Family of 5, Mid Size SUV

Ask the Hackrs
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23

CX 9 - Nice interior, leases OK. Feels a lot smaller inside than others in the segment. Back opening is pretty small.

The 2019 MDX with Tech can be leased for ~420/mo right now. Lease incentive of $8,500. Seems to be a lot of 2019s left.

To get captains chairs you need to get the Advance, but I haven’t seen a quote for one.

We did all the math and ended up buying a 2017 CPO GLS450, can be had for ~$45-47k.

We returned our 2017 MDX lease, were thinking to get another 2019 one, but it’s just kinda boring and the entertainment system is really outdated.

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24

Yeah pretty nuts getting everyone in & out these days! We have a Honda Odyssey 8 seater. Been very flexible for us. When it was just 3 in carseats, I took out 2nd row center to make a captain’s chair arrangement (1 carseat 2nd row outboard, 2 others in the 3rd row). Now with 4 I put the console back in and leave 2nd row driver side open for adult passenger and sliding access to the 3rd row (carseats in middle and outboard for 2nd and 3rd rows).

My only real disappointment has been that I couldn’t fit FF carseats 3 wide in the 3rd row and kept a captain’s chair arrangement adding the 4th. My wife hated the idea of a minivan but she is a total convert to the practicality. And I just like not having to pay the SUV premium for that amount of cargo space and features.

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25

$369/mo with tax

26

Doesn’t just feel smaller, it is smaller. Has less cargo space than a Fit with third row in place. Wife and I looked at it and canceled test drive. No purpose in buying the car unless you really value Mazda design or driveability.

For people that want numerical proof of this statement, behind the third row: Tahoe has 15.3 cubic feet of space, MDX has 15.8 cubic feet of space, Traverse has 23 feet, Odyssey has 32.8 cubic and Suburban has 39 feet.

If you have to have third row up, you simply can’t carry very much cargo in anything other than a minivan or Suburban/Escalade ESV/expidition XL etc…

2 Likes
27

Agreed with the CX-9, it is smaller for sure. We tested the Odyssey, Sienna, and Sedona so far with the mini van. Just knowing this path may very well lead to a minivan.

28

Traverse, Atlas etc split the difference between MDX size crossovers and Sub sized BOF trucks

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29

Thanks for the numerical breakdown, even more of a difference that I realized. I know that during many a costco run, I wish I had even more than that 32.8 cubic of space. But going larger just gets to expensive. 2014 msrp for odyssey was about 29k versus suburban about 47k. I think my 2014 ex-l was about 34k otd. And I’m probably in a minority but absolutely love that sideview camera.

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What always amazes me is how the Tahoe is basically the same size as the Traverse (Tahoe a couple inches wider) and yet has so much less space. Unless you need to tow a lot it is just a terrible family vehicle.

31

Agreed. Even for towing it only makes sense once you’ve exceeded the capacity of crossovers, many of whom can tow 5,000lb.

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32

The Traverse is a nice size, but does the Traverse ever have any good lease deals? It seems like most GM products sometimes are okay on base models, but if you want anything with many features they seem to cost more than the luxury brands.