Installed the new running boards and hitched it up to the boat for the first time last weekend.
Looks great. My father just bought the same steps for my mother’s traverse and love them. Definitely look great on the vehicle.
Why did you want the 2nd row bench instead of captains?
We have 5 people in the car a lot which would require someone go to the 3rd row and the 3rd row isn’t that great in any vehicle. Plus several times since we’ve had the CX-9 we’ve wanted to take 8 people, and with the captains chairs it’s 2+2+3.
Our Expedition had 2nd row captains chairs and the novelty quickly wore off and we realized that they may look cool but they’re far less practical.
My uncles Excursion with 2 rows of bench was kick butt… man i wish they still made that truck 
we have 3 Envoy/traverse at work with blown motors. all the 2.4 Ecotec the newest being a 2013… but i think that its just an under-powered motor for that big of a truck thats why they be popping and poor maintenance.
all that has nothing to do with your truck… and i think it looks good.
There’s never been a 2.4 in a Traverse. The Lambda platform (Traverse, Acadia, Enclave) have only one engine, the 3.6 V6.
The 2.4 came in the equinox, terrain and captives when they were being made. It’s a fine motor for the cuv’s.
Enjoy it. Solid platform that has been refined over the years. Been “testing” a 2015 Acadia for the past 9 months.