SUV recomendations

Wild and Free

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Wife has a 2014 VW TDI diesel jetta that is getting bought back by VW at a premium price so the wife wants an SUV. Looking for recommendations as we have never owned one.

She has a few things she would like.

1 - AWD
2 - heated leather
3 - moon roof or sun roof.
4 - she wants it to have a bit of pep to it yet get 25+ mpg I just lol at that one.
5 - 30k max price.

Other than drive by on the lots we eliminated the VW Tiguan as the best milage is 23 on the spec sheets and is also the smallest and quite ugly.
We both like the looks and mileage of the Nissan Rogue, the reviews are pretty good but they all say it is about the lowest on power.
Honda CRV keeps coming up with the highest overall ratings but have not looked at one yet but many I have talked to around here that have own one say the hondas are really light and cheap and tinny feeling.
Mazda cx 5 is another high ranking but no local dealers for them here so that is an automatic disqual.
Toyota Rav 4 ?
Jeep,Chrysler, Dodge, Kia, Hyundai, ford any GM products we have dealerships for locally.

We keep coming back to the Nissan Rogue for some dumb reason having not even looked at many others or even driven anything yet.

Advice from all welcome

GO!!!!!!
 


all4eyes

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Wife has the Toyota highlander and loves it. Keeps telling me the color of her next one. Mileage of mid to upper 20s on Highway and low 20s in town. Ran a Mazda 6 before the highlander and no complaints there either. Rav 4 is nice but to small for a family of 5.
 

Norske

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Test drive everything you can. Pick a standard route that includes city traffic, entrance/exit onto I-94 in traffic, sweeping and tight curves, acceleration (I-94 entrance), braking, feeling of security while cornering, look at cargo room, etc. Be sure to read (study?) test reports from Car and Driver and even Edmunds.com. Seat comfort is a big deal. Pay attention to lumbar support.
Testing is fun, paying not so much.
We went through the same shopping situation last March. We found the Toyotas, many Jeeps and the GMs accelerated slowly and were very mushy while cornering (the comfy Buick would have been the choice for cross-country trips, though). The big Dodge Durango SUV handled very well and acceleration was exceptional. But the dealership thought a 2-year-old demo was still worth new price. The Ford Flex needed a turbo V6, but that cracker box cargo area looked most useful. We decided on a Honda Pilot because of its firm ride, decent handling fro a tall vehicle, and a 0-60 acceleration of around 6 seconds. Getting unto I-94 in Fargo/Moorhead requires acceleration. Last August a college friend and I filled it with food chests and fishing tackle for a trip into Ontario. The camp where we stayed was on a gravel logging road, the trails to the lakes were 2-tracks, often water or mud filled. The Pilot took it all in stride. the intelligent AWD works. Later my wife dove from Moorhead to Duluth and got 33 mpg on the 55 mph highways with a light load anda tank of non-ethanol premium gas.
If you need the SUV for towing a trailer, look for one with a real frame instead of a unibody. Suburban, Tahoe, Expedition, Sequoia, and the much smaller 4Runner are some of the truck based SUVs.
Have fun test driving, studying, and shopping.
 

guywhofishes

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Highlander is best riding and best interior layout. drove em ALL when wife looked. She got a used Lexus. I still wish she'd got the Highlander.
 

DirtyMike

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I drove a 2016 murano why my pickup was at the body shop. Besides it becoming a big car now, I really liked the vehicle. My parents left their Lincoln MK(z or x?) SUV at my place while they were in Florida the last couple weeks. I had to test drive it a few mornings to work. That thing is awesome but you will not get 20 mpg. I do know my neighbor really likes her Kia Sorento. For what it's worth, when we were looking for a replacement for my wife's car, I kept coming back to the Honda Pilot.
 


5575

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We wanted about the same things and price as you.
Ended up getting a Hyundai Tucson with the 1.6 turbo sport.
Really like it so far. You should at least take a test drive in one. We drove most of them in that price range and the quiet ride is what we really liked about the Tucson. It gets between 26-32 mpg depending on speed/wind and type of fuel. Its pretty fun to drive in sport mode around town and its gets good mpg in eco mode out on the highways.
The 100k warranty is nice as well.

Good luck
tucson.jpg
 

Zogman

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Wife has a 2011 4-Runner. It is/has been a great vehicle so far. Don't waste money on the sun/moon roof. She has one and never, I repeat NEVER been used in 5 years. Get about 21mpg at highway speeds without wind of course.
 

Walleye202

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I just picked up a Honda CRV for the wife. Only have about 3000 miles on it so far, it is AWD, Gets 24-27 so far on highway trips. Nice smaller SUV to drive. They seem to hold their value like crazy when looking at ones 3-5 years old.
 

REY_off

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Last time I checked, Mazda was owned by ford and Bill barth used to have Mazda 6s on their lot. Havent paid attention in the last few years, so maybe something changed.

We have a 13 Ford Edge. Love the vehicle, especially the interior and handling. Plenty of power. Not gonna get 25 consistently in town with it, but I don't think 25 is realistic if you want a mid sized SUV with AWD and some power.

My Parents have a 14 Kia Sorento. Pretty dang nice vehicle also.
 

martinslanding

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Just went through this as well and wife picked out a Highlander found a nice 2015 XLE with 8k miles.
However one thing I found looking at all brands and options is your Ford and GM tend to have more features and options than your Toyota, Honda and Nissan in the lower models…seems like you have to get the high end packages in your foreign brands to get all the stuff. I really pushed for a Ford Edge titanium with the eco boost ….but the Highlander was a great deal and lowest miles the 3.5 liter V6 is all the power you need and the ride was very very good….we’ve had it for a few months now and she loves it.
 


guywhofishes

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yeah - the ride of the Highlander really is "luxury" class - some of the other SUVs (even "premium SUVs) literally rode like gocarts - I couldn't believe the crappy ride on some expensive models

- - - Updated - - -

there were two SUVs where we did a u-turn right after leaving the lot - the ride was that crappy compared to others - Ha ha ha

no way we would ever be happy in them after testing a better riding SUV - the Lexus is a good solid ride of course - but not as good as the Highlander
 

sierra1995

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I'm not a huge fan of the cross over SUV classes.. but i've had a couple rentals i didn't mind. My favorite was the Nissan Murano. the 3.5L engine has a ton of power, and gets low 20's for fuel mileage. Nissans been making that engine forever. The other one i likes was the Toyota highlander. I felt like i was in a tahoe when i was driving it, not a crossover. Those would be my recommendations based o rentals I've had. I personally would never own one.
 

Norske

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I'll agree with the above comment about sunroofs. We had one in the car we traded for our Pilot. We only used it to keep the car ventilated when it was in a parking lot. Remember that sunroof and mechanism weighs at least 100#, and the extra weight is far above the road. It negatively affects handling a lot.
 

Wild and Free

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Thanks guys I forgot to add length of warranty coverage as my contribution to the list and I had forgotten about the 100k warranty of the hyundai. This is very important because my wife puts about 30k miles a year on her vehicle and we tend to keep them for near 300k miles if they are worthy.

Another note is they need to be able to hold up to rough gravel roads over the long haul as well she makes several trips a week to her moms farm so it would see approx a couple hundred gravel miles a month as well.
This is were the VW shined they are built as solid as a tank, last jetta an 03 we sold @ 290K and it saw tons and tons of country roads and was as solid the day we sold it as the day it was new.

We had a Kia optima as a rental car for over a week in november and neither of us was impressed with it but the power and mileage ddn't seem too bad but ride and the road noise inside was completely horrible, i am half deaf and it was really loud for even me. So if this quality is equal in the SUV it wouldn't fly. We were in Florida and it was only 80 ish and the ac didn't work very well either.

- - - Updated - - -

I'll agree with the above comment about sunroofs. We had one in the car we traded for our Pilot. We only used it to keep the car ventilated when it was in a parking lot. Remember that sunroof and mechanism weighs at least 100#, and the extra weight is far above the road. It negatively affects handling a lot.

Wife absolutely loves her moon roofs, I added a sun roof to one car many years ago, her last 03 Jetta had a factory moon roof and it got used every day. The current 14 jetta doesn't have one and she whines about it every day especially since it is a black car lol.

We have a 2011 Nissan Murano cross cabriolet convertible and absolutely love it but she doesn't need an suv that big or powerful and wants better mileage for her 75-100+- miles a day she puts on 6 days a week.

We do not have any kids but she hauls tons of cargo around all the time as well and farm critters like calves sheep goats lol. The guys at Kist livestock get a chuckle when she pulls up to load calves in the trunk of her car.;:;rofl
 
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5575

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I was thinking you were looking in the new vehicle market. Highlanders, pilots and explorers are all really nice. But if you want a loaded up leathered out one they were all in the 40k +. But now I see you want 300k and lots of gravel. That's a tough one. Probably something high end and used I suppose. Those highlanders are nice for sure.
 


Wild and Free

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Yes we are looking at brand new. Looking at the Honda CRV and Nissan Rogue leather and moon roofs can be had in the 28-32K range for the 17 year from the drive by searching looking at the spec and price sheets in the windows.
She doesn't want / need a high end one but just the heated leather she could do without a moon roof if it comes down to a final deal.

She saw a new 2016 Cherokee that she liked, has no moon roof and heated leather trimmed cloth seats in her price range last night I was surprised when she said it showed high 20's for road mileage on the jeep.
 
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JayKay

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We drive older vehicles, but like them both. 2004 4Runner for my wife. It's very capable, gets about 19 mpg, and has a decent ride. I thought it was the best thing we'd ever had, until I bought a '08 Pathfinder (Nissan). It gets about 17 mpg, and is trimmed higher (heated leather, sunroof, backup camera. They both have V8's. The Nissan has a 5.7, 300 some HP. Very quick off the line. Bark all four wheels in the summer, if you're trying. Pulls my pal's 1880 Ranger with a 150 just fine.
 

BrokenBackJack

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We have a 15 Honda CRV AWD with about 15,000 miles on it. Get 22-28 in town and 28 - 35 on the highway. We take off slow and we also don't drive 75-80 mph either. Have it set on ECO mode all the time. Like the car and you can fold the back seats down too. I had them install the back-up sensors in the bumper even though it has the back-up camera. I can't turn my head to look so had them put the sensors in the bumper like our pickups have.
 

Wild and Free

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We have a 15 Honda CRV AWD with about 15,000 miles on it. Get 22-28 in town and 28 - 35 on the highway. We take off slow and we also don't drive 75-80 mph either. Have it set on ECO mode all the time. Like the car and you can fold the back seats down too. I had them install the back-up sensors in the bumper even though it has the back-up camera. I can't turn my head to look so had them put the sensors in the bumper like our pickups have.

Thanks Jack this is the info we are looking for. All the ratings we read always put the CRV as #1 or #2 consistently overall and mileage sounds good too.
 

RustyTackleBox

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my wife just got the mama bus, lincoln navigator (not in your price range) but it holds the whole baseball team and has lots of pep mpg is 14.5 and all the other amenities you asked for
 


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