This is actually a good recommendation, one I've considered. Our friends have one and it rides great, is refined and roomy. My wife, however, has an irrational thing against minivans and I don't feel like wasting energy convincing her otherwise (for now...).

 

I really like the Touareg, but no third row...

 

I think the Honda Pilot is a poor performer. It gets attrocious gas mileage for only putting out 250 HP. The competiton offers so much more in that arena.

 

Nothing funny about a 10k repair on a 30-40k car.

I love how German fan boys ignore the obvious.

 

Post up the service invoice.

 

DASH, I think you failed to read the entire post:

Comedy indeed.

 

Awesome response

I would recommend a CPO Volvo XC90, and make sure it's a CPO or else you're risking a lot. the only downside (well, even with the X5 and Q7) is mpg. But if that's ok with you, I think you'll be happy. It's one of the few SUV that has a 3rd row seating with comfort, safety and style IMO. Just make sure you get a CPO.

 

Funny, I know and have spoken to a very large number of people with Accords, Oddyssey's, CL/TL pre 04 when they were supposed to have these bad trannies and I never heard of anyone with these failing tranny issues, still Honda did the right thing and extended the warranty to 100K for free replacement. My parents had/have a 99TL and 03CL and there is/was not a hint of anything wrong with the transmission. The TL had over 100K miles before it was sold with no problems and the CL has 70K with no problems. The strangest thing is while the vast majority of Hondas/Acuras with that transmission never have any kind of transmission issues the ones that say they do that I read about on the internet say they go through numerous transmissions one right after another which leads me to believe the mechanics that installed those transmissions are either doing it wrong or are just putting bad transmissions back in, some have said it was a certain batch of transmission that are defective and not the design itself. Even if a couple hundred or a few thousand transmissions are defective it will seem like alot if you read about all those cases on the internet but in reality it does not even make up 1% of those cars sold. The design of the transmission is not defective, I have driven several of these cars with well over 60-120K miles on them and have floored it and have been pretty rough on them without any kind of hint of slipping.

Also I would have to take issue with recommending the Volkswagen Toureg to the OP who has said he is on a 40K budget as it is a notoriously unreliable SUV, one of the most unreliable SUVs that has been on the market. I read from several sources where it was the most or one of the most unreliable SUVs they ever tested including consumer reports that listed it as the most unreliable SUV one year. It may have a nice interior design which I agree it does but that means nothing when the vehicle is in general extremely unreliable and will most likely spents lots of time in the shop getting very expensive repairs, also since it will be hauling lots of kids that nice interior is going to get messed up pretty quick. There is a reason it sold poorly and resale is poor on the Toureg and for something needed to be dependable to be hauling kids back and forth I would not recommend a Toureg.

 

I read it quite clearly thanks..

In my extended family we have a Ferrari, Rolls Royce & Pagani Zonda...

I would love to see the "10k repair bill" on the "30k-40k" X5..

 

As for the issue at hand...I would personally narrow it down to the Highlander and CX-9. The Pilot, while a solid all around choice, is simply aesthetically unattractive to me both inside and out. The first Pilot was a pretty good looking truck but they made the recent one look like a Pathfinder with an oversize USB port on the front of it. Additionally I really don't like the overall layout and design of the interior, especially the dash area in front of the passenger.

In a nutshell, I really like the exterior design of both the CX-9 and Highlander- the Mazda is a little more upscale and elegant looking while the Toyota seems more unique and unmistakable. I have heard a lot of people mistake the CX-9 for an RX so that could be good or bad just depending on how you look at it. I like the exterior of both equally but for different reasons.

I find the interior of the Highlander to be a bit more polished and better executed overall, but also really like the Mazda. The Toyota has the right materials in the right places with an elegant and easy to use layout while the CX-9 may be a little too simplistic for me. I noted above that the Mazda looks a little more elegant outside and I would flip that for the interior and say that the Toyota looks more upscale in my eyes.

Engines and gas mileage are a tossup as I would think both are quite close. The Highlander has a 5AT while the Mazda uses a 6AT, but I know the Toyota can do 23+mpg on the highway cruising. Not totally sure for the Mazda but I would think it's similar.

As you might be figuring out, these two are tit-for-tat in my book and I really like both. I would personally go for the Highlander only because I have owned 3 Toyotas and 1 Lexus, all of which have been reliable, durable, extremely safe, and a joy to own. I don't have much experience with Mazda products so my experience with previous Toyota products would be a tie breaker.

As for your personal situation- consider which dealer is closer and treats you better, as well as which will give you a better deal. You might also be able to get some other tie ins like first maintenance free or stuff like that.

Both are great and I don't think you can go wrong. Best of luck in your search

 

Good thought; forgot about the XC90... Pardon my ignorance, but CPO=Certified Previously Owned?

 

FWIW, I have known XC90s to be very high maintenance. Evidently they blow through brakes almost every 10K miles and replacements are ~$1200. Computers are also somewhat prone to getting fried. My old boss was the service manager at a local Volvo dealer before he moved to Lexus and said they are probably even higher maintenance than an X5 or Touareg.

I have also seen several XC90s traded in for RXs and talked to many of the owners during the trade in/ purchase and all noted that after owning the Volvo their main reason for switching to Lexus was reliability and maintenance costs.

Just food for thought.

 

Popcorn...

 

Ok I'll try this one more time. Please read the entire post:

 

Gotta spice things up I do have the invoice for the cat replacement on my 36k mile Rav4.. The replacement was made with only 20k on the clock & I thought it would be trouble free..