<p>I love my BMW X-3 2004 with manual transmission. 165,000 miles and no problems whatsoever. I am VERY tempted by the new redesigned X-3, but will wait till there are some used cars on the market.</p>
<p>Obviously, depends on your budget, but I love my Nissan Xterra I bought last summer, With so many SUVs looking alike these days, the Xterra stood out for me.</p>
<p>Our first SUV was the Explorer, we liked it (it was over 15 years ago, I heard a lot has changed).
I then got a BMW X5. I loved it. I liked the pick up, power, and all the perks (heated wheels). Can I say it again - I LOVED it.
Then Volvo SUV - Can I say it, I really didn’t like it, not after the X5. It felt sluggish.
We now have a Pilot. It is provided by my company with driver, so I don’t get to drive it much. We picked it because it is the biggest SUV we could get. There is not much of pick up.
I recently rented a Cherokee, and I liked how it handled. I thought it was very nice. I would get it before a Volvo.</p>
<p>I have driven a Volvo XC90 for 6 years and love it. However my friend had terrible luck with hers and ended up getting rid of it after the transmission went out twice in 5 years.</p>
<p>I love, love, love my BMW X-3, with manual transmission. We did the European delivery option, picking it up in Munich which is the most fun way in the world to buy a car (and it’s cheaper, too)</p>
<p>I am with anothercrazymom
We have a 2002 Landcruiser with 165,000 miles on it, and it by far the best vehicle we have ever owned. The only repairs done have been maintenance , brakes, timing belt, oil changes, tires…literally. The thing rides as good as the first day !
It is my vehicle , and when we take trips, always the one we take.
I would love to have another , but the truth is, we have never seen one in stock at our dealer and frankly no dealers in our area, including neighboring states have them. No one seems to stock them…oh well, we aren’t planning on replacing it anytime soon , but when we do , husband insists on keeping it for himself !
I like the Highlanders and Lexus SUVs too …and would consider getting a lease return when the time comes</p>
<p>I currently have a 2007 Hyundai Vera Cruz with 55000 miles. It has a comfortable 3rd row seat and roomy cargo with seats down. It rides very smooth and car like not trucky. I have had no problems with it. Check it out it’s a sleeper.</p>
<p>We have a Cadillac srx crossover. Love it but not a true Suv. We decided we couldn’t afford the cayenne DH really wanted, bought a one year old lease trade in. No car payments is our mantra. Why pay interest on something that depreciates?</p>
<p>I have an Acura MDX and H has a Honda CRV. We got the MDX as kids were heading off to college as we needed the space to haul stuff back and forth in. Now that D2 is a senior, and hauling stuff will not be an issue (except for moving her back home permanently this summer), when I look at new cars (probably not for another few years yet) I will probably go with the RDX. Mine is six years old with 91,000 miles on it, so I expect it to last a while longer. Agree with the poster above who spoke about how well it handles in snow. I just feel incredibly safe in my car, and I drive a lot for work. My other pet peeve with cars are blind spots, and I feel the MDX is as close to perfect as it can get in regards to not having blind spots. I have gotten SUV rentals when traveling, and every one I’ve gotten has had issues with blind spots (I believe they were all American-designed SUVs).</p>
<p>We love our Toyota Highlander. Can drive for hours comfortably. My sister and I did the drive from VA to MI one day after she had hurt her back. She did not believe how good she felt when the trip was over. Like being in a really nice chair. . It is not too large but large enough to haul what we need.</p>
<p>I like my BMW X3 a lot. I don’t need a huge amount of haul room – it is adequate in that department. Mine is a 2006 with nearly 70K on it. I really like the way it handles. </p>
<p>We also own, at the moment, two (count them TWO) Jeep Grand Cherokees. I believe the old one (1999) is a Limited, and the other (2006) is a Laredo, but an upgraded Laredo that seems like a Limited. Much plusher interiors than my beemer … and lots of cargo room, very comfortable. Good in the snow – rather important at the moment, although the beemer is no slouch – but overall the BMW is more fun to drive and sticks to the road better.</p>
<p>If the BMW was to get crunched tomorrow, I’d drive the 2006, happily, for a few years. The 1999 is for sale, and we are keeping the 2006 as our 3rd car for kid vacation and hauling detail. (H’s Infiniti is not an SUV … but that’s the other car in the driveway.)</p>
<p>Get yourself a blizzard pearl color Toyota 4runner.</p>
<p>Toyota is reliable and will go great in the snow, and will probably have enough room in the back for your dog.</p>
<p>I’ve had three land cruisers, and an FJ cruiser, and currently have a Lexus SUV. I do covet the 4runner, though. I"ve never had anything go “wrong” with any of my toyotas. I cannot say the the same thing for my nissans, mercedes, chevys, pontiacs, buicks, saabs, or subarus. I do like the Honda Pilot from a looks and size standpoint. </p>
<p>The new explorer has good looks but when I’ve driven the older ones they never felt as good as my toyotas. Same for GM versions. Also, on the off road message boards, with regard to mainenance and repair costs, the joke is that JEEP stands for “just empty every pocket”.</p>
<p>JEEP stands for “just empty every pocket”. </p>
<p>:D …unfortunately , my sister is learning this the hard way. She bought one for her daughter to take to school in upstate NY…costing a heap of money they don’t have in repairs…and they have only owned it for a little over 2 months</p>
<p>We’ve had a Buick Enclave for 3 years (the Buick version of the GMC Acadia, but with 1 year longer warranty). It has held up well for us and is very comfortable. It replaced a Volvo XC90 which had numerous problems especially with the transmission. I don’t like driving SUVs because of the visibility issues, I am a Subaru lover, so my husband drives the Buick more. It has plenty of space to take all D’s stuff to college.</p>
<p>What about a Subaru–you’re in snow country. My husband thinks they’re great for driving in the midwest.
That said, I absolutely loved the Grand Cherokee when we had it. It did have problems after about 7 or 8 years.</p>
<p>Kathy:</p>
<p>We are in urban snow country as opposed to rural snow country. The city clears things out pretty quickly. I live downtown and we have good bus transportation otherwise I can walk (as I did yesterday) to campus since the buses weren’t running </p>
<p>I really want something high off the road for our interstate highway trips between Madison and Chicago. Still deciding. I looked at the Toyota last year maybe I’ll think about it again although I have been receiving private messages from one CC contributor who has been congratulating me for looking at American made cars. He seems very adamant about it so I don’t want to disappoint him. I was also put off from Toyota last year by all the bad publicity they had received on quality issues.</p>
<p>I think I’ll try using one of the car brokers I have read about. Edmunds.com has an article about one in California. Has anyone on CC had experience in working through a broker?</p>
<p>I used Costco for my last car purchase and was able to get another dealer to match the Costco price. I was able to get more off and a free new rental for 2 weeks while we waited for the car we wanted to come in! The Costco price was good, but the dealer did not have the car in stock that we wanted and was going to have to get it 3 states away and charge us for the pick up. The dealer I found actually had the car coming in within a month and offered the rental until it did. Boy was I surprised when I went to pick up the rental car and the salesman took the stickers off of the car I would be driving. Turns out our car came in early, but this was the best car buying experience I have ever had.</p>
<p>In my former life I spent 16 years in the car business…sales manager, general manager and dealer/owner of three franchises.</p>
<p>I would stay FAR away from the Jeep…the raw materials they use are of far less quality than the others…cheaper, thinner carpet, lots of thin/cheap plastic etc…and reliability has never been their strong suit. I also have major concerns with Jeep safety…I’ve seen too many of them involved in accidents where people were hurt and probably would not have been in other vehicles.</p>
<p>GMC Acadia seems to have proven the test of time…I am still not completely convinced that GM’s quality can match that of Japan or Germany but they are making big strides to get there.</p>
<p>The Ford Explorer has certainly stood the test of time, bad tire issues notwithstanding…Ford really seems to have gotten their act together and was the first US automaker to seriously address quality, even bringing in J Edward Demming’s training for ALL their management almost 20 years ago…long before other US automakers were doing anything more than paying lip service to quality. My mentor, Carl Sewell, had to build the largest Cadillac service department anywhere in the 1980s because of the lack of commitment to quality at that time…one huge wing was for engine problems alone!.</p>
<p>Toyota’s “problems” were overblown and the timing was certainly suspect…The Fed loans GM billions of dollars and suddenly Toyota doesn’t know how to build a good car after how many years of virtually flawless performance? I mean, come on…but that’s for another forum.</p>
<p>Toyota Highlander/Lexus RX will be hard to beat for comfort, reliability and resale value…the Lexus gives you 2 more years worth of warranty and free loan cars/better service experience. </p>
<p>I have a good friend with two Nissan Muranos and he raves about them…they too have fared well in quality/reliability. He is a “road warrior” driving 40,000 plus miles a year and says the comfort is great.</p>
<p>The Acuras will also deliver great reliability and a better service experience but my problem with them (purely personal) is their “smiley face” front and rear end styling…if you can live with it they will be great cars.</p>
<p>Infiniti EX is a great crossover but really on the small side…there’s actually more cargo space in their sedans due to the steep roof line…if there are going to be just two and a dog for the trips you can always fold down one or both rear seats…it has a lot of very cool standard features for the price point…my wife currently has one and it really delivers from a comfort/performance/reliability POV and they have had amazing leases available on them…that said, it does sit lower than most …higher than a car but lower than others discussed here.</p>
<p>I agree with other comments on the Honda Pilot…great performance and reliability but rear seat comfort seems to have been forgotten or at least, not given much value…which is also the case with the CRV…bad miss on Honda’s part IMO. I think given your prerequisites though the Pilot might be a good fit.</p>
<p>Land Cruiser/Range Rover is always a risky proposition because reliability seems to be hit or miss and resale is historically terrible.</p>
<p>Be leery of Brokers…they get a cut too, that’s $$ that could be in your pocket…use AAA or Costco buying services…they use the most reliable dealers and you’ll get a great price as well…plus peace of mind.</p>
<p>One last note…not sure if you want leather seats or not but if you do, here’s a tip for dog owners…find a local company that does upholstery work…for less than $150 you should be able to have a custom fitted heavy duty vinyl seat cover that matches your leather made to cover the rear seat…it will save your leather from the dog’s claws and you can remove it when going out with adults if you need the rear seat. I’ve seen people get it done for $50-75 and it is really a wise investment…sure you can always throw a blanket over it for free but the seat cover is far easier to clean and water proof as well…just a thought.</p>
<p>Hope this helps…I don’t want offend anyone with some of my opinions,though they are based on real world experience so if you have any specific questions, please feel free to PM me…</p>
<p>I recommend the Rav4 - leaves a small footprint, and you can load her up with a small third row if really needed and a 269 hp V6 engine that still gets good gas mileage, and it will still cost less than an entry level Highlander/MDX. It also gets you 73 cubic feet of cargo space, which is greater than even many mid-size SUVs or Crossovers like the Ford Edge.</p>
<p>Have you looked at the new Chevy Equinox? Good low cost SUV with good looks, good gas mileage.</p>
<p>My friend still raves about her Nissan-made Infinity X-whatever SUV. Here SUV even got complements and thumbs up from the Porshe people at her workplace. :)</p>
<p>We are on our second Lexus RX and love it. The first one was an impulse purchase because the people at a local BMW dealership were very snobby and openly laughed at DH’s trade-in van when he tried to look at the cars there. DH turned around and drove to the Lexus place across the street where he was greeted with respect, shown the newest Lexus SUV, the RX, and given the highest price for the trade-in. We drove the first RX van for 7 years (95,000 miles) and never had a problem with it, but DH had to trade this RX van for a new one just because he had to have a nav system :rolleyes:. But with the nav system we got a bunch of extras: heated seats, rear view camera, steering wheel sound controls, additional safety features, etc. The snow traction function is great, and the heated seats are very nice to have when we are returning from a skiing trip :)</p>