Help deciding on a new SUV------>

druuu88 said:
I would look into a 2001 4runner. Great year, and before they made them ugly with the new body style. They are really great cars, and i love everything about them. Good resale value too.
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Agreed, even though I already replied on this post, I must say the 90-95 and 96-02 (2nd and 3rd gens) 4runners are my favorites, with a silver '02 limited as the ultimate out of those.
 
Dude said:
Another vote for the Volvo XC90. My partner has one and it is very nice.



The amount of room inside is shocking. I don't know how they did it. The XC90 doesn't look particulary roomy from the outside but the inside is huge, huge. The third row seat is even usable by adults.



It has plenty of power and handles quite well. It's easy to park, corners acceptably, and the ride is smooth.



The only disappointing thing was the quality of the interior materials. I have always thought of Volvos as luxury, or at least near-luxury, cars. The XC90's interior is not luxurious at all. Acres of hard, dull plastic, and the leather seats feel like vinyl. My partner's old Explorer XLT was much, much, much more luxurious. Much more. But the interior of the Volvo, while not luxurious, is plenty durable. It doesn't seem cheap or flimsy or anything -- just not luxurious. It's more utilitarian.



The Aviator has the most luxurious interior of any car I've ever driven. It's like a private jet in there! Some of the high-end Lexuses (like the one that is a rebadaged Land Cruiser) have excellent, comparable interiors but I think the Aviator's is still best in class. It is nicer inside than the RX330.



The qualtiy of the ML320's/350's is supposed to be pretty bad. We are debating my wife's next car right now and she is looking at the ML350 and the E-class wagon. The E-class and the ML perform basically the same function -- both are large family cars -- but the E350 is something like $15,000 more. IMO, the price difference is due to the substantially higher quality of the E-Class.
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If you're going to look at the Volvo XC90, you might as well look a the Ford Freestyle, even if it's not a true SUV. It's based on the same platform (chassis) as the Volvo XC90, has a cavernous interior, has comparable interior materials to the Explorer(at least on the Freestyle Limited), exterior styling similar to the Explorer, same exact imported from Europe Haledex AWD system as the Volvo, and doesn't sticker any higher than $35,000 if you load it with every single option. The XC90 is cool, and it's a Volvo, but it starts over $35,000.



One of my customers lease on his Aviator just ran out and he got a Freestyle instead. He said it didn't match the Avaitors acceleration, but he says it rides great, was terrific in the snow we had last couple of months, and is way better on gas.
 
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