BIG mid-sized SUV knowledge

I have an Atlas Cross Sport with the 3.6 engine. A couple points to mention. Even in the Cross Sport the interior space is huge. However these things are evidently hard to judge the width of and I’m becoming an expert at painting new passenger side mirror covers lol.
The braking issue is the one recall I’ve had and it was concerning the drivers door wiring harness connection and the way it was attached to the door frame. The mounting caused “excessive micromovement, leading to fretting corrosion of the door wiring harness terminal contact” which resulted in spotty contact btwn the contacts in the connectors. This caused the vehicle to think the driver door was opened and applied the brakes when the vehicle came to a stop, like under 1 mph and I barely felt it happening. This only happened to me during the coldest part of winter and never occurred on warm days. VW installed new connectors and zip tied them to the door frame at a better angle and all is good a year later.
This sounds very similar to a recall on my 2016 Nissan Rogue SL I received recently.. with that said, I'd look at the new Pathfinder. Like the look and changes to engine and transmission.
 
Has your wife actually driven a modern Tahoe? Probably not much different from a Palisade.

If I was forced to buy a late model SUV, it would be Tahoe or Expedition. Brand new ones cost about as much as my house though.

This oil cooler stuff on 3.6 FCA vehicles has really burned me on them. I am constantly chasing down oil filter/cooler housings and I work at a Chevy dealer. Luckily the commercial guy at my local NAPA doesn't put them in inventory to keep people from buying every single one, and we get dibs. 🤣

My best friend has an Atlas, bought new probably 3 years ago, and his only complaint so far has been that the brake pads wore very quick. He will immediately get rid of a vehicle if he or his wife don't like it, so the fact they have kept this one means it's doing its job.
 
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At least according to the car and driver article about the 24 atlas, it’s now going to be a 2.0 four cylinder twin turbo.
Still a single turbo.
Better numbers. You need to try both. With turbo, you will have very slight turbo lag. Nothing major.
2024 is same vehicle, but different interior and exterior is a bit redesigned. The reason is that even VW was caught off guard by success as well as aftermarket suppliers. Usually, for VW and other Euro brands, you have a cottage industry of aftermarket parts. But for Atlas, they seem to lag a bit. Now they are catching up. Our Tiguan definitely has better plastic in certain areas. VW saved money there. But, 2024 is addressing that. I could not wait and I personally do not like new controls that move a bunch of stuff on the screen.
Since you are biking, take into consideration that 2.0T does not come with a hitch receiver. Only VR6 4Motion comes with tow packages already there.
You can buy VW hitch receiver (I just did) and install it by cutting lower valance or ordering valance with hitch opening. If you go u-Haul, the receiver will sit a bit lower. I personally wanted a factory position as it is up higher, so the bike rack won't hit the surface that easily.
Here is VR6 towing test. I am here at this location 1-2 times a week. It is really hard incline for vehicles, and you can find vehicles overheating in dead winter:
 
Just saying manufacturers are getting awfully picky with their motor oils. Can’t just be a synthetic 0w40 or 5w40, or even with my Hyundai, they want some specially rated 5w30 that almost no oils meet.
Hyundai only requires 5W-30. It even says in the manual, if ACEA A5 isn't available, even SM GL4 is acceptable. Just use a modern synthetic that can be found anywhere in the US - API SP. Hyundai also recommends Quaker State. When was the last time you saw A5 on the back label? Um, never.

Whatever your choice, wishing you better luck than with the Palisaide.
 
Hyundai only requires 5W-30. It even says in the manual, if ACEA A5 isn't available, even SM GL4 is acceptable. Just use a modern synthetic that can be found anywhere in the US - API SP. Hyundai also recommends Quaker State. When was the last time you saw A5 on the back label? Um, never.

Whatever your choice, wishing you better luck than with the Palisaide.
Hyundai forever had language: A5 or higher. That doesn’t exist.
 
Hyundai forever had language: A5 or higher. That doesn’t exist.
Exactly why I say just use a current SP oil. The O.Manual gives you so many outs. Not to mention the use of Synthetic Blends at the dealerships.

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And if you wanted to stick to ACEA A5, just use Pennzoil Platinum or Mobil1 5W30. Easy
 
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In order... I work at a Jeep, Dodge store.
Durango RT, folks love them though the fuel economy is not there. The Durango platform is solid. No need to fix what isn't broken. Dodge, Jeep infotainment best on the market. I see all of them in my job.
Durango GT, V6 version, better on fuel.
Grand Cherokee L, new platform. Sells well. Worth a test drive.
My favourite platform, the Jeep Grand Cherokee WK.
 
In order... I work at a Jeep, Dodge store.
Durango RT, folks love them though the fuel economy is not there. The Durango platform is solid. No need to fix what isn't broken. Dodge, Jeep infotainment best on the market. I see all of them in my job.
Durango GT, V6 version, better on fuel.
Grand Cherokee L, new platform. Sells well. Worth a test drive.
My favourite platform, the Jeep Grand Cherokee WK.
Agree, I owned 3 GC and my wife won't let me buy her anything else. Trouble free so far and between the 3 of them I put on 250,000 total miles.
 
In order... I work at a Jeep, Dodge store.
Durango RT, folks love them though the fuel economy is not there. The Durango platform is solid. No need to fix what isn't broken. Dodge, Jeep infotainment best on the market. I see all of them in my job.
Durango GT, V6 version, better on fuel.
Grand Cherokee L, new platform. Sells well. Worth a test drive.
My favourite platform, the Jeep Grand Cherokee WK.
What about the issues with oil coolers, oil pumps, radiators, cams and lifters, rockers, cylinder heads.

The internal engine problems being my bigger concern (cam lifters heads rockers oil pumps).

From what I gather, all this can be fixed, but the parts are not revised or better, just simply new parts.
 
Still a single turbo.
Better numbers. You need to try both. With turbo, you will have very slight turbo lag. Nothing major.
2024 is same vehicle, but different interior and exterior is a bit redesigned. The reason is that even VW was caught off guard by success as well as aftermarket suppliers. Usually, for VW and other Euro brands, you have a cottage industry of aftermarket parts. But for Atlas, they seem to lag a bit. Now they are catching up. Our Tiguan definitely has better plastic in certain areas. VW saved money there. But, 2024 is addressing that. I could not wait and I personally do not like new controls that move a bunch of stuff on the screen.
Since you are biking, take into consideration that 2.0T does not come with a hitch receiver. Only VR6 4Motion comes with tow packages already there.
You can buy VW hitch receiver (I just did) and install it by cutting lower valance or ordering valance with hitch opening. If you go u-Haul, the receiver will sit a bit lower. I personally wanted a factory position as it is up higher, so the bike rack won't hit the surface that easily.
Here is VR6 towing test. I am here at this location 1-2 times a week. It is really hard incline for vehicles, and you can find vehicles overheating in dead winter:

Why the huge difference in towing ability when Hp and torque are so similar?

I’ve been reading the trans is the weak spot, but they use the same trans, don’t they? V6 vs 4cylinder.

I would also want a factory tucked up look for my hitch and would likely do what you said, cut the bumper. I’d love to get the fuel economy benefit of the 4, especially if the lack of power isn’t noticeable. We’re used to about 15mpg with the palisade, it managed low 20s on road trips fully loaded with a roof box.
 
How many miles do you do a year and how long do you keep your cars?
Hard to tell because wife just started full remote work from home. We used to do 12k. Now I assume that will be much less, maybe 6-10k, hard to tell.

Usually keep our cars a long time. 10ish years. But if the new grand highlander comes out and loses its appeal, loses its markup and wait list, and becomes a success / doesn’t have alot of problems, we’d look into it.
 
Burban and Yukon are like 20 grand more than an atlas. Not really competitive if you ask me.

Atlas is likely your best bet overall for what there is. The 2.0 isn’t as plentiful it seems new or used obviously a 24 will only come with a power upgraded 2.0
 
Burban and Yukon are like 20 grand more than an atlas. Not really competitive if you ask me.

Atlas is likely your best bet overall for what there is. The 2.0 isn’t as plentiful it seems new or used obviously a 24 will only come with a power upgraded 2.0
We sort of came to that conclusion last night checking our cars. We’d have to go like 3-5 years used and 50-100k miles to make a Yukon Tahoe competitive. Not that it’s the end of the world, but that’s a big difference too.

And what we’re finding local new vw wise is pretty much all v6. I’ll be able to find a 4 to drive, but it wouldn’t be the options we’d want.
 
We sort of came to that conclusion last night checking our cars. We’d have to go like 3-5 years used and 50-100k miles to make a Yukon Tahoe competitive. Not that it’s the end of the world, but that’s a big difference too.

And what we’re finding local new vw wise is pretty much all v6. I’ll be able to find a 4 to drive, but it wouldn’t be the options we’d want.
Test drive a Grand Cherokee, I'm not saying buy one, but you will be impressed.
 
Atlas’ are plentiful in our area though. Kind of weird when this segment of SUVs is selling before arrival. They are also below MSRP, without even asking…advertised that way.
 
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