Well, in the market to replace our ageing minivans that hauled family of 5 (3 boys). This past weekend for the first time everyone went on a test drive journey. QX80 (wife's wish list), Expy, Suburban/Yukon, Seq.
Since we already knew all those vehicles drive very nicely, practicality and comfort was the most important thing for use. We put our oldest (13 at 5'11") in the back seat for comfort. Expy won in the category by far. Even without 2nd row adjustments, it had the most leg room out of all 3 vehicles. One of my 3 boys will be always in the 3rd row, especially on a long trip, so we wanted to make sure. Also, Expy's 3rd row reclines the most, adding more to the comfort. One touch power folding 2nd and 3rd row is a bonus...and 3rd row even has built in safety feature that it reverses if something is left on a chair (my youngest got stuck but it worked like a charm).
It definitely drives rougher than our minivan, but Expy offers the most for the large sum of money. Engine v6 TT vs v8...they are about the same...both has issues, Transmission, well, Ford and GM engineers worked on it together (hard to believe they actually made it to production as I have friends in both Ford and GM). They are all awesome vehicles. But if I am going to spend 70K or so amount of money, I want to make sure everyone will be comfortable, including those times we have to haul out of town guests.
We are looking for Limited Max 4x4 with 302A and bench, and it is not easy to find. I guess everyone wants bench, as those are more readily available. Hopefully will find one before end of the year, as deals are getting better (Ford offering Rebate + 0% financing now). We don't want captains chair for our family's needs, but that's something we can live with.
