Put price aside - anyone have any of these cars and can share some positives or negatives about them? We need a 3rd row to be usable but a large size suv is too much (money and size), we already have a minivan. We seem to have narrowed it down to those 3 but can’t decide. They each have some pros and some cons. I don’t know anyone that has any of those cars so I am hoping someone here has some experience and can sway me one way or the other :).
My oldest will also be driving in a year so he will also be using the car.
The car is for my husband…thank you!
Car and Driver had a really good write up on this recently.
2018 Traverse didn’t make the list in time, but was reviewed a month or two later and they said it would have been at or near the top of the list if they redid the tests.
i test drove the lt3 traverse for 4 days-awesome !
pros- gas mpg handling size huge interior -easy to park ect around town easy manuevering handling
2nd row seats are so big slide back alot-
cons -lease price i got 600 2k down no excise included
random engine reving or lowering at highway speeds when not accelerating then hitting the gas(weird)
front lights had condinsation in them i noticed (weird)
had some fair amount body roll at highway speeds
its got 16 inches inbetween the second row captains (yes i measured) and ground clearance is 15 in in the center of vehicle(front is much lower)
seats are nice and wide (20 in)
tried to upload pics but wont let me
test drove a durango-drives And handles like a car but I think the traverse does the same
no comparison in way the feeling of spaciousness of the traverse - but was just something aboutThe blacked out white Durango RT with red interior-sexy lol (traverse is not )
I test drove Highlander, CX-9, Atlas, Traverse, Tiguan, Jeep GC and Equinox. Out of all these CX-9 ride was best and finally ended up getting it yesterday. Highlander and Jeep GC were next best to drive, but the higher residuals on CX9, dealer discounts and mazda rebates made CX-9 an easy choice.
Does the cx9 have a real 3rd row? My kids range from 10-15…so they are only getting bigger/older.
From C&D: “Provided you’re merely midstream in your spawning, let us offer this bit of advice: There’s still time to change the road you’re on. Because if you have too many offspring—perhaps as few as two—your family will have outgrown the Mazda CX-9. Its third row is tiny and tough to access, and even the second row is comparatively tight. Once you really, truly need your minivan surrogate, you’ve already sized yourself out of this tall wagon.”
I’m 5ft9 and it was little tight for me with sliding second row seats all the way back.
I know you say take out price… however, with leasing price can be dramatically different. It’s not just a few grand in MSRP between them that will make a $30-40 difference in monthly payment… how well each vehicle can lease should be a huge deciding point…
For example, it’s been seen in the recent days that a $0 down, lower miles (10K-12K) CX-9 Touring can lease for around $400 a month. Where as an Explorer Sport with very similar $40-$45k MSRP is lucky to be lease under $600 a month. These are not exact priced by any means but offer a good analogy that how well a vehicle leases can make all the difference so finding one you like that also leases well is important.
Good luck in your search! We have a highlander we just bought and love it!
how much for cx9 did u end up paying?
$351 including everything. True zero down.
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Yes- you are right price is a factor…if not my husband would be driving a Yukon! Not sure what we will end up with, I keep stalking the boards hoping someone will have some insight that will make the light bulb go off for me. I wish they made a large suv with a price that we could work with. Some of the mid-size (like the atlas, xc90, lexus gx 460, etc) just don’t have enough space and even some of those seem to be so expensive.
According to C&D the Atlas was biggest in class, at least until the new Traverse came out. You should consider reading the articles, if you haven’t, they are very in depth comparisons between everything in the segment.
I happen to love the atlas. It is my husband. He’s had 3 passats in a row and just refuses to drive another VW. I wish he would. To me it is the car that fits everything we need, but he has his sticking point with that car.
The drawback to the Atlas is the powertrain. Why on earth they used something so outdated for a brand new model that needed to be a hit is a very strange decision. Also, VW continues to insist on marketing itself as a quasi premium brand in the US, when elsewhere that’s really not the case.
How soon do you need it anyway? If you can hold out it might be worth waiting to see the Subaru Ascent. It’s got 19 cup holders!
I saw that! I heard it wasn’t coming out until the summer - that is a long time to wait! Do you think it will be out earlier?
my subaru dealer said they were told May arrival.
All I heard was “sometime in 2018”, but if you’re not finding the right fit now it might be worth holding out to check it out.