[ekaxel]

As some of you know, I have had mine over a year now. Two months ago, my nephew's lease ran out on his Acura TL. He always swore (at least his wife did) that he never wanted an SUV - didn't like the image even though he lives in the suburbs with two boys etc, etc etc. But he reasoned that if a MO was OK for me, he should have one too. So he did.
Last month, my sister ahd her husband were visiting, and we went on a 3500 mile, 9 day trip to the national Parks in Utah and Yellowstone. My sister ABSOLUTELY cannot/will not ride in a car for more than 5-6 hours. Back pain etc. Sooo. I set out on my normal first day out -745 miles from Portland-Ogden, Utah. Not a word out of her. The next two days were short, down to Moab and the parks. The fourth day we got up at 5AM, toured Natural Bridges National Monument, Capitol Reefs National Park, Bryce and Zion, arriving at our motel in Hurricane Utah about 9PM. A comment about how comfortable the car was. They didn't drive, just rode in the back seat.
Since the lease on their Montero was up, they bought a MO this morning. I didn't think I was so influential! The MO had a lot to do with it.
BTW: 3500 miles, fully loaded, a lot of 75-80 mph freeeway and slow driving in the parks 22.1 mpg on premium gas.

 

[9495]

He always swore (at least his wife did) that he never wanted an SUV

This was my position (and my wife's) as well. I hate SUVs. I'd much rather have a car, but I need some towing capacity. There are very few cars that will tow ANYTHING, so I started looking at ANY vehicle that could tow.

The MO is still a little larger than I would really like, but it is SO much better than anything else out there for what I want. The only thing that I liked better was the Volvo V70R, which is an AWESOME vehicle and can tow 3300lbs, but the reliability isn't very good and it's about 12 grand more than a fully loaded MO. Plus, it doesn't have the CVT.

I still hate SUVs, and I DO consider the MO to be an SUV, but I feel it's the least evil by far of them all! What sold me? Smaller size, CVT (that's the big one, I have always hated conventional automatics), handling, layout of the interior.

Now I'm just waiting for my company stock to get back where it should be so that I can actually go get it! :3:

~ Corin

 

[pcs15394]

ekaxel

Man. Three Mo's in the family. Thats great. It is a great vehicle. My buddy told me my cool factor went way up when I traded in my GM SUV for the Mo.

 

[ekaxel]

Just got to the east coast. Driving a new '04 quite different than a broken in '03.
Pix of the other two:

 

[95se]

"Driving a new '04 quite different than a broken in '03."

Interesting. How so?

 

[ekaxel]

Broken in vehicle has a lot more pep that a very new tight one,

 

[jaak]

Hmmm.. I was just noticing yesterday how this thing still amazes me with it's pep. Maybe it's faster!

Let's see... 18 months I've had it now. Time flies when you're having fun!