vB Easy Archive - Help choosing an SUV?

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Help choosing an SUV?
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Posted by: SaltyDawg

What SUV's have Onstar, full time 4WD, and a V8? My wife is in need of a new vehicle. She's been driving a Grand Cherokee Limited. It has a V8 and full time 4WD. We'd like to find something that has Onstar, without losing the V8 and full time 4WD. Is this possible?

Posted by: rip

All the GM SUVs come with OnStar

Envoy Denali 4WD is similar in size and power to what she drives right now.

Posted by: paul34

I don't mean to offend you, but why does your wife need a V8, full time 4WD, and a massive SUV? With a huge American engine at that?

Posted by: O_loung1

would it matter what country made the engine? american, german or japanese v8s all use a lot of gas but the cylinder on demand types should average more miles.

Posted by: SaltyDawg

Quote:

Originally Posted by paul34

I don't mean to offend you, but why does your wife need a V8, full time 4WD, and a massive SUV? With a huge American engine at that?

Because we have 2 kids that play just about every sport out there (with lots of gear) 2 big dogs, a travel trailer that we take out every once in a while, and if some drunk driver crashes into my family, I want the drunk driver taking the majority of the damage.

Anyway, a Grand Cherokee is not all that massive. It's a mid sized SUV. It's not like a Suburban or Excursion or anything...

Posted by: buhdussy

Only GM's have onstar and i think Mercedes????? Best bet is either the GMC Envoy, Chevrolet Trailblazer, Saab 9-7x, and Isuzu Ascender (they're all built on the same GM Platform in the same plants). I like how the saab looks, but its a love it or hate it style. As for the V8, these GM SUV's have a standard 4.2L Inline 6. It has 290hp and 277lb/ft of torque, should be plenty of power to pull a travel trailer. As for the 5.3L V8, has 300hp and 330lb/ft of torque. Now the 8 has Displacment on demand where the engine cuts off 4 cyls at highway speeds to improve gas mileage.

Posted by: JimmyC

Quote:

Originally Posted by SaltyDawg

Have you ever thought of you or your wife at fault crashing into someone else's car and his/her family in their tiny civic? They certainly don't have the privilege of having a big house, big car and a big trailer. They can't afford to pay for their kids' after-school sports either. But due to laws of physics, most likely his/her family will suffer the most because of your big almighty SUV... regardless who's at fault.

But wait, why should you care? Your family comes first of course, whatever happens to other people's families... well tough luck!

Posted by: plumers

I believe Tahoe Z71 has everything you need.

Posted by: buhdussy

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyC

Relax man, of course he's going to think of his family first, it's natural fatherly instinct. Thats his right to buy whatever car he wants and making him feel sorry for considering an SUV is not your job. You are talking "what if's." There are a lot of "what ifs" everywhere.

Posted by: mawti

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyC

Yes, absolutely. Like SaltyDawg, my family always comes first, regardless.

If my family was in an accident where neither driver was at fault, and you have to make me choose between putting them in a big SUV, or an equally weak Civic to the one they will be crashing into, carrying an equally innocent family, I would still always choose to have my family in the big SUV.

You have to understand, it isn't about not caring about the well being of others. Just that, the well being of your loved ones is all the more important, and you would make every possible effort to keep them safe and out of harms way. JimmyC, I don't understand why that is such a hard concept to grasp.

Posted by: mblphnlvr

Yea, BMW and Mercedes offer a service like onstar. I believe the Envoy would be good for what you need, however I don't think you really need the Denali unless you just want the label. The SLT offers all the same features that you require.

Posted by: TheOne

Off teh top of my head:

Jeep Commander (4.7 or hemi)
Ford Explorer V8
Used Hummer H2 (6.0 v8 and onstar)
The new Yukons
Another grand cherokee

For me, onstar would not be a consideration, but to each their own.

I test drove a commander last month. Nice car, but not to excited about the styling.. especially those exposed bolts on the fender flares.

Of the 4x4's on the list above, i'd try and find a used H2.

Posted by: JimmyC

My initial post wasn't intended to change his mind regarding his purchase on a new SUV. It's clear from the beginning that he would go ahead regardless of what other dude on some internet forum has to say. But the way he makes it sound seems just a bit too selfish to me. And it is also because of our selfishness that we see so many accidents and death on a daily basis. I mean, motoring would be so much enoyable if everyone can be just THIS much more considerate. You can call me sexist, stereotyping or whatever, but how did the whole "soccer moms in SUVs" story begin? There are JUST too many out there endangering other people's lives.

You are correct, protecting your family is your basic instinct, thus if you would have the choice, you would put your family in a big SUV as well. As cars getting cheaper and more affordable, you see many prefer to choose this path. Well the sad part is that the more SUVs you have on the road, the more dangerous it is for YOUR family as well as the other family.

Think about it, two Range Rovers colliding head on? Or two Civics crashing into each other? The families in the Range Rovers will have my prayers. So does putting your family in a big SUV absolutely guarantees better safety? Certainly not, thus imo, this is not a valid argument nor reason for the purchase.

It seems that the thread starter is quite well off (wealth-wise). So I assume his family enjoys more than 1 vehicle. If he uses his SUV for family trips or offroad motoring, be my guest. If he is a considerate person, he would have a family sedan for daily commutes, I would give him thumbs up. But as far as safety is concern, he can reconsider.

But of course, at the end of the day, we'll just buy an SUV for our family. Which comes back to our selfishness, oh well. When a Hummer crashes into you, you wish that it was a Civic instead.

Posted by: braindead5400

I don't understand this, the guy comes on here asking for advice and some people decide to knock on the fact that he wants an SUV.

GET OVER IT. If people want SUV's, then let them buy them. If you don't want one then don't buy one, but don't try to question others on their purchase. This thread should only be filled with replies that actually help the OP (albeit the one I'm currently posting does not).

Posted by: Donkey

Today's SUV is not like yesterday's. There are more safety features added on even a dummy could drive safer than before. It doesn't matter what you drive, if you drive like a moron, then you shouldn't be driving at all. I don't believe it'd be the SUV driver's fault in any accident if others crashed into him or her. If that's, what happened when some civi ran into the school bus, it's bigger than any SUV on the road, the school would be sued??? I am sure his wife is a good driver and used to driving a SUV anyway.

I parked next to a TrailBlazer yesterday, it looks pretty nice.

Posted by: SaltyDawg

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyC

Man, are you serious?!?! Look, you obviously have no idea what you're talking about, so please, STOP jumping to conclusions and posting bad things about me and my family.

I live in Salt Lake, Utah (as it says in my profile, and at the top of all of my posts). you obviously either didn't pay attention to my location, or you know nothing about Salt Lake. Let me tell you a little about it...

1: Salt Lake is surrounded by mountains. Lots of them are developed to a certain extent. But all of them have elaborate areas where there is no development. Only trails and campgrounds. And we're talking 20 minutes away from downtown- not a huge road trip. But also 20 minutes away from downtown are businesses and residential areas built on mountains that have aklready been developed. It's common to find yourself driving up huge hills on the side of a mountain that have been paved over and developed as part of the city.

2: It snows a LOT here in the winter. 4WD is almost a requirement if you want to get around.

3: Lots of people around here have big families and drive SUV's. I am by no means out of the ordinary. In fact, my family is one of the smallest out of everyone I know. You pack a lot of bodies in a vehicle, you need a lot of power to move it. Especially when the bodies all have lots of football gear or other baggage. You need lots of room and lots of power. Especially when going up steep, long, hills, in the snow.

4: There are ski resorts 30 minutes away from downtown. It's quite common for locals to go skiing in the winter. And there is no better vehicle to go skiing in than a big, powerful, SUV. You need room for all the bodies, racks for all the gear, power to get you up the steep hils and mountains, and 4WD for the driving in the snow.

5: I am not going to compromise the safety of my family just because someone else felt like buying a Civic. That's the choice they made when they bought a Civic. I'm putting my family in an SUV for many reasons, and yes, if they get in a wreck I want them taking the least amount of damage. That is certainly one of the reasons. Should I put them in a Civic, so someone in an SUV can take them out, and then I can run around looking for sympathy? Heck no. I'll put them in an SUV. And if a Civic gets in a wreck with my family, hopefully nobody will be looking for sympathy, but, if someone IS looking for sympathy, I would ABSOLUTELY rather have the other party be the one looking for sympathy. I'd MUCH rather be the pompous (or whatever) SUV owner who's family was unharmed than the concerned (or whatever) Civic owner who lost his family, or had them seriously injured...

All in all, I have no idea what your problem is. You don't like SUV's? Fine. Don't move to Salt Lake, or any other similar place. But don't come in here knocking me for wanting one.

Oh, and incidentally, we already OWN an SUV. We're looking to get a newer one as this one is getting old (it's a 94). But we've owned an SUV for many years now (this one we're going to get rid of is our 5th). So don't assume we don't know how to handle one.

To everyone else, thanks for all the helpful replies...

Posted by: vietalogy

either a envoy or yukon. i have a 03 envoy SLT and its pretty nice. its a V6 so i save some gas. mine is 4x4 and you have option for rear only or 4x4. i only leave it on 4x4 when it snows.

also jimmyc you are off topic in his thread. if you dont want to help dont bother posting.

Posted by: buhdussy

Quote:

Originally Posted by vietalogy

either a envoy or yukon. i have a 03 envoy SLT and its pretty nice. its a V6 so i save some gas. mine is 4x4 and you have option for rear only or 4x4. i only leave it on 4x4 when it snows.

also jimmyc you are off topic in his thread. if you dont want to help dont bother posting.

Inline 6.......and yes im being a ********. teehee

Posted by: remusrm

Quote:

Originally Posted by SaltyDawg

and if some drunk driver crashes into my family, I want the drunk driver taking the majority of the damage.

i think on this one you are wrong... you will overturn... i am in cali and most SUV accidents result in the damn SUV overturn... unless you do a rear end or a full front end watch out...

Posted by: SaltyDawg

Quote:

Originally Posted by remusrm

i think on this one you are wrong... you will overturn... i am in cali and most SUV accidents result in the damn SUV overturn... unless you do a rear end or a full front end watch out...

It depends on the SUV. If you have a big one, with 4WD and a big V8, you'll probably be fine. If you're in one of the little, lightweight, box types, then yeah, you'll probably be in trouble...

Posted by: rip

Quote:

Originally Posted by remusrm

i think on this one you are wrong... you will overturn... i am in cali and most SUV accidents result in the damn SUV overturn... unless you do a rear end or a full front end watch out...

i beleive that's due to drivers thinking they're in a sports car and take on and off ramps like a sports car....modern day SUVs because of the prior Ford Explorer accusations which were later found to be untrue and blame was to the tires...are much more stable now...still roll overs are driver error >99% of the time.

Posted by: hofo_mofo

The Escalade (sp) has what you are looking for...although it is a full sized SUV and may be out of your budget i dunno

And well the Land Rovers have V8s...although I dont think they have OnStar

Posted by: mblphnlvr

You can also get the 4runner Limited with full time 4 wheel and v8. It doesn't have onstar though.

Have you actually talked to people in your area that have onstar? I know in my area it doesn't even work. So you might want to make sure you can use it before you base your purchase on that.

Posted by: paul34

Quote:

Originally Posted by rip

Yea, they lowered most and widened it, so that the center of gravity is lower and thus more car-like, but of course this means less ground clearance and less "SUV"... but that is ok since most SUV's offroad capabilities are overkill since most people use them for the "urban jungle."

To the OP: I was about to recommend some type of diesel, but I realized that the US doesn't get anything good (aka diesels) especially with onstar... because otherwise if Jeep did have something comparable to Onstar, you could have tried to get your hands on a Jeep Commander diesel (I'm not even sure if they sell it here).

I think a diesel would fit you perfectly - much better torque than a gasoline counterpart which is obviously what you need climbing up hills with large loads and such, plus fuel savings and alternative fuel possibilities. But alas, we have nothing good in this country... gar. Looks like people like you who can actually use a SUV are always fleeced for your money

maybe you should just get a large pickup with a huge diesel and throw the kids in the back

just kidding

Posted by: braindead5400

Quote:

Originally Posted by hofo_mofo

The Escalade (sp) has what you are looking for...although it is a full sized SUV and may be out of your budget i dunno

And well the Land Rovers have V8s...although I dont think they have OnStar

If the Escalade is out of budget, then the Tahoe or Yukon would fit, they're a little cheaper

Posted by: aglio412

the new tahoe/yukons are nice...and some will run on E85

my wife and i just bought a jeep commander (hemi V8) and we absolutely love it. no OnStar tho.

Quote:

Your family comes first of course, whatever happens to other people's families... well tough luck!

precisely...if you have the means, you always should look out for your family first...or perhaps that's the libertarian in me speaking out again.

Posted by: buhdussy

He already said that full size SUV's are out. Land Rover LR3? Go check one out, I think you'll like it, no OnStar though.