You like SUVs. Your family likes SUVs. But these days, your wallet does not like SUVs, if only on account of the waiflike profile it assumes once you gas up. If only you didn’t need three rows of seats.
Darn it all, because there are those for whom there is no getting around the need for seven or eight seatbelts. Moreover, there’s usually an inverse correlation between the size of one’s family and the number of disposable dollars that can painlessly be tossed to the oil companies as prices climb ever higher. So what is such a multitasking, multiresponsible head-of-household to drive? If you can’t stomach a minivan, consider a three-row crossover.
Crossovers represent the best blend of versatility and frugality among three-row vehicles, far more efficient, easier to drive, and in some cases more spacious inside than truck-based, full-size, three-row SUVs. Think a minivan would be more frugal than a crossover? Think again. Most minivans would place near the bottom of this list had we broadened our search to include them, although minivans do offer more cargo volume, easier access to the cabin, and in most cases, vastly more spacious and comfortable third rows. But there’s that pesky image problem.
A couple of disclaimers. Honda’s 2009 Pilot will likely offer fuel economy competitive with that of the vehicles on this list, but the Pilot is not yet on sale. And although this is technically a crossover roundup, we would be remiss not to mention the recently introduced Chevrolet Tahoe hybrid and GMC Yukon hybrid, both of which achieve EPA ratings of 21 mpg city and 22 mpg highway for rear-wheel-drive models and 20/20 for four-wheel-drive models and top the fuel economy of several trucks in the lower half of this group while offering the towing hardiness of a body-on-frame truck. But they’re the clear exceptions to the rule here (and at more than $50,000 apiece, expensive exceptions, too). So we suggest sticking to triple-tier crossovers if fuel efficiency is your hottest of hot buttons, and none is more efficient than these.
It should come as no surprise that the top fuel-economy spot in this group belongs to the only hybrid in the mix: the
Toyota Highlander hybrid. For 2008, the Highlander lineup was completely overhauled, adding length and width largely in order to offer a more capacious third-row seat (optional on the base model and standard on the upmarket Limited). Now, when we say more capacious, that is not to say
truly capacious, but it will do for small adults for short trips, and little kids should be happy back there for a while longer.
The Highlander hybrid features the same 3.3-liter V-6 combined with electric-motor assist as in previous years, endowing it with 270 combined horsepower and propulsion to all four wheels. As such, it is laudably powerful and quiet (especially when creeping around in its new electric-only mode, which keeps the 3.3-liter V-6 quiet until 25 or so mph). But it’s also about as exciting to turn and stop as it is to look at. Which is to say not very.
Nor is it much of a bargain. When equipped with the optional third-row seat—standard on nonhybrid Highlanders—the hybrid runs just under six grand more than an equally equipped regular Highlander. Base price for the gasoline-only Highlander is $12,000 less than the starting price for a hybrid. Click down a few pages. The nonhybrid Highlander is also on this list, achieving nine fewer mpg in the city than the hybrid and only one fewer on the highway with the same amount of horsepower but no heavy battery packs or complex propulsion network.
To be fair, the hybrid offers the advantages of standard four-wheel drive, a few additional features, and the occasional tax incentive, depending on where it’s registered. Still, even if gas prices hit $4 per gallon, it’s gonna take awhile to recoup the initial expense, especially if one adds interest from financing the deal. Our advice: Save the money up front and get the standard Highlander—unless you take saving the earth seriously enough to spend extra money for hybrid bragging rights.