UberNoob

but what about the soccer moms that cant park but still want to tower over everyone else on the road?
i dont think the demography that buys full-size SUVs want to settle for minivans

J.P.

Well they are going from the “I need a big suv to feel safe” to I can no longer afford the gas so they do not have a choice. And I do not blame them for not wanting a minivan; I made my wife put it in ink before I married her that she would never own one

But I think this is why we see more cross over type autos coming out, and stuff like the ford freestyle that I am seeing a lot of.

In Michigan we tow a lot of stuff. Boats. Quads, snowmobiles, camping trailers you name it. Many people want and need to be able to tow something.

Question is how much do you need to tow and how many do you want to seat? One friend has 3 kids and a 24ft snowmobile trailer. Just the direct family heading up in the winter a Sierra 1500 works fine to haul the trailer and the kids.

But if they want to head up north with the kids and a couple of their friends a pickup truck does not work, and not just that but around town hauling the kids and friends to practices etc.


In that case he could use an SUV that sits 7-8 people and can tow 5000lbs. But he does have purposes, many people do not.

As far as the people that drove around in huge SUV’s and did not need to carry 6-7 people or tow over 2000lbs, you can bet they are looking at something smaller right now.

Threxx

Not sure about the rest but the Seq's EPA ratings are worse than the Tahoe's.

You also have no way of knowing the reliability of the Sequoia since it's a new vehicle. So far the reliability on the new GMT-900 trucks has been very good overall. Especially on the interior quality where it seems Toyota might not have done such a great job.

mmarshall

Why? Simple. I agree there is a good amount of profit built into them (as there is with similiar large Ford SUV's). But you have to consider, besides the obvious traditional high demand, the fact that these are three-ton vehicles that take a LOT of resources to build. That's a lot of steel, aluminum, rubber, glass, plastic, vinyl, leather, paint, carpet, electronics, and everything else that goes into a modern vehicle....plus, of course, the high UAW wages and benefits. You simply can't produce a vehicle like this for the price.....and resources.....of a Kia Rio or Hyundai Accent.

<VENOM>

[QUOTE=Trexus;3960631]The local dealers here are selling Sequoias for 10-20k off the sticker price, so even if they are moving it's not like they are going at the original value

Your kidding right, this is all subjective, they are pretty much all the same, none no better then the other, the Armada/QX56 and Sequoia are less reliable then the domestics cause these are the 1st true fullsize vehicles coming from the japanese, stop reading online, and take a trip to a dealership and see for yourself that the Japanese trucks have just as many problems as the domestics, nothing major but once again all subjective and personal preference in vehicles

MPLexus301

iTrader: (3)

What is with the Sequoia hate in here? FWIW, Sequoia sales were up 27% in September...did you see any other BOF full size 'utes posting sales gains? No. If it really was the awful POS you people are making it out to be it would be tanking.

Additionally, the Sequoia interior isn't that bad at all, and makes me think that many of you are mag racing with such comments. Too much silver painted plastic? Yes there is, but it's solid and well built, efficiently packaged and laid out, and at least the design is interesting. The GM crew has dashes sourced from the Detroit recycling center (no matter how pleasing they look to the eye, run your fingernail across them and it sounds like a Rubbermaid, at best), the Armada and Durango/Aspen are old, and the Expedition is average.

Gas is reasonable again so once(/if) the economy corrects itself I would imagine that the market for these types of vehicles will open up again. Until then, they may not sell 80K of them a year anymore, but there is a market for them...especially one as well built and packaged as the Sequoia.

Additionally, the Sequoia snagged the J.D. Power award for "Highest Ranked Large Multi-Activity Vehicle in Initial Quality" so how about the people who have driven and sat in one step to the front of the line?

Thanks.

lexmenow

Dang that's serious

bagwell

+1, as usual, they're late to the party tho.

to those saying gas prices are down...you do know OPEC is cutting production to raise oil prices right? they want it to be $100/bbl

plex

iTrader: (11)

Good riddance......

SoCalSC4

My friends all wanted me to get an SUV for my work vehicle. Didn't make any sense to drive something that big with poor economy and towing and "off road" capability I didn't need... Also, didn't want to sacrifice interior space by going with a Tahoe. Had one of these as a company vehicle and it had to be loaded in a specific sequence to load 8 boxed wheels in it.

My Odyssey holds 12 boxed wheels easily, my beach cruiser can STAND UP inside the back, has lower load height, gets 25 mpg on road trips, handles better, and, to my eyes, looks better:


Seeing a lot more new Odysseys on the road lately. Two friends have purchased them since I got mine in March. Fixed-up like this, WAY cooler than any SUV if you ask me.

On the once-a-year occasion I need to tow something, I have friends with pickup trucks.

MPLexus301

iTrader: (3)

I mean...I'll give you this: Looks cooler than most minivans

UDel

With those rims that is actually a decent looking minivan. Looks nice My neighbor had an Odyssey and I rode in it alot and it was a very nice vehicle.

Indio

iTrader: (1)

Minivans were very popular in the 90's, then the Expedition/Navigator came along and the luxury suv market was born, this was the beginning of a slow death for minivans even though they drive and ride nice and are easy to load/unload kids and all the stuff that goes with that, I don't see people reverting back because of the mommymobile stigma attached to them, a few more mpg's won't be enough.

SoCalSC4

Which is pretty ridiculous, because SUVs ARE the modern mommymobiles.
(I wouldn't be caught dead in one!)

Gas prices have changed all of that, SUV sales are in the crapper.

pagemaster

I bet you own one