In the Market for an SUV, What MPG Does Yours Get??

I have a GMC Acadia (7 passenger) and love it. I traded a Volvo XC90 for it and like it just as much. The mileage is about 16 city/ 23 hwy . My husband is 6'1" & 200lbs and fits very comfortably in it (and he's even been in the 3rd row:) We bought a 2009 last year and GM was offering 0% interest which was a nice bonus!

1997 Ford Expedition 4x4 - 12-15mpg - bad gas mileage but amazing vehicle - nearly 200k miles and no major repairs...

Honda CRV - 25 mpg.
Love it!
LBC

I love my Dodge Durango. It gets around 20-22 miles to the gallon. I love it enough not to care that its not the best milage in the world, but there ya go :)

I have a Saturn Vue Hybrid. It averages 28 to 30 mpg. And I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT IT. The gas mileage is a bonus.

Curious about the Xterra poster earlier who get really bad mpg. I have a 2005 and get 21 mpg since the day I bought it. If I get really in a hurry on the interstate and go over 75 for very long, it tends to drop down to 20 mpg. I have a 6 sp manual, however. I have always preferred manual transmissions and LOVE this one.
Plenty of power, and room in the back for gear/groceries/luggage, etc.
My dad is 6'3" and this is the first vehicle I have ever owned that he can sit in comfortably and not look like he is just crammed into the space.

I have a Chrysler Aspen. They were only produced for a couple of years prior to the downfall of Chrysler. I really LOVE the car. Like the Durango, it gets about 20mpg, more on the highway because it has the capability of running on reduced cylinders or 'fuel saver mode'. Three rows of seating - (I actually have 4 full size carseats in my car) and plenty of storage areas. You might be able to find a good deal on an Aspen. I have mine serviced at the Chrysler dealer, and so far I have had no problems.
Good luck! Shopping for a car can be so difficult.

it depends if you want a full sized or compact suv- we have an escallade esv (full length)- we get 14 mph (not excellent but better that what you are currently getting wo loosing the size). before we had an escape and I was gettng about 20 mpg in that but you loose the 3rd row seating.

I have the chevy equinox, but a 2010, they redid them and the MPG went way up for the new 2010. It averages ~32HW, 25-28city. My dad is 6'2" and fits just fine, though he's never sat in the backseat (I don't think I've ever seen him sit in any backseat). I LOVE this car, it has a rear video camera for backing up that shows you bummer level (no kids toys behind you), it's got the backup sensors, and all around is awesome.

You might also look at safety ratings. I was going to buy a ford escape or mercury mariner, but after looking at the insurance institute's site (much more comprehensive than the government's tests) I got a CR-V and I'm very happy. Here's their top picks
http://www.iihs.org/ratings/default.aspx
but you can also look up each model you're considering for detailed info on front safety, side, airbags, etc.

I have a 2002 Yukon Denali and get 14-16 mpg. It is not the XL thought, not sure if that makes a difference.

I have a 2001 Ford Expedition XLT and I get between 12 and 15 mpg

I drive a Ford Edge and love it. My hubby is 6'7" tall and he fits comfortably along with me and my two kids (and the dog when we take him). We get about 20 miles per gallon and I don't see much difference from highway to city. It's better in the summer--right now I am getting about 22 miles per gallon. It's a solid car and has some fun features if you want to spend a little more. Good luck.

okay, I'm all for Ford products! We've owned Ford products for 30+ years now! I have an 02 Explorer...BUT the bigger V6 version which really helps with gas mileage! Its 4WD, has the towing package, & seats 5 comfortably. I have more foot room in the backseat than my Dad's new Tahoe! I avg 21mpg on the hwy, & about 20 in the city...& that's with running the AC. (my husband & son avg less.....they can't keep their foot out of it.)

when we were searching for a replacemt for our mini-van, our criteria was 4wd to get out across the riverbank!, cargo space for our BIG dogs, & lots of storage space/adaptability of the seats (being able to eliminate or lay them down for cargo). We wanted towing, but decent gas mileage. We wanted comfort...almost to the point of a semi-luxury sedan (which is what my husband really wanted). The Explorer has provided it all & more!

We purchased it used, when it was 4 yrs old w/ 60,000 miles on it. In the past 4 yrs, we have had 2 repairs...one minor & one major. I have learned to rely on an excellent feedback website.....carcomplaints.com They list the vehicle, the complaints, the feedback & repairs. When we purchased our son's 2000 Mitsubishi Montero, we used the website to check out the various vehicles we were considering. .....hope this helps!!!

Have you considered getting an Excursion in a diesel instead of gas? I had one and was very pleased with it. I averaged 15-18mpg, and got upwards of 22 on the HWY. You can chip them and get even higher MPG. I had a 2000, and personally think they 7.3L is the best engine, but of course that is opinion. Mine had over 240k miles on it and still ran like a dream.

We ended up selling ours because we really didnt need all the room. We bought a Chevy Equinox which I am also very happy with. Its EXTREMELY comfortable and drives like a car. It gets 18-22mpg if not a bit better.

I LOVE my Mercury Mountaineer! In my previous position, I traveled A LOT and was averaging 20 mpg. It is super comfy and the car seat fits easily into the back and it has the latch system. Lots of room, including the 3rd row seating. Now that I am not traveling so much, I average 15-16 mpg. I now have 175,xxx miles on it, and it is still going strong! LOVE IT!

I have a Nissan Murano and I LOVE it. It's a crossover, so not quite as big as an SUV, but I get 19-20 city and 24-25 highway. It's very comfy and roomy....

not sure any suv gets good gas mileage. We thought ours would be better but no luck. We have a 2004 Chevy Trailblazer Extended which has seating for 7 passengers. It gets 10 mpg around town but have averaged 16-20 highway on trips if it's not too windy. It is a V-6 with all wheel/4 wheel drive. It is very comfortable, even that 3rd row has good leg room and my teenagers fight over the 3rd row lol. The only reason we have kept it is the comfort and the fact that suv's have lost their value so much that when we bought it we thought we got a good deal on it because the price we paid was thousands lower than the blue book value but a year later the SUV's dropped a lot in value so we are stuck with paying a lot more than it's worth to pay it off so we decided to continue paying the payments and keep it until it dies which we do with our vehicles anyway. We have a truck with over 250,000 and a car with 206,000 miles on them and they are still running strong and we bought them brand new.

My friend has the new Chevy Equinox and she loves it and says it gets great gas mileage and she had a GMC Envoy before getting this one. I think the Equinox averages 28-35 mpg. Hers doesn't have 4 wheel drive which most vehicles with 4x4 use more gas.

I drove an Explorer for years when my kiddos were little and in car seats or booster seats and it was not big at all. Some of the newer ones do have an extra seat in the back, but it still didn't seat many. I don't know if you have car seats or not but when we had two car seats in the back there wasn't room for anyone else. You could squeeze in a third person with a car seat and a booster seat. And fit someone okay with two booster seats. It was a gas guzzler though. Not really good gas mileage. We rented a Durango once for a road trip and it got really good mileage and was comfy, but still didn't seat many. We now drive a Dodge Caravan and can seat 7 comfortably and still have room in the back for things. Depending on how many people you need to seat in your vehicle on a daily basis, you may just want to check into different van models. You are still high off the ground (I am just as high off the ground in my van than I was in my Explorer) and are just as safe if not safer, depending on the model you get. I hope this helps some. Good luck on your vehicle quest and God Bless.

We have a 2011 Honda Pilot. I average 16.5 mpg city and 19 mpg highway. We had a 2008 Pilot, but the gas information was not available. Expert car sites say the new ones are slightly "better" on gas mileage.

I had a Ford Taurus (I know, not the same as an SUV) that I drove for 2 years as a company car. I drove it hard, quickly, and idled often. I averaged 22 mpg. My guess is that the Flex (if you can take the styling) would be a good alternative).

My husband drives a Subaru Legacy. All the Subaru SUVs are well rated by JD Powers and Associates (they're made in Lafayette, IN so American, too). They get great gas mileage despite sounding like they have a lawn mower engine. His is a 2010 and has a 4 cylinder which was a big departure from the V-6 Impala he'd had previously, but despite the lesser HP, he has NO problems accelerating on and off of highways and in city traffic.

Good luck.

Either Motor Trend or Car and Driver's websites have a great review of the various SUVs available. When we had issues with a new 2010 Pilot, we found the site and were really surprised at how things were ranked (Pilot, for example was close the lower part of the rankings).

Thanks for choosing an American product Kelly! I too love Fords. I'm on #2 and shopping for #3 right now. I know you like the "up higher" thing, but you really should check out the new FLEXs. The interiors are huge and they can seat up to 7 people. I have the Freestyle, which was the predecessor to the FLEX, and I can't say enough good things about it. I'm too short to buy anything taller, so can't comment on the big models. Also, I have done a lot of my pre-buying research on Ford's web site. You can get a lot of info there, and frankly, I have usually known more about the car I'm shopping for than the salesperson does. Hey, let's go shopping together and see if we can get a two-fer deal!! :-)

I am sure there is a place online to google to get average mpg on different models of cars. We have a Nissan Xterra, which is not actually an SUV but is the same SIZE as most SUVs and it gets a lousy 13 miles per gallon. We use it for intown driving only and reply on our Ford Impala for long distance driving. You just are not going to find a larger, heavier car that gets good gas mileage...if such a critter existed they would have a corner on the market!!!