CHOOSING THE BEST

Finding the Best SUV to Buy

Contents
March 2014
Cody Moldenhauer
ENGR !0
"ntroduction
#hile $ost %eo%le o&n a 'ehicle to tra'el around to&n in( )e& o) the$ can tra'el
o))*road and see the $ore rugged areas o) the country+ #hile truc,s ha'e -een around
)or a long ti$e &ith the selling %oint o) -eing a-le to go %laces that other cars cannot(
they o)ten lac, roo$ )or %assengers and get -ad gas $ileage+ .his has caused a need
)or 'ehicles that ha'e roo$( can go o)) the %a'ed road( and can -e dri'en around to&n
&ithout costing too $uch $ore+ "n order to decide &hich 'ehicle is -est in these
attri-utes( " ha'e %ic,ed three di))erent( yet -alanced( SUV/s to analy0e+
.he cars that &ill -e analy0ed include the 2014 Che'rolet .ra'erse( the 2014
GMC 1cadia( and the 2014 2odge 2urango+ .hey &ill -e analy0ed 3-y order o)
i$%ortance4 on ho& %o&er)ul they are( &hich 'ehicle gets the -est gas $ileage( and
&hat ,ind o) &arranty they co$e &ith( and )inally &hich has the lo&est initial %rice+ 1ll o)
the 'ehicles &ill -e -uilt &ith -ase $odels to ensure that they %rice is )air( ho&e'er they
&ill all -e u%graded to 1#2 so that they $eet o))*road re5uire$ents+ .he 'ehicles are
sho&n -elo& )or re)erence+
Figure 1. 2014 GMC Acadia Figure 2. 2014 Dodge
Durango
2
Figure 3. 2014 Chevrolet Traverse

1naly0ing the Choices

2o$inance
.he )irst $ethod " &ill use &ill -e do$inance+ .he test &ill -e conducted -ased on
&hether another 'ehicle do$inates the others in all categories+ 1ll o) the 'ehicles co$e &ith a
si$ilar +!6 V! engine so they are a-out the sa$e %o&er as each other+ 7o&e'er( in gas
$ileage the 2odge 2urango gets slightly $ore $iles %er gallon+ "t gets 28 instead o) the others
&ith 24+ #hen it co$es to &arranty( the GMC 1cadia do$inates the others &ith a 8 year9100000
$ile &arranty )or e'en -asic things+ .he Che'rolet and the 2odge ha'e only a year9!000
$ile &arranty )or -asic %arts( -ut $atch the GMC &ith %o&ertrain+ #hen it co$es to %rice( the
Che'rolet and the 2odge tie at a-out :2(000 &hile the GMC is roughly :8(000+ 2ue to the
%rice -eing higher on the 1cadia it can -e eli$inated )ro$ the do$inance test )or %rice+ 1ll
)actors -eing considered the do$inance analysis does not clearly say &hich car is the -est+ "t
leans to&ards the 2odge 2urango -ecause it &ins one category and ties in another( -ut the test
is so$e&hat inconclusi'e+
Satis)icing
For the test on satis)icing( " $ust deter$ine &hat the $ini$u$ %er)or$ance
re5uire$ents $ust -e )or all o) the categories+ For the &arranty( the car should -e co'ered )or at
least years )or -asic %arts and at least 8 years )or %o&ertrain %arts+ #hen it co$es to gas
$ileage( it should -e a high nu$-er &hile still -eing reasona-le+ 2ue to the )act that " a$
loo,ing )or a 'ehicle that gets $ileage close to that o) a car( " &ill set the $ini$u$ at 28 $iles
%er gallon+ .he nu$-er is reasona-le and still decently high )or a )ull*si0ed SUV+ .he initial %rice
o) the SUV should -e so$e&here -et&een :0(000 and :(000 )or -ase $odels+ Vehicles $ay
-e e;%ensi'e( -ut &ithout o%tions they should not -e that $ore than an entry le'el %ic,u% or a
decent car+ Finally )or %o&er( the 'ehicles should ha'e enough %o&er to $o'e s&i)tly( and -e
a-le to to& s$all loads+ For this reason( " &ill set the $ini$u$ engine to -e a +!6 V!+
For -oth %o&er and &arranty the cars $eet the e;%ectations+ 7o&e'er( the GMC 1cadia
is 'ery e;%ensi'e co$%ared to other SUVs that $eet the sa$e criteria+ #hen it co$es to
$ileage( only the 2odge 2urango $eets the standards that are re5uired( e'en &ith it -eing
%retty lo& co$%ared to cars and e'en co$e truc,s on the road today+ For these reasons( the
2odge 2urango is the car that should -e chosen according to the Satis)icing analy0ation+
6e;icogra%hy
1s listed in the introduction( the attri-utes are ordered -y i$%ortance+ " a$ searching )or
an SUV that $eets %o&er re5uire$ents )irst( then gas $ileage( then &arranty( and )inally %rice+
#ith %o&er -eing the $ost i$%ortant it is sur%rising to see that all o) the 'ehicles tie there+
#hen it co$es to the ne;t $ore i$%ortant attri-ute( gas $ileage( the 2odge 2urango -eats the
other t&o( and there)ore is the o-'ious choice -y the 6e;icogra%hy analy0ation+
4
Nondi$ensional Scaling and Su$$ation
.o scale the data relating to the cars &e &ill deal &ith the -est and &orst outco$es+ .he
-est outco$e that the cars can get )or gas $ileage is 28 $%g( and the &orst a 'ehicle can get
on the high&ay is a-out 20 )or $odern SUVs+ .he -est &arranty that they can get is a 8 year
&arranty( &hile the &orst is no &arranty at all+ For the engine they &ill all recei'e one %oint as it
$eets the %re'ious re5uire$ents( -ut i) it &ent lo&er than a +!6 V!( the 'ehicles &ould recei'e
a 0+ .o $a,e the scale )air )or %rice( the %oint &ill -e calculated using the highest and lo&est
costs+ .he highest cost &ill -e set at :8(000 and the lo&est cost &ill -e set at :0(000+ 1 ta-le
analy0ing the three 'ehicle choices is sho&n -elo&+
Category9Vehicle 2urango 1cadia .ra'erse
Mileage 1 +< +!
#arranty +! 1 +!
=o&er 1 1 1
=rice +! 0 +!
.otal +2 2+< 2+<
Table 1. Nondiensional !caling and !uation o" the !#$s
1ccording to the su$$ation o) the scaling( the 2odge 2urango is the -est choice
-ecause it has the highest score+ "nterestingly( -oth o) the other 'ehicles tied in score( &ith a
score o) 2+<+
1dditi'e #eighting
Si$ilar to the Nondi$ensional Scaling and Su$$ation techni5ue( the 1dditi'e #eighting
techni5ue analy0es the 'ehicles -ased on ho& &ell they %er)or$ in co$%ared to the $a; 'alue+
7o&e'er( it also includes the ran, o) ho& i$%ortant the trait o) the 'ehicle is+ For the $ost
i$%ortant trait the nu$-er &ill -e assigned a $ulti%le o) 4910( the %rocess &ill continue to the
least i$%ortant trait &hich &ill only recei'e a $ulti%le o) 1910+ Sho&n -elo& is a ta-le sho&ing
the 1dditi'e &eighting o) the 'ehicles+
1ttri-ute Relati'e
Ran,
Nor$ali0ed
#eight
2urango 1cadia .ra'erse
=o&er 4 +4 +4 +4 +4
Mileage + + +24 +1<
#arranty 2 +2 +12 +2 +12
=rice 1 +1 +0! 0 +0!
Su$ > 1+00 +<< +<4 +?!
Table 2. Additive %eighting $alues
8
1ccording to the 1dditi'e #eighting analysis( the 2odge 2urango co$es in )irst( the
GMC 1cadia co$es in a close second( and the Che'rolet .ra'erse co$es in third+ .hroughout
all tests this see$s to -e a-out the sa$e+
!
Conclusion
.hroughout all o) the tests( the 2odge 2urango see$s to -e the -est choice+ .he GMC
1cadia co$es in second in al$ost all o) the tests as &ell( and the Che'rolet .ra'erse see$s to
-e the choice to stay a&ay )ro$+ " )eel that the 2odge 2urango is the -est choice -et&een the
three SUVs+ .he 1cadia $ay ha'e a &arranty to -ac, it u%( -ut &ill cost $ore to dri'e due to
&orse gas $ileage and costs $ore to %urchase+ .he Che'rolet .ra'erse is a nice SUV( -ut it is
-eaten -y the other t&o in al$ost e'ery category there is+ .he 2urango also costs roughly the
sa$e %rice as the .ra'erse( so there is no %oint in s%ending the sa$e a$ount o) $oney to get
less &ith the .ra'erse+ @) all the $ethods that " tested( " )elt that the 1dditi'e #eighting $ethod
&as the $ost accurate and easy to understand+ "t accounts )or e'erything and assigns it a 'alue
that is clear to -oth readers and analysts+ 1side )ro$ the analysis that &as conducted it is
i$%ortant to understand that the %rocess o) analysis is also 'ery in)or$ati'e+ "t sho&s the
analyst things that they $ay o'erloo, and %oints out that not all o) the analy0ations are e5ual to
one another+ Going through the %rocess o) 2o$ination $ay lead to eli$inating so$e choices(
-ut also sho&s so$e )la&s such as eli$inating a choice Aust -ecause it is -arely &orse+ 1ll o)
this $ust -e considered &hen analy0ing &hich choice is the -est one to $a,e+
?
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htt%B99&&&+dodge+co$9hostc9-$o9CU2201411#2E6?8192.19su$$ary+do
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