HansonBro
Registered User
- May 3, 2006
- 4,906
- 3,470
The full size SUVs are out of my budget unfortunately.
Really?
https://www.kijiji.ca/v-cars-trucks...ea/1283365436?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true
The full size SUVs are out of my budget unfortunately.
That's equal price but a 5 year old vehicle. Also my wife is short and would have to lift kids into it.
They also have no warranty and probably need brakes/tires, if not more. Big trucks like that probably haven't been treated very well either.
Yeah nobody takes care of big trucks....
No, but lots of people don't. They're work vehicles or family haulers, neither of which are usually associated with careful attention. I've never made the assumption all large body on frame vehicles are maintained poorly. That would be like suggesting mechanics who work on VWs are incompetent compared to mechanics who work on American cars.
Any yukon/Tahoe post 2006 is not a work vehicle. You could even argue post '99. Did you even look at my link and notice the wood trim? Seats that actually fold flat in the rear? I get your a VW guy, I just presented another option
Yes they're family haulers and capable of towing around your toys. How does that suggest poor maintenance?
We just welcomed home a new baby and a new car last week.
We ended up getting the Comfort Line trim so slight upgrades only.
Definitely a great alternative to a mini-van for those not wanting to go full Soccer-Dad/Mom mode.
Congrats! I know all about the new kid part but would appreciate updates/impressions on the Atlas and functionality. Little things that you notice that you appreciate or don't so much like or stuff you thought was cool but you don't really use.
Early impressions, the drive and power is just fine. It is a smooth drive and doesn't feel to struggle pulling such a big frame with a relatively modest engine. (We went with just FWD).
All the extra features are new to us having had a 2013 sante fe and still having a 2015 Jeep Wrangler unlimited sport.
Stuff like remote start, push button start, console features, large display, etc are all great but again it's our first time having them so it feels like a luxury.
The spaciousness truly is our favourite feature. All 3 kids fit in the middle row including a rear facing baby seat, front facing child seat and a booster in the middle. Pushing the middle row all the way back means driver and front passenger can also push their seats back as much as they like. I'm not huge at 6ft but I like to have my seat back far and not being restricted is great. That was not the case in either of our other vehicles. Space in the 3rd is also unbeatable in its class. Two adults can seat back there comfortably.
Negative stuff, the front is huge, hood height is same as the Jeep. But the seat is much lower so visibility on the front right is real tough. Makes it hard to park in some spots.
The start stop feature is annoying. It can be disabled but I think it has to be turned off every time. Maybe I have not found the setting to default to off.
Feel free to ask any specifics.
Early impressions, the drive and power is just fine. It is a smooth drive and doesn't feel to struggle pulling such a big frame with a relatively modest engine. (We went with just FWD).
All the extra features are new to us having had a 2013 sante fe and still having a 2015 Jeep Wrangler unlimited sport.
Stuff like remote start, push button start, console features, large display, etc are all great but again it's our first time having them so it feels like a luxury.
The spaciousness truly is our favourite feature. All 3 kids fit in the middle row including a rear facing baby seat, front facing child seat and a booster in the middle. Pushing the middle row all the way back means driver and front passenger can also push their seats back as much as they like. I'm not huge at 6ft but I like to have my seat back far and not being restricted is great. That was not the case in either of our other vehicles. Space in the 3rd is also unbeatable in its class. Two adults can seat back there comfortably.
Negative stuff, the front is huge, hood height is same as the Jeep. But the seat is much lower so visibility on the front right is real tough. Makes it hard to park in some spots.
The start stop feature is annoying. It can be disabled but I think it has to be turned off every time. Maybe I have not found the setting to default to off.
Feel free to ask any specifics.
Are test drive on the Atlas was fine. Neither my wife or I found the handling notable for good of bad. Acceleration was fine too. We drove highway and country road (paved).
We are waiting for then 2.0 Turbo that will be here in Sept-Oct. As Battleborn said, I'm not expecting to win a race, we are going to be hauling around 3 kids under 5 with the occasional grandma so the Atlas is a great alternative to a mini van.
Pretty spot on review. We bought the Atlas knowing it was VW's goal to compete with the Ford Explorer.
There was no value in going for the more premium trim packages (nor did we need it). But we do really need the extra space and a 3rd row suitable for adults. Your review pretty much summarizes our decision process.
The highest trim does have virtual cockpit, however. Also it'll have IIRC surround view camera (pretty nice for a big vehicle), upgraded driver assists, etc. Which if you're into technology or that sort of thing is pretty valuable. Virtual cockpit is something you only see on Audi's and other expensive VWs (Golf R, top trim Tiguan).
The virtual cockpit looked out of place in the Atlas. The 365 camera is a great feature. The Mazda has a mix of analog and digital gauges. The camera is pretty much standard with object sensors. I do love the adaptive cruise control and heated steering wheel.
I don’t know, I think it fits anywhere because it’s a revolution in dashboard technology. It also wouldn’t make sense to not have it in the $50,000+ Atlas but in cheaper models (I also suspect it’ll come on the A7 Jetta Highline/GLI in the spring).
Adaptive cruise I find on the Atlas (and Tiguan for that matter) isn’t as good as in the Golf and the outgoing Touareg. It gets too close to front cars on the front setting and feels too jerky when it needs to brake itself.
VW can make the virtual cockpit look likes it belongs in the Atlas by making the overall quality of the interior better looking and nicer to the touch. VW for the most part over the past 20 years or so have made very nice looking interiors because they were competing directly with their German competitors and sold the same car in Germany that they sold in North America. Now they make two versions of certain cars. One for the German Market, one for the North American market and the Atlas is all ab iout competing with Ford and GM. As long as VW continues to this They definitely lost me as a customer.
The Mazda was the first car I ever drove with the adaptive cruise control. So far I like it. I keep it set at the medium range.
I never use cruise control of any sort. want 100% control all the time. heated steering wheel is an extremely under-rated feature IMO.
On cold days it is.