Which car RE: Snow & Mountain conditions?

[Little Butterfly]

I am considering buying one of several SUV cars with a GVWR of close to 6000 lbs (tax purposes- found that thread VERY helpful!) I live in Napa CA, but have a cabin in Tahoe, so the car needs to perform well going basically from sea level to 7500 ft, and in snow & ice, upon occassion. Also, I want a "luxury" vehicle, but I don't need the best and most expensive, and would like to take advantage of current specials which end soon. Currently own a '02 Expedition, (7200 GVWR) which has been a good car, and does great in the mountains, but is too big to drive around town and The Valley. I am considering the SRX (I'm assuming the V-8 best choice?), Lincoln Aviator, Lexus GS 470, Jeep Grand Cherokee; possiblt the BMW X5, or Infinity QX56. I would very sincerely appreciate any input and advice regarding the performance of the SRX in mountains and snow, and advice RE: current specials, and/or knowledge advice about the other cars listed which might guide me in my choice - which I must make soon – would be very greatly appreciated! THANKS!

[05SRX]

Get an Escalade, you wont be dissapointed!
I have a 99 as well as an 05 SRX, The Escalade will do better in deep snow just because of higher ground clearance.

[sgilbert]

Have a look at the new Jeep Commander with Hemi & QuadraDrive. I've been waiting to have a look at them at a dealer as soon as one comes in. Butt ugly with a real attitude!

[Little Butterfly]

Thank you for your advice! I guess I want my cake, and eat it, too. I'm only 5' so feel comfortable with a smaller car. Mostly, I just drive it around town, but do need someone capable in the snow. I think the Escadale is not much smaller than my Expedition - I'll check and, you're right – the commander does appear butt-ugly! But likely kicks butt!

[Xadion]

The Jeep commander and wrangler (origaonal jeep) are basicly the best small offroad/noroad little spidders of trucks- althoug Crysler is nolonger truely and american company I preff to stay with GM-

The SRX has decent ground clearance- deff in respect to the new line of SUV's like the vue,torrent and equanox. And if you read motortrend seems to have better overall (not max) groundclearance than a Envoy xuv

[Osogato]

My wife loves her V8 AWD. We've taken it to Tahoe several times and it performs well at altitude and in the snow on roads. We have not taken it off road and it really is not suited for such duty.

All of the vehicles you mentioned have good and bad qualities. The SRX seems much more like a tall station wagon than some of the SUVs you mentioned. Cadillac cheaped out in a few places in the interior but the vehicle drives extremely well and has a nice amount of room. It really depends on the qualities you are seeking in your vehicle. For example, the SRX has more room than the X5 but less than the QX 56.

We do not regret the purchase and it has the qualities we were seeking. We would get one again if we had to do it all over again. Again though, it depends on the qualities you are seeking.