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New mid to full size SUVs?

noobski

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We were thinking of waiting at least another year or two to replace my wife's 13 year old VW Touareg. The car is probably fine, but a couple things popped up where it may be time to turn it.

She puts 5k miles a year, so I think we still have a lot of time and I'm not going to rush and pay above MSRP either. Getting our ducks in a row I wonder when the shoe drops and need to replace.

Here's the shopping list in no particular order with the understanding we hold cars for 10+ years minimum, want the option for trailer use, are agnostic about electric (meaning sure, if reasonable, but not a priority), and want longevity and relative ease of repair. We do want a tad more space than the Touareg for the growing kids (preteens) as well, so would lean toward third row, but not mandatory. Budget covers all the following, but ideally want best bang for buck, don't care about the badge unless the badge is worth it. We plan to test all of these in coming months along with any other suggestions.

  • Touaregs are no longer made for US purchases She loves the performance of this car. The new VW SUVs (Atlas, Taos, etc) are nothing like the Touareg, test drove them and not interesting to her and are simply different feel to her so we ruled those out.
  • Lexus GX 460 (Did not think we'd like this, but we test drove it recently and it's surprisingly enjoyable. Also, the price relative to the reviews (Consumer Reports (CR), etc) seems fair. Amazing longevity and ease of repairs too. Seems like it would age well)
  • Grand Cherokee L Overland or Limited but want it air suspension. (test drove the limited and liked it a lot, but concerned about brand reliability per CR)
  • Grand Cherokee (traditional) Overland or X Limited.
  • Toyota Highlander. XSE or higher trim. (high on my list; wife not so sure. Haven't tested it yet since inventory is limited)
  • Possibly 4Runner, but would prefer seeing what comes of the 2023 next gen.
  • MDX.
  • We tested the Subaru Ascent. Drove great and we both liked it, but she can't see well over the hood and felt it was too low to the ground. (she's little). I also like the Outback, but given the issues with the Ascent, I assume the Outback will be even smaller? We couldn't test drive one since there were none to drive that day.
  • Finally, she's ideally interested in waiting on checking out the Toyota Sequoia (any new Tundra owners that can comment?). I'm a big fan of it too. If she likes it, then we would ideally wait until 2023 to buy a second year Sequoia since we try to avoid first year redesigns.
  • Open to other ideas as well.

Curious if anyone owns any of these, thoughts on current options v other ideas or try to wait longer for new stuff coming out in the next year or so.

Thanks!
 

Tom K.

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Everybody's needs and wants are different. For me, and what is currently available, it would be the Ford Explorer ST.

Enough fun for me with it's power/handling combination, and it would pull my wife's 5,000 pound trailer without breaking a sweat.

It wouldn't be a high miles vehicle for us, so as annoying as current gas prices are, that doesn't factor into things too mucgh.
 

gwasson

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Hyundai - Palisade or Kia - Telluride?
 
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noobski

noobski

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Everybody's needs and wants are different. For me, and what is currently available, it would be the Ford Explorer ST.

Enough fun for me with it's power/handling combination, and it would pull my wife's 5,000 pound trailer without breaking a sweat.

It wouldn't be a high miles vehicle for us, so as annoying as current gas prices are, that doesn't factor into things too mucgh.
Have not thought about this car. Just looked it up and like the trim a lot. Had not thought of it because the basic Ford Explorer Trim is not that interesting, but this one looks a bit more sporty. We will add to the test drive list.

Hyundai - Palisade or Kia - Telluride?

She didn't like the Palisade look, but does like the Telluride. Problem with it is we have not had an opportunity to test drive. They're just never available. We check weekly and every once in a while there's one at the dealership, we call the day it's posted and it's already gone...so she just gave up on it. When they are available the dealership marks it up $5k+ which out of principle, we're not going to do.

As an aside, a friend of mine is part of a dealership and said to me that the manufacturers they work with (GM and Ford) are really upset with the dealers marking cars up. He said that their dealership refuses to do so, however it has hurt inventory further, but they think that consumers will remember the dealerships that marked up cars during this time and they'll be hurting later.
 

Tom K.

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Have not thought about this car. Just looked it up and like the trim a lot. Had not thought of it because the basic Ford Explorer Trim is not that interesting, but this one looks a bit more sporty. We will add to the test drive list.

I would love as much detail on your test drive as you're interested in typing!
 

x10003q

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We also love our 2014 Touareg TDI. We are nowhere near done with it. Here are some other ideas:
2017 VW Touareg
Volvo XC90 (3 rows in a 194 inch length)
Genesis - GV70 or 80
Volvo V90 wagon

BMW/MB/Porsche have various SUVs and wagons that would work
 
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noobski

noobski

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We also love our 2014 Touareg TDI. We are nowhere near done with it. Here are some other ideas:
2017 VW Touareg
Volvo XC90 (3 rows in a 194 inch length)
Genesis - GV70 or 80
Volvo V90 wagon

BMW/MB/Porsche have various SUVs and wagons that would work
Ahhh ... Welcome to the last 2 years ... I would love to replace with a 2017 Touareg. Been searching far and wide, but very hard to find them. But also, it's the space. My family is getting bigger and my wife is wanting a bit more room as well. But I totally would be fine with another Touareg. Just a great vehicle.

The Volvo XC90 and wagon will be put on the list. Thank you. Hadn't thought of that.

Genesis GV70/80 faces the same issues as the Telluride, but if things pop up, we'll take a look again (see comment above on Telluride).

Thanks for the feedback!
 
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noobski

noobski

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I would love as much detail on your test drive as you're interested in typing!
I got to say...liking this pic a lot! Whether she does...we'll see :)

1651978093779.png
 

Andy Mink

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@Andy Mink and @AKMINK just went through this process. They ended up with the Palisade.
I like the Telluride exterior but the Pali interior. Just cracked 1000 miles yesterday. We looked at several options and for the money the Palisade Limited appeared to have the best bang for the buck. I liked the GV70 but it is smaller. The Explorer and Honda Passport lost out on passenger seat comfort. She didn't want a Subaru; "everyone has a Subaru". Mileage in the Pali is adequate, low 20s around town, more on the highway but we haven't had a lot of highway driving yet.

If you're on FB look up owner groups for all your options. Lots of good first hand opinions and where people are buying.
 
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noobski

noobski

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I like the Telluride exterior but the Pali interior. Just cracked 1000 miles yesterday. We looked at several options and for the money the Palisade Limited appeared to have the best bang for the buck. I liked the GV70 but it is smaller. The Explorer and Honda Passport lost out on passenger seat comfort. She didn't want a Subaru; "everyone has a Subaru". Mileage in the Pali is adequate, low 20s around town, more on the highway but we haven't had a lot of highway driving yet.

If you're on FB look up owner groups for all your options. Lots of good first hand opinions and where people are buying.

Great idea! thanks!
 

wiread

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I am just glad we aren't in the market right now and don't envy those who are.
We had some good hail a couple weeks ago, 7k to the truck, 11k to my wife’s Honda. It’s 10 years old, paid for and slated to be replaced in 2 years or so.
The 11k totaled it in the insurance biz and after looking around, we’ll just drive around a dimpled van till it dies.
 

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