Hi my name is Jared. I'm having a freaking manic episode over picking what third row seater to get for my three kids and wife. Its 530 in the morning and I woke up at 3am and had to do research. I know enough to be focusing on the Honda/Toyota/Lexus side of things. So to narrow things own no turbo, no boxer engines, no hybrid or EV stuff, no over-engineering, no recalls, no gas idle reduction at-stop feature, anything else I missed? So far every third row seater has a review on cars.com that shies me away. Will there be a review like that for every car? It appears so. My budget is 30K.
Heres my buying list:
Honda Pilot, Honda Odyssey, Toyota Highlander, Toyota Grand Highlander, Toyota Sequoia, Toyota Sienna Nissan Pathfinder, Nissan Armada (Infiniti QX80), Acura MDX ,Lexus GX, Lexus LX, Kia Carnival, Kia Telluride Kia Sorrento, Hyundai Palisade, Mitsubishi Outlander, Mazda CX-90
I would go with Sequoia, They are rock solid reliable and you will have room to grow, they have lots of room. They are also a very comfortable vehicle to drive, and ride in.
The only downside is MPG.
Saying no recalls is nearly impossible, even the most reliable vehicles have had something recalled. Maybe say, no bad recalls.
thanks
edit: no bad recalls
appreciate it
Honda Pilot, Honda Odyssey, Toyota Highlander, Toyota Grand Highlander, Toyota Sequoia, Toyota Sienna Nissan Pathfinder, Nissan Armada (Infiniti QX80), Acura MDX ,Lexus GX, Lexus LX, Kia Carnival, Kia Telluride Kia Sorrento, Hyundai Palisade, Mitsubishi Outlander, Mazda CX-90
I would also go with a Toyota Sequoia, Toyota Highlander or Toyota Sienna. The respective products by Honda are also good, but make sure you change your timing belt every 100k miles -they're interference engines, and if the belt breaks, pistons can hit the valves. Stay away from the Honda Odyssey.
Kia/Hyundai products burn oil with their more recent products, and they don't care. One quart of oil per 1,000 miles is "normal", to the dealers, it's not normal. My 1999 Ranger has 292k miles on it, and it leaks or burns that much oil in 5,000 miles.
Toyota Grand Highlanders are a new vehicle without a proven track record. Knowing Toyota, any problems with new products will end up being fixed. Toyota perfects their technology, unlike really anybody else.
Lexus products are glorified Toyota products.
Stay away from Mitsubishi products. Jatco makes those transmissions and they're starting to just badge engineer Renault vehicles.
Also stay away from Nissan and Infiniti products. Those trannies are also crap made by Jatco.
The only other SUV I might consider is the Mazda CX-90.
