^^ I’m a musclecar guy, but I love the comparo between the Odyssey & The Charger Daytona :bowrofl:
Acura MDX ftw
Base model starts at $40K though. And doesn’t have nearly as much cargo room as the Acadia. So far the Acadia looks like the best choice - it’s a car platform and a lot of room. Still need to check out the Mazda CX-9.
What ever you do, stay away from the Jeep Commander. My parent’s just bought one and I do not like it at all. My parents opted for the V6, which does just fine in normal day to day driving. It does prove to be sluggish on the highway when trying to pass though. I’m guessing the V8 would have eliminiated this, but my parents don’t tow anything so they said they didn’t need it. I don’t mind the way it looks or handles, but the interior is horrible. It has a 3rd row of seats, but they are useless. Unless you’re putting a 2 year old back there, there’s no way someone would be comfortable…even for a short trip. The leg room in the “middle” row is horrible as well. Even with the front seats moved all the way up, there is still little to no room in the back. The side curtain airbags further reduce the amount of headroom that is available. Sad to say, but I’d almost rather have a minivan over that thing.
GMC Acadia’s are supposed to be very nice. Top points are handling, interior features, and space. My brother-in-law and sister are looking at buying one of these right now so I’ve been reading up on them. The drawbacks people say are the gas mileage has not been close to what is stated and the transmission. Supposedly the transmission up-shifts much too quickly so you have to mash the gas to get it to drop back down. A few comments I’ve heard, people have said that upgrades from the dealership to the ECU have somewhat corrected this issue, but it is still noticeable. Still a good bang for the buck and a ConsumerGuide Best Buy. No idea what it can do as far as towing is concerned.
jeep commander with hemi or desiel 3 rows 0% for 3 years and a lifetime powertrain
Edit* dident see the post ^
Minivan FTW
The Commander didn’t make the short list due to ugliness.
teg - Thanks. Hadn’t heard about the mileage, I’ll have to do some more digging. I’ve read similar things about the shifting - don’t know if it’s just the 07’s or the 08’s too. We’ll see how it drives.
Edmunds 2007 User Ratings: GMC Acadia
Edmunds 2008 User Ratings: GMC Acadia
It seems that the reviews are pretty consistent between 07 and 08. No matter what you read, it still only matters if you like the way it drives.
Between Edmunds and Consumer Guide, they seem to cover the vehicle pretty well. Hope this helps.
- Jeff
taurus x 
We drove the GMC Acadia and the Mazda CX-9. The CX-9 drives a lot nicer, and the interior quality seems a little better, but the seating layout isn’t quite what we want, no automatic headlights, high center console, and not quite as much room. Anyone know about the reliability of Mazda?
The Acadia is more spacious all around, you can get captain’s chairs in the 2nd row, and easier access to 3rd row, but it doesn’t drive as nice. I had read that the downshifts can be slow, which I did notice coming up a hill. Maybe something that could be corrected with a reflash if somehow available?
Not much else for similar choices (i.e., non-truckish SUV). Honda Pilot is kind of small, (only 16" wheels & 244HP). Maybe Toyota Highlander, but the third row seat doesn’t split, and not as much room.
So after years of talking (complaining?) about buying an SUV, it may finally happen if we can actually make a decision. I think what we actually want is a Mazda Acadia or a GMC CX-9. 
Thanks for all the suggestions!
maybe checkout the buick version of the acadia, it may be alittle fancier or something.