The GX's interior looked and felt great with its comfy, heated leather seats and gorgeous wood trim, but it fell short when it came to usable space and practical features.

If you're a smoker, then the GX is your friend with a cigarette lighter and three ashtrays. If, however, neither you nor your children smoke, those ashtrays aren't much help. The ashtray in the front was the only place to set my cell phone, as I usually have a couple of beverages sitting in the cupholders. The center console came with two fold-out cupholders; if they're in use, there's absolutely nowhere to stash anything else. When I picked up my test GX, the wireless headphones were stored in the center console. I think that's the intended storage location, considering the way the headphones fold and fit perfectly into the bin. I found it more helpful to put them in the bins in the rear-passenger doors. That way the kids could reach the headphones by themselves, and I had somewhere to stick that vital pack of baby wipes.

The stereo and rear entertainment systems in the GX felt either dated or thrown in. The audio system had a cassette player. Wow. The optional navigation system had a nice-looking color touch-screen that made managing audio systems and Bluetooth connections easy. There was an AUX port for plugging in MP3 players, but no USB port. The AUX port was at the bottom of the center stack, which meant the cord was exposed. Since there's nowhere to stash your iPod, things got messy between all the cords and chargers. In the rear, there was an available DVD system with wireless headphones, but it didn't seem well-planned. I'm not a big fan of the system because the DVD player is on the ceiling of the backseat area. I didn't feel safe loading a movie while driving, and younger kids can't reach the DVD player to do it themselves.

The GX's third row was another thing that left me scratching my head. Technically there's seating for three people back there, but only three very small people would be comfortable. In fact, I couldn't even tell there was a center seat in the third row because it was so small. There wasn't much legroom because the second row didn't slide forward.

My main complaint about the third row was the way it folds. The seat is split 50/50 and each seat folds to the side instead of down into the floor. It took folding, hooking and strapping each seat to stow the third row; once it's stowed, visibility out the rear side windows is completely zero. I'd have loved to have kept the third row in place, but then there's very little cargo space. I managed to carefully stack a modest grocery run back there, but when I got home and opened the cargo door, the bags toppled out. Not cool.

IT'S THE LITTLE THINGS THAT COUNT

Storage Compartments (Puny, Fair, Ample, Galore): Puny

Cargo/Trunk Space (Puny, Fair, Ample, Galore): Fair