SUV Opinions

I have a Nissan Pathfinder with the 3rd row and love it! It's a mid-size SUV but I believe the 2014's are more of a crossover.

My friend just bought a Buick Enclave and loves it. She took it on a six hour road trip (each way) about a week after purchasing and was thrilled with it. Said she drove the whole way - never even asked her husband to drive. She has one in a booster, one in a forward facing convertible and one in a rear facing convertible. Her oldest is almost out of a booster (or maybe he is now...he just turned 8) but the others have many years to go before being car seat/booster free (one is even a year old yet).

I don't know specifically what she loves about it, but she has no complaints and is really happy. the one thing she did mention is that it's based on a car chassis (sp?), not a truck like many SUVs, so it drives really nice and smooth.

A friend has a new Acadia and she loves it. She has 3 kids, but they are all much older than yours (senior in high school, 7th grader, 5th grader). The middle "row" is 2 captain's chairs. I looked them up online before I was shopping myself recently, and the gas mileage isn't too bad.

She seems really happy with all the gadgets/accessories (she got the high end model) and I'm sure she has no backing up issues (rear back-up camera). She got it specifically for the last few family vacations before her son is out of the house.

For me, it was more $$ than I wanted to spend. We got an Outback. Love it. It gets fair mpg (averaging 27 mpg day-to-day driving), and is roomy. But, my kids (I only have 2) are long past car seat/booster years as well. I'm sure they *might* fit, but it would be tight. But after the car seats are gone... tons of leg room. My husband rode in the back (with our 2 kids) during the test drive. Our son is 16, so there were lots of legs back there. He said he'd be comfortable back there on a road trip.

The cargo space is slightly less than my Xterra. The bigger issue (rather than actual cubic feet) is height. I hadn't thought about that until last week when I bought some plants at Home Depot. Normally, I'd just throw then in the back of the Xterra, no problems. But the Outback isn't as tall in the cargo area (even thought there is only maybe 3 cu ft difference overall) and I ended up putting the plants in the rear floorboard so they didn't break branches. And yes... there was plenty of FLOOR space in the back seat area for 3 gallon plants. :)

If the Acadia is on your short list, I'd go drive one. It's really the only way to know. There have been tons of vehicles that I loved on paper, and then I sat in it. A few times, I never even cranked them the visibility was so poor out of them.

I drive the CRV which totally will not work for you. I mean you could squish them in but, not fun. Plus the only way it works is the car seat in the middle and I assume you don't currently have back problems?

I had the Acadia as a rental. Damn lucky it didn't come back with body damage. The front end's design makes it really hard to judge how close you are to anything, don't get me started on the rear.

So my only advice, get in any car you are planning on getting and have someone stand at each corner and guess how far they are from the car. If it is a holy heck difference that may not be the car for you.

One that has not been mentioned but has been great for us is the Mitsubishi Outlander. In fact, my husband loves it so much that he hasn't driven his Mercedes since January.

We have 4 kids--2 in carseats, 2 in boosters. It can do boosters in the back row.

For what you get for the money, it is a great value. We got a 2011 with low miles and leather interior for less than $22k.

We have a 2013 Highlander and LOVE it. The new ones are awesome looking, but a little smaller.

We have captains chairs in the middle and the one behind the passenger slides forward for easy access to the back. We can also slide a part in to make that a bench and 3 seats.

The only thing I don't like about our Highlander, is the small trunk space. Our kids are out of seats, but that would have worked when we had them. I gave up a Nissan Armada for the Highlander, so it was a huge shock for me to so so much smaller...but we LOVE it.

Added: I see your comment on leg room. I am 6'1 (mostly leg) and I always put the driver seat all the way back and get in the back seat behind it, just to see. Our Highlander is still super comfortable for me.

I'm sorry you don't like your minivan. I never thought I'd be a minivan mom - but alas I am.

As mine get older, I can't think of something smaller!! Sports! Friends! It's a lot!!

With you still having one in a car seat??? Take your boosters and car seat with you to the dealership and see just how much room you have to store things like a stroller, etc with that 3rd row up...sorry but it won't be much.

My next car will be a Suburban. I know that's much bigger than you want - but that's what I am going for...my girlfriend has 5 year old twins - she has a Tahoe - and has a LOVE/HATE relationship with it. When they travel and her 21 year old son with with them?? It's horrible, but her husband does NOT want to be a minivan dad....

I have a friend who has a Highlander XL - there is storage - it's big. Their three adult kids fit in it. That's the "truck" they take when they go on family vacations....it was about $57K.

Hope that helps.

Acadia or Chevy Traverse. Both great. I have a Honda Pilot but both seats are bench seats.

I think anyone who has kids has to have that 3rd row. Kids get bigger not smaller, car seats go away but elbows and legs and arms get tangled up and fight it out while you're driving 70 down the highway. So the more space the better.

Don't forget the space behind the back seat. Where you'll need to put groceries, flats of water, sports gear, etc...a mini van has that extra space but most SUV's take that away and that's what makes them shorter than a van.

I can't help you with any of those vehicles... our crossover only has the one backseat.

What I can suggest is that you RENT a vehicle (for the weekend) you are considering buying. Testdrives really don't give you a good feel for all situations you'll face, but renting for a weekend really gives you a good feel for a vehicle (and you don't have a salesman pressuring you).
The last few times we've had to rent a vehicle, we've picked something we were considering buying in the future. We actually took one back because in the 8 miles we drove it (city streets) we discovered its handling made both adults nauseus (even if they were driving). A test drive might not have told us that, but now we know! ;-)

Good luck and happy car hunting!
~C.

Dodge durango amazing. My in laws have one. It has 3 rows most suvs are all bench except front which are bucket. It has great hgas mileage as well.

I have a 2013 pathfinder and actually love the amount of leg room in the middle row; it has seats that slide forward and back in the 2nd row. I think the pathfinder is the only one that actually slides like that. We have taken it on long road trips with adults in the middle row and they have loved the amount of room.

Loved my Acadia!!!! Love, love, love!!! We traded it for a Suburban. I like the space of the new car, but I miss my Acadia.

Have you considered the Acura MDX? I went from the Highlander to the MDX. I love it!

I would like to suggest another option: The Maxda CX-9. My wife is the primary driver, and she loves it. It is zippy and drives like a car. It is a full-size crossover, and starts in the mid-20's for new ones. It has a third-row seat and Iike how the middle seat slides back and forth or folds over from both sides of the car. My wife didn't like Acadia or Enclave because they were too high off the ground and drove like a truck.