Small/Mid-Sized SUV's (1 Viewer)

[RUSF18]

In this market now. Looking for low $20K. Seems to me that the Honda CRV is really the top choice. Lowest TCO, good safety, most room.

Nissan Rogue is close.

I've been a Hyundai/Kia person for many years because I like the warranty, but considering the above factors, they don't really compete.

Other options?

We picked up our CRV EX on New Years Day. Really liking it so far. My wife was driving it a bunch during all these annoying 2-4 inch type snows we've had and she felt very comfortable the whole time. Have a buddy with the 2014 model and the acceleration is greatly improved.

We have a 2013 CRV EX. Couldn't agree more with everything said above. Great vehicle. Comfortable, reliable, handles well in the snow, and has lots of room.

Do not get the CRV love at all. My wife's Accord was in the shop for a week and they gave her a 2013 CRV and we both hated it. Not one thing about it left us thinking, "Hmm, this isn't a bad little car". Felt cheap, drove stiff, severely lacked power.

To each their own I guess?

Have a friend that drives a 2012 Edge that I've been able to drive and if you can get past the fact they are all over the place, I would highly recommend. Quiet, smooth ride and reliable.

As I wrote earlier, significantly improved torque and acceleration from 14 to 15.

 

[igbomb]

Thanks. Edge looks like it has much worse gas mileage than CRV still (looks like all are V6) and actually has less total cargo space than the CRV. And about 4-5K more.

Total Cost of ownership is 30% more than than the CRV.

Edge and CRV are not really comparators. The CRV competes with the Escape and are both C-sized vehicles. The Edge is a CD-sized vehicle. Bigger footprint, bigger engines, more expensive.

You won't beat the fuel of the CRV in that segment. Especially the new CRV with the CVT transmission. But the CRV drives pretty poorly. It's calibrated to get as much fuel economy as possible, with a bunch of tradeoffs in performance.

 

[IgglesFan]

The auto industry has done perhaps the PR job of the century convincing consumers that an SUV is trendy, when its nothing more than a station wagon for the 2010+ crowd.

Get a Yukon/Escalade/Suburban, or don't. All these crossover vehicles look absolutely ridiculous.

 

[Long Ball Larry]

Thanks. Edge looks like it has much worse gas mileage than CRV still (looks like all are V6) and actually has less total cargo space than the CRV. And about 4-5K more.

Total Cost of ownership is 30% more than than the CRV.

Edge and CRV are not really comparators. The CRV competes with the Escape and are both C-sized vehicles. The Edge is a CD-sized vehicle. Bigger footprint, bigger engines, more expensive.

You won't beat the fuel of the CRV in that segment. Especially the new CRV with the CVT transmission. But the CRV drives pretty poorly. It's calibrated to get as much fuel economy as possible, with a bunch of tradeoffs in performance.

That makes sense.

Stupid question probably, but when using the term "performance", what does this mean in a practical sense? My primary interest is in functionality and value, not necessarily acceleration, power or fun.

 

[igbomb]

Thanks. Edge looks like it has much worse gas mileage than CRV still (looks like all are V6) and actually has less total cargo space than the CRV. And about 4-5K more.

Total Cost of ownership is 30% more than than the CRV.

Edge and CRV are not really comparators. The CRV competes with the Escape and are both C-sized vehicles. The Edge is a CD-sized vehicle. Bigger footprint, bigger engines, more expensive.

You won't beat the fuel of the CRV in that segment. Especially the new CRV with the CVT transmission. But the CRV drives pretty poorly. It's calibrated to get as much fuel economy as possible, with a bunch of tradeoffs in performance.

That makes sense.

Stupid question probably, but when using the term "performance", what does this mean in a practical sense? My primary interest is in functionality and value, not necessarily acceleration, power or fun.

Performance in the context that I mention is around those latter attributes. Accel, tip-in response, power, NVH.

CRV sells like crazy for those exact reasons you mention, functionality and value. They offer the slimmest PT lineup in the industry, with a focus on fuel above all else. And it works for them.

 

[beavers]

 

[Chadstroma]

We have had out GMC Acadia for about 5 months now. I really love it.

Honestly, there was only one thing so far that I really don't like and that is that they have the hooks you use to hang your dry cleaning back on the third row and none on the second. ??? I still can not figure out why they would do this. It makes picking up dry cleaning in the Acadia a pain in the rear. Other than that minor gripe, I can not think of any other negative.

 

[AcerFC]

We have had out GMC Acadia for about 5 months now. I really love it.

Honestly, there was only one thing so far that I really don't like and that is that they have the hooks you use to hang your dry cleaning back on the third row and none on the second. ??? I still can not figure out why they would do this. It makes picking up dry cleaning in the Acadia a pain in the rear. Other than that minor gripe, I can not think of any other negative.

Thanks. we have been looking at that. Nice to see a good review. Other options are the Traverse and Highlander.

 

[Chadstroma]

We have had out GMC Acadia for about 5 months now. I really love it.

Honestly, there was only one thing so far that I really don't like and that is that they have the hooks you use to hang your dry cleaning back on the third row and none on the second. ??? I still can not figure out why they would do this. It makes picking up dry cleaning in the Acadia a pain in the rear. Other than that minor gripe, I can not think of any other negative.

Thanks. we have been looking at that. Nice to see a good review. Other options are the Traverse and Highlander.

Traverse is really the same thing without some of the little extra stuff GMC puts on. We almost bought a Traverse. Ended up with the GMC because they were offering a bigger incentive package.

The first thing that drew me to the Enclave/Acadia/Traverse was the safety. I dove into research quite a bit and they had some of the lowest death rates out of all vehicles let alone SUV.

If it comes down to Acadia/Traverse, I would just go with whichever one you can get more bang on your buck for.

 

[AcerFC]

We have had out GMC Acadia for about 5 months now. I really love it.

Honestly, there was only one thing so far that I really don't like and that is that they have the hooks you use to hang your dry cleaning back on the third row and none on the second. ??? I still can not figure out why they would do this. It makes picking up dry cleaning in the Acadia a pain in the rear. Other than that minor gripe, I can not think of any other negative.

Thanks. we have been looking at that. Nice to see a good review. Other options are the Traverse and Highlander.

Traverse is really the same thing without some of the little extra stuff GMC puts on. We almost bought a Traverse. Ended up with the GMC because they were offering a bigger incentive package.

The first thing that drew me to the Enclave/Acadia/Traverse was the safety. I dove into research quite a bit and they had some of the lowest death rates out of all vehicles let alone SUV.

If it comes down to Acadia/Traverse, I would just go with whichever one you can get more bang on your buck for.

Exactly. Not sure if we will finance or not, so whichever one offers better might get a leg up if we go that route.

 

[17seconds]

Anybody got a recommendation on a used SUV for around $9,000? Something to use only for carting the kids around and having the ability to load up stuff that doesn't fit in a compact car.

Don't care much about mileage. My other car is a diesel Jetta that gets 45mpg. I imagine I'd be putting less than 8,000 miles a year on the SUV.

Seems like a Jeep Grand Cherokee or Hyundai Santa Fe with about 90K-100K miles are the best options? not sure though

Maybe a crew cab pickup?

 

[Long Ball Larry]

NIssan Rogue is really nice. About same price as CRV with same interior space and really drives so much more nicely. CRV has a much more truck-y feel while driving.

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

Thanks. Edge looks like it has much worse gas mileage than CRV still (looks like all are V6) and actually has less total cargo space than the CRV. And about 4-5K more.

Total Cost of ownership is 30% more than than the CRV.

Edge and CRV are not really comparators. The CRV competes with the Escape and are both C-sized vehicles. The Edge is a CD-sized vehicle. Bigger footprint, bigger engines, more expensive.

You won't beat the fuel of the CRV in that segment. Especially the new CRV with the CVT transmission. But the CRV drives pretty poorly. It's calibrated to get as much fuel economy as possible, with a bunch of tradeoffs in performance.

What he said. Go drive all of em and then drive an Edge. All the others feel like a raised up Civic.

If gas is the deal breaker I'd recommend a Ford Fusion or any car over every single SUV.

 

[Long Ball Larry]

Anybody got a recommendation on a used SUV for around $9,000? Something to use only for carting the kids around and having the ability to load up stuff that doesn't fit in a compact car.

Don't care much about mileage. My other car is a diesel Jetta that gets 45mpg. I imagine I'd be putting less than 8,000 miles a year on the SUV.

Seems like a Jeep Grand Cherokee or Hyundai Santa Fe with about 90K-100K miles are the best options? not sure though

Maybe a crew cab pickup?

Here's a thread on used SUVs, FYI.

https://forums.footballguys.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=714530

Actually a lot of SUV threads, now that search actually works.

 

[RUSF18]

Thanks. Edge looks like it has much worse gas mileage than CRV still (looks like all are V6) and actually has less total cargo space than the CRV. And about 4-5K more.

Total Cost of ownership is 30% more than than the CRV.

Edge and CRV are not really comparators. The CRV competes with the Escape and are both C-sized vehicles. The Edge is a CD-sized vehicle. Bigger footprint, bigger engines, more expensive.

You won't beat the fuel of the CRV in that segment. Especially the new CRV with the CVT transmission. But the CRV drives pretty poorly. It's calibrated to get as much fuel economy as possible, with a bunch of tradeoffs in performance.

What he said. Go drive all of em and then drive an Edge. All the others feel like a raised up Civic.

If gas is the deal breaker I'd recommend a Ford Fusion or any car over every single SUV.

'Murica, right?!

 

[JaxBill]

Thanks. Edge looks like it has much worse gas mileage than CRV still (looks like all are V6) and actually has less total cargo space than the CRV. And about 4-5K more.

Total Cost of ownership is 30% more than than the CRV.

Edge and CRV are not really comparators. The CRV competes with the Escape and are both C-sized vehicles. The Edge is a CD-sized vehicle. Bigger footprint, bigger engines, more expensive.

You won't beat the fuel of the CRV in that segment. Especially the new CRV with the CVT transmission. But the CRV drives pretty poorly. It's calibrated to get as much fuel economy as possible, with a bunch of tradeoffs in performance.

What he said. Go drive all of em and then drive an Edge. All the others feel like a raised up Civic.

If gas is the deal breaker I'd recommend a Ford Fusion or any car over every single SUV.

Really like my 2014 CRV. And it's hard to beat the way it holds its value.

I ended up buying a new one last year because used ones are only discounted a couple grand.

 

[Hov34]

Ok, time to bump this thread (maybe).

We have had the purchase of a mid sized SUV or crossover on our minds since the birth of our daughter. In general, we were thinking maybe a year or two down the road. However, my wifes Pontiac Grand Prix may need some major work on it and instead of throwing money into that crap car that I hate... we will buy the SUV.

So, looking for feedback and thoughts.

Her criteria is that it must be big enough in the back to fit a stroller and an 85 pound Goldendoodle. It has to be rated high for safety. It can not be too big of a SUV as she does not like driving my F-150 because it is 'too big'.

I would like to get more MPG out of it but that is secondary. Other than that, bang for the buck, reliability and something we would like for a good 5-8 years.

The Explorer is high on our 'pre' list (basically just ones we have noticed one way or the other like seeing on the road or a friend has it) as is the Honda Pilot, Ford Edge, Mazda CX-9, and Nissan Armada. I want to take a look at the Hyundai Veracruz but really have not seen them on the road or know of anyone but I have been very high on Hyundai in general recently.

We've had a Veracruz since 2009 and love it. Wife drives it and 39,000 miles w/ no problems. We have the limited with DVD in the back and it is great for trips with the kids. I drove an Acura MDX for 6 years and it was almost as nice as that for about 15k less.

Thanks for the info.

Update on the Veracruz: We still have it and have passed it down to daughter. 102,000 miles on it and no major problems except the A/C is going out. And we did put new brakes on it at 80K. Going to have to decide soon whether we keep it and get the A/C fixed (about 2 grand) or get rid of it. It was the go to travel car for us and we will miss have a SUV.

 

[flapgreen]

Anybody got a recommendation on a used SUV for around $9,000? Something to use only for carting the kids around and having the ability to load up stuff that doesn't fit in a compact car.

Don't care much about mileage. My other car is a diesel Jetta that gets 45mpg. I imagine I'd be putting less than 8,000 miles a year on the SUV.

Seems like a Jeep Grand Cherokee or Hyundai Santa Fe with about 90K-100K miles are the best options? not sure though

Maybe a crew cab pickup?

We have a Hyundai veracruz and love it.

 

[Otis]

The auto industry has done perhaps the PR job of the century convincing consumers that an SUV is trendy, when its nothing more than a station wagon for the 2010+ crowd.

Get a Yukon/Escalade/Suburban, or don't. All these crossover vehicles look absolutely ridiculous.

Love my Yukon.