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You asked for a midsize SUVand they give recommendations for small ones. The one I would recommend is the Ford Explorer. Seating for 7, not 4 to 5. Governments look for costs to operate and maintain, and the 50 largest cities already have for police cruisers 50% plus Explorers fotr police cruisers, and as others are being replaced the are with Expolorers. They are extremely road hugging for high speed persuit.
Our Explorer bought new winter 2011 has had not even 1 repair of any kind and looks and runs like brand new. Has been fantastic when the flied like it does in Montana with winter snow tires with studs. Our housekeeper forast 7 years drove an outback for 5 years, and when snow was flying heavy, could not get up the hill to their home, and I drove her home a number of times. Tis past year she had no problem getting home in her ner 4 door pickup.
i have a ford explorer that will need replacement in a year or two. i have been looking at the new ford explorer and edge, kia sorrento, honda pilot, toyota highlander, and subaru forester. my wife currently drives a subaru forester and loves it. i do not care for it as compared to the subarus in the 1980s/1990s, it is more cheaply built (and yes, we owned subarus back then). i also do not trust the cvt transmission, although we have had no problems with it. i am leaning towards the honda pilot or toyota highlander. they seem to give you the most bang for the buck.
Safety
4wd
roomy, but not too big
6 cycl
Gas mileage
Reliability
I have a Mitsubishi Outlander GT and I love it! I also had a Honda Pilot for a rental car and also liked it. We have had several Nissans as well and this is my second Mitsubishi and have had absolutely no problems with any of them!
I have a 6 cylinder Outback. It’s a lifted Legacy wagon so it has a car seating position. I’m 6’2”. I fit in the car where I’m usually a bit cramped for legroom in more upright seating position crossovers. The car seats four 6’2” adults comfortably with plenty of cargo area in the back.
I see about 26 mpg highway. 87 octane was on my must-have list after 14 years driving cars that required at least 91. I winter at a ski resort. With Nokians, it is a very good winter car. 190 cm skis fit inside. AWD and ground clearance are a convenience on big powder days. I use the 3,000 pound towing capacity fairly frequently.
Every car has trade-offs. You would never confuse the interior with a European luxury car. The seat is ok but it’s a 2 or 3 hour seat. 4 or 5 hours in it is a bit much. It has a lot of body roll. I never did the rear sway bar upgrade. Power with the 6 cylinder is adequate but 256 hp on a 3,700 pound car with a CVT isn’t going to excite anyone. The car after 50,000 miles has more road and wind noise than I’d like. I find the styling very bland. For my use, I think it’s the best option and the street price which is 8% to 10% below MSRP around me is a very good value.
I have a first model year of the current generation Outback. I had some recalls that were dealt with at oil changes. Other than a sticky gas cap that was replaced twice, I’ve had no issues with the car. Rear brakes and rotors at 48,000 is the only wear item not on the maintenance schedule. The Eyesight adaptive cruise control uses the electronic emergency brakes so the rear brakes wear a bit faster than on some cars.
In a perfect world, I’d prefer a Legacy wagon but they stopped making those. I’d like a lowered car with a stiffer suspension, a quieter ride, and a premium seat.
For nitpicking, the clock and outside air temp are illegible. They should be at the top of the instrument cluster where the useless fuel economy display lives. The CVT has fake shift points when you step on the gas hard. Max torque, pleeze. I don’t need fake shift points that slow down the car. I run winter tires. The TPMS isn’t auto sensing so I had to buy an ATEQ TPMS QuickSet tool for $120 at Tire Rack to reprogram the car to the other wheels every 6 months. The 6 cylinder puts the oil filter at the bottom of the engine so you can’t change oil and filter from the top with an oil extractor.
I have a 6 cylinder Outback. It’s a lifted Legacy wagon so it has a car seating position. I’m 6’2”. I fit in the car where I’m usually a bit cramped for legroom in more upright seating position crossovers. The car seats four 6’2” adults comfortably with plenty of cargo area in the back.
I see about 26 mpg highway. 87 octane was on my must-have list after 14 years driving cars that required at least 91. I winter at a ski resort. With Nokians, it is a very good winter car. 190 cm skis fit inside. AWD and ground clearance are a convenience on big powder days. I use the 3,000 pound towing capacity fairly frequently.
Every car has trade-offs. You would never confuse the interior with a European luxury car. The seat is ok but it’s a 2 or 3 hour seat. 4 or 5 hours in it is a bit much. It has a lot of body roll. I never did the rear sway bar upgrade. Power with the 6 cylinder is adequate but 256 hp on a 3,700 pound car with a CVT isn’t going to excite anyone. The car after 50,000 miles has more road and wind noise than I’d like. I find the styling very bland. For my use, I think it’s the best option and the street price which is 8% to 10% below MSRP around me is a very good value.
I have a first model year of the current generation Outback. I had some recalls that were dealt with at oil changes. Other than a sticky gas cap that was replaced twice, I’ve had no issues with the car. Rear brakes and rotors at 48,000 is the only wear item not on the maintenance schedule. The Eyesight adaptive cruise control uses the electronic emergency brakes so the rear brakes wear a bit faster than on some cars.
In a perfect world, I’d prefer a Legacy wagon but they stopped making those. I’d like a lowered car with a stiffer suspension, a quieter ride, and a premium seat.
For nitpicking, the clock and outside air temp are illegible. They should be at the top of the instrument cluster where the useless fuel economy display lives. The CVT has fake shift points when you step on the gas hard. Max torque, pleeze. I don’t need fake shift points that slow down the car. I run winter tires. The TPMS isn’t auto sensing so I had to buy an ATEQ TPMS QuickSet tool for $120 at Tire Rack to reprogram the car to the other wheels every 6 months. The 6 cylinder puts the oil filter at the bottom of the engine so you can’t change oil and filter from the top with an oil extractor.
We have a 2018 Outback Touring and my wife loves it. We tried both the 3.6 and 2.5 and found the 2.5 to be more than adequate and it gets five MPG more on the highway, which is a significant amount. The temp and clock displays are still down low, but are easily readable. The 2018 has an 8 inch screen, up from 7 inches in previous years, which is really nice. We run factory tires all year long, so no messing with TPMS. I like how the TPMS now has individual tire pressure readout. That's a must for me. And the oil filter being on top is the best placement I've ever seen. I do my own oil changes and it was a breeze to change out. Our Outback also has the swiveling LED headlights. I won't buy a vehicle anymore unless it has LED or HID headlights. They make a huge difference. Other than a few quirks, like the steering wheel not being heated at the top and bottom, it's a really great all-season car for Alaska.
Only reason I'd get a SUV though would be for going on rougher backroads a regular sedan or wagon couldn't make it, which consequently means most CUVs also would not. I'd really be looking at Jeep Grand Cherokee, Nissan Xterra, old Pathfinder, or a Land Rover. Land Rover is definitely out for reliability and cost. Xterra is a lot cheaper so you can get a newer, lower mileage one than the 4Runner but I'd still lean towards the 4Runner. Gas mileage and safety aren't great but I wouldn't use it for daily commuting anyway so less of a concern.
We have a 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan SEL Premium AWD and we love it.
We were originally looking at replacing our 2013 Outback with a 2018 Outback, but we looked at the VW Atlas out of curiosity.
We liked it but passed on it because we felt it was too big for our needs (two adults, two almost-grown teens, and one preteen), however, the Tiguan was the right size with more passenger and cargo space compared to the Outback.
Plus, it has a very responsive turbo-charged 4-cylinder engine with an 8-speed Tiptronic transmission with 4 selectable modes: Snow, On-Road, Off-Road, and Off-Road Custom.
It is EPA rated for 21 MPG (city)/27 MPG (highway) and 23 MPG combined.
We regularly see 30-33 MPG and higher on the highway and 26-28 MPG combined.
Our Tiguan also has a 12.3" digital cockpit in high resolution, Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, 8" touchscreen navigation system, a panoramic moonroof, leather seats (heated front seats), pushbutton start/stop, keyless entry, remote starter, VW Car-Net telematics, Adaptive Cruise Control and other Driver Assistance features, Fender Premium Audio System, and more.
All this and a standard 6 year/72,000 mile bumper-to-bumper warranty for under $40,000.
I find all of the midsize SUVs a complete waste of money. Minimal storage space. That's really it. No one is really bringing these things for offroading. I'm sure they're useful in snowy areas but here in CA I'd rather have a full size, and I do. plenty of storage space for anything I could want to throw at it.
It's one of the few number of small, plug-in hybrid CUVs on the market.
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