Little update on this thread.
Wife and I had a good conversation about the cars, where we're headed, and what our next 5-10 years look like in terms of activities, boat, camper, travel, etc. Sierra has to go in exchange for an SUV with 3 rows. We don't use the truck bed often enough, and would use the 3rd row enough to warrant the change on that alone. There are some other complicating factors I won't go into, but the overall decision to move on was made.
SO, I got to work and I spent the better part of 3 days negotiating over this
Durango R/T (Click me). It had EXACTLY the options I wanted in the color I wanted, but we couldn't find a middle ground on price. Started $5k off on the deal and landed about $2k difference between us, then the salesman started to be a dick after that, so I said the hell with it and moved on. Shame really, we were so close and that is somewhat of a unicorn of a Durango.
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Good friend sent me a link to
this Audi Q7 (Click me). It's a shade more dollars (~$5k) and only 1k more miles, but has the right features and specs for me. I've owned an Audi before and was generally pleased with the vehicle overall. It was an '06 model though, and didn't have as many bells and whistles as this one. Sent the sales team there a message, and they're already SOOOO much more pleasant to deal with. Trade was "blind appraised" about $1,500 higher than the Kia store in NC, and we're close on numbers already. Going to counter on Monday I think, and I bet we get a deal. We're only about $2k apart from where I think we should be right from the start on this one. Wife likes the Q7 better than the Durango as well, so that helps grease the wheels a little bit. Q7's has a couple features the R/T doesn't, and I think she just generally likes the look better. Q7 has a little better unladen fuel economy, and I personally LOVE the lack of permanent center stack screen (I'm sure some of you have read my rants on that
). Obviously the white/black combo is a common theme for me. Just looks really sharp I think. Nice and clean. Plus it's gonna look amazing towing a white/black AR190 around
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Doing research between the two and found some interesting things. The Q7 is actually faster to 60 and to 1/4 than the R/T. I was somewhat surprised by that considering the Q7 is relatively down on power and high on weight compared to the R/T. Best I can figure is better trans tuning, and a flatter torque curve in the Audi. Also found
this thread started be
@dgfreeze where he was contemplating the same two vehicles.
He landed on Durango, looks like I might land on the Q7. Interesting that these two floated to the top in my searching as well.
I'm still open to other options even if I'm pretty far down this path. Here's some details on what I have in mind.
"Must Haves"
Tow rating/GCVWR/Tow Package to support 212X + 6 passengers + gear. (we want to upgrade boats when possible without upgrading TV at that time)
Sunroof
Adaptive Cruise
AWD
$45k price cap
3rd row seating (doesn't have to hold an adult, just kids)
Strong preference:
2nd row bench seat
White/Black trim
I've ruled out these:
Explorer ST (hate the ipad dash)
Explorer Sport (Not a fan of the Ford Interior)
GMC Yukon/Chevy Tahoe (too expensive unless mileage is excessive)
Expedition (interior isn't for me)
Lexus GX series (too costly)
Nissan Armada (Just generally not a fan, no real concrete reason)
Mercedes anything (hate the interior)
BMW X5 (too expensive when I searched briefly, might circle back here)
I'm open to other thoughts.
