1st Runner Up

I was inches away from buying a Land Rover LR3. Gas prices were shooting through the roof and I started to research other options. I thought for sure my only option for better mileage would be a minivan. I had seen the Outlook and Acadia and liked how they looked. My wife really liked them as well.

I was very surprised when I saw their mileage ratings. We went out to look at them and really liked the Outlook. We were disappointed that the NAV did not have a back up camera. We then compared it to the Acadia and we found that it did not come with woodgrain interior. We went back and cut a deal on an Outlook. While we waited for the dealer to locate the right Outlook, I decided to check into the Enclave and make sure it wasn't something we'd like more. We found it had a backup camera, power tilt wheel with memory, bose speakers, a 4/50 bumper to bumper, and awesome styling. We cancelled the Outlook and bought the Enclave.

I started out looking at and trying to buy a Outlook in February. Everytime that I got close to buying, there always seemed to be some kind of pricing change and it was nerver in my favor. When mudflaps went from $160 installed to $190, I had enough and just walked away. I thought that Saturn was a different kind of car company, but found it to be just like most of my other car buying experiences over the years, no fun at all. Next, I turned to the Acadia. My local dealer is on the small side and didn't yet have anything in stock. We tried to dealer trade for 3, but no other dealer would trade with us, so I decided to order one in. After a 2 week wait, we found out that my Acadia would not be built. We spent another week, again trying to dealer trade. Of course, once again, we were shot down on 2 tries. One day, I stumbled across a Enclave sitting in the back of another dealer. I couldn't believe that somebody had one already. I had seen it at the Detroit auto show, but figured that it would be out of my price range. I found that the Enclave made it easier to get just the options that I wanted than the Acadia and the 4yr-50000 mile warranty, plus it being a 2008 model just made it all the better. Now, if they would just get it built.

P.S. I would like to dedicate this post to the Saturn dealer that treated me like crap and The GMC dealers that wouldn't dealer trade with us. I hope that you all still have the vehicles that I was looking at. It's amazing how things work out, but I sure would be disappointed if I was driving the Outlook or Acadia after getting a look at the Enclave. You bet I'm still a little fired up over all of this. The first thing that I'm gonna do is drive my Enclave around that Saturn dealer with my head held high, and sunroof open!

We had two options that we were weighing before the Enclave grabbed our attention:

GMC Yukon, and Mercedes GL.

Neither has stellar gas mileage until you include the GL 320CDI diesel and the not yet available Yukon Hybrid. But both offered three rows, weren't minivans, and could be equipped with leather and a decent feature set. I was very surprised to find out just how tiny the Yukon/Tahoe third row seats are!

The Acadia was out due to its "sport" interior with no wood grain... we're not old, but we do prefer a more elegant look to a vehicle. In fact, even the GL with its impeccable materials has a bit of a sporty look inside compared to other Benz models.

Honestly, when comparing both seating dimensions, overall vehicle body style/shape/size, and features, the Mercedes GL seems to be the closest competitor to the Lambda series (especially the Enclave with its more sophistocated styling). GL has more comfortable second row seats, even though it is a split bench and not the captain's chairs that we really wanted for easier third row access. Enclave/Acadia has more comfortable front and third row seats, with more room in the rear if the second row is adjusted up just a bit. If you add aftermarket bluetooth, the feature set is practically the same for GL and Enclave, with a few engineering pluses on the Benz side that are primarily for safety (like brake assist). The Enclave is wider and has less "rock and roll" side to side feel when driving.

And, at least somewhat important, a similarly equipped Enclave is about $25,000 less than the GL!