Hey guys, don't know if you would find this interesting, but I looked at almost eveything before ordering my GL and I thought I would share some of my impressions of the competition.

The truth is that we were all set to get a Cayenne, but we decided that we we needed a seven seater at the last minute for family reasons. For example, one of my sisters-in-law does not drive, yet has one child with one on the way, so if we wanted to do anything with her a five seater would just not cut it, plus there is always various other taking turns to gymnastics and school type eventualities to prepare for.

I should also add, we are a one car family, as my wife and I both walk to and from work, and we want to keep it that way. This means any car we bought had to do everything two or three different vehicles would accomplish in other families... oh, we have a small camping trailer too!

Anyhow, here is what I looked at, and what I thought (in a nutshell)

LR3:
+ Best ride and dynamics
+ Familiar controls
- no driver's lumbar adjustment
- $2000 carbon tax (Canada), poor fuel economy
- Engine choices suck
- Already owned two Land Rovers

Cayenne, T-reg
+ Best value/content and best individual options
+ Tow Ratings 7700lb, best brakes
+ Good Seats
- Lots of weight, not much space

GMC Acadia
+ good fuel economy
+ nice seating configuration, interior colours
+ Good looking (for domestic)
- Three year warranty
- Poor driving dynamics and tow rating
- Rather expensive for a minivan

MDX
+ Cheap compared to Acadia
- Felt like an uninspired, metal box, imagine driving a refrigerator...
- Too many gadgets
- Looking better than before, still kinda ugly, and yet see yourself on the road every time you leave your house!
- Second tier image. (eg: hey, my mom has one of those)

Enclave, Denali, XC90, Lincolin (also rans...)
Enclave - Pretend Lexus styled by Keebler elves for Bootsy Collins...
Denali - Pretend Escalade with a drinking problem, Carbon Tax $2000.
XC90- Green image, but big carbon tax ABBA loving priss-mobile.
Lincolin- 1976 called, and they want their switchgear back...

These are just my impressions, don't flame me if you secretly lust after one of these...just reviewing this makes me feel even better about my choice.

 

Well you certainly put a lot more thought into your purchase than I did - I was stuck on "diesel" and "not Volkswagen" and that was about it!

STP

PS Last night's "Top Gear" had this very young F1 driver on and when they asked him about his car he said, "I've got a GL 420." A diesel! From an F1 driver!

 

[PS Last night's "Top Gear" had this very young F1 driver on and when they asked him about his car he said, "I've got a GL 420." A diesel! From an F1 driver![/QUOTE]

Do you know who it was BTW?

 

The F1 driver was Lewis Hamilton.

Brocktoon, I hate to say this, but you probably should have considered a minivan... Looking at your criteria, it was nearly the same as mine, with one exception... I needed to tow at least 7K lbs. If I had not needed that, minivans were probably a better fit than anything else, mainly due to the easier ingress/egress, the better fuel mileage (better than even the diesel) and the additional space to fit one or even two more people.

HOWEVER, the closest thing that MZB makes to a minivan is an R class, which only seats SIX, so if it was really about getting a MZB, you chose the right one.

 

Good point, as I would have likely wanted a Sprinter if it would have fit in my garage...

The Acadia is pretty much a minivan without sliding doors, that's about as close as I got. No factory support for towing on the R wrote that option off (although I thoght it was a very nice car).

I should mention that we also drive on un-improved roads and into fields for work regularly, so additional ground clearance is sometimes nice, but not required if I drive with care.

We also see a larger travel trailer in our future, so tow rating was a strong selling feature.

Lastly, my wife is very particular about steering feel and dynamics, and she found the minivans too overboosted and floaty. The GL, even though it could be argued that it too is overboosted and floaty, somehow feels more planted and stable. (I guess 3 tons does that).

On a side note, my dad has an Uplander for just getting wood for projects, and going to costco etc, and the thing is a pig on gas! For the type of driving I do, I know I will save with a CDI.

All told, the GL was the best compromise of all my requirements, and nice financing terms make it cost just about the same to drive as a Highlander Hybrid. Easy choice.

 

You can now get R-Classes with the 7-seater option whereby the 2nd row has a bench seat (accomodating 3) instead of the captain seats.