S2KI Honda S2000 Forums - Looking for an SUV with baby coming and all. Update. Finally bought a car!

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Friend has one with the 5.7 and its a nice ride. Mdx feels higher end though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moddiction (Post 23394617)

Still going back and forth. I have really been liking the new Jeep grand cherokee with the 5.7 hemi. Love how they look but I haven't driven one yet. Terrible gas mileage I know but uses regular gas I believe so would probably be a wash compared to an MDX that uses premium.

Anyone have any experience with a new Jeep Grand Cherokee? I would definitely want a loaded model with 4wd and 5.7 a must.

Problem with the hemi engine though is that I could easily mod it for some more power and then have another car throwing money into haha. Couldn't resist intake and tune to pick up some good gains lol.

Keep in mind chrysler/dodge/jeep are on the bottom of reliability reports.

I would check the Jeep forums to see what people say is going wrong these days. Remember that Ford got hit hard in the reliability ratings because of the first gen Ford sync stuff. That stinks and all but we aren't talking about failed head gaskets here. Some may never notice something is "wrong".

That said, I have a friend who went through this about a year back. She ended up with a loaded Ford Explorer and loves it. Prior to the Ford she had an Infinity and she had a strong preference for Japanese. When she got the Ford she wanted 3 rows of seats, heated and cooled seats, something she thought looked good but wouldn't make her clients think she was making too much off them. Like a relator, she has one of those jobs where you want to drive something that says you know your business but not something that says, I'm making too much money off you Mr Client. She thinks the loaded Ford was a nice as the Infinities she looked at. She also was thinking new Pathfinder but decided she simply liked the looks of the Ford better.

One thing that was a big deal to her and might be to you, she wanted captains chairs in the middle row vs the bench. Her issue with the bench is when you have a pair of car seats you can't fold the seats to get to the back row. That means if you have the bench you have to get the seat out to get to the back row. With the middle captains chairs you can simply go between the seats.

Having driven her Ford I like it well enough but I did think the door sill is very wide. I think the reviews also mentioned that.

I have been liking the looks of the new explorer quite a bit. Pretty much all the older suv's that I hated are starting to look really nice now!

I drove a 5.7 certified 2013 grand cherokee limited yesterday and really like it. The V8 made it feel plenty quick. That model had the 5 speed auto which seems a little more sluggish than the newer 8 speed autos they all have now.

Interior was pretty nice as well. Carhad a lot of body roll though which I wasn't a big fan of. Besides that everything felt really nice though. Very comfortable, spacious, quiet etc. Plenty of room even though it doesn't have a 3rd row. I don't really see us using the 3rd row a whole lot. Feel like they are not safe anyways in case of a rear end collision but maybe that isn't justified.

I also drove a 2015 grand cherokee with the 3.6 V6 motor. I thought the car overall looked nicer inside and out. The power actually felt decent with the new 8 speed auto. Also had paddle shifters which made it feel faster but I'm sure I wouldn't ever really use them. Going up hills I really felt the lack of power and torque compared to the 5.7 though. Interior was really nice and completely jam packed with tech features. Heated and cooled seats, rear dual dvd screens and even plug ins for video game systems etc. Like the different drive modes depending on conditions, off road mode. Has live weather and traffic a whole bunch of other features.

Steering is quite sloppy on both but most suv's will be I am sure. A whole lot of steering movement for not much wheels turning haha. Felt a little tighter suspension compared to the 2013 but maybe that was just imagined.

I feel like I would kick myself if I didn't get the bigger engine though. The added torque did feel really nice. I know the 5.7 with an intake and tune can pick up some good hp gains and usually increase mpg slightly as well.

Loaded the jeep gets quite expensive though. More than the MDX brand new once you put in navigation, limited or higher model, 5.7 engine, 4wd etc. Comes into the 50's new then.

I'd have to lease it if I got that as it would take a huge depreciation hit being new I'd imagine. Or I would just go with a certified 2012-2013 model instead. I really like the much larger gps screen and system in the newer model though and the facelift makes the 2013 model look dated already.

Well made a decision today finally.

Just picked up a 2015 Acura MDX tech package. In perfect color combo I wanted. White with tan interior.

Loving this car so far!!

I'll snap a couple pictures tomorrow. So fricken comfortable and love the adjustable drive modes. Makes it feel a lot better than other suv's I've deiven. Sh awd feels great as well.

So after all that about pricing, why the 2015?

I just liked the interior a lot, push button keyless start, lighter weight, better mpg, faster etc.

I almost bought the rdx when I was there but they had the perfect white combo Mdx I liked so took it for a spin and was immediately sold on it!

Ha. So much for a budget restriction!