Looking for an SUV around $40K.. Which one would you get?

[Claudius-07]

Have you considered the new 2014+ Mitsubishi Outlander? If you want gadgets and 4WD trickery, it ticks the boxes. I've owned the previous model, and my wife has the new RVR or in the US you call it the Outlander Sport. Great cars really. Then again snow and ice and bad driving conditions, rather than off road is more important for for us. Not sure what your conditions are like.

 

[thegimp03]

I would get the Jeep. We have one that my SO drives and she loves it. I like it as well and have considered buying one to replace my aging SUV.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

At that price point the new Highlander would get at least a test drive from me.

 

[leper84]

Fuel hog. 17/19/23

YOLO brah

Still, even a FWD 3.5 or 2.0EB Edge optioned out would be worth test driving.

 

[NoCreativity]

The Acura RDX pretty much hits all your requirements. It doesn't look all that great though.

 

[drbrock]

A good friend of mine has the RDX. He has not been happy with it due its size and drivability.
I like the looks of it and the interior. It is a little lofty in handling though.

 

[jaha2000]

Test drove the new highlander, its VERY nice and much improved driver from the old version.
You could not pay me to touch the new pathfinder with a 50 foot pole. Read the interwebs, people are going through snowmobile clutches in 10K miles on those things. They have a serious design flaw that the only fix is to put a real transmission into it. Ya know, one with gears and that is designed to move a big car like that.

 

[chucky2]

Just took a trip from Chi to FL and back in a 2014 Ford Flex SEL, 202A package, 40/40 2nd row, FWD. Very nice. 21mpg fully loaded doing 73-83 the whole way. If you need AWD that's available, along with the 3.5L V-6 Ecoboost. Pretty nice ride quality and handling. Looks are sort of polarizing though...

 

[vi edit]

Just took a trip from Chi to FL and back in a 2014 Ford Flex SEL, FWD. Very nice. 21mpg fully loaded doing 73-83 the whole way. If you need AWD that's available, along with the 3.5L V-6 Ecoboost. Pretty nice ride quality and handling. Looks are sort of polarizing though...

If I didn't need the sliding door functionality of a minivan I'd be rocking a Flex. Best front seats I've ever sat in and the captains chair options in the 2nd row are excellent as well.

 

[chucky2]

If I didn't need the sliding door functionality of a minivan I'd be rocking a Flex. Best front seats I've ever sat in and the captains chair options in the 2nd row are excellent as well.

Yeah, personally I wish they would have made the Flex have sliding doors somehow. I like how much easier it is to get in and out of a sliding door when parked by something (like another vehicle), but I can understand that it's 'a big Taurus' so going slider might not have been doable w/o more price.

That's what we got, 202A package to get leather (we sat in the cloth seats and they did not feel as nice as the leather as far as cushion), and 40/40 seats.

 

[gorcorps]

I'm leasing a grand Cherokee Limited now and it's really nice. I'm not too happy with the mileage though. I'm lucky to average 18, and so far this winter it's been closer to 16

 

[UNhooked]

Just to update everyone. I bought the Dodge Durango R/T AWD in Granite Color and couldn't be more happier.

I pretty much got all options except the Engine block heater and 2nd row console. Bottom line was I couldn't spec any other SUV with the same options and come close to the price.

I have had it for maybe 3 weeks and have already put 3K miles on it. Wife loves driving it as well, she just has trouble parking since she has always driven a car.

The two big negatives are Storage space in the front and second row seats. There really isn't any.

And second, I wish it came with parking sensors in the front as well.

 

[Doomer]

Quadruple your budget, buy a Lexus LX570 and call it a day.

 

[Samus]

Mazda CX-5 GT?