Wife's car went...small suv recs?

[3rd & Inches]

We drove an Outback for our rental on our Wyoming vacation and I came away very impressed

Tons of room for a family and plenty of power in the mountains. Nice ride

My next purchase will be one of those.

[olecowboy]

well, all I can say is

Can't go wrong with subaru outback or forester (with rainbow sticker model only).

where I live, we call them "Lezbarus" because only women of the plaid-shirt, Melissa Ethridge listening variety drive them.

of course, where I live, we screw goats, so make your own call. . . .

[Ellsworth]

actually, if you want Safe AND luxury, keep it simple: get her a Canyonero

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4QgWRycd7I

[RSE]

My ex bought a Terrain last year. I don't know much about it but she's pretty happy with it.

[Riccardo]

Bwaahaha!

There ya go D

[AnnapolisEagle]

Her ovaries are clanging, dude.

Here's the rundown on the research I did a couple years ago (I've been keeping on top a little bit, too, in the event we need a 2nd car).

Toyota Rav4: What we bought in 2010, best compromise of utility and performance for what we need. Opted for the V6 and very pleased with the performance. Interior wasn't the highest quality, but they've got redesigned models out now. The new ones lose the spare on the back (previous Sport models did the same but only with run-flat tires, which are expensive and hurt the ride). Spare is now under the rear floor. There is NO V6 option, however, so when I drove one last week after taking mine for service I was pretty underwhelmed. If you're after a V6 you might have a shot a real nice deal on a leftover model, although some of the radio controls are a disappointment (ipod connectivity, mostly).

Subaru Forester: Almost bought this instead. My parents have one and love it. More car-like ride at the time, although it now rides a little higher after redesign. What kept me out of it when I was buying is that the turbo engine was only available with a 4-speed auto. The turbo (and it's a new turbo engine) is now available with a CVT which they claim improves mileage significantly. There is some griping about the transmission, though, and could be a reliability issue as it's a new application in that car. But the all-wheel drive system is nice.

VW Tiguan: Nice inside, more upscale feel than most of the others. Turbo 4-cylinder performed pretty well but mileage figures weren't great because it's a heavy-ass car.

Honda CRV: Interior and drivability were nice, didn't like the 4-cylinder and no V6 available. But they sell a shitload for a reason.

Chevy Equinox: Was just a little bigger than the others, which for city parking was a mark against it. V6 availability was pretty minimal at the time, not sure what's up now.

Ford Escape: Draws very good reviews for handling since the redesign. If I was shopping now I'd definitely give it a look. A couple gee-whiz features that might be nice (the hands-free liftgate). Turbo 4-cylinder available, so there's that.

Hyundai Sante Fe: My brother and his wife bought one of the redesigned ones but traded it in for a Mazda 6.

Mazda CX-5: Available with 2 4-cylinder options, one a little stronger than the other base engines for most of these cars, though a step below the turbos. Don't know much else about the recent redesign, though.

When I was shopping I didn't really look at the more higher-end carmakers (although for what I spent on a V6 Rav4 Limited I could've gotten in on the ground floor of some of the premium brands). If having all-wheel drive is necessary, the Impreza hatchbacks might be a good option and less SUV-ish. If all-wheel drive isn't a necessity, I've heard good things about the Jetta SportWagen, though I skipped because you had to go up to the Passat wagon to get all-wheel drive.

-AE