BIG mid-sized SUV knowledge

Those were good years. My first minivan (as a dad) had bench seats. But the second.. man I found one with captains chairs… a Gen iv town and country. Every seat in that thing was great. There seemed something rather “American” about rolling around in a slightly beat up blue chrysler minivan, like a rite of passage. True usable space. And then when they have friends, a couple more need a ride? No problem.

both of mine learned to drive in it, and riding shotgun while they had their permit, it was good for that too. Plenty of visibility, and I wasn’t concern if they dinged It up some.

minivan is also a great platform for stereo upgrades. Mine had a triple gauge pack on the dash with volts, oil pressure and AT temp. Because. And that was awesome. Old skool.
I was dead set against captain chairs. Traded X5 for Sienna Limited that had those. It was a good deal. I got good money from a BMW dealership that had a SIenna. I was like: well, I will survive.
I do not want to look at a family vehicle with a second-row bench seat anymore! When I was going for an SUV, it had to have captain chairs.
 
I was dead set against captain chairs. Traded X5 for Sienna Limited that had those. It was a good deal. I got good money from a BMW dealership that had a SIenna. I was like: well, I will survive.
I do not want to look at a family vehicle with a second-row bench seat anymore! When I was going for an SUV, it had to have captain chairs.

So many have been through that to the point the CC’s are more commonly on the lots …
 
Anyone have real world experience or knowledge of how Chevy Traverse’s are? I don’t personally, I was just assuming by the looks of underhood being a disaster and just my experience with FWD GM cars being kind of problematic.

Having trouble here ruling almost the entire midsize SUV segment out. I know we’re picky and needy, haha.

Pilot hasn’t been ruled out, just dislike the expense of the timing belt job

Vw seems nice, I just can’t get over that it’s a vw and the more I dive into them and get into groups, the more common it seems that they have weird issues.

I don’t think we’re willing to go down the Hyundai hole again after this experience.

I don’t think we’re willing to roll the dice on the same (Kia) because we’ve read their service experience is horrible. Hyundais experience has been bad enough.

We didn’t like the grand Cherokee L.

Toyotas are too small, sounds like grand Highlander was built around having a huge 3rd row. We only need cargo space and a 2nd row…3rd is just for a random car pool, but we do want it. We will be checking them out as soon as they come out, and maybe driving a current regular Highlander to see if the turbo 4 feels like enough or if we’d have to spring for the hybrid (base one, not max). Or if neither is adequate.

On paper the traverse should be a good fit but I know nothing of modern Chevy.
 
Anyone have real world experience or knowledge of how Chevy Traverse’s are? I don’t personally, I was just assuming by the looks of underhood being a disaster and just my experience with FWD GM cars being kind of problematic.

Having trouble here ruling almost the entire midsize SUV segment out. I know we’re picky and needy, haha.

Pilot hasn’t been ruled out, just dislike the expense of the timing belt job

Vw seems nice, I just can’t get over that it’s a vw and the more I dive into them and get into groups, the more common it seems that they have weird issues.

I don’t think we’re willing to go down the Hyundai hole again after this experience.

I don’t think we’re willing to roll the dice on the same (Kia) because we’ve read their service experience is horrible. Hyundais experience has been bad enough.

We didn’t like the grand Cherokee L.

Toyotas are too small, sounds like grand Highlander was built around having a huge 3rd row. We only need cargo space and a 2nd row…3rd is just for a random car pool, but we do want it. We will be checking them out as soon as they come out, and maybe driving a current regular Highlander to see if the turbo 4 feels like enough or if we’d have to spring for the hybrid (base one, not max). Or if neither is adequate.

On paper the traverse should be a good fit but I know nothing of modern Chevy.
When you go to any specific forum, most of the time, people will ask for advice bcs. certain issues. But that does not mean it is common etc. Be it VW, GM, KIA, Toyota etc.

On VW, water pumps are an issue. Earlier VR6 on Atlas had some issues with leaks, mostly due to weird/dramatic/out-of Hollywood movies issues with their largest supplier that turned into homicide investigations etc. But, the supply chain issue was resolved a few years back (not sure about that homicide investigation, though).
But, if you are not comfortable, don't do it. Go with what makes you feel comfortable.
 
Anyone have real world experience or knowledge of how Chevy Traverse’s are? I don’t personally, I was just assuming by the looks of underhood being a disaster and just my experience with FWD GM cars being kind of problematic.

Having trouble here ruling almost the entire midsize SUV segment out. I know we’re picky and needy, haha.

Pilot hasn’t been ruled out, just dislike the expense of the timing belt job

Vw seems nice, I just can’t get over that it’s a vw and the more I dive into them and get into groups, the more common it seems that they have weird issues.

I don’t think we’re willing to go down the Hyundai hole again after this experience.

I don’t think we’re willing to roll the dice on the same (Kia) because we’ve read their service experience is horrible. Hyundais experience has been bad enough.

We didn’t like the grand Cherokee L.

Toyotas are too small, sounds like grand Highlander was built around having a huge 3rd row. We only need cargo space and a 2nd row…3rd is just for a random car pool, but we do want it. We will be checking them out as soon as they come out, and maybe driving a current regular Highlander to see if the turbo 4 feels like enough or if we’d have to spring for the hybrid (base one, not max). Or if neither is adequate.

On paper the traverse should be a good fit but I know nothing of modern Chevy.
The Chevy Traverse, GMC Acadia, and Buick Enclave have been around for a while. With that being said, the bugs have pretty much been worked out. The Buick Enclave is going to be the most luxurious, followed by the GMC Acadia, and Chevy Traverse. Test drive them all.
 
The Chevy Traverse, GMC Acadia, and Buick Enclave have been around for a while. With that being said, the bugs have pretty much been worked out. The Buick Enclave is going to be the most luxurious, followed by the GMC Acadia, and Chevy Traverse. Test drive them all.
My understanding is that trunk in Traverse is slightly bigger than Atlas.
 
My understanding is that trunk in Traverse is slightly bigger than Atlas.
Yep. I posted the volume earlier. I’ve ridden in the Buick Enclave. It’s very quiet. Nice seats and good passenger room. The GM offerings are probably the largest in the class. It’s obviously larger than the Ford Explorer.
 
The Acadia is tiny compared to the traverse. My sister on law has one and with the 3rd row up that Acadia has very little room. Like couple grocery bags or a couple carry on luggage items.

Traverse is the value of the bunch. But just depends how much faith you have in GM powertrains.

Me not much, would rather roll Atlas than traverse unless you literally have no VW dealer anywhere close
 
I don’t have enough faith in VW to give them a shot even though we thought it drove the best, even a used one.

I’d like to like the traverse, but also having trouble getting over that it’s a GM.

Everything atop our list is a first model year at this point. Scary!

Pilot
Mazda CX90
Grand Highlander

Our 2011 Sienna was a 1st model year and was fine.

Does anyone know Mazda’s track record for first model year releases? I’ve been googling the crap out of this new powertrain but finding it hard to come up with any decent info, it’s all just “influencers” who got to crawl around in the cars.
 
Does anyone know Mazda’s track record for first model year releases? I’ve been googling the crap out of this new powertrain but finding it hard to come up with any decent info, it’s all just “influencers” who got to crawl around in the cars.

Pretty good once they ditched ford. They keep a lot of things the same across all their lineup too. IIRC, this is their first longitudinal I6 platform. They do tend to do second/third-year adjustments so I'd expect minor tweaks to the suspension or AWD after a year or two of release. Supposedly the new model year cars got better seats too but I haven't been in them.
 
I don’t have enough faith in VW to give them a shot even though we thought it drove the best, even a used one.

I’d like to like the traverse, but also having trouble getting over that it’s a GM.

Everything atop our list is a first model year at this point. Scary!

Pilot
Mazda CX90
Grand Highlander

Our 2011 Sienna was a 1st model year and was fine.

Does anyone know Mazda’s track record for first model year releases? I’ve been googling the crap out of this new powertrain but finding it hard to come up with any decent info, it’s all just “influencers” who got to crawl around in the cars.
Mazda will be small. Don’t expect too much room there.
GHL is not technically first year. It is basically stretched HL.
Pilot’s drivetrain is in use for couple of year. I would say Pilot will be more complete package compared to GHL. Better AWD for sure. Didn’t drive new Pilot, but it is hard to believe it will have worse seats than Toyota.
As for Sienna, all my VW were more reliable than my 2015 Sienna. So much about that.
 
Mazda will be small. Don’t expect too much room there.
GHL is not technically first year. It is basically stretched HL.
Pilot’s drivetrain is in use for couple of year. I would say Pilot will be more complete package compared to GHL. Better AWD for sure. Didn’t drive new Pilot, but it is hard to believe it will have worse seats than Toyota.
As for Sienna, all my VW were more reliable than my 2015 Sienna. So much about that.
Actual measurements that sales people are posting and seeing in real life seem to differ from whatever Mazda did to calculate cargo volume.

40 cubic feet is way less than what we have in the Palisade, but length width height all look the same or better in the Mazdas cargo area. Odd. I’ve tried to read up on standard cargo and passenger volume capacities and apparently there are 2 standards, nothing that any manufacturer necessarily abides by. So you don’t know what you’re comparing when you see published volumes?

We aren’t sold that the Mazda is it for us, not even sold that any of them are the answer, but it sure won’t be another Hyundai/Kia after this experience.
 
If you won't buy the best choice.

Pilot - the engine is "new" but is really a Heavily revised version of the prior J35. Honda Engine will be fine.
 
If you won't buy the best choice.

Pilot - the engine is "new" but is really a Heavily revised version of the prior J35. Honda Engine will be fine.
Engine might be OK. transmission, well apparently they still haven’t figured it out after 30 years of lousy ones.



Call me crazy but I’d rather have a Traverse any day.
 
Engine might be OK. transmission, well apparently they still haven’t figured it out after 30 years of lousy ones.



Call me crazy but I’d rather have a Traverse any day.

I think they switched to another trans. in the more current vehicles. 10 speed as opposed to the 8 speed.
 
Engine might be OK. transmission, well apparently they still haven’t figured it out after 30 years of lousy ones.


Call me crazy but I’d rather have a Traverse any day.

the 23 is a 10 speed, which was a 9 speed before that and 2016 is a 6 speed. So apples and watermelons.

I don't disagree the Traverse would not be a bad choice.

OP seems prone to disregard choices based on rumor and innuendo, which of course is his prerogative, but may or may not result in a good outcome.
 
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When our kids were smaller, the Wife kicked a Mazda 5 for years, we still have it and it has been rock solid, it is a 2009. When she decided she wanted something a bit bigger, once the kids got into sports and were traveling to games, we ended up with a 2014 Armada (after MUCH comparison shopping) and we still have it and it has been rock solid as well except for an ECU failure at 90K.
 
Actual measurements that sales people are posting and seeing in real life seem to differ from whatever Mazda did to calculate cargo volume.

40 cubic feet is way less than what we have in the Palisade, but length width height all look the same or better in the Mazdas cargo area. Odd. I’ve tried to read up on standard cargo and passenger volume capacities and apparently there are 2 standards, nothing that any manufacturer necessarily abides by. So you don’t know what you’re comparing when you see published volumes?

We aren’t sold that the Mazda is it for us, not even sold that any of them are the answer, but it sure won’t be another Hyundai/Kia after this experience.
CX-90 is longitudinal set up. Can’t match space of regular SUV’s in this class.
 
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