Congrats, Tom. How's the cargo capacity?

Congrats, Tom! Where are the pics of the cargo capacity?

Tom, congratulations and felicitations. Men at Work's Cargo had the capacity to make me dance and air drum in the 1980s.

Well, you guys are in fine form today.

I'll try to get some pictures of the actual vehicle and post them soon.

Until then, the reviews from Edmunds and Car and Driver seem pretty accurate. Ours is gray on the outside.

We have the Sport model but I don't know that I've pushed it enough to know whether or not the Active Dampers really do much of anything. I found that all the luxury appointments ended up being important to me, and I achieved sunroof, steering wheel mounted audio controls, seat memory, heated leather, bluetooth, AWD, HID lights, etc. The 3.7L VTEC and the 5-speed automatic are just sublime. Really a great powertrain.

Ken, it has "less" cargo area than some other SUV's (like the 2009-forward Pilot and the GM Lambda platform). But it's still quite a bit bigger than the two-row SUV's, and I think it strikes a good balance. I used the Edmunds total cargo capacity figures to supplement the precision of my "looks like" methodology.

That being said, there is simply nothing better than a minivan if you need space. SUV's just can't compete. For example, you can seat 5 in an Odyssey and still have quite a bit more cargo area than seating only 2 in an MDX. We got an SUV instead of another van because our dog and kids are getting older (14, 15 and 18). We have different needs so we could afford to prioritize performance over cargo capacity.

My opinion is that if you aren't going off-road and are considering an underwhelming/underperforming SUV, you might as well get a van. I also think if you have a large/growing family, you need to not kid yourself and just get a van. Better MPG and more space. Sorry, Ken, but you need a van.

Cockpit looks like this:



and the cargo area looks like this (except ours is the black leather):



I'm happy with everything (so far) except the payments.

I tend to agree with you, Tom, but my wife likes the idea of a SUV better.

....Until it tips over .

Well, that goes against the conventional wisdom, dunnit?! The hubby wants the van and the wife has eyes for an SUV.

I second Tom (or third Tom and you) and vote for the van as well, knowing that my vote means squat where the will of a wife is concerned, mine or otherwise.

Good luck, my friend.

Well, good luck, Ken. The problem is that you don't drive "the idea of" a van or SUV. You drive, load, unload and use "the reality of" the vehicle. And - for us - The Reality of having a van when our family was young and growing was absolutely the right choice. No regrets.

My sister-in-law once said she'd never own a van and become a soccer mom. Well, guess what? She lied. With two kids, the van has become a "must" have vehicle now.

I used to have a van. Does that count? Right now I've driven the same old Chrysler POS for the past 13 years. It really burns be up when I see my retirement funds go up then down 20k overnight. I think, that could of been a new car. One of these days I'll learn to hit the sell button when funds go up.