Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We did this search exhaustively. Telluride (and its cousin the Palisade) have best-in-class second row legroom.

In the end we got another minivan because we just couldn’t beat the space without going to Suburban/Expedition.

But if I HAD to pick an SUV, I think I would have chosen Palisade or Telluride. All the others were too tight in the second row.

It’s a mom car for sure. The new minivan.

PP you quoted here. That is true of ALL of the three two SUVs. None of these moms are fooling anyone getting those over a minivan. If anything it just tells me that person values vanity over comfort. When I was test driving, I didn’t feel any “cooler” driving a Pilot or a Palisade than I did the minivan.

Isn't the minivan "two three"? 2 captain's chairs or 2-seat bench in 2nd row.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We did this search exhaustively. Telluride (and its cousin the Palisade) have best-in-class second row legroom.

In the end we got another minivan because we just couldn’t beat the space without going to Suburban/Expedition.

But if I HAD to pick an SUV, I think I would have chosen Palisade or Telluride. All the others were too tight in the second row.

It’s a mom car for sure. The new minivan.

PP you quoted here. That is true of ALL of the three two SUVs. None of these moms are fooling anyone getting those over a minivan. If anything it just tells me that person values vanity over comfort. When I was test driving, I didn’t feel any “cooler” driving a Pilot or a Palisade than I did the minivan.

Honda pilot !

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Consider a sedan.

Which sedan has 3 rows?

They only intend to use the third row for small dogs so don’t actually need a third row.
I’d add to the list a Lexus, maybe even without a third row. Couldn’t the dogs just ride in the back? My small dogs would hate a third row where they’d fall on the floor vs a big flat cargo area.

OP here: I think we are going to look at the Lexus TX, so this is a good suggestion. We have two relatives with the two-row Lexus and it cannot hold all of our luggage if we have 4 suitcases for a longer trip, even if we are just going to the airport and not taking dogs. It can only hold 3 large rolling suitcases. Also my dogs are used to riding either harnessed and tethered to a seat or in an actual dog car seat. Unfortunately they shake and cry even in the front seat and would flip out either in a crate or loose in a trunk. I realize other dogs are more flexible, but for my purposes, pls trust that I really do need seats for them for the times we are all in the car.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We did this search exhaustively. Telluride (and its cousin the Palisade) have best-in-class second row legroom.

In the end we got another minivan because we just couldn’t beat the space without going to Suburban/Expedition.

But if I HAD to pick an SUV, I think I would have chosen Palisade or Telluride. All the others were too tight in the second row.

It’s a mom car for sure. The new minivan.

What’s funny is all the dads I know want a minivan (and let’s be honest these mini vans are the length and width of the A-team GMC), and all the moms demand an SUV because a minivan is what their moms drove.

Granted it’s likely the mom driving the kid wagon of any stripe most of the time…

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Just get another minivan.

You can thank me later.

OP: Definitely not looking for a new minivan. My current minivan is actually alive and well even though it is ancient. I could just keep it, but it handles very poorly in ice/snow and we really don’t carpool frequently or have large sports equipment or 3+ kids. We will be empty nesters within the lifetime of this next car because my kids are teens, so I am trying to select something that can act as a proper full family vehicle now, but will still make sense in 4-5 years.

Get an AWD sienna. It will be great for road trips with adult kids, get good gas mileage, and your dogs ride in style.

Anonymous wrote:We did this search exhaustively. Telluride (and its cousin the Palisade) have best-in-class second row legroom.

In the end we got another minivan because we just couldn’t beat the space without going to Suburban/Expedition.

But if I HAD to pick an SUV, I think I would have chosen Palisade or Telluride. All the others were too tight in the second row.

It’s a mom car for sure. The new minivan.

Anonymous wrote:Infiniti QX60. Great 2nd/3rd row legroom. Checks all the boxes.

Second this! I have 2019 QX60 and love it. Its spacious and everyone in my family is 6' + when we are all in the car it does not feel like we are in top of each other.

I have been pleased with my hybrid Highlander. It gets about 30-35 MPG in mostly city driving. The third row is very useful.

Love my Mercedes GLE

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Consider a sedan.

Which sedan has 3 rows?

They only intend to use the third row for small dogs so don’t actually need a third row.
I’d add to the list a Lexus, maybe even without a third row. Couldn’t the dogs just ride in the back? My small dogs would hate a third row where they’d fall on the floor vs a big flat cargo area.

I have a Honda Pilot for 4 kid and we live in a rural area so I need the AWD. Not as much trunk space as larger SUVs but the seating is comfortable.

Anonymous wrote:We did this search exhaustively. Telluride (and its cousin the Palisade) have best-in-class second row legroom.

In the end we got another minivan because we just couldn’t beat the space without going to Suburban/Expedition.

But if I HAD to pick an SUV, I think I would have chosen Palisade or Telluride. All the others were too tight in the second row.

We went from a minivan to a Palisade. There are moments when I miss the minivan, but I really love the Palisade. $50k gets you basically every feature you could want, including heated seats in all three rows, vented seats in the first two rows, chargers for everybody, good tech and safety, loads of passenger space, and a comfortable ride. And a really solid warranty if you keep your cars a long time. Highly recommended.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We did this search exhaustively. Telluride (and its cousin the Palisade) have best-in-class second row legroom.

In the end we got another minivan because we just couldn’t beat the space without going to Suburban/Expedition.

But if I HAD to pick an SUV, I think I would have chosen Palisade or Telluride. All the others were too tight in the second row.

Do you mean the third row?

No, I mean the second row. My teens did not enjoy the second row of any of these SUVs except Telluride and Palisade. And like I said we ended up with another minivan for the space. It can’t be matched unless you go up to a giant SUV, which does not fit in my garage and is way more expensive.

Anonymous wrote:
Just get another minivan.

You can thank me later.

OP: Definitely not looking for a new minivan. My current minivan is actually alive and well even though it is ancient. I could just keep it, but it handles very poorly in ice/snow and we really don’t carpool frequently or have large sports equipment or 3+ kids. We will be empty nesters within the lifetime of this next car because my kids are teens, so I am trying to select something that can act as a proper full family vehicle now, but will still make sense in 4-5 years.