Need help - VW Atlas vs CX9 vs Outlander vs Cherokee

redalot wrote: ↑ I need at least seven seats and my budget is around $800 per month with financing.

Which car would you recommend? I also need something by early September at the latest.

I think you mean Grand Cherokee. The Cherokee is a midsize CUV, 5 seater.

My vote goes to the Jeep.

Atlas all day.

I got a GC L last week. its a downgrade for me from the yukon xl(but an upgrade in peace of mind, but thats a different story), but the GCL is still pretty big and very comfortable.
I believe the Atlas trunk is a little bigger but it depends on your needs.
test them both and see which one you like better.
the cx9 and Outlander are quite a bit smaller

edit: the Jeep GCL comes in 6 or 7 seat config

I'm not particularly fond of any of the choices but if I had to pick it'd likely be the Jeep Grand Cherokee. If you need a car in a month you may not actually get to pick what you like best and may just have to settle with whatever is available when you need it.

The_Professor wrote: ↑ I'm not particularly fond of any of the choices but if I had to pick it'd likely be the Jeep Grand Cherokee. If you need a car in a month you may not actually get to pick what you like best and may just have to settle with whatever is available when you need it.

Which one do you recommend besides the ones I’ve mentioned?

redalot wrote: ↑ Which one do you recommend besides the ones I’ve mentioned?

It's a bit difficult to make a recommendation without knowing what province you're in (it would affect the pricing/budget).

I have several friends who own the Atlas and every single one of them has had quite a few issues with it. It's just not a reliable vehicle.

As for the Mazda, this issue bothers me enough that I wouldn't consider it personally: https://forums.redflagdeals.com/2017-cx ... y-2600336/

The Mitsubishi is interesting because owners seem to like them but I just don't have faith in the brand. There are so few dealers around and if you're financing I suspect the value will tank much more than average the moment you drive it off the lot.

A Toyota Highlander would be a great overall selection if it fits into your budget but I believe it's got quite a long lead time.

The_Professor wrote: ↑ It's a bit difficult to make a recommendation without knowing what province you're in (it would affect the pricing/budget).

I have several friends who own the Atlas and every single one of them has had quite a few issues with it. It's just not a reliable vehicle.

As for the Mazda, this issue bothers me enough that I wouldn't consider it personally: https://forums.redflagdeals.com/2017-cx ... y-2600336/

The Mitsubishi is interesting because owners seem to like them but I just don't have faith in the brand. There are so few dealers around and if you're financing I suspect the value will tank much more than average the moment you drive it off the lot.

A Toyota Highlander would be a great overall selection if it fits into your budget but I believe it's got quite a long lead time.

Toyota dealer said 8 months wait on that, so

Atlas. This is coming from someone who owned the 2019 cx-9 for 4 years

trixstar wrote: ↑ Atlas. This is coming from someone who owned the 2019 cx-9 for 4 years

Is it the drive or comfort?

redalot wrote: ↑
Is it the drive or comfort?

It was everything.

Infotainment was god awful and crashed all the time
Sometimes the digital display would go black and you wont know how fast you are driving until you pull over and restart the car
360/backup cam looks straight out of a 2000s nokia phone.
Brakes would knock in reverse
Power fold mirror motors died
Coolant leaking from cracked engine block
Suspension is so firm and the seats are uncomfortable. It was more uncomfortable then my wife’s previous CLA45 AMG seats. Suspension is too firm and you can feel every road imperfection. Not a good road trip car.
The paint is thin and crappy. bird droppings or sap will damage it almost immediately unlike any other car I’ve owned.
The AC doesnt blow very cold and is weak. The blower motor also started to squeal right before we got rid of it.

Minor inconveniences:

Heated seats only heat the bum and not the lower back
Cooled seats are very noisy
Heated steering wheel only heats a small portion of 3 and 9
Front door handles have physical buttons for lock/unlock and no sensors. No button or sensors on rear door handle.
Car smells like burning rubber when starting in very cold temperatures
Suspension knock over speed bumps (apparently normal)
Lane assist is worthless, no lane centering.
No third row vents for AC
Low towing capacity
Noisy engine
Second and third row legroom are not as spacious as the competition. Neither is the width.
You dont have a commanding seating position either. The atlas will give you a higher seating position which is also arguably the safer vehicle in a collision

Service department sucks. Worst after sales service you will ever experience. Will make hyundai service centres feel like ferrari

They all seem like good choices... I might be wrong but my gut says the [Grand] Cherokee will have the best resale value here. The Outlander probably the worst but will likely be the cheapest to begin with anyway. If resale is important to you, might want to look into what 5+ year old ones are worth compared to what they originally sold for.

Good luck with getting any [brand new] vehicle in that short of a timeframe, I dunno what's on stealer lots but again I'm thinking the Outlander will probably have the best success if you "need" one in just a few weeks' time. Let's face it Mitsus aren't exactly hot sellers even if [know-nothing] people are always on about wanting to "buy Japanese cars" and these are some of the few actually-Japanese cars out there these days lol.

I think a lot of people like the Atlas, as can be seen here with the responses. There are certainly a lot of them on the road. Personally I feel like it's a lot of money for what you get, but then I can say that for pretty much every brand new vehicle out there so take that for what it's worth (old man yelling at cloud and all that lol).

redalot wrote: ↑ Which one do you recommend besides the ones I’ve mentioned?

The Traverse has a decent third row and similar dimensions (and price, etc) as the Grand Cherokee L. Atlas wins for cargo capacity but between the GC, Atlas, and Traverse, the GC is probably dead last in this category - and third row headroom as well.

CaptSmethwick wrote: ↑ The Traverse has a decent third row and similar dimensions (and price, etc) as the Grand Cherokee L. Atlas wins for cargo capacity but between the GC, Atlas, and Traverse, the GC is probably dead last in this category - and third row headroom as well.

I never considered it and now looking at it, seems like a good option.

redalot wrote: ↑ I never considered it and now looking at it, seems like a good option.

I have the sister to the Traverse, a 2020 Cadillac XT6 and it has excellent third row head and leg room. Lousy cargo capacity with the third row seats deployed. That said, if you get the bench seat in the middle, the split fold-down middle row and third row seats gives a lot of configuration options.

Good luck.

Do Jeep's still have the issue of garbage transmissions?

I was always told that the real offroad Jeeps are pretty reliable but the everyday consumer luxury SUV ones are fairly garbage

The_Professor wrote: ↑ It's a bit difficult to make a recommendation without knowing what province you're in (it would affect the pricing/budget).

I have several friends who own the Atlas and every single one of them has had quite a few issues with it. It's just not a reliable vehicle.

As for the Mazda, this issue bothers me enough that I wouldn't consider it personally: https://forums.redflagdeals.com/2017-cx ... y-2600336/

The Mitsubishi is interesting because owners seem to like them but I just don't have faith in the brand. There are so few dealers around and if you're financing I suspect the value will tank much more than average the moment you drive it off the lot.

A Toyota Highlander would be a great overall selection if it fits into your budget but I believe it's got quite a long lead time.

Were they first year models? The first two years they were one of the worst for complaints IIRC. Since then they have been middle of the pack for reliability.

I have two friends that have an Atlas and love it. The third row is actually usable by normal sized people and has more space than some of these other options

redalot wrote: ↑ I need at least seven seats and my budget is around $800 per month with financing.

Which car would you recommend? I also need something by early September at the latest.

Atlas if you need the space and need it by Sept

I don't think there's any CX -9 left as it's been replaced by cx90? but both are tiny inside and not that reliable (cx9) and the transmission seems to have some serious issues on the cx90

Would avoid Jeep due to poor quality and reliability overall.

Is it the Mazda CX-9 or 90?

For that list of car I would probably go in this order:

Jeep Grand Cherokee
VW Atlas
Mazda CX-90
Mitsubishi Outlander
Mazda CX-9

Really the Grand Cherokee is a class above and in a different league from the rest of them. Proper longitude/RWD architecture.

VW Atlas only if you need space.

The Mazdas I would only choose if you’re keeping short term. Don’t trust the engineering they did on those motors for longevity.

Mitsubishi is okay but really a class below all the others