Full-size crossover PIREPs?

flyingcheesehead

flyingcheesehead

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iMooniac
Hey folks,

I'm looking to replace both of our cars over the next couple of years, and I think one of them is going to be a full-size crossover. We currently have a Jeep Liberty and IMO it's too small, rides like crap, and has terrible gas mileage for its size.

I really like the GMC Acadia, with one exception: It has the same ol' drivetrain technology that's been around for quite a while. I'd really like to have something with a bit more modern tech there - Be it turbo, hybrid, diesel, CVT, or some combination thereof. It's not a deal-killer if it doesn't have that, but I definitely would prefer it.

What do you have in that category, what do you like/hate about it, any suggestions? Thanks!
 
I have an 4 wheel drive '05 Tahoe. MPG is about 15 local going to 18 highway. So far, nothing has stopped it. Drives well in the snow.
On vacation, I've driven a VW Touareg, KIA Sorrento, and a Mitsubishi Shogun. If I was looking to replace my Tahoe, I'd give these a serious look. As new rentals, they all rode well. The only issue with the VW I had was it was a standard with a touchy clutch. These were all diesels and MPG was 25-32.
 
I test drove a Ford Flex recently and was very impressed. Nice ride.
 
My wife drives a trailblazer with the 5.3 V8. Her dad recently bought a Ford Escape. She has been driving it the past few weeks due to an illness of her dad. It has the 4 cylinder turboed. She has been impressed over all. Mileage day in and day out has been 26+.
Mother bought an Equinox (GM) 2 years ago. I have driven it quite a bit lately both city and country driving. Its normally aspirated four banger is a little weak for my taste. Also gets about 25 mpg with me driving and close to 27 with mother driving. No problems with either though the Escape is only a couple months old.
They both drive about like you would expect. They go in the direction you point them, not much else to say.
 
Hands down I think Nissan makes the best products out there and their new nissan pathfinders are awesome..
 
We have a 2005 Volvo xc90 with the v8 and it's been a great car has over 150,000 and still feels solid (ppl can't believe it's a 2005 when they ride in it) gets about 18mpg in the city. and also has 3rd row seating if that's a needed option. and it runs on regular gas.
 
We kept getting GMC Acadias as rental cars and decided to look at those to replace our Mazda 5. Eventually we ended up getting a Chevy Traverse, which is the same platform but ~3k cheaper.
As far as the drive train goes I'm not sure how modern you are looking for. It is a direct inject V6. Plenty of go up here in the rare Colorado air. We got AWD (since it is Colorado) and the traction control is pretty impressive, both going and stopping.
We average about 18 mpg city and can get upwards of 24 on the highway.
 
Jeep is coming out with a new model in 2015 called the Renegade. This has us intrigued as a possible replacement to our trusty 2000 Cherokee.

We are going to check it out at the LA auto show


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Hey folks,

I'm looking to replace both of our cars over the next couple of years, and I think one of them is going to be a full-size crossover. We currently have a Jeep Liberty and IMO it's too small, rides like crap, and has terrible gas mileage for its size.

I really like the GMC Acadia, with one exception: It has the same ol' drivetrain technology that's been around for quite a while. I'd really like to have something with a bit more modern tech there - Be it turbo, hybrid, diesel, CVT, or some combination thereof. It's not a deal-killer if it doesn't have that, but I definitely would prefer it.

What do you have in that category, what do you like/hate about it, any suggestions? Thanks!
Click to expand...

4 years ago we were exactly where you are -- we had a Jeep Liberty and needed to a larger car. We ended up with the Chevy Traverse. We wanted a 3 row larger SUV, but I found most of the 3 row SUVs you can either have the 3rd row seats up or have cargo room but not both -- many of the cars had no room behind the third row (Hyundai Tuscon). We ended up considering the Honda Pilot or Chevy Traverse. Of course, a lot has probably changed in 4 years of model changes...
 
We recently sold a 21-year-old Toyota Land Cruiser and bought a used 2011 Ford Flex AWD w/EcoBoost.

Bought it primarily as a tow vehicle for our new travel trailer.

This was us camping this weekend in Chilhowee, TN:

15645563242_34e4306da5.jpg


Anyway, so far, so good. Not sure the quality is up to Toyota Land Cruiser standards, but its a far less expensive ride.

It's an experiment, and if it doesn't work out it we'll be back to Toyota or Honda.

And Tim - Jake's still doing great!
 
rchamble said:
Hands down I think Nissan makes the best products out there and their new nissan pathfinders are awesome..
Click to expand...

Actually Consumer Reports just released their latest "most trouble-prone cars and SUVs" list and the Pathfinder made the top three list of most trouble-prone SUVs along with both the Jeep Cherokee and Grand Cherokee.

Jeeps, trouble-prone? Who woulda thunk it! Nissan can't be too proud having the Pathfinder name uttered in the same sentence as Jeep.

I've always found Nissan vehicles to be overpriced and underwhelming. But, admittedly, I haven't played in their playground for at least five years when I was last shopping for an SUV.
 
FastEddieB said:
And Tim - Jake's still doing great!
Click to expand...

:thumbsup:

And, good choice on the Flex. As I said earlier in the thread, I drove one a few weeks ago and thought it was one of the nicest, best appointed rides I'd driven in quite some time, especially for the price. I'm leaning towards a Transit Connect though...because of our dogs. If the back of the Flex was "flatter" when all the seats were folded down and/or removed, then I'd likely buy one because I was really impressed. But I need the flat space the Transit Connect provides for the dogs and crates.

I have to get my Chevy Truck sold first though.
 
COFlyBoy said:
We kept getting GMC Acadias as rental cars and decided to look at those to replace our Mazda 5. Eventually we ended up getting a Chevy Traverse, which is the same platform but ~3k cheaper.
As far as the drive train goes I'm not sure how modern you are looking for. It is a direct inject V6. Plenty of go up here in the rare Colorado air. We got AWD (since it is Colorado) and the traction control is pretty impressive, both going and stopping.
We average about 18 mpg city and can get upwards of 24 on the highway.
Click to expand...

I have a '14 Traverse AWD LTZ. I dont love it, as its not emotional exciting to me, but damn it just does it job. Huge interior, huge 3 rd row, and even with the 3rd row up, the trunk space is nice. I was told that its bigger interior wise than the Tahoe and smaller than the Suburban. I dont have facts to back this up, but I do believe it.

Winter (last Chicago winter) it drove like there was no snow, it just goes. . I came from a 2011 Jeep GC and I loved that car, but it was too small. Looking hard at the Durango, which is the Jeep GC underneath, just stretched.
 
Depends on the mission and how much of a crossover vs truck vs sport car you are looking for.

My mission changed from hauling kids in big SUV to Kids are now in college so I dont need to haul anymore but still wanted something substantial to haul toys and feed the testosterone my grey hair is robbing me of (not really but kind of).

So I am now driving an Infiniti FX35 which I consider a true cross over (AKA does a little of everything but nothing really well) Its big (4200lb and is bigger in my garage than our mountaineer moose) but hauls less than the moose. Ugly so you dont see a lot on the road (but it grows on you) Semi fast, and with the AWD, 20" rims, good seat side support performance suspension setting its actually fun to drive and very comfortable on the freeway for long distance ventures.

Little bit of a gas hog with mid teens in town to low 20's on freeway and doesn't like anything below mid grade fuel (gets noisy valves), but I didnt buy it to save gas money.

I have over 90k miles on it and its been only gas, oil , and normal wear items like wipers& tires. One day I will want something different unfortunately I am getting spoiled and liking what this car has in it but finding these aren't available on a lot of cars.

For example mine has every possible techno gadget on it like adaptive cruise control (will slow down and speed up even in construction keeping a defined gap in traffic), headlights that turn with the steering, full 360 degree cameras (4 of them)looking down when backing up ,adaptive braking (it will brake if I forget to), lane departure control (it puts on the opposite front brake on to pull car back into lane if I drift on the highway using the cameras in the mirrors) air conditioned seats, 11 speaker 300 watt bose audio package, and a few more.

It is a lot of car for the money, and fun to drive, but definitely not for everybody, but if you are looking at the BMW x3/5 series, Mercedes crossover, or any other "sport" type of crossover you should at least take one for a test drive.

Past car PIREPS FWIW---I had a mercury mountaineer in the family (wife hand down to daughter) 180,000 miles and only an ABS sensor, ball joints, and tie rod ends beyond the normal wear items, but I consider it a SUV (truck) more than cross over. But it hauled the family anywhere we wanted to go and was built on a full truck frame, hence it rides like a pregnant moose.

Had an Escape that I put 160,000 miles on and got rid of only due to a an oil leak that needed an engine pull to fix. It was smaller but hauled more than the mountaineer. Luggage roof line was square from bumper to front seats with the rear seats down vs the mountaineer seat floor that sloped up and roof line down. Rode like an economy box, and made my butt flat after 8 hours of driving, but I considered it more of a crossover.
 
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RalphInCA said:
Jeep is coming out with a new model in 2015 called the Renegade. This has us intrigued as a possible replacement to our trusty 2000 Cherokee.
Click to expand...

Renegade is nowhere near full size. On the contrary, it's going to be smaller than Compass/Patriot twins. I'm quite interested in Renegade, but it's not what Kent specified in this thread opener.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
I'd really like to have something with a bit more modern tech there - Be it turbo, hybrid, diesel, CVT, or some combination thereof.
Click to expand...

Looks like you need to examine offerings of Ford, then. They love all that schtick. They also got bugs out of the D3 platform, they even build cop cars on it now. Their turbos are the best, or at least the big ones are. I know the 1.6L had a few fires in Escapes at first, but those are smaller than you're aiming at. Buy something with the same Ecoboost they put into F-150s.

If I wanted a monstrous CUV, I'd get a Honda Pilot. That thing is ancient and not economical, but it'll run when I need it.

If I wanted an expensive SUV, I'd buy a Lexus GX 460. It's cramped, but it's swanky and can be quietly modded for real off-roading.

Of course neither fits your requirements.
 
zaitcev said:
Looks like you need to examine offerings of Ford, then. They love all that schtick. They also got bugs out of the D3 platform, they even build cop cars on it now. Their turbos are the best, or at least the big ones are. I know the 1.6L had a few fires in Escapes at first, but those are smaller than you're aiming at. Buy something with the same Ecoboost they put into F-150s.
Click to expand...

You can get the 3.5 Ecoboost in an Explorer "Sport" it's AWD and a beast! :D
 
Seems pretty flat in the back of the Flex to me:

15650692981_f4b0a8af92.jpg


Those are just rubber gym mats I cut to size, but it's pretty flat under them as well.

We did look at the Transit. It seemed OK, but pretty utilitarian.

And made in Turkey!
 
N747JB said:
You can get the 3.5 Ecoboost in an Explorer "Sport" it's AWD and a beast! :D
Click to expand...

Ive got the 3.5 Ecoboost in my F-150 Supercrew and I LOVE it! Ford really did their homework with this engine. Its got more than enough power, and I get respectable gas mileage (avg 18mpg in a 6000lb truck with 4x4 and 3.73 rear end!)

I thought about a full sized SUV, but decided that the F-150 super crew is more versatile and met my needs better. YMMV.
 
FastEddieB said:
Seems pretty flat in the back of the Flex to me:
Click to expand...

Ohhhhhhhh...that would definitely work. The one I drove had about a 12" drop from the "rear hatch" to the floor.


FastEddieB said:
We did look at the Transit. It seemed OK, but pretty utilitarian.
Click to expand...

Boy, that might be the understatement of the millennium. I was trying to deal on a "fully loaded" version and it was still...well...shall we say...basic.

But it's a great dog vehicle!
 
My wife has a Toyota Highlander. Drives well, has a third row seat for the rare occasion one is necessary. Drives well. I get 23 mpg at 78 mph on the highway with the air on and 30 mpg at 55 on back roads.

Being a Toyota, it has been faultless for 3 years.
 
Indeed, Highlander has a hybrid version, which makes it technically acceptable to the original criteria. It is probably the second largest hybrid that Toyota makes (after Lexus RX 450h). I heard mileage was pretty good, although not Prius-like, obviously.
 
zaitcev said:
Indeed, Highlander has a hybrid version, which makes it technically acceptable to the original criteria. It is probably the second largest hybrid that Toyota makes (after Lexus RX 450h). I heard mileage was pretty good, although not Prius-like, obviously.
Click to expand...

The OP indicated that an alternate drivetrain was preferable, not a hard and fast requirement.
 
zaitcev said:
Looks like you need to examine offerings of Ford, then. They love all that schtick. They also got bugs out of the D3 platform, they even build cop cars on it now. Their turbos are the best, or at least the big ones are. I know the 1.6L had a few fires in Escapes at first, but those are smaller than you're aiming at. Buy something with the same Ecoboost they put into F-150s.
Click to expand...

I think a late-model Explorer with the 2.0L I4 Ecoboost turbo fits the criteria... I'll look at the Flex too.

So far I think my favorite drivetrain is the Pathfinder Hybrid - Not only is it a hybrid (which essentially gives you CVT as well), it's supercharged too.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Hey folks,

I'm looking to replace both of our cars over the next couple of years, and I think one of them is going to be a full-size crossover. We currently have a Jeep Liberty and IMO it's too small, rides like crap, and has terrible gas mileage for its size.

I really like the GMC Acadia, with one exception: It has the same ol' drivetrain technology that's been around for quite a while. I'd really like to have something with a bit more modern tech there - Be it turbo, hybrid, diesel, CVT, or some combination thereof. It's not a deal-killer if it doesn't have that, but I definitely would prefer it.

What do you have in that category, what do you like/hate about it, any suggestions? Thanks!
Click to expand...

Audi Q7, several engines to choose from.
 
zaitcev said:
Renegade is nowhere near full size. On the contrary, it's going to be smaller than Compass/Patriot twins. I'm quite interested in Renegade, but it's not what Kent specified in this thread opener.
Click to expand...
The Renegade was the model name on some Jeep CJ7s. If it's a remake, it certainly isn't a full size crossover.
 
silver-eagle said:
The Renegade was the model name on some Jeep CJ7s. If it's a remake, it certainly isn't a full size crossover.
Click to expand...

I know that the "new" Renegade is small, beause the production spec models were unveiled already and the samples are touring the U.S. show-and-tell circuit. However, FCA (FIAT-Chrysler Automobiles) reused the "Renegade" moniker for a full-on model, not a trim as before (CJ7's was most famous, but they also built a version of KK named Renegade). Renegade's platform is a derivative of FIAT 500 and that one is smaller than MINI.

The best write-up is probably on Allpar as usual:
http://www.allpar.com/SUVs/jeep/renegade.html
 
zaitcev said:
I know that the "new" Renegade is small, beause the production spec models were unveiled already and the samples are touring the U.S. show-and-tell circuit. However, FCA (FIAT-Chrysler Automobiles) reused the "Renegade" moniker for a full-on model, not a trim as before (CJ7's was most famous, but they also built a version of KK named Renegade). Renegade's platform is a derivative of FIAT 500 and that one is smaller than MINI.

The best write-up is probably on Allpar as usual:
http://www.allpar.com/SUVs/jeep/renegade.html
Click to expand...

The Fiat 500 is now a series, and one of them is rather large, considerably bigger than a Mini.
 
denverpilot said:
That trailer is less than 4500 lbs, loaded????

http://www.ford.com/resources/ford/general/pdf/towingguides/14_flex_sep11.pdf

(Same numbers in 2011...) Current guide is more complete than the 2011 guide.
Click to expand...

We actually weighed it for the first time on the way out of town.

4,480 lbs as seen with fresh water at about 1/2.

We're going through what we carry with a "line item veto".

This is what I eliminated from our front carry-through:

15475401007_f0698d4d80.jpg


Asking Karen to do likewise with housewares.

Right now the bigger concern is tongue weight, which we still need to get a good reading on.

Our frontal area also exceeds Ford's limits by a bit, bit I think we're OK if we keep the speed down.

Regardless, it seems to tow fine. But we're new at this and may have to admit we need a bigger tow vehicle down the road.
 
It really depends on the terrain you tow in and how fast you want to go. You would be astounded what they would tow that trailer with in Europe. I'm assuming you have electric brakes set up, get those fine tuned and you have half the battle licked. Stay out of overdrive going up hill will help a lot. The most important thing safety wise is maintain a forward CG to the trailer. An anti sway hitch is a good thing for handling as well as saving your rear suspension.
 
Henning said:
Stay out of overdrive going up hill will help a lot...The most important thing safety wise is maintain a forward CG to the trailer. An anti sway hitch is a good thing for handling as well as saving your rear suspension.
Click to expand...

The EcoBoost features a "Grade Assist" mode, and manual shifting via paddles. Very flexible arrangement.

Our Weight Distribution Hitch and Sway Control, which work as advertised, keeping the car level and controlling sway:

15663662842_fba1e1dc40_z.jpg
 
Yep, that hitch will work fine. One thing I would consider adding is a transmission temp gauge if it doesn't have one. That's the primary issue you'll likely see, transmission problems. I don't know if there was a factory towing package you got, normally they have a bigger Trans cooler.
 
FastEddieB said:
We actually weighed it for the first time on the way out of town.



4,480 lbs as seen with fresh water at about 1/2.



We're going through what we carry with a "line item veto".



This is what I eliminated from our front carry-through:



15475401007_f0698d4d80.jpg




Asking Karen to do likewise with housewares.



Right now the bigger concern is tongue weight, which we still need to get a good reading on.



Our frontal area also exceeds Ford's limits by a bit, bit I think we're OK if we keep the speed down.



Regardless, it seems to tow fine. But we're new at this and may have to admit we need a bigger tow vehicle down the road.
Click to expand...


Dude. If weight limits made me leave my duct tape home, I'd be ticked! Red Green will not be pleased! ;) ;) ;)

The duct tape has to stay. Something else has to go. Heh heh.

Just checkin' on the weight thing. You sound like you've got a handle on it.

I see the (trying not to type "idiots" here) boneheads towing triple-axle toy-hauler 40' long 5ers with 1/2 ton trucks and wonder who they'll kill first, themselves or someone else.

I'm only about 300-400 lbs below the GCVWR of my truck (and well within the trailer GVWR, and trailer axle ratings, and the truck's max rear axle rating, the three next closest limits) fully loaded with a full water tank, measured on a scale. I'd like a little better stopping power but it's workable.

Be safe out there.

(By the way, I found that Ford having a published frontal wind loading area was a surprise. Never seen that before.)
 
Henning said:
One thing I would consider adding is a transmission temp gauge if it doesn't have one. That's the primary issue you'll likely see, transmission problems. I don't know if there was a factory towing package you got, normally they have a bigger Trans cooler.
Click to expand...

May look for a good way to get the transmission temp info. I know there are several.

Interestingly, with the Class III hitch, Ford adds a transmission cooler to its standard engine, but not the EcoBoost. Assume it's because they feel it's not needed?

Getting to Chilhowee campground involves a pretty long and steep 7 mile climb. For that I "paddled" down to what I think was third gear - in any case 25 mph on a twisty road at about 2,700 rpm. No obvious issues but that temp gauge would be nice.

Suggestions?
 
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