Just picked up a 2010 Mercedes GL450. We had an 07 but my wife totalled it (and the two cars in front of her). These things are phenomenal. It tows everything I need it to, but doesn't ride like a "truck." Very well put together if you're out of the 07-08 range. 20 mpg on the highway.
Suburban is a Chevy :up: Also another vote for the Acadia, they are pretty nice, wife's picking one up here once her current lease is up. Its pretty much a tougher looking minivan, built on the same platform as the Chevy Traverse and the Buick Enclave.
I know you said it was too big but I love my Z71 Suburban! Lots of cargo space even with the 3rd row being used. Fold them up and you have even more room! We have the 2nd row captain chairs which make getting to the 3rd row easy if you don't feel like folding a seat up. We got our loaded and the only thing we didn't get was the cooling seats.
Question you want to ask is, does he need room for stuff with the third row being used. If so that eliminates a LOT from your list
The Tahoe/Suburban is on a truck chassis with a straight rear axle so the only way to get fold flat is by raising the load floor. That's what they did for the 2015 model that just went on sale. The built a funky fake floor with storage and lost 9 cubic feet of cargo space. Plus the 3rd row seats are now bolted down. They did add a direct injected engine and magnetic ride control that are big pluses but the 3rd row seating execution sucks. The 3rd row seats in the 2014 come out easily and aren't very heavy. The Acadia and Traverse are on the "lambda" architecture so are unibody crossovers. Great people movers but not designed to do what a truck based SUV does as far as towing and semi rough terrain. Guess it comes down to what the usage will be. The truck chassis based SUVs are expensive but give you 2 wheel drive, 4 wheel drive and all wheel drive and with the optional 2 speed transfer case 4 wheel low. The cross overs are just all wheel drive only. The magnetic ride control (Magnaride) in the new Tahoe/Yukon does a better job than the older Autoride. Not that Autoride is bad, it's very good. Both systems change damping as needed on the fly to reduce body roll and provide a smooth ride on bumpy roads but the magnetic ride control option updates in milliseconds to road conditions and steering inputs. It's expensive but really makes a big SUV nice to drive.
As do the Expedition and Navigator, since they have IRS which means they don't need room for the differential to move around like it does with the live axle on the GM's.
Was it a 2015? They just started getting to the dealers here in the midwest this week. If it was a 2014 then the seat back simply folded down to the seat cushion. True fold flat is when the entire seat folds flat into the floor.
I have a Saturn Outlook; same platform as the Acadia/Traverse/Enclave. Love the interior layout (fit/finish quality is good, not great)... you can actually fit 4x8 sheets of plywood/drywall in it. I have my doubts about the long term reliability of the 3.6DI engine, however. Mine is at 48k and burns 2-3qts between oil changes (5-6k miles). 1qt consumed over 2k miles is acceptable to GM. Around town fuel economy is mid-teens, but it does get low-mid 20's on the freeway. It tows a modest-size trailer well.
Used to be up until the 800 series came out in 2000. Tahoes were always called Yukons for GMC. For zome reason GM decided to call GMC suburban a yukon xl. For what reason who knows.
No. This was in Oct and it was a 2014. Idk. The back was flat to me. doesn't have to be buried away into the floor to count
Christ, that's some murderer's row. How many gallons per mile??? What about something like this? It has a third row of seats too. http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/ank/ctd/4317584002.html
I have a 2013, same as the 2014. Before retiring I was part of the Program Execution Team defining GM's Lambda crossovers. They replaced the truck based Trailblazer, Buick Rainier and Envoy. Call it what you like but the term "Fold flat" in the industry is defined as folding flat and flush with the load floor.
