SUV Purchase: Ideas?

[nismodrifter]

A slammed VW on stretched tires that has the aroma of diesel fuel and cannot get over speed bumps apparently doesn't work so great when you're married.

I'm hunting for an SUV (for many reasons).

Few concerns/points:

1. Have only driven 3 SUV's in my life
- 95 Pathfinder XE: my first car, rock solid, loved it, wish something like this exists today. if you have one (LHD) and its minty, let me know.
- 08 ML320 CDI: Parents vehicle, I drove it for a year, engine has its issues (swirl port -> carbon clogging intake flaps). SAM module get soaked with water, etc etc. Thankfully we were able to sort all issues out with rare MB intervention. That is after a literal tear down of the engine, stupid design in my opinion. I like MB diesels though.
- RX300: no idea of hands on maintenance as I've only driven it a handful of times, but has nice features.
- Essentially that means I have little experience in this breed of automobile. Should I just jump for a G63 AMG and call it a day?

2. Would prefer it does not eat my wallet at the pump.
I drive a MKIV TDI Jetta, I actually can't remember the last time I filled up.
Any reliable diesels on the market these days?
I haven't been up to date with engines.
I love the CDI base as its before the BLUE generation.
Hell the Liberty interested me at one point because of that.
Note: I'm diesel biased, as have driven one or another for most of my life.

3. Reliable
I am sick of tearing up my knuckles chasing down oil leaks.
Oil + filters I am fine doing.
I am sick of ripping down engines to chase down leaks associated with various turbo issues (I like turbo diesels though.....)

4. Full Size SUV.
Don't care about 6,7, or 8 people. 5 people. Comfortably.
GLK, Q5, etc are too small. (Do they call them compact SUV's now? unsure?).

5. Mods
None planned.

6. Budget:
I am looking at purchasing lightly used.
Approximately 2 years old
Looking at spending approx ~$30k

Really, a difficult decision.

Opinions on newer Nissan engines?
4-runners?
I'd be in a v10 TDI right now if it didn't have issues but thats unfortunately not the case.
Infinity? Lexus?

Looking to open discussion on the topic, and hopefully get some suggestions as I'd like to purchase soon.

[rage2]

My brother was in the same exact scenario. Slammed VW Golf Wagon TDI, stretched tires, so bad that his wife got high centered on a small dip on a turn driving the damn thing lol. He got airbags, everyone is happy.

[nismodrifter]

LOL. I did actually bring up his car, bagged wagon, so clean.

I will actually need the height this time around, and almost leaning towards a truck....

Tundra?
Titan?

Again, a difficult decision. Will have go towards an "SUV" for time being.

[blitz]

Do this!

http://mano.automanas.lt/s/1595

[blairtruck]

BMW X6 fully loaded except a few things.
its basically a sports car.

i remember reading that on here

[Sugarphreak]

...

[xrayvsn]

Not sure about the price point on these used, but I have been in my friend's 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee diesel. It is very nicely appointed, and will tick off your box for full size SUV and diesel, but I suspect not the budget. I was very impressed with it, so perhaps it can be added to your list of SUV's to look into.

[ShermanEF9]

I'm a big fan of the Explorer. Nice looking, and ford has come A LONG WAY from the early 2000s for reliability and style.

[nismodrifter]

Originally posted by Sugarphreak
Q7, MDX, new Honda Pilot is out too... All decent choices. Actually the new MDX finally has SH-AWD, with that it goes 0-60mph in under 6 seconds now. Really competitive price for what it offers.

Will check these out. Q7 is not really on my list right now. Didn't think about the MDX. Will definitely be taking one out for a drive.

[Sugarphreak]

...

[zhao]

i'm confused. You said your budget is 30g and you're looking at 2 year old vehicles, but everyone is telling you to buy new luxury suv's that are all 60g+.


I would avoid domestics, because while they look ok when new and you can get a couple year old miled out one for 30g, they are very expensive for parts, depreciate like ice cream dumped on a sidewalk on a summer day, and not exactly tip top in the reliability department since it sounds like you're going to end up buying something nearing the end of it's warranty. A 10 year old explorer is worth zero dollars for a reason, same with whatever chevy sells, and dodge. I like the grand cherokee personally, you may want to consider one of those, but it still is expensive for parts and will likely have it's quirks someday.

You're not finding a 2 year old anything in the 30g range in the luxury department if you call a GLK too big. This eliminates everything from merc, land, bmw, audi, volvo, lexus, infiniti. Even vw is out. The cheapest 2014 RX or touareg is 45g. Not happening, move on.

You could get a 2 year old acura RDX in the 30g range. You can also probably still get a new one for under 40g after tax. They are boring, but they're in your price range and will be reliable, and the current RDX is as big as the last gen MDX.


Realistically you're probably stuck with toyota, nissan, honda, kia, hyundai... and maybe domestic if you like throwing caution to the wind. That or increase your budget or change how new you want it to be.

[dirtsniffer]

maybe a domestic if you feel like throwing caution to the wind...

[nismodrifter]

Originally posted by zhao


Realistically you're probably stuck with toyota, nissan, honda.....

Which is exactly what I posted in terms of vehicles to look for....

Should have mentioned point number 7

7. No domestics.

[dirtsniffer]

highlander? I'm assuming a cross over is what your looking for and not actually something off road capable like a 4runner?

[Brent.ff]

Based on your requirements, a used 4runner is what I'd be looking at. Pretty well the only SUV that is still an SUV. Can't believe what they've done with the pathfinders (i.e., a van)

If you want a proper SUV, and not a crossover, expect to feel the pain at the pump. You're moving a hell of a lot more mass and using a bigger engine then your Vdub.

[tch7]

Jeep Grand Cherokee for sure. Depending on the trim, a used 2012-2015 fits your budget. Great interiors, good performance on & off road, and I've driven dozens of them and never had an issue. I've even had as low as 8L/100km highway driving with the Pentastar engine. I wouldn't touch any other Jeep models though.

I've driven plenty of different rental SUVs, and I've also been really impressed with the Kia Sorento (previous gen with the V6) and Lincoln MKX / Ford Edge. The worst one I've had was easily a Jeep Liberty, followed closely by a Toyota Rav4.

I really like the pre-2010 4Runners. Then they went and made the interiors really cheap, and made them feel/perform like a much bigger SUV. Not sure if they've improved it much in the last couple years.

[snowcat]

Volvo XC90, the new ones are sexy

[zhao]

Originally posted by dirtsniffer
maybe a domestic if you feel like throwing caution to the wind...

Maybe you want to list some of the advantages to buying a domestic. I'd love to hear what you come up with for say, Cadillac

[vengie]

Jeep Grand Cherokee 3.0 > the rest

[xrayvsn]

Does it count as a domestic if the eco diesel 3.0 engine is made in Italy? That's almost like buying a fully loaded exotic.