SUV Owners

smb+jab

So DH has decided that he won't let me go this winter without an all wheel / 4WD car.  Which means bye bye Altima and hello car shopping.  I should preface this by stating we did have an exceptionally bad winter last year and for the first time ever in my life i had to abandon my car, about two miles from home and have DH come rescue DS and I as my car was not making it up the hills to get home and into our development (our new home in the suburbs, its not right off a major highway like our town home was- so not a top priority).  Given this I worked from home many days last year.  So DH has a point and its not just me anymore, plus we started to noticed that all of the neighbors own 4WD vehicles.  Maybe we should have paid more attention...

But none less I have always had a small car (well until I met my six foot five husband and had to buy what i call a bigger car!).  I haven't really car shopped as I wasn't prepared to buy a new car so I have no idea what I want.  But this is how I shop, i wasn't prepared to buy the Altima either  I thought the Mazda 5 was cute and we looked at the dodge journey and the jeep Cherokee.  DH previously had a Jeep Laredo and now had a ford escape.  All of these seem huge to me!  So what better way to start narrowing down choices than to ask current owners for their opinions.  

So if you have an SUV:

What do you own?

What do you love about your vehicle (features etc)?

If you have one with a third row seat, worth it? Or you really cannot fit a person back there...

Other thoughts?  

MRoxy0628

What do you own? I own a Chevy Equinox. 

What do you love about your vehicle (features etc)?  There aren't really any features that stand out, but I do love it.  I like that it has a backup camera and it rates really high as far as safety goes.  We live in MN, so I'm driving in snow at least 6 months out of the year and I've not had any issues.

If you have one with a third row seat, worth it? Or you really cannot fit a person back there...
We don't have a 3rd row.  We considered it, but it felt too big being that we only have one child.  If/when we have another child, we may get a larger SUV. 

Other thoughts?  

kelbel527

We have a Honda Pilot.

I love the quality of a Honda, I love the drive-ability in winter (Wisconsin winters) and the space (lots of extra compartments to put stuff).

I love having a 3rd row - however, I've stated this on here before.  I wish we would have gone with a style that had captain's chairs in the middle with easier accessiblity to the 3rd row.  Right now, since the boys are next to each window, I have to move a car seat to fold down the middle seat to even get into the 3rd row.  Therefore, we rarely use it.

Features I love: heated seats, backup camera (since I hate driving such a big vehicle, this makes me feel better), rear entertainment center w/ DVD player for the boys (we use this practically on every trip > 1hr for our FF child.)

I'm seriously considering a mini-van in the next year or two and DH wants to upgrade to a Jeep (he drives a car that sucks in the winter right now).

Pokedot

So if you have an SUV:

What do you own? Ford Edge

What do you love about your vehicle (features etc)? Everything. It rides like a car but it's higher up and AWD. Awesome in the snow. I live in the UP of Michigan. We get dumped on. I've never had an issue in the snow. It gets great gas mileage for the size (can fit 5 people.) 20-25MPG. I'd get another one in an instant if we didn't plan on having another child. While I won't get better rid of it anytime soon when our kids get older I think we'll have to for cargo space. (Sports equipment, especially hockey bags.)

If you have one with a third row seat, worth it? Or you really cannot fit a person back there...

Other thoughts?  I won't buy a Dodge. We've had them in the past and have had nothing but problems with them. If you want a 3rd row I'd look at the GMC Acadia if you want an SUV. I think this is the vehicle we'll get next unless we decide on a minivan.

 

ETA: My car is fully loaded. We bought it used. Heated seats if you get leather was a must for us, 6 disc CD, navigation, rear DVD system. The one thing I would want in mine is an automatic liftgate. It's a PITA to open when your hands are full.

Holly_1007

Volvo XC90. It's more of a crossover than an SUV but it is AWD. It has a third row. I love that I can fold one of the 3rd row seats down, and still use the other (it isn't bench style) it really isn't too big, but isn't too small either. I don't feel like I'm driving a huge truck, but I also don't feel like I'm sitting on the ground either. It does have tv's built into the headrests but we haven't taken the time to figure out how to use them. When we all traveled together, we fit 5 of us, plus our luggage comfortably. My only complaint (which was really H's complaint, not mine) was that he couldn't drive it if Colbys Rf seat was behind the drivers seat. He rarely drove, and if he did, we just switched the boys seats around.

misscheapandchic

So if you have an SUV:

What do you own? 2014 Jeep Patriot

What do you love about your vehicle (features etc)? I love the sound system, the heated leather seats, the fact that you can turn the AWD off and that it also has a semi manual mode so you can have a little more control in the snow, it gets amazing gas mileage.

If you have one with a third row seat, worth it? Or you really cannot fit a person back there... N/A

Other thoughts? Make sure you test drive a lot to see what's comfortable to you, I loved the idea of having a jeep but it wasn't on my radar because I didn't think they were "family friendly". It ended up beating out 3 other SUVs for comfort and ease of driving. It's very reasonably priced as well, our car payment is under $350 a month and would've been under $300 if we had chosen the 5 year loan.

AKB090609

If you need all wheel drive, check out Subaru, all their models are all wheel drive.

I have an outback, we got it in 2012 because we both had cars and needed something that wouldn't get stuck all the time (we both had small cars at the time).

The only thing I don't love about my car is that it can be hard to reach the center seat if you have 3 rf car seats, which I'm guessing has more to do with 3 across than the car.

danabsd

What do you own?

Mazda CX-9

What do you love about your vehicle (features etc)?

I'm short, so I love that I can get me and the girls in and out with out struggle but still sit high up.  It has a fold down 50/50 split 3rd row so the trunk is huge with the seats down and small but usable with them up.

The back seat is huge.  Lots of legroom.  2 RFing carseats were no challenge neither the driver or passenger needs to sit on the dash for them to fit.  

I love that it has a little zoom to it and is AWD.  Even the base model has lots of small "luxury" features.  

If you have one with a third row seat, worth it? Or you really cannot fit a person back there...

I've sat in the third row and we've transported a full size male back there.  Its not bad.  

Other thoughts?  

Take your time and test drive with your carseat in.  

BPer

Honda Pilot

I love it for the space. I don't use the third row often, but there's plenty of room in the tailgate for our golden retriever who refuses to sit down for any car ride ever.

You could definitely fit people back there though...

hmp1

What do you own? GMC Acadia

What do you love about your vehicle (features etc)? Middle row captain chairs easily fits two rear facing car seats - a big reason why we bought this car. It is comfortable to drive, we do a lot of road trips. Great AC and music for the back row seats.

If you have one with a third row seat, worth it? Or you really cannot fit a person back there... Easily fits two adults in the third row. We have captain chairs but because we have 2 rear facing car seats you have to get into the third row by crawling in the back. But my 65 year old mother and I do it all the time without any trouble. Once James flips to ff, it will be really easy to access the third row.

Other thoughts?  Love my car! I had a CX7 before this one. I really liked it for when I had one kid. The second rear facing seat made it impossible for my 6'2ish husband to drive and super uncomfortable for him to sit passenger. Really anyone over 5'10 would have a problem. And I don't think it had rear seat vents. I remember James getting so hot in his car seat in the summer.

LyndseylovesHugh

So if you have an SUV:

What do you own? VW Tiguan

What do you love about your vehicle (features etc)? I love it so much! It's a small SUV but we can still RF our Foonf and my 6 foot H can still sit comfortably in front if it. It is pretty fully loaded and I like all of the features, but my favorite is that the entire roof is pretty much one big sun/moon roof. If I had kids when we bought it I would have bought the Tourag, which is the bigger version.

If you have one with a third row seat, worth it? Or you really cannot fit a person back there... No third row. I find third rows to be pretty useless unless the second row is captains seats like HMPs. I want that in my next car.

Other thoughts?