Looking for a small SUV for the wife. What do you guys have?

[panteragstk]

As the title states I'm looking for a new car for the wife. Price range is $35k and under. We have LOTS of choices, but there is so much conflicting info on the web that the decision for a reliable vehicle is a difficult one.

What do you guys think? What have you owned?

[Brent]

Originally Posted by panteragstk

As the title states I'm looking for a new car for the wife. Price range is $35k and under. We have LOTS of choices, but there is so much conflicting info on the web that the decision for a reliable vehicle is a difficult one.

What do you guys think? What have you owned?

I have a 2010 Ford Escape with Sync. So far it's a good, reliable car that handles well when we have inclement weather. NOT for off-road stuff, but good smallish SUV imo.

[Skirge01]

Originally Posted by Brent

I have a 2010 Ford Escape with Sync. So far it's a good, reliable car that handles well when we have inclement weather. NOT for off-road stuff, but good smallish SUV imo.

Couldn't agree more. I had a 2001 Escape which I sold about 3 years ago. I miss it dearly and am actually considering picking up another Escape.

[tmiranda]

I have a Chevy Equinox and love it. Great gas mileage, TONS of legroom in the backseat, smooth ride (much better than the Escape, sorry Brent), and relatively cheap.

[Brent]

Originally Posted by tmiranda

I have a Chevy Equinox and love it. Great gas mileage, TONS of legroom in the backseat, smooth ride (much better than the Escape, sorry Brent), and relatively cheap.

The Equinox is on my radar. haven't actually test driven it, but heard good things. Does it offer anything like Sync?

My next car just might be a Chevy Volt though. I just need to find a loft apartment to buy which I can put in the proper wiring to do so.

[tmiranda]

My Equinox is the original model so I'm not sure about the new electronics. My business partner has the new model so I'll ask her.

Ironically, I'm looking at the Volt for my next car as well. By my estimates I'll almost never need to use the ICE. I'm waiting to see what the new model will offer.

[panteragstk]

I've been looking at the Equinox. Haven't showed it to wifey yet. I've always liked GM vehicles, but their electrical strangeness has always been annoying. I've had too many bad experiences with Ford to ever go back. The Escape was a decent vehicle, but there were certain things I didn't like.

It's all going to come down to the test drive.

Anybody else?

[Rob]

Originally Posted by panteragstk

I've had too many bad experiences with Ford to ever go back.

Me too.

[PiX64]

my wife has a 2011 Acura MDX, which she absolutely loves. she almost got the RDX until i talked her into getting just a little bit bigger of an suv. both vehicles are exceptional.

[tvmaster2]

the one thing that will matter the most: how comfortable are the seats. Nothing like taking a 10 hour drive in a car that gives you Bursitis.
I kid you not - had an Infiniti I30 - great car - as soon as we sold it, all of my hip/back problems went away.

Who knew?

Next - awesome and functional air / sound / nav system...if you can't figure it out, you'll be heading for a guardrail soon. The nav and sound can be aftermarketed - but the controls you use every day can't.

all that being said, I absolutely love my Mazda 3 5-door. If I was looking for a SUV, I'd start with the same company. Most reliable car I've ever owned (damn, now I've gone and jinxed it - where's some wood)

http://www.mazdausa.com/MusaWeb/sem....-be-1057395080

For <$35k - you'll have a huge choice

[bastafidli]

We have Buick Enclave and love it. Buick is coming with smaller version

http://www.buick.com/encore-luxury-crossover-suv.html

[gplasky]

Since the price range is $35K I actually have a Ford Flex. 26 MPG on freeway, lots of room inside and a great ride. It is FWD but they also have AWD if you need it. I got a lease deal on it but pricing is in the $25K area. (Lease deal was $330 a month with $0 down.) ANd yes you could load one up to $45K. So I don't know your criteria for it having to be "small". It seats 7 but it's not a behemoth.

Gerry

Gerryu

[panteragstk]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

For <$35k - you'll have a huge choice

That's the problem. Soooo many to choose from. I had forgotten about Acura. I'll take a look.

Honda gets great reviews for reliability, but the cr-v isn't a very attractive vehicle. My mom has a pilot, and it's just ugly.

[panteragstk]

Originally Posted by gplasky

Since the price range is $35K I actually have a Ford Flex. 26 MPG on freeway, lots of room inside and a great ride. It is FWD but they also have AWD if you need it. I got a lease deal on it but pricing is in the $25K area. (Lease deal was $330 a month with $0 down.) ANd yes you could load one up to $45K. So I don't know your criteria for it having to be "small". It seats 7 but it's not a behemoth.

Gerry

Gerryu

Small would be the escape size.

[pjpjpjpj]

We've been looking at cars lately and I have a few thoughts related to the above:

-Ford seems to do okay (reliability-wise) with trucks and SUVs, and those are the only Fords I'd ever consider. Like many, I had bad experiences and swore them off. That said, my wife loves boxy vehicles and is craving a Flex. I'm VERY tall and we went and sat in them, and I fit with tons of room. But upon further thought, I think she's sucking it up and realizing she's doomed to a minivan.

-I see a lot of Chevys (specifically Equinox) on the road, but I feel like I read somewhere that the reliability was average. They seem nice, though.

-I think Pix64 missed the "$35K" thing when he mentioned the Acura MDX. Great vehicle, but you're not getting that price unless it's quite used....

-Several friends have the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CRV. Those are "gimmes" for reliability. Too small for me, so I never looked at them.

-Toyota Highlander is always top-rated and one of the few SUVs that comes in a hybrid model. It's basically a Camry with an SUV body slapped over it.

-Newer cars seem to be following this stupid fashion trend of high "shoulders", a trend that seemed to start with the redone Dodge Charger and Chevy Camaro. While I'm sure it's great for safety (everything but your head is behind a steel door, with minimized window height), I HATE the feeling. It's like you're driving in a tank with a little slit window. I feel like I can't see enough around me to even be safe. This even affects massive, supposedly-roomy cars; friends have an Infiniti QX4 (the BIG SUV) and, while I fit in the seat well, I hate the lack of visibility. The doors and hood are so high that I feel like I can't see anything around me, even though I'm extremely tall. A friend in the car biz confirmed this - the tall body lines ("high shoulders") that so many new cars are showing are purely a fashion trend and not being driven by anything else but... even at the sake of losing some visibility.

Just some thoughts....

[dgeezer]

My wife drives a Toyota Highlander and she likes it pretty well. It's by far the largest vehicle she has ever owned. The ride and comfort is good, however, she used to have a toyota avalon which was incredibly comfortable, fun to drive and got 30 to 33 mpg highway and 25 to 26 around town. The highlander can squeeze out 24 to 25 mpg highway and normally averages about 20 to 21 around town. Both vehicles had the trip computer readout so you are constatntly reminded of the fuel mileage.

The Highlander has been very reliable, we've had it for a couple years now with no problems, knock on wood. Actually, I am probably safe from bad karma since my F150 with only 195,000 miles blew it's engine last Friday.

[Skirge01]

People are knocking entire brands because of a bad experience or two and everyone needs to remember that things change from year to year and model to model. Just because my dad's 197x Ford Falcon ran to over 250k miles, rust and all, doesn't mean I can expect a 2012 Ford Mustang to do the same. The opposite is also true. My 2001 Escape was the first year that vehicle was out and my purchase was a roll of the dice, given there was no reliability data available. But, I only had normal wear and tear issues with it for the entire time I owned it. I think there were 2 minor recalls, which I got fixed, but never saw the issues they supposedly could have caused. That truck was extremely reliable. It was also GREAT on long trips, especially in the comfort department. The handling was also fantastic, particularly if you know how to drive. I can recall a couple of close calls, both in extreme weather (rain and snow), where the truck's handling certainly played a role in our avoiding a major accident.

Getting back to what I originally said, clearly, the later models may have changed enough to cause my experience to be different if I were to own a later model now, but I would definitely be willing to research it.

[PiX64]

yeah i missed the 35k req. sorry about that.

The Wife has also had in the past

Ford Escape
Toyota Rav4

and she absolutely loved both of them. The Rav4 more than the ford actually.

[cncb]

We recently got a 2012 Kia Sorento after having a small Volvo wagon for 11 years. We really like it. Push button start, 3rd row seats, navigation system, and 32 MPG highway.

[crusing]

My Dad loves his Ford Escape and he drives it constantly. My wife is driving a 2004 Highlander that we bought new. We have changed the oil and the battery just recently and we are on our third set of tires, and that is it for maintenance or repairs. Can't beat that.