bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

and you can't really tell either from CR

SW17LS

I would concur!

Toys4RJill

I do agree with you. However, there is going to be very few owners of the CX-9s and XC90s who will be loading up there SUVs to the max and moving people and cargo all day long. Usually these buyers know that they will need a larger BOF vehicle with a bigger engine. So I think the long term reliability should be fine.

tex2670

This may be true if you have a family of 6 or 7; but I would consider car pool duty, 1-2 times per week, where you have 6 or 7 people in the car, as "regularly" lugging them around.

Sulu

The small 4-cylinder engines in the Mazda CX-9 and Volvo XC90 are sized for constant-speed cruising, when only the minimum power is necessary to keep you (the single driver) moving against road and wind drag; they are NOT sized for any real load on the engine. Load is placed on the engine when pulling a load of passengers (whether it is family or an occasional carpool load) and/or cargo, AND when the car is accelerating. The only time a car is cruising is at a constant speed between stoplights and on an open highway; a lot of load is placed on the engine accelerating away from stoplights, getting on a highway, and accelerating in and around traffic.

So a turbocharged engine is really only running without boost (and meeting its EPA fuel efficiency numbers) on long highway stretches with little traffic. The only stretches of highway that I think meet that criteria are out between towns on the flat Canadian Prairies (i.e. truly out in the middle of nowhere).

realkrs

Did someone cal Buick Enclave reliable?

Make a new call: http://longtermqualityindex.com/vehi...k_Enclave.html

The site is seldom seen in forums for some reason while posters continually reference J.D. Powers, CR, and other crystal ball users with unknown interest in the product reviewed.. Yet the site longtermreliabilityindex.com is a collection of data compiled from the trade-in condition of most make's examples when the vehicles have more than 100,000 miles. In there is found information to refute most of the anectdotal (my cousin had one, my sister-in-law's ex husband had one and it was the only thing she liked about him, etc.) citations usually found posted as authoritative.

If someone were to take the time for an exploration through the above site they will find that in terms of reliability Lexus, Toyota, and Honda win out across the board, sometimes by surprising percentile amounts.

Hard data or not I think it certainly has more meaningful information than someone referencing their neighbor and someone at work plus their ex's third hubby (three cars out of how many sold?) who all though that their 2010 Whizbang was the greatest car ever made

realkrs

To the OP of this thread: You began with "My wife has a 14 Pilot Touring 4WD that she loves and I...dislike."

And you want to buy her another car because,,,well, because you don't like her car.

Seems to me that it's her car and she loves that car. At my house that'd be the end of the story.

Believe me if my wife ever said that she loves her car I'll look upward with "YES! Thank You, Lord!" and go spend that money on something I might like.

Am I missing something?

geko29

While this is true, the dropoff from the EPA figures is way less dramatic with the V8. Case in point, my last two long-term (2+ weeks) rentals:

2015 Chevy Equinox 2.4L 4-cylinder (21/31), 4 people, no cargo: 12mpg average; Best tank: 14mpg
2016 GMC Yukon 5.3L V8 (16/23), 4 people, no cargo: 15mpg average; Best tank: 18mpg

Same location (Las Vegas) same time of year (July/August), same mix of 75% or so city driving. It was actually hotter when we had the GMC--110+ every single day, vs. just over 100 most days and a few in the 90s with the Equinox--so we made extensive use of the remote start, rear A/C (which is a completely separate unit) and A/C seats, along with a lot of idling, which should have further handicapped the Yukon. But it gave up only a little from its EPA rating where the Equinox could barely get halfway to its rated mileage.

mmarshall

Consumer Reports gives it average reliability. They are probably the best source available.

tex2670

I'm not sure data from 1,213 Enclaves with an average mileage of 100,000 miles really provides the kind of data the OP is looking for here.

realkrs

As I said. Still it's more actual information than is used by the regularly cited CR and JD Power.

f that site, which I have no involvement, interests, or other reasons for referencing it other than that it takes information from actual cars used and traded in to compare with all other makes of similar cars also traded in or sold rather than the word of an auto journalist whose reasons for saying what he or she writes are not revealed, is carefully explored more than simple overall comparisons may be found. Information as to the comparative failures of engine, transmission, or other factors are included, fuel mileage realized, owner's reports, safety records, and on even further than I've looked. If enough data has not yet accumulated about a specific model the site will refrain from conjecture. That was my initial attraction as it's not common among such reports online.