3 Row Reliability

[HowAboutThis]

Future potential of buying a larger vehicle with 3 rows. I'm open to anything from minivans to SUVs. Sienna, Carnival, Explorer, Traverse, Ascent, Santa Fe, Odyssey, Highlander, Pathfinder, etc. all come to mind. Or others I'm not thinking of.

What I want: reliable and under $50k. And easy to change oil on (i.e. not a cartridge filter).

What would you choose? Let's think "new" even though we might end up with used. For the sake of argument.

 

[Passport1]

Mitsubishi Outlander. I have one , 84K miles and it has been uber reliable. Standard type oil filter, easy oc. <$50K Has three seats although the rear seats are best for midgets or children. The PHEV would be my choice if I were buying one today. 100K mile/10 year warranty, hard to beat.

 

[macarose]

The Long-Term Quality Index has over 5 million vehicles that have been inspected and appraised by mechanics all over the United States since 2013. I co-developed it.

You can find the results for SUVs here and here.

The Outlander is an excellent vehicle. They go for a steep discount versus the Toyota 4Runner and can last well beyond 200,000 miles if you service the CVT every 30k to 50k along with following the recommendations in the owners manual.

I also have a popular car buying service on Facebook called 48 hours and a used car. If you're looking for a 2016 or newer vehicle with under 60,000 miles feel free to let me know.

 

[edyvw]

Future potential of buying a larger vehicle with 3 rows. I'm open to anything from minivans to SUVs. Sienna, Carnival, Explorer, Traverse, Ascent, Santa Fe, Odyssey, Highlander, Pathfinder, etc. all come to mind. Or others I'm not thinking of.

What I want: reliable and under $50k. And easy to change oil on (i.e. not a cartridge filter).

What would you choose? Let's think "new" even though we might end up with used. For the sake of argument.

There are a lot of options there.
So let me ask this, as I have experience with minivans and SUV's:

1. Is vehicle going to be on asphalt all the time? Even on road trips? If so, is practicality a most important? Then minivan! Sienna is bit gutless with hybrid, but mpg is really good.
2. Are you going "off road?" Then clearance comes to play, and you won't get that with the minivan (the biggest drawback of my 2015 SIenna for our use, hence why I ditched it, among other reasons).

So, minivan: IMO, ONLY two options: SIenna or Odyssey!!!
SUV:
Minivan size and practicality: VW Atlas, but I don't like new infotainment that is all touchscreen. Oil filter is cartridge, but on top of the engine! Super easy! I had it. If you live in the West, my Atlas had issues with crack windshields. Some people have an issues, and some do not. If you going used, IMO, it is by far best SUV in that class bcs. practicality, size. Only maintenance thing is Haldex AWD every 40k needs fluid and cleaning of strainer (VW won't do strainer cleaning, but it is absolutely recommended. Strainer cleaning takes 15min).
New Pilot: Good seating position (finally), physical controls copied from previous VW Atlas (good thing). I drove TrailSport (VERY interesting if you are going bit off road) but engine is gutless as they added 400lbs over old Pilot and kept same power. 2nd, 3rd row and trunk, much smaller than Atlas.
Toyota Grand Highlander: Tight in 1st and 2nds row. Small seats!!! (same on SIenna!). 3rd and trunk comparable to Atlas. Grand Highlander has hybrid option. Generally, AWD in hybrid option is underwhelming and probably has the poorest performance of AWD options in the SUV class. Regular, non hybrid has really good AWD.
Pathfinder: Too small.
Hyundai/KIA: would not touch it with 1000ft pole.
Chevy? Gutless 2.0T, etc. But biggest trunk!
Subaru: Tight, CVT!

 

[edyvw]

The Long-Term Quality Index has over 5 million vehicles that have been inspected and appraised by mechanics all over the United States since 2013. I co-developed it.

You can find the results for SUVs here and here.

The Outlander is an excellent vehicle. They go for a steep discount versus the Toyota 4Runner and can last well beyond 200,000 miles if you service the CVT every 30k to 50k along with following the recommendations in the owners manual.

I also have a popular car buying service on Facebook called 48 hours and a used car. If you're looking for a 2016 or newer vehicle with under 60,000 miles feel free to let me know.

4Runner is 3 row only in theory!

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Sienna.

If used is OK, there's the Transit Connect (made through 2023).

The Outlander PHEV is also worth considering, and it is also the cheapest 3-row PHEV

4Runner is 3 row only in theory!

so are any other non-minivans

 

[edyvw]

Sienna.

If used is OK, there's the Transit Connect (made through 2023).

The Outlander PHEV is also worth considering, and it is also the cheapest 3-row PHEV



so are any other non-minivans

Absolutely not! VW Atlas has real 3rd row where I can comfortably sit, 6.2", 250lbs. So does Toyota GHL, Chevy Traverse etc.
4Runner 3rd row is less comfortable than back seat in Yugo. Not to mention solid axle, shallow floor because of it, and generally far less comfortable because of that axle. Plus, BOF.

 

[HowAboutThis]

4Runner is 3 row only in theory!

I think I saw they have an option for a 3rd. I'd only use the 3rd here and there when an in-law needed a ride with us. So it would work in a 4 Runner but has mileage looked pretty bad in the 4 Runners. Probably short distances (like out to dinner so we don't need to take two cars). Otherwise, mostly used for extra space when traveling. Forester gets packed tight and can't see out back. May add rooftop carrier until we look into a 3rd row option in the next year or two.

 

[edyvw]

I think I saw they have an option for a 3rd. I'd only use the 3rd here and there when an in-law needed a ride with us. So it would work in a 4 Runner but has mileage looked pretty bad in the 4 Runners. Probably short distances (like out to dinner so we don't need to take two cars). Otherwise, mostly used for extra space when traveling. Forester gets packed tight and can't see out back. May add rooftop carrier until we look into a 3rd row option in the next year or two.

Are you doing off roading? And when I say off-roading, like places that require real 4WD? If not, forget it! It is excellent off roader, but that comes with price elsewhere. Solid axle in back, BOF, poor mpg.
I got Sequoia because we do some serious off-roading where 10" of clearance is handy. But even Sequoia has independent rear suspension, and that makes a HUGE difference over a solid axle (which is better in extreme off-roading).
And yes, 4Runner, used with V6: You get power of 4cyl, with V6, and consumption of V8.

 

[HowAboutThis]

Are you doing off roading? And when I say off-roading, like places that require real 4WD? If not, forget it! It is excellent off roader, but that comes with price elsewhere. Solid axle in back, BOF, poor mpg.
I got Sequoia because we do some serious off-roading where 10" of clearance is handy. But even Sequoia has independent rear suspension, and that makes a HUGE difference over a solid axle (which is better in extreme off-roading).
And yes, 4Runner, used with V6: You get power of 4cyl, with V6, and consumption of V8.

99% of the time not off road. Or, if needed, I'd take the Forester. I mean, I used to drive my 2002 Civic down gnarly logging roads to hike, back in the day But no, I have nothing heavy to pull and most likely the worst I'd see AWD would help but not be a necessity.

 

[edyvw]

99% of the time not off road. Or, if needed, I'd take the Forester. I mean, I used to drive my 2002 Civic down gnarly logging roads to hike, back in the day But no, I have nothing heavy to pull and most likely the worst I'd see AWD would help but not be a necessity.

I would go back and to the list I wrote. Unibody SUV’s. Try them. See which one you like to drive. Kids?

 

[OVERKILL]

Durango is another option, Grand Cherokee L is I think out of the price range and the WL isn't as mature as the WK2.

 

[97prizm]

Future potential of buying a larger vehicle with 3 rows. I'm open to anything from minivans to SUVs. Sienna, Carnival, Explorer, Traverse, Ascent, Santa Fe, Odyssey, Highlander, Pathfinder, etc. all come to mind. Or others I'm not thinking of.

What I want: reliable and under $50k. And easy to change oil on (i.e. not a cartridge filter).

What would you choose? Let's think "new" even though we might end up with used. For the sake of argument.

I was fairly impressed with the VW Atlas. The back seat is actually useable for full size adults if thats what you'd need. Lexus has (had) a three row RX350 but not sure if the kept it or not. If they dropped it due to sales maybe you could pick one up for a reasonable price?

 

[brages]

I think you should first decide on SUV vs minivan. I think 3-row SUVs are inferior to minivans, except for off-road ability, style (?) and towing capacity.

 

[ATex7239]

Sienna, Odyssey, Carnival, and Traverse are the way to go for sensible people haulers.

 

[IndyIan]

Personally, I like the Mazda5 3 row with seating for 6, with a manual transmission even, as I won't be hauling 6 of us and a ton of stuff regularly. For camping I use a small covered trailer for gear and a bike rack on top of that, so the car can haul the canoe and kayaks.

A full size pickup with a bench seat also hauls 4 adults and 2 kids pretty comfortably and cargo space is pretty big. IMO, these are the most versatile vehicles, and if I'm very rarely going to have 7 or 8, these are better than a minivan if you don't care about fuel costs. Even then, you might get that money back in resale as high mileage minivans aren't worth the same as high mileage pavement queen pickups.

If you want 7 or 8 and some cargo space, its a big minivan, or a stretch Suburban type vehicle.

 

[HowAboutThis]

I would go back and to the list I wrote. Unibody SUV’s. Try them. See which one you like to drive. Kids?

Yeah, that's why we can't all fit. Car seats are gigantic so you can't fit an emergency 3rd in a back seat between the car seats.

 

[edyvw]

Yeah, that's why we can't all fit. Car seats are gigantic so you can't fit an emergency 3rd in a back seat between the car seats.

A minivan is the most practical. No doubt. And IMO, only two minivans are real options, Sienna and Odyssey.
If SUV, Atlas can tilt seats forward with the child seat attached and open access to the third row. I think the new Pilot now can do the same thing. Atlas has a HUGE second row, so even if you need to move the second row forward to make more space for third row people, it still has enough space for kids to move their legs and not hit the seat in front and bother you or your wife.
Again, I had issues with the Atlas windshield. Otherwise, I would not have sold it. On the other hand, @TiGeo did not have those issues.
I would thoroughly check all of them, drive them, put child seats in them, and see how it works.

 

[brages]

If choosing between Odyssey and Sienna, you should decide whether you want a 3.5 V6 or a hybrid. I'm a fan of hybrids.

I think the Pacifica is a pretty good van, but I don't really know how any of them stack up for reliability.

 

[Skippy722]

Yeah, that's why we can't all fit. Car seats are gigantic so you can't fit an emergency 3rd in a back seat between the car seats.

How many kids do you have? We learned on a 4 day trip you’re starting to push what you can fit into a minivan with 4 kids aged 9 to 2 and 2 adults plus Christmas presents…. Especially when you’re trying to avoid eating out the whole trip. Sure it’d be better if I used one of those tailgate hauler things or the roof rack, but I ain’t about to go through that hassle.

We will be stepping up to an Escalade ESV/Suburban/Yukon XL/Expedition Max to replace our van.