Help pick a mom-mobile

Looking for a new vehicle for my wife. It will see daily kid hauling (2) duties and be our long road trip vehicle. We do take a 65 lb lab with us so rear cargo space is more important than 3rd row.  We also go to the mountains with snow multiple times a year but no off roaring anymore, so AWD should be fine, or 4WD.

My opinion, everything in this current SUV market looks like the same curvy bubble shape. So why do I pick one bubble over another?

Her requirements are:

Safe

reliable (or cheap parts. She’s still pissed at the LandCruiser brake booster fiasco)

AWD

Bonus points for:

buttwarmers

Budget: $25k or less

Thanks

New new or used new?

If the second, and you can stomach another Toyota, you can probably get a reasonably low mile Highlander Limited for under $25k, though I haven’t looked recently.

I can meet damn near every one of those requirements. I'll even deliver. 

used highlander or sante fe

CX9. It’s an SUV that still drives like a Mazda. 

last generation Volvo XC90

My wife has a Sorento SX, which can be built either with or without the third row; ours has it as we have occasional need for more seating.   It looks like you get more volume in back without the third row.  Very nice for long trips, we've done a ~1400 mile trip with 4 people and a Greyhound, but had to use a hitch haul for some of the luggage.  It does have butt warmers and a heated steering wheel, which is pretty amazing when temps are subzero (plus, butt cooler for the driver) .  Also, the AWD system allows for more powerslides than I expected, which is nice .

I also like the CX9 recommendation!

If you're talking new cars, you can squeak a new base CX9 in under 30k, but an AWD version is going to be way over the 25k budget. 

Used.. so many options under that budget.  Wagons would work well with a dog I would imagine.   XC70 or T5 maybe? 

I had a very similar set of criteria recently. What I found, was that you can avoid the Toyota tax a bit and get everything you get from a Highlander (except the 3rd row) with a Toyota Venza. You can get Korean models even cheaper than the Venza though. We ended up with a 1 owner '13 Santa Fe with about 20k of factory warranty left. It's a v6, AWD, heated seats with a bunch of rear legroom and plenty of space in the back for our Mastiff. 25mpg highway even in the winter. $16k with 40k miles. A comparable Venza would've been more like $20k, and the Highlanders in that mileage range were mid-twenties. We also looked at the Ford Edge, GMC Terrain, Chevy Traverse, and Honda CRV.

Inlaws went Sorento. The FWD V6 model will knock down 30mpgpure highway. Very nice place to sit for a few hours no doubt. They have had theirs 2 years abd have 45k miles on it. 

My mom has a Pilot that would fit the bill quite well. It's an 06 or 07 I think, so a few generations out of date, and I haven't been in or read much about the newer ones, but the Ridgeline on the same platform seems to be quite well liked here. She's had it since new and it's needed nothing but oil, tires, and brakes - flawless reliability. Cargo space is tight with the third row in place, but more than adequate for a lab or even two with the seats down - I can vouch for that.

Bobcougarzillameister said:

Inlaws went Sorento. The FWD V6 model will knock down 30mpgpure highway. Very nice place to sit for a few hours no doubt. They have had theirs 2 years abd have 45k miles on it. 

I'll second this one.  My mother bought a 2011 or 202 model about 6 years ago, and loves it.  Decent cargo space behind the 2nd row.  The only thing she's considered replacing it with is a newer Sorrento.  Hers is also a FWD V6. 

We picked up a new 2017 Santa Fe about 15 months ago. I said I'd never buy a new car but the prices on used stuff just wasn't that much lower. It checked off all the boxes on my Wife's list- AWD, heated seats in both the front and rear, nice sound system and panoramic sun roof. It's a nice place to spend time. We went with the 2.4 na rather than the 2.0t just because tow duties are covered by the F350. We tried all the competition but SWMBO liked this one best, plus the salesman was laid back and let us take multiple trim level examples for unescorted test drives.

Thanks guys. 

Interestingly the top of the list prior to my post where:

Honda Pilot (cause she likes them)

Mazda CX-9 (because we have a Mazda 3 wagon and it has been super reliable)

Toyota Highlander (hoping it doesn’t have $2100 brake boosters like the Land Cruiser)

Acura MDX  (which no one mentioned yet)

We looked on Carmax and the Sorrento and Sante Fe came up as options, as did the Venza, but I know nothing about them.  Nissan Pathfinder as well. 

Also interestingly upon that brief glance at CarMax, we saw Ford Edge and Explorer, GMC Acadia & Terrain, Jeep Cherokee and Grand Cherokee, Lincoln MKC and MKT and Buick Enclave.  But none of you mentioned those which definitely says something to me. 

In reply to octavious :

I had a self imposed 25mpg requirement and $20k Max budget. So some of the options you had on your list didn't make our cut otherwise we might've considered them. We sat in an Edge and a Terrain. Wife didn't like the Ford ("I just don't think I'm a Ford girl" was her quote.) I preferred the Hyundai over the Terrain. The MKT was something that I liked the idea of, but MrsSTM didn't care for the looks, and it seemed a bit too nice to haul around kids and a giant dog. If my memory is right, Acadia/Traverse/Enclave (same platform), and the Jeep GC didn't meet my fuel economy requirement without busting the budget for a diesel. The Cherokee was dismissed due to being horrendous to look at. If you don't have the same fuel economy needs, it might be worth looking at some of the options that we dismissed. The pilot, Highlander, Acura have strong reputations for a reason, but were mostly out of budget for anything relatively new with reasonable miles. I think the Explorer was the same story. As far as specs go, I felt like we got a comparable vehicle for far less money with the Santa Fe.

Infinity FX35. Pilots are pretty square still right? What about Nissan Pathfinder? Just watch the radiator issue. New aftermarket radiator is the fix.

the hyundai is very nice. Sold a 2015 last month that was a ton of car for the money. 

My MIL has an older Sante Fe that has been trouble free.  And a buddy of mine has a 15 he really likes 

My MIL has an Edge, it's quite nice. I would not hesitate to get one of those.

Suburban.  Done.

This is the bubble that would serve you best.

@mtn she is anti-minivan.  Even after I see you guys singing all the mini-can praises. She is still adamantly against having a mini-van

octavious said:

@mtn she is anti-minivan.  Even after I see you guys singing all the mini-can praises. She is still adamantly against having a mini-van

Give her this and tell her to carve a turkey. 

@mtn. I don’t get it. Are you trying to say wrong tool for the job? 

octavious said:

@mtn. I don’t get it. Are you trying to say wrong tool for the job? 

 Exactly. Maybe a better analogy would be a hammer and a screw. It can still get the job done but it's a compromise. The minivan is exactly what you need- all wheel drive is available, 25 miles to the gallon is possible if not probable, it is the best people mover available, it is great for dogs as it is a low entry and it holds cargo better as well. Any of the SUVs are going to be a compromise in one way or another. The minivan is only a compromise for ego.