What 3rd row SUV for Snow season use? - Page 2

The Buick you want to try is the Enclave.  

http://www.buick.com/enclave-luxury-crossover-suv.html?seo=goo

They used those to transport us from the parking lot to Warwick Hills for the Buick Open the two years I went there.  I was surprised how much room they had.  Very nice

I had the same reaction test driving all of those vehicles.  The Pilot was the only one that felt like a truck - as you said, in a good way.  I wish captain chairs had been an option for the second row, since with car seats in place you can't really use the fold and slide mechanism to get to the back (which is cool but does me no good until my oldest kid no longer needs a booster).  Overall I've been extremely happy with mine after the first year or so, and the benefits outweigh the shitty gas mileage.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tromano 

 

I tested out the traverse today. 

 

Roomiest of them all so far. This thing is long. Soo much room. I like the rear captains chairs. The dash / console seems simpler and easier to use than the others. It drives like a upsized subaru outback. Which is a good thing compared to almost all the rest. Madeline needs to try this one!

In all honesty, this is the direction I would go if I were you.  

As Phil said, the Lamda Series is a really nice line up.  

The GM option is the Acadia, and the Buick version is the Enclave,  in case you find one of those with other options and pricing that fits your needs. 

Personally, with having had 3 kids in various stages of age, a minivan was always the easiest especially if you have bucket seats, and as posted, one can get AWD.  Height wise it's a bit lower that helped with loading car seats.  However if you don't mind a full size truck, a crew cab may fit three kids easily.  I got mine due to hauling landscape materials and lumber but also as it fit rear facing seats well.  Picked up a bed cover and liner to use the bed as trunk when traveling for skiing.  I've had 6-7 skies, snowboard, 5 boot bags and luggage with room to haul a case or two of wine and a large cooler.  Also avoids issue of projectiles in the cab in case of accident.   But again, I'd lean towards a Minivan due to ease of access.   Also, some minivans will allow the ski's to slide under the rear seats as they haven't the axle hump found in many SUV's.   However if hauling skis or really any bulky items inside the cab, I'd use a cargo net or cargo divider if possible.

One other benefit, depending on state you may pay significantly less in plates. 

pete

ps, congrats on the expectant twins, prayers for a healthy birth for kids and mom.

Pilot. Or, as my boys call it, the Honda Earth Hater.

You will hate it in city traffic and adore it on ski trips.

Without using a box, we comfortably haul 2 adults, and three kids.

Between us we huck 8 pairs of skis and two snowboards down the right side of the car.

Flip all the right side splits down and there's your ski storage. We do have a little home-made stack box so the bindings don't

crush the crap out of each other.

Boots go in bootbags on the floor under the fold downs.

Ski clothes go in a single huge plastic bin in the way back.

Daytime clothes go in the one and only bag you can store in the back.

Anything else you have to stuff under your own feet.

Our trip is 250 miles from CT to Sugarbush. No one is whining about being smashed.

But my best advice is to see if you can scam a cheap rent on a condo in your ski area. Then leave your stuff there.

Heaven!!!!!

The Pilot handles the Roxbury Pass just fine, even in awful conditions.

Cheers!

Alli
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by tromano 

 

There are no mazda dealers in Logan. Having already owned a car that is not serviced in my area (subaru), I prefer to buy one serviced locally. 

I can certainly understand that.  When you looked at the Explorer did you check out the Flex?  I know the looks are really a love/hate sort of thing but it should be substantially different inside than the Explorer.  What about the new Dodge Durango?  It's based on the same platform as the Grand Cherokee which gets great reviews and it offer's a third row.

You're not giving my much hope for keeping my Mini. 

I definitely get what you are saying because I always thought vehicles like the Tahoe and Expedition are really only good for either hauling 5 people with gear or 7 people but not both.If you think the Tahoe is too small that really only leaves you with a few options.  The Suburban and Expedition EL would definitely be bigger.  Judging by the way they look on the road I would think the Armada would maybe fit between the Suburban and Tahoe size.  There is also the Toyota Sequoia but I think that is probably closer in size to the Tahoe.

One other option came to mind....AWD full size van like the GMC Savana or Chevy Express.  It kind of sucks that they only offer the Duramax diesel engines in 2WD configurations though because I think that would be kind of cool.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tromano 

 

The traverse and pilot are interesting in that they seem to have more interior room than the full size SUVs..the traverse in particular is 1 foot longer than the tahoe. I think the armada really was roomier than the tahoe as well. But the Traverse is so far roomiest of all -have not looked at the suburban though. Funny enough once the kids are all forward facing booster seats in 2-3 years this won't be an issue. 

I drive the Yukon XL, which is the GMC Version of the Chevy Suburban.  The fuel economy around town is 17MPG and highway is in the neighborhood of 24MPG.  Not too much different than the SUV's you're looking at.   In the beginning of this thread, you said that you'd prefer to not have something that drives like a truck.  The YukonXL and Suburban both drive like a luxury 1/2 ton pick up truck.  

For Phil and I, its a great compliment to his VW Jetta TDI

The Yukon (not XL) is the same length as the Tahoe, which is (as you noted) not as long as the Traverse or Acadia. 

I never really thought of the Traverse as being that big but then again its platform mate the Acadia always looks huge when I see them on the road.  As much as I am a Ford guy I wouldn't recommend the Expedition over a Suburban though.  Its a decade old design that is in desperate need of attention  or at the very least an update to include the new more powerful and more efficient engines.  I still think the Flex is worth checking out.  A buddy of mine has 18 month old twins with the previously mentioned monster stroller.  He got rid of his crew cab F150 for a Flex because of the room.  By virtue of its lower ride height I think it would also be a better driver.

It's funny you mention the front facing booster seats.  It wasn't long ago that I was walking to my car at work and noticed another Mini in the parking lot.  What caught my eye was the bright red booster seat inside and the lack of a front passenger seat.  That was pretty much the point at which I gave up hope that my Mini would ever work as a "family car."

Quote:

Originally Posted by tromano 

 

The traverse and pilot are interesting in that they seem to have more interior room than the full size SUVs..the traverse in particular is 1 foot longer than the tahoe. I think the armada really was roomier than the tahoe as well. But the Traverse is so far roomiest of all -have not looked at the suburban though. Funny enough once the kids are all forward facing booster seats in 2-3 years this won't be an issue. 

The Suburban is really the ne plus ultra of haulers. It's not too bad to drive, considering. My cousins have a Buick Enclave and love it; they had a Suburban until the youngest of their three turned 4. With three kids, it will be quite a few years before you say, "My car is too big."

Do you have a dog, or plan to get one?

^^ to be honest, I am worried enough about taking care of 3 babies and working full-time.  the thought of adding a puppy to the mix makes my head spin.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sheena_queen_of_the_slope 

^^ to be honest, I am worried enough about taking care of 3 babies and working full-time.  the thought of adding a puppy to the mix makes my head spin.
 

Absolutely. Some people already have dogs before they add babies, though. :-) We didn't get a dog until the youngest was potty-trained, and then we adopted an adult so that made the early days much easier. 

Anyway, dogs are another consideration for vehicle size/configuration, at least down the road. THey will need a seat, too, unless you get one of those little yappy creatures. With two kids, we could have easily gone smaller on the vehicle EXCEPT for the dog. But how can you say no ...

Quote:

Originally Posted by segbrown 

Absolutely. Some people already have dogs before they add babies, though. :-) We didn't get a dog until the youngest was potty-trained, and then we adopted an adult so that made the early days much easier. 

 

Anyway, dogs are another consideration for vehicle size/configuration, at least down the road. THey will need a seat, too, unless you get one of those little yappy creatures. With two kids, we could have easily gone smaller on the vehicle EXCEPT for the dog. But how can you say no ...

 

Well, yes of course (duh) my brain has been pretty close to  non-functional for the past few weeks.  It would be hard to say no to a face like that.. but when I think about the gear we took camping for ONE baby - I shudder to think about hauling gear for THREE kids plus a dog.  LOL.  Our space will never be our own again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sheena_queen_of_the_slope 

 

Well, yes of course (duh) my brain has been pretty close to  non-functional for the past few weeks.  It would be hard to say no to a face like that.. but when I think about the gear we took camping for ONE baby - I shudder to think about hauling gear for THREE kids plus a dog.  LOL.  Our space will never be our own again.

Sure it will....in 18-30 years.  

tromano, 

Sounds as if you have a personal decision.  I don't believe that between either a Pilot or Traverse, you would do bad.  Honda's have a great reputation but newer GM stuff does well for reliability.  Don't get me wrong though, personally I have a general anger at GM having been loyal and giving them excuses for what I consider, poor engineering and support but, new models seem to have good review and given a 5yr warranty, if buying new, not something I'd steer away from.

Edmunds.com may give a better overall cost prediction if this a concern as well as dimensions, etc.

Too bad on the Mazda CX9, I've got friends who love the Mazda's but in regard to the two apparent finalists, the one thing I personally like on the Chevy is the extra space behind the seats, if using for normal trips, you might be able to skip having a topper.  I believe Chevy specifically extended the length just for that advertising edge.  I am not certain the Tahoe's are really shorter if the extended lenght, but it is wider.

Height of driver may be a consideration.  4 yrs back adj pedals were not common, if you or spouse are shorter, then having an adjustable pedal may benefit the driver if shorter.

T, I've actually been there.  Daughter born in 1997, twins born in 2000.

The critical path issue is which of the kids, if any, you're willing to put in the third row.  

We decided that we were not comfortable putting any of our kids that far away from the driver until they were at least 4 or 5.  They need stuff too frequently.

So we had to go with a vehicle that could actually fit three seats in the second row.  Back in late 2000, there was only one minivan that had a three-seat second row option: The Chevy Venture Warner Bros Edition.  Which was a crappy FWD minivan with every conceivable option, that actually drove worse, cost more, and got only nominally better mileage than the Suburban.  We went for the Suburban.

We now have a 2004 Suburban and a 2008 Acura MDX.  Both are great vehicles for their purposes.  The MDX drives like a large-ish sports sedan (much more so than its Pilot sibling, which I've also driven).  I would go for a used MDX over a new Pilot at the same price without batting an eye.

But before you buy anything, I suggest one simple test:  Put your actual car seats in it, in the configuration you intend to use, and see whether it can work.