Fit and Finish
This year's sport/utility choices prove that all automakers--Asian, European, and American--have improved. The Pacifica and Durango have benefited from Chrysler's relationship with parent Daimler-Benz. GM's three entries, too, are better, although we still notice some second-rate materials inside and out. The Cadillac SRX uses a plastic woodgrain interior trim that does little for the marque's attempt to recast itself as Standard of the World. Buick's Rainier is better finished, with the nice combo of fake aluminum and fake woodgrain giving off a richer air than you find in the Cadillac. Panel fit is much improved, as well, but still isn't up to the standards set by such brands as Lexus and VW.
Inside the Envoy XUV, Keebler judges the dash-top plastics cheap, and Stone thinks the leather seats look more like vinyl. This shows how much the bar has been raised since we gave this award to the standard GMC Envoy two years ago.
The benchmark for fit and finish, and interior quality, is the Volkswagen Touareg. It's brimming with some of the finest materials and assembly accuracy you'll find in modern cars and trucks, from the tight hood and front-fender panel gaps to the rich, fully trimmed cargo-compartment carpeting and its polished-chrome cargo hooks. But the VW isn't perfect: Some of the real wood trim on its door panels started to crack by the end of our testing, the result of either the brutally hot weather or off-road chassis stress.
The Pacifica and Durango illustrate how much Chrysler has improved. "Best fit and finish to date for a Chrysler product," Neil Chirico says of the Dodge Durango, adding "same for the Pacifica. The American makes are finally getting close to the Japanese."