The stereo and climate controls use large, friendly buttons. The stereo and navigation system operate on separate power supplies, so you can have a map displayed without having the stereo on. That's not true of all navigation systems, including those from Mercedes-Benz. But the radio tuning function is buried beneath a sequential rocker switch, forcing you to wait while it scrolls up or down through the frequency band to find any station that hasn't already been pre-set. The navigation system screen could be larger, but the information it provides is adequate, and accuracy is above average.
We like the look of some of the light-colored interiors, though we're concerned they'll get dirty. The light-colored, suede-like inserts attract dirt like a magnet and, once dirtied, are a hassle to spruce up. The 2007 model we tested had a light interior and the almost-white fabric trim was looking dingy with just 7,500 hard miles on the clock.
The front seats are comfortable, with adequate thigh support and bolsters. Overall, passenger roominess is competitive for the class. The Mountaineer offers comparable headroom in the front seats to the 2007 GMC Envoy and Nissan Pathfinder, trailing them by less than an inch; front-seat legroom betters the Envoy by an inch and equals the Pathfinder; front-seat hiproom is almost identical.
Second-row headroom and legroom is comparable to Envoy, but the Mountaineer offers a significant 2.5 inches more legroom than Pathfinder. That's a noticeable difference. However, Mountaineer doesn't have nearly as much second-row hiproom as the Envoy and Pathfinder do. The middle-row bench seat has full seatbelts for three but head restraints for only the outboard passengers.
The third-row seats in the Mountaineer are significantly roomier than those in the competition, beating Pathfinder for legroom by nearly seven inches. Envoy no longer offers seven-passenger seating for 2007, but beats the big GMC Acadia car-based crossover for third-row legroom by nearly two inches. For third-row headroom and hiproom, Mountaineer fits between Acadia and Pathfinder. Mountaineer's manual folding third row is a bench with minimal padding and fixed-height head restraints, which loom large in the back window; they do collapse, but only by tugging a loop hanging out the backside. Much better are the optional third-row seats that can be power-folded via two rocker buttons in the left rear quarter panel, directly below a thoughtfully provided button for the power central locking. The third row folds perfectly flat for a nice, even cargo floor.
Accessing the third row is a three-step process that doesn't strike us as all that secure. First, you pull a strap that releases the second-row head restraints so they fold forward. Then you pull up on a stiff lever to fold the seatback down on the seat bottom. And then you lift the heavy seat assembly, rocking it forward toward the front seats, where it parks, unrestrained, while people crawl into and out of the third row seats. When I leaned on it while climbing out, it rocked back, almost dropping into place, which would have put it smack on top of my foot.
Cargo space: The Mountaineer offers only 13.6 cubic feet of cargo space behind the third-row seats. Fold down the third row and Mountaineer trails Pathfinder and Acadia. With both back rows of seats folded, the Mountaineer prevails over Pathfinder by about 4.5 cubic feet. The big Acadia dominates the class, with nearly 120 cubic feet in total cargo mode, but Mountaineer edges out the GMC Envoy, 83.7 cubic feet to 80.1. We'd like to have some hooks on which to hang grocery bags like those found on the Chrysler Town & Country and other vehicles.
The DVD entertainment system, which we criticized last year for having a screen that seemed too small when we were watching it and too large when we were trying to see around it, has been redesigned for 2007. The new screen is larger, at eight inches.
