Who makes the best minivan in SUV clothing?

In reply to Duke :

Our 2014 T&C wasn’t horrible - I really liked the van quite a bit - but it was flakey enough I’ll never own another one.

It was weird & likely BCM-related things: you pull up on the passenger’s window switch, but the window keeps going down. The HVAC would randomly decide to turn on high & if you turned it down it would turn back up a few seconds later - then suddenly work fine. The “security seed” forgot both our keys, which required a tow to the dealer & reflash for it to relearn them. Etc.

I'm deep in this same quandary right now.  

We will soon be replacing the Wife's Mazda5 ('10 w/70k miles, auto trans) that we bought new with something larger.   The intention is new or near new.  

The smartest to me but dullest to her choice would be an outgoing Dodge Grand Caravan.  Ex Rental cars can get you a really loaded model for $18k asking price.  I have not pushed to see how low new prices can go.  

The next choice would be the Pacifica which she like much more.  As recent rentals these seem to be priced more like $25k so a pretty big bump for the newer platform.    I see the Voyager name has been revived for 2020 denoting the non-loaded version of a Pacifica.

I am also intrigued by off rental Nissan Armadas.  These tend to be $27k-ish off rental.  A most expensive purchase choice and then most expensive every day with poor mpg (but 8,800 towing capability!)    She likes our Montero that she sometimes DD's, especially now in the winter since she likes the heated seats that her Mazda does not have.  However, she likes the small size of her Mazda5 from a parking perspective in her school parking lot with limited parking.  

Now, with this thread, I'll have to look at the Palasade/Teluride.  

John Welsh said:

I'm deep in this same quandary right now.  

We will soon be replacing the Wife's Mazda5 ('10 w/70k miles, auto trans) that we bought new with something larger.   The intention is new or near new.  

The smartest to me but dullest to her choice would be an outgoing Dodge Grand Caravan.  Ex Rental cars can get you a really loaded model for $18k asking price.  I have not pushed to see how low new prices can go.  

The next choice would be the Pacifica which she like much more.  As recent rentals these seem to be priced more like $25k so a pretty big bump for the newer platform.    I see the Voyager name has been revived for 2020 denoting the non-loaded version of a Pacifica.

I am also intrigued by off rental Nissan Armadas.  These tend to be $27k-ish off rental.  A most expensive purchase choice and then most expensive every day with poor mpg (but 8,800 towing capability!)    She likes our Montero that she sometimes DD's, especially now in the winter since she likes the heated seats that her Mazda does not have.  However, she likes the small size of her Mazda5 from a parking perspective in her school parking lot with limited parking.  

 

Now, with this thread, I'll have to look at the Palasade/Teluride.  

Lowball the hell out of them on this. 2018 brand new top of the line Kia.

Damn that Kia looks nice. They are what Honda was 20 years ago minus an S2000 and a Civic Si. 

DirtyBird222 said:

Damn that Kia looks nice. They are what Honda was 20 years ago minus an S2000 and a Civic Si. 

But with a Stinger and K900 added.

mtn said:

DirtyBird222 said:

Damn that Kia looks nice. They are what Honda was 20 years ago minus an S2000 and a Civic Si. 

But with a Stinger and K900 added.

k but those don't rev to 8000 RPM doe

I drove a rental VW Atlas this summer.  It was pretty ridiculous.

In reply to John Welsh :

 

I'm deep in this same quandary right now.  

We will soon be replacing the Wife's Mazda5 ('10 w/70k miles, auto trans) that we bought new with something larger.   The intention is new or near new.  

The smartest to me but dullest to her choice would be an outgoing Dodge Grand Caravan.  Ex Rental cars can get you a really loaded model for $18k asking price.  I have not pushed to see how low new prices can go.  

The next choice would be the Pacifica which she like much more.  As recent rentals these seem to be priced more like $25k so a pretty big bump for the newer platform.    I see the Voyager name has been revived for 2020 denoting the non-loaded version of a Pacifica.

I am also intrigued by off rental Nissan Armadas.  These tend to be $27k-ish off rental.  A most expensive purchase choice and then most expensive every day with poor mpg (but 8,800 towing capability!)    She likes our Montero that she sometimes DD's, especially now in the winter since she likes the heated seats that her Mazda does not have.  However, she likes the small size of her Mazda5 from a parking perspective in her school parking lot with limited parking.  

 

Now, with this thread, I'll have to look at the Palasade/Teluride.  

We we started off looking at low mileage Armadas. Lots of truck for the money, but the gas mileage was just too bad for the amount she drives, and the interior space much smaller than expected from the third row back  compared to her Sienna. I’ll write up a review of the Telluride with a comparison of the Sienna after I have some more time with it. But I can already say now that while it comes pretty close and does better than most any other SUV’s, it is not as good as a minivan as a people/ stuff hauler. But we knew that, and it’s better at many other things, and the difference is slight with all my kids out of car seats. 

mtn said:

John Welsh said:

I'm deep in this same quandary right now.  

We will soon be replacing the Wife's Mazda5 ('10 w/70k miles, auto trans) that we bought new with something larger.   The intention is new or near new.  

The smartest to me but dullest to her choice would be an outgoing Dodge Grand Caravan.  Ex Rental cars can get you a really loaded model for $18k asking price.  I have not pushed to see how low new prices can go.  

The next choice would be the Pacifica which she like much more.  As recent rentals these seem to be priced more like $25k so a pretty big bump for the newer platform.    I see the Voyager name has been revived for 2020 denoting the non-loaded version of a Pacifica.

I am also intrigued by off rental Nissan Armadas.  These tend to be $27k-ish off rental.  A most expensive purchase choice and then most expensive every day with poor mpg (but 8,800 towing capability!)    She likes our Montero that she sometimes DD's, especially now in the winter since she likes the heated seats that her Mazda does not have.  However, she likes the small size of her Mazda5 from a parking perspective in her school parking lot with limited parking.  

 

Now, with this thread, I'll have to look at the Palasade/Teluride.  

Lowball the hell out of them on this. 2018 brand new top of the line Kia.

How is it they still have a 2018 on the lot in mid to late December of 2019? Am I safe to assume like most manufacturers that Kia has the 2020's out now, correct? Wish I was close to Lima, OH. I wonder how low they'd go?

Just a little chuckle because, "Wish I was close to Lima, OH" is not the most common phrase.  

I am about 2 hrs from there.  

Nice work - Kia/Hyundai knocked it out of the park with the Telluride/Palisade. If they could only get rid of the buy-here-pay-here sales people that work at their dealerships, they'd be golden. 

Mazdax605 said:

mtn said:

John Welsh said:

I'm deep in this same quandary right now.  

We will soon be replacing the Wife's Mazda5 ('10 w/70k miles, auto trans) that we bought new with something larger.   The intention is new or near new.  

The smartest to me but dullest to her choice would be an outgoing Dodge Grand Caravan.  Ex Rental cars can get you a really loaded model for $18k asking price.  I have not pushed to see how low new prices can go.  

The next choice would be the Pacifica which she like much more.  As recent rentals these seem to be priced more like $25k so a pretty big bump for the newer platform.    I see the Voyager name has been revived for 2020 denoting the non-loaded version of a Pacifica.

I am also intrigued by off rental Nissan Armadas.  These tend to be $27k-ish off rental.  A most expensive purchase choice and then most expensive every day with poor mpg (but 8,800 towing capability!)    She likes our Montero that she sometimes DD's, especially now in the winter since she likes the heated seats that her Mazda does not have.  However, she likes the small size of her Mazda5 from a parking perspective in her school parking lot with limited parking.  

 

Now, with this thread, I'll have to look at the Palasade/Teluride.  

Lowball the hell out of them on this. 2018 brand new top of the line Kia.

How is it they still have a 2018 on the lot in mid to late December of 2019? Am I safe to assume like most manufacturers that Kia has the 2020's out now, correct? Wish I was close to Lima, OH. I wonder how low they'd go?

Same reason that we were able to buy a 2017 in June of 2018. I realize there is another 5/6 months in this one, but it is a $40k KIA. With the exception of the Telluride, people are not willing to pay that, especially when you can get a year newer for $14k less than that. 

Ours had an MSRP of about $41k, with a few hundred more in dealer add ons. They asked what it would take to get me to go home in it today, I told them $25k. After some back and forth, they came back at $30k. I was happy. Wife never wants to go car shopping again. 

morello159 said:

Nice work - Kia/Hyundai knocked it out of the park with the Telluride/Palisade. If they could only get rid of the buy-here-pay-here sales people that work at their dealerships, they'd be golden. 

I think that is the one thing that turned my aunt and uncle off of Hyundai. They had been in BMW, Mercedes, Porsche for years when they switched to the Genessis and Santa Fe. At one point they had 4 Hyundai's in their driveway of their house on an extremely swanky golf course. Now they have 2 BMW's and a Porsche again. Not a big deal for most people, but for them - retired, probably 1%ers (he was a doctor), the dealership experience was enough to break the camels back when you considered all the minor, tiny things that didn't quite stack up.

Lexus rx

How sad is it that a 3 row SUV is faster and gets better fuel economy than my 2 door sporty coupe? I'm curious, is hte Telluride transverse or longitudinal?

In reply to bobzilla :

The base vehicle is FWD and engine bay photos show the engine cover offset to the passenger side, so I'll say it's a transverse engine.

Edit: The GRM staff have test driven one, so one of them must know. Tim? JG? David?

In reply to DeadSkunk (Warren) :

Transverse and really easy to service. When my publication first had one to test we were crawling all over and under it marveling at how it's set up for techs and DIY-ers.

I figured it out. I was hoping for a body on frame Tau V8 optional upgrade. Or even a stinger 3.3TT

I know the conversation is effectively over, but im looking to replace my Nissan Quest AND my lifted Bronco with a Sequoia 4x4.

Duke said: Consumer Reports

It amazes me that people still listen to them. I have read some jaw-droppingly stupid stuff in their magazine.

Justjim75 said:

I know the conversation is effectively over, but im looking to replace my Nissan Quest AND my lifted Bronco with a Sequoia 4x4.

Completely different conversation - the Sequoia is not a minivan in SUV clothing; it is a real truck. And on the used market, one of the better values available today.

In reply to mtn :

It has 3 rows, 2 of captains chairs and nearly the exact same features as my minivan, and similar features to most of the other vehicles mentioned so im not sure i agree with you 

I've seen a couple of those Tellurides on the road and dig the looks.

Telluride is slick.  Wish they offered one in 3/4 scale since the wifey wants an SUV but doesn't wan a full size/3 row SUV.  The new KIA Seltos looks pretty promising, like a RAV4 made by Kia.

Tried to get in love with a RAV4 and just couldn't do it.  Toyota's tech is a distant 2nd to the Kia Optima my wife already has.  And to get one with decent options like cooled seats, LED headlights, pano sunroof pushes you into Limited and those are $40k for a small car-based SUV which I think is nuts.

If you are SUV shopping you really do owe it to yourself to check out the Land Cruiser/LX570.  Decent used ones can be had for $40k, and they have a lot going for them.  Real honest 8 passenger seating, ridiculously safe, powerful, excellent resale and dependability.  But you pay for it at purchase and at the pump.  

Justjim75 said:

In reply to mtn :

It has 3 rows, 2 of captains chairs and nearly the exact same features as my minivan, and similar features to most of the other vehicles mentioned so im not sure i agree with you 

I guess to me, the distinction comes when you look underneath. Everything here is a minivan in SUV clothing - unibody, FWD based, etc. The Sequoia is a Truck. Body on Frame, RWD, V8... Different animals.