Another What Car Thread: Big-ish SUV's (or Minivan?)

[MyNameIsAugustWest]

Sorry for the delay and it looks like you found what you need. She doesn’t ski any more. Decided to not follow in my footsteps (skiing instead of going to class) and hasn’t skied since HS. She is a PA now and makes north of $175K in teh upstate’s. Still not convinced I was wrong.


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[El Chupacabra]

I thought all motorized hatch gates could be adjusted to limit opening. Oops.

[Touring_Sedan]

^^^^ You cannot adjust the tailgate height on the 3rd gen MDX. Also living with a tailgate that doesn't open higher than my head is a no go for me. A roof box will be on the car more often than not. I use it for waders, boots and skis pretty much weekly.

There is an Inno box that fits on the factory bars and holds 189cm skis, or so they say. That would just barely fit my current skis, but I've certainly owned longer and may again. I'll bet there is a way to make a longer box work though. I contacted a couple of the big car rack sellers to ask about solutions.

I thought all motorized hatch gates could be adjusted to limit opening. Oops.

Looks like you can?

[I've seen black diamonds!]

Looks like you can?

Not the 2020, which is what I've been looking at.

Drove another car. Did some more math. Did some more thinking about what my kids and dog would do to real leather seats vs leatherette. Reflected on what I really want to get out of this car. I considered how the complicated 2-screen infotainment cluster on the MDX would piss my wife off endlessly. I really like that MDX, but I'm going with 2020 Highlander hybrid. Still need to get it checked over by a mechanic.

In addition to the above, my decision came down to this.

-The better gas mileage of the current gen Highlander Hybrid (around 33 mpg in real driving) will almost certainly make up for the fact that it costs more than the the MDX (21 mpg) and 3rd gen Highlander Hybrid (26 mpg). I also just care about burning less gas.

-I think the Highlander will hold up to abuse better than the MDX. The seats, for sure, will be more durable, but it also has fewer unnecessary electronic bits, more utilitarian carpet, a generally more burly (if less appealing) interior build, and fewer shiny trim bits than can break off. The MDX would be a much nicer car to start off, but few years down the road I think it would be the other way around. I loved our XC70 because it was incredibly reliable (yeah, I was probably lucky), and stood up to a ton of abuse. I'm confident the Highlander will do this better than the MDX

-The Pilot is more utilitarian than the MDX, but at least around here I'm seeing better deals on the MDX. I'll bet there are just more MDX's coming off leases. Plus the Pilot is notably bigger in the back which will matter to some folks.

-The MDX is undoubtedly a better car to drive than the Highlander. This almost swayed me. But it's still giant crossover. Even compared to my mom's unremarkable X3 the MDX feels cumbersome and dull. I ended up driving her car a bit this week and it made the advantage the MDX has over the Highlander in this area feel a good bit less consequential.

Anyway, hopefully the car checks out.

[MyNameIsAugustWest]

Wait,you’re using logic over emotion? This is not the way….


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[El Chupacabra]

If it'll help sway you any towards the Highlander - -

Honda /Acura V6 uses a timing belt, so mandatory $1500ish replacement around 10 years/100K miles. The fancy SH-AWD rear differential requires a drain and fill at 15K, and then at every 30K, using only special fluid (only costs about $25 for the required 2 qt, so reasonably cheap, just more shit to have to do).

Toyota - timing chain, no maintenance. If the Highlander hybrid rear differential is like the RAV hybrid, it is entirely electric, no maintenance, no fluid changes. There's no driveshaft to the rear diff, just an electric motor.

[I've seen black diamonds!]

If it'll help sway you any towards the Highlander - -

Honda /Acura V6 uses a timing belt, so mandatory $1500ish replacement around 10 years/100K miles. The fancy SH-AWD rear differential requires a drain and fill at 15K, and then at every 30K, using only special fluid (only costs about $25 for the required 2 qt, so reasonably cheap, just more shit to have to do).

Toyota - timing chain, no maintenance. If the Highlander hybrid rear differential is like the RAV hybrid, it is entirely electric, no maintenance, no fluid changes. There's no driveshaft to the rear diff, just an electric motor.

Yup. All this factored in. Before I had kids I enjoyed wrenching on cars. Now I can barely find time to drop one off at a mechanic.

[bodywhomper]

Dropping kids at the mechanic seems like a great idea for delegating who’s crawling under the car. Better than dropping them off at the pool?

[MyNameIsAugustWest]

Timing chains do require maintenance, there's just less chance that one will break and destroy the valve train.

[klauss]

I’m sold on this Aerostar

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CyTj1...c4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

[nickwm21]

Bump for 2025.

I am in this market now (apparently). I need a kid hauler.

Desire:
- 2nd row captains
- AWD
- 10+ year ownership
- Limited 3rd row (we’re a family of 4).

Use Case: I have a company vehicle, wife is WFH. This will be a daycare/school drop, grocery getter, ski/camp/bike rig. It should be relatively low miles…

I know the answer is Highlander or Sienna… but Toyota tax is real and my wife is (unfortunately) anti-van.

Does anyone have RW experience in the current gen Pathfinder or Pilot?

[BeHuWe]

The wife and I just picked up a Grand Highlander hybrid. AWD. Toyota has a 10 year hybrid battery warranty.

Averaging 33mpg

2nd row captains

Third that fits a regular human.


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[carlh]

I have a last gen 2016 pilot. It is fine, lots of room, decent power, decent awd, shitty gas mileage. It is bigger than a Highlander but smaller than a grand Highlander. If buying new I think the Toyotas are worth it but I bought the Honda in 2021 since the same money bought a much newer and lower mileage Honda than Toyota. These are appliances buy them like an appliance looking at reliability etc first.

[El Chupacabra]

I have a 2023 Honda Ridgeline, basically a Passport or Pilot with a bed. The AWD system in these is exceptional, and a major reason why I picked it.

Mileage is worse than any hybrid - - the Highlander hybrid would be a good choice. I average around 23 mpg in the Ridgeline, with a lot of elevation up and down, twisty mountain roads, and interstates at 75-80. If I drove flat lands at 65 I bet it'd be a good bit better.

I find the Ridgeline really comfortable on road trips, and it's quiet. It, and the Pilot and Passport, are the widest in their classes - - if you have single bay garage doors like I do, you may want to measure carefully. It's a tight squeeze into my garage.

If I were looking at the Pilot, I'd also take a good look at a used Acura MDX. Same basic vehicle, much nicer trimmed out.

[Dromond]

The wife and I just picked up a Grand Highlander hybrid. AWD. Toyota has a 10 year hybrid battery warranty. Averaging 33mpg 2nd row captains Third that fits a regular human. Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

33mpg at that size is legit. How much did it run you and how is it for highway driving?

[bodywhomper]

I really like our awd sienna hybrid.

I have a friend that’s pretty excited about the grand highlander hybrid max model.

Have another friend that really enjoys their pilot.


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[bigdude2468]

Second on the Toyota Grand Highlander AWD Hybrid, and it does get 33+ in a city highway mix. You will pay MSRP, helps that the GH and Sienna are made in Princeton Indiana. When we purchased ours the wait time was six months. I know that its gotten better but I don't think you can find them sitting on a lot. We have the 4 cylinder and I had never had a 4 cylinder vehicle before and I was surprised how peppy it is.

[Danno]

You say ski camp bike rig: any off road or towing? If so, a Sequoia fits. It is very large so maybe too big, and it gets terrible mileage, but is great otherwise.

[stapes]

Family of [emoji640] with a dog and gear etc. We went with a Highlander a few years ago. It’s been great so far. I am Grand Highlander curious now, but we’ll probably stick with the Highlander as it’s paid for.