seat and the child. I would get a durango or something with the ability to haul or tow stuff. That way I can move the family around and use it for any work I might need to get done. 360hp is fun too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdisco Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 How is that working out? She loves it. Got the Exec/Lux loaded up with everything. Didn't know I needed a heated steering wheel 'til I used hers, very nice. Getting mid to high 20s mpg. Gets up and goes, 8 speed transmission, quick but quiet really can't tell it's a diesel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShrinerMonkey Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 Always a good to have feature...say....for rain or other inclement weather and for quick accident avoidance. Or if we decide to drive up to CO or MN AWD for rain? Bunch of pussies down in Texas...amirite? It's a lot cheaper to buy a set of tire chains for when you need to go skiing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickB34 Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 We recently picked up a new Outback with the 3.6. Plenty of power and tons of room, even with a rear facing child seat. I could barely fit a rear facing child seat in my legacy, made the passenger seat terribly uncomfortable because it was moved almost all the way up. We brought a Pilot home for the weekend and just found it to be way too big. Most of those 7 passenger vehicles are well over 4000 pounds. Don't regret the decision on the Outback at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuskiTrombone Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 Get the Sienna. We love our Odyssey and bought ours when we only had one kid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShrinerMonkey Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 The Dodge/Chrysler minivan twins are two of the best driving 3 row vehicles out there right now unless you spend big dollars for an X5 which has a cramped 3rd row. Plus that Pentastar V6 is a real sweetheart. If I had need for a 3 row vehicle it would probably be between one of the Fiatsler minivans or a Ford Flex ecoboost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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