We have around $25K to pay for a small SUV - what should we get?

[Anonymous]

We paid less than that out the door for our new CRV EXL with Nav a year ago. AWD.

[Anonymous]

OP here - sounds like people here love their CRV and Mazda CX-5. We checked out those cars five years ago when I bought mine and my issue with the CRV was that I really didn't like the interior - the plastic seemed so cheap and like it was going to break really easily, and the seats were not comfortable. Does anyone know if the interior has changed on those in the past 5 years? I loved the Mazda, but at the time, the engine was small and not suitable for mountain driving (like it strained going up a hill during our test drive in Arlington!), but I know they've changed that, so we're definitely going back to check that one out.

And yes, we're going to look at the 2017 Forester expecting discounts since they have changed it significantly for 2018.

Does anyone have any experience with the Hyundai Santa Fe or Tucson??

And I'm surprised no-one mentioned the RAV4 - any feedback on that?

[Anonymous]

We looked at the CRV and RAV4 last year and went with the RAV4. We got out the door for under $25k with a hybrid XLE AWD, but that was a crazy good end-of-the-year deal. If you don't want hybrid you can do it on the AWD. For us the RAV had a bit more cargo space than the CRV, but mostly we considered them a tossup in driving and design, and were swayed by friends with a Camry hybrid who raved about the engine.

One thing I've learned since then is you can't put three carseats in the back of the RAV, due to the way the seatbelts are arranged, and you can in the CRV. You only need to so that might not matter, but if you're planning (or even keeping the door open for) a third and want to keep this car for a long time, you might consider that nit.

We love the RAV4, but I think between a Honda and a Toyota you can't really make a wrong choice. We had people recommend the CX-9 but I don't know anyone who drives a 10 year old Mazda, and I know dozens of people in 10 year old Hondas and Toyotas. So I went with the known quantity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We looked at the CRV and RAV4 last year and went with the RAV4. We got out the door for under $25k with a hybrid XLE AWD, but that was a crazy good end-of-the-year deal. If you don't want hybrid you can do it on the AWD. For us the RAV had a bit more cargo space than the CRV, but mostly we considered them a tossup in driving and design, and were swayed by friends with a Camry hybrid who raved about the engine.

One thing I've learned since then is you can't put three carseats in the back of the RAV, due to the way the seatbelts are arranged, and you can in the CRV. You only need to so that might not matter, but if you're planning (or even keeping the door open for) a third and want to keep this car for a long time, you might consider that nit.

We love the RAV4, but I think between a Honda and a Toyota you can't really make a wrong choice. We had people recommend the CX-9 but I don't know anyone who drives a 10 year old Mazda, and I know dozens of people in 10 year old Hondas and Toyotas. So I went with the known quantity.

*two

[Anonymous]

Tricked out used Toyota 4Runner.

[Anonymous]

NP - does the CX5 have a third row, or just the CX9?