7/8 Person SUV Purchase! Advise PLEASE!

Take a look at the Honda Pilot i have one bc i have twins and a 5 yr old and they are all in carseats it seats 8 and has floor room the greats SUV in have ever wanted You can put 3 in the front 3 in the back or put 1 big seat down for a stroller or you can put down the little back seat I have used my Pilot for just about everything you can think of.
Hope this helps GOOD LUCK

I have a friend who recently sold their Honda Odyssey and got a Honda Pilot. She said it was the worst decision she's made. She thought she'd be getting more room and got less. I think unless you go with a suburban or something like that, you won't be getting any MORE room with an SUV as opposed to a minivan. 10 years ago, my husband had to convince me to look at a minivan and now wants to get a suburban. Now it's ME who doesn't want to think of anything but my beloved minivan! LOL! You can always test drive some of them. Remember to practice getting the kids in and out to see how easy that is. AND, don't forget about storage of the stroller, groceries, etc. Good luck!!

We bought a 2009 Ford Flex and LOVE it. The 2nd row is wonderfully huge, (and has captains chair option though we have bench) and the 3rd row is surprisingly generous. The cargo area behind the 3rd row is amazing too. We get 19 to 24 mpg, super smooth ride, and it's one of the coolest looking 7 passenger vehicles out there IMHO. Lots of things comes standard on the base model too. We often take our family of 4 (one carseat) and our best friends (family of 3 w/one carseat) across town in it and are all very comfortable.
I didn't want a mini-van this was the best bang for the buck $$ we thought. Good luck and have fun car shopping!!
E. in Galloway

I don't know much about any 3rd row seating SUVs other than the middle row is a pain the the butt unless it is captains chairs, lol. Thats why I decided on a minivan (plus it gets much better gas mileage too).

When I was looking for an SUV though, I really liked the Saturn Outlook (GMC Acadia is the same too). It had the inside layout of a minivan, but the outside looked like an SUV. Plus it was a minivan wheelbase and engine so it was more fuel economic.

Hi M.,
We have 3 children, older than yours, but not yet ready to downsize to a 5 passenger car. With all of the activities, we usually have an extra person or 2 coming along. We just purchased the Chevy TRAVERSE - I love it! Rides wonderful and has plenty of room. Good Luck with your decision!

Hello M.,

My husband and I purchased a Jeep Commander with the third row seat. We love it. It is a Chrysler product. I am on my third Chrysler (a Jeep Cherokke, Dodge Durango and now the Commander.)

Good luck. Go test drive one and see for yourself.

Lori

We have a Nissan Pathfinder, which is the smaller version of the Armada. We actually like the third row seating and it it a life saver when we have a few extra kids to take with us. We have not had any problems with our Pathfinder.

I have the Saturn Outlook and love it! Like stated earlier, it is an SUV on the outside but has the features of a mini van on the inside. I have two in car seats in the captain chairs and there is still room for the kids to get around them and into the back seat. I haven't had any problem reading into the back to help buckle either. WIth the third row up the trunk is small but the seats lay down so easily that it is not a problem at all. I leave a car seat on the 1/3 side and lay down the 2/3 side and have plenty of room for a double stroller and groceries and whatever else is needed. There are cup holders for each of the seats in the back and plenty of leg room everywhere. Adults have sat in the third row comfortably. It also gets great gas milage.
Good luck on your decision!

just wondering if you decided on something -- I enjoyed your question as we are looking at either the Outlook - or the Traverse - also looked at the Enclave --- We are leaning toward the Traverse as it has an option of A/C seats!!!!! How COOL is that???? We love the Outlook - we definitely want one that has the option of the power liftgate... and to get that in an Outlook, you have to get the one that has leather seats -- but the Outlook doesn't have the cooled seats :( I know alot about both of them - if you have any questions, just drop me a line! We definitely want the DVD also - it helps our little one NOT GET CARSICK! We have a 2007 Saturn Relay right now and are ready to sell it just $1000 over trade-in-value to anyone! It has a remote start and power sliding door rear a/c and the DVD player... much more in a polar blue color

We are wondering how complicated a Navigation screen is - we were wanting just the regular Bose radio but the Traverse we have looked at has the Navigator also.

We have a *mid size SUV* - Honda Pilot. It can seat 8. We absolutely love it. It was rated very high on safety. -It is more affordable to buy and more cost effective and better for the environment than the large ones. We are expecting #3 and don't anticipate any problems as we have had our 2 little ones in the 3rd row quite a bit. I would recommend checking the vehicles out then taking the gang along with you to see how it would feel to load and unload and ride comfortably. My 2nd row does not have captain seats, but folds very easily and one side is small. So it is not a problem for me to reach back to unbuckle the kids.

My husband and I test drove a Mercury Mountaineer, and we really liked it. It has more seating than a minivan, I think it might have seated 10? It was very easy to drive, and the used ones we saw were in great shape. The only downside is that they have pretty bad gas mileage, but I guess that's to be expected with something that large.

OK well my suggestion would be the CHEVROLET Traverse.. LOVE the SUV PLUS you will be keeping the money in US to help OUR economy which is what is needed..... Outlooks are nice as well... Whatever you get PLEASE BUY American. lol A girlfriend of mine had the Pathfinder and traded it off for her Traverse and she said she wishes they had the Traverse out when she got the Pathfinder b/c Traverse is WAY better and drives smooth. I told her she made a VERY wish choice on the Traverse PLUS her mom traded her HONDA off for a Traverse as well SO I have to thank them BOTH for buying American lol.. YES I am into American b/c right now my hubby is laid off for 11 wks from GM so ANY help buying American is GREAT lol...

I have 3 girls - the twins are 4 and the baby is 2 -- all in carseats. We just bought a Ford Expedition EL and LOVE it. --- Make sure you check out the EL version -- it is the extended length. I hated the regular expedition because it was tight in the second row and had no space behind the second row for groceries. The EL has more leg room and has tons of space behind the second row of seats and even has a shelf that can be up or folds down. I can't say enough about this vehical - it started being made in 2008 so if you are looking for an older version this would not work for you . It seats 8 people comfortable with room for storage and groceries in the back behind the second row of seats- there is about 2 or more feet behing the second row - I am not kidding. Check it out we love it!!!!

July of 2008 we purchased a Saturn Outlook. (it has the captain seats) WE LOVE IT!!!! My husband is a picky person when it comes to buying cars -- he is the auto industry.
We looked at Toyota, Honda etc for a SUV. The Outlook is comfortable, roomy, quiet, drives great, the 3rd row folds down for more space (either the whole row or half), and we cannot say a bad thing about it. Ours came with the DVD option, nice for my little one.
Good luck! Enjoy driving your new SUV

I know this is not what you asked for, but why switch from a mini-van to an SUV? In my opinion, SUVs are not as versatile and cost more. I have a Dodge Grand Caravan and love the flexiblity it offers. All the seats, even the captains chairs fold easily into the floor. What an awesome invention.

Check it out.

My 2 cents,

L. :)

We prefer our Freestyle to vans and full-SUVs. It drives like a large car instead of a truck, but has the room for 7 passengers while easily folding down when 5 or less are riding.

I just bought a Chevy Traverse and love it. It has all the features you are looking for. The GMC Acadia, Buick Enclave and Saturn Outlook all have the same body as the Traverse so one of those might be a good option too. Good luck!

We recently got a Cadillac SDX with the 3rd row seating. It's really nice, although we haven't had the opportunity to use the 3rd row seating yet.

There are lots of places that have specials now - I heard one that's offering DVD systems in the cars now (Dodge?).

I know someone with a big Nissan, and she really likes it. Toyota's are great cars, and I admit, of the 3 you listed, I'd probably lean towards that, but it couldn't hurt to go look at all three and go with whoever gives you the best deal. (Just stay away from Tutweiler Cadillac!)

Good luck!