New mid to full size SUVs?

[Tricia]

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.

We have a friend who pulls hail damage for a living. If you want his information, let me know.

 

[wiread]

We have a friend who pulls hail damage for a living. If you want his information, let me know.

Thank you for the offer, I do have a guy here. Truck is getting fixed but van is either total it and take 14k and go buy a new one. I looked, I don’t feel like playing this game now lol

or do keep it and get a little less from insurance but even if fixed we can only ever get liability on it going forward anyway so I’m not inclined to do anything to it but hope the dimples aid me like they do a golf ball

 

[Tricia]

Thank you for the offer, I do have a guy here. Truck is getting fixed but van is either total it and take 14k and go buy a new one. I looked, I don’t feel like playing this game now lol

or do keep it and get a little less from insurance but even if fixed we can only ever get liability on it going forward anyway so I’m not inclined to do anything to it but hope the dimples aid me like they do a golf ball

I just texted our friend who is actually in your area doing hail damage estimates and repair right now.
Coincidence? Probably not. Perhaps he's the one who's doing your repairs.

 

[Tom K.]

The 11k totaled it in the insurance biz and after looking around, we’ll just drive around a dimpled van till it dies.

I would cheerfully drive our 10 year old Sienna through a bit of hail for $11k.

Very cheerfully!

 

[sparty]

I would cheerfully drive our 10 year old Sienna through a bit of hail for $11k.

Very cheerfully!

Best thing that happened to me in my Suburban was a deer running into the side of it. The check from the insurance on that just about covered that year's mechanical failures (and it wasn't more than five years old), and at that point, it wasn't too hard to live with the dents.

 

[Tricia]

I would cheerfully drive our 10 year old Sienna through a bit of hail for $11k.

Very cheerfully!

When we were looking for a new(er) Yukon last year we found one with hail damage that we considered, knowing that our friend could fix it.
I can't recall why we didn't end up snagging it other than maybe somoene beat us to it.

 

[scott43]

When we were looking for a new(er) Yukon last year we found one with hail damage that we considered, knowing that our friend could fix it.
I can't recall why we didn't end up snagging it other than maybe somoene beat us to it.

I wouldn't say hail damage needs to be repaired per se..... Unless you have busted windows or the like..

 

[Tricia]

I wouldn't say hail damage needs to be repaired per se..... Unless you have busted windows or the like..

If you have the resources and want to, why not?

 

[wiread]

I would cheerfully drive our 10 year old Sienna through a bit of hail for $11k.

Very cheerfully!

I’m not too upset. There are much worse ways to “total” a vehicle than leaving it in perfectly fine mechanical condition with a bunch dimples on it.

I jist couldn’t believe the auto market when I went looking to see what our options where.

 

[Tricia]

I’m not too upset. There are much worse ways to “total” a vehicle than leaving it in perfectly fine mechanical condition with a bunch dimples on it.

I jist couldn’t believe the auto market when I went looking to see what our options where.

Paint it white and put a Titleist logo on it.

 

[Tricia]

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

@noobski sorry for the hijack.
What Andy posted is actually quite helpful.

@Wendy went through something similar last year. She bought a Toyota Sienna. I'm actually quite impressed with those.

 

[tball]

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!

We went through this last year to replace my wife's MDX. She ended up with a gently used GX 460 and loves it. A few thoughts:

MDX drives great for an SUV, one of the sportiest and most fun to drive, but reliability isn't what it used to be, so we skipped it.

Since you have a Suburban, I'd skip the Sequoia. I've got one, and it's fantastic when I need the room or 4x4, but I'd rather drive anything else when I have the option. It's huge, heavy, and thirsty. The new model will get better mileage but will still be a beast to drive.

Think quiver design: a Suburban and Sequoia would be like having two powder skis when adding a mid-fat will serve you better.

You didn't mention the Lexus RX. They are great vehicles and don't require premium fuel. I was hoping my wife would pick the RX, but she thought it felt like driving a minivan compared to the more upright and tougher GX. Same with the Highlander.

RX and Highlander (and similar) have much more interior room than the GX and 4Runner due to their 4x4 body on frame construction.

The current GX V8 drivetrain is better than the 4Runner V6 and will likely stay that way. The next generations (2024?) will likely be TT V6 (hybrid?) in the GX and a turbo-4 in the 4Runner. The GX with the new engine will be a monster.

 

[scott43]

If you have the resources and want to, why not?

Oh I agree..just..often it's just small dents..if you have to pay out of pocket, I don't know that I would bother and the car won't be much different..I like your Titleist conflation... Speed Dimples...

 

[Wendy]

@noobski sorry for the hijack.
What Andy posted is actually quite helpful.

@Wendy went through something similar last year. She bought a Toyota Sienna. I'm actually quite impressed with those.

Never thought I’d buy a minivan.

Turns out they are very underrated. Nice to drive, TONS of room, great gas mileage (hybrid) and the sliding doors are awesome.

AWD + Nokian tires and it was great on snowy roads.

 

[noobski]

We went through this last year to replace my wife's MDX. She ended up with a gently used GX 460 and loves it. A few thoughts:

MDX drives great for an SUV, one of the sportiest and most fun to drive, but reliability isn't what it used to be, so we skipped it.

Since you have a Suburban, I'd skip the Sequoia. I've got one, and it's fantastic when I need the room or 4x4, but I'd rather drive anything else when I have the option. It's huge, heavy, and thirsty. The new model will get better mileage but will still be a beast to drive.

Think quiver design: a Suburban and Sequoia would be like having two powder skis when adding a mid-fat will serve you better.

You didn't mention the Lexus RX. They are great vehicles and don't require premium fuel. I was hoping my wife would pick the RX, but she thought it felt like driving a minivan compared to the more upright and tougher GX. Same with the Highlander.

RX and Highlander (and similar) have much more interior room than the GX and 4Runner due to their 4x4 body on frame construction.

The current GX V8 drivetrain is better than the 4Runner V6 and will likely stay that way. The next generations (2024?) will likely be TT V6 (hybrid?) in the GX and a turbo-4 in the 4Runner. The GX with the new engine will be a monster.

Thanks for this feedback.

My wife really liked the GX460 test drive for similar reasons. Not a lot available though right now with the captain chairs and blue. But again, we're in no rush, so just waiting and testing everything possible.

The Sequoia feedback is very helpful; we don't need/want two Suburban equivalents. The picture looks smaller than it probably is. Was actually going to have my wife test drive a Tundra just to feel out the size, but it's a lot of truck.

I thought the RX had two rows only and about the size of the Touareg; and she wasn't a fan of the design.

 

[snwbrdr]

If the Subaru ascent felt low to the ground, then the Highlander will be just as bad.

my 2021 Highlander Hybrid Platinum AWD with a Yakima Skybox 16 on top

Untitled by thisistan, on Flickr

 

[noobski]

Okay - I will remember to write back or DM you after we get that done.

We finally got the opportunity to test drive a Ford Explorer ST.

@Tom K. wanted a review and so here it is:

Pros

• Great use of space.
• Color was a cool green.
• Blends in well with all vehicles on the road, but sneaky fast and fun to drive.
• ST package makes the truck basically borderline muscle car. The "Sports" mode takes that vehicle's speed performance to another level. 0-60 in well under 6 seconds, perhaps with after market mods, could take it to sub 5. Top line speed was stupid fast as well. Pushing from 40-75 took no effort. Definitely one of the best performing SUV's I've ever driven.

Cons

• Wife is short and could not see over the sides of the hood which created minor hazard blind spots on anything on the road. For example, tried to turn around Y-turn and my wife could not see the ditch. We avoided it, but she truly couldn't see it.
• Part shortage prevented standard options like back seat butt warmers. However we were not told that and had to ask. We don't know what else wasn't in the car that normally would have been.
• Interior is basic trim. For $60k should be much nicer trim.
• The sports mode brings the RPMs up to 2k to start and so not practical for everyday driving. It just feels like it wants to blast off when just regular driving. So the primary benefit of the sports mode in the ST seems less practical to use most of the time. You'd like run it in Normal or Eco mode instead which is noticeably different performance.
• Online reviews were all over the place.

Overall impressed with the car for a number of reasons, but between the blind spot and lack of higher end interior features v. the $60k price tag we had to pass. The blind spot was really the main determinant. Just a no go in that case.

Also tested the MDX A Spec. That's our top contender right now however reading a lot of mixed reviews on Reddit/Edmunds/etc..anyone have any experience?


Mod edit: Added bullet points

 

[Philpug]

Also tested the MDX A Spec. That's our top contender right now however reading a lot of mixed reviews on Reddit/Edmunds/etc..anyone have any experience?

Go by your gut and driving experience and not third party.

 

[Tom K.]

We finally got the opportunity to test drive a Ford Explorer ST.

@Tom K. wanted a review and so here it is:

Thanks! I really appreciate it.

Also tested the MDX A Spec. That's our top contender right now however reading a lot of mixed reviews on Reddit/Edmunds/etc..anyone have any experience?

No direct knowledge in the MDX, but generally, the Honda engine is pretty weak on torque, which I love.

Also, if I go the hot rod SUV route in a year or two, it's gotta pull my wife's horse trailer.

Even if, you know, it never does.

 

[In2h2o]

Also tested the MDX A Spec. That's our top contender right now however reading a lot of mixed reviews on Reddit/Edmunds/etc..anyone have any experience?

How do you like the Acura dealership?
FWIW I have an older MDX which I really enjoy and the only reason I would not get another one is the dealerships near me are horrible. Luckily I have a longstanding relationship with a Honda dealership which had an Acura dealership that closed a few years ago. The head mechanic is well versed with my generation MDX. Shout out to Reno Acura because they are truly what I believe Acura would want a dealership's service department to be. But in my local area even with 3 dealerships within 50 miles they all suck so bad that I won't purchase a new MDX because I don't want to deal with them.