I am Patrick Olson with cars.com
we're here in sunny Southern California with our three row SUV challenge
now we had some rules for these cars had to be forty thousand dollars or less
including destination that at least 90 miles per gallon combined we want judges
from cars.com from motorWeek from USA today to help us do the judging and we
brought a real live family that's in market looking for one of these cars
let's take a look and see who the winners are in first place is the
hyundai santa fe our family dad said it blew him away
and our judges backed him up what are they like what didn't they like there
were lots of features for the money including cooled front seats a panoramic
moonroof rear sunshades in a heated steering wheel
it comes with an easy to use multimedia system repaired quickly with phones and
it was a fun driving experience it keeps the zip in the family daily driver
of course not everything was perfect our judges didn't like its small size one
judge gave it an F and cargo space behind the third row tough visibility
that came with it sloping roofline and there wasn't too much in the way of
family features in the second row one judge noted in second place was the
dodge durango which gotta refresh for 2014
like the Santa Fe the judges liked the number of features for the money
Dodge is easy to use and easy to like UConnect system with its 8.4 inch screen
and customizable gauges and the Durango's high-grade interior materials
made it feel like a luxury SUV on the downside the Eco mode may save gas but
it doesn't make the durango gas to drive the second row doesn't slide which
bothered to our judges and one judge just like the limited cabin storage
another all new contender came in third place
toyota is completely redesigned highlander was a revelation
the judges were impressed by its very fancy interior completely at odds with
the earlier generation comfortable seats in a comfortable ride and this a driver
favorite
and it's handy under the dash tray whenever more than a few judges for
being clever still there were drawbacks
the third row is clearly only meant for kids and adults would be wise to avoid
it
while cargo room has grown with this new version it's still not plentiful one
judge said and the highlander can get in one judges words squirrely when the gas
pedal gets pumped
we suggest the all-wheel version to avoid that but of course that's going to
cost you a little more in the middle child spot comes a nissan pathfinder on
the positive side judges like the borderline luxury interior quality
calling it both functional and attractive the navigation system when
applause in an industry where many such systems are hard to use the Pathfinders
quiet ride was a relief to our real-world parental testers not as
positive were our family didn't find much change the way the pathfinder drove
compared to earlier versions several judges complained of pokey acceleration
and one judge said that buyers don't get a son of a blind spot monitoring system
or cold seats for the price as some of the competitors did coming in fifth was
the mazda cx-9 one of the oldest SUVs in our test judges praised the fact that
it's definitely a driver's car
it's true to its zoom zoom marketing one said another light its precise steering
and fantastic handling big rear doors make for easy access to the third row a
must for any kid friendly SUV Martha could improve though
judges thought those big rear doors could also mean a lot of mixed in the
supermarket parking lot
they didn't care for the small nav and entertainment screen one judge noted
that his cell phone comes with a bigger screen
finally the six nines unrefined engine and road noise are not very appealing
when judge noted in sixth place was the tried and true but aging honda pilot
judges voted for the great visibility that comes with the pilots boxy exterior
design that shape also met plenty of headroom and another judge praise the
pilots seemingly unlimited front storage
for phones wallets purses drinks and more
but not everyone was won over several judges called out the dated interior
there's an injection-molded field to the interior that's not inviting a tall one
judge said others found fault because the pilot has simply too many buttons on
the center stack and that shape that helps with this ability also leads to a
lot of noise
several judges found bringing up the rear was the chevy traverse its seventh
place finish was largely due to bring in fewer features to the challenge than its
competitors did there were still things like including lots of room for people
and cargo easy access to the third row and a soft comfortable ride that
according to one judge may not want to load this thing up and go on vacation
other judges just wanted a vacation from the Traverse there's not a lot for the
Money several complained one noted that there is no keyless entry no power hatch
no navigation and no blind spot rearview mirrors the overstuffed cloth chairs
were really not comfortable and one judge was put off by what he called its
entry level rental quality for all the details
judges scoring and comments check with cars com
yeah