Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Which small SUV / Crossover?

Trying to figure out the best way to go for a new vehicle that is going to be used mostly for my job, Sales, and occasionally to sneak away an extra hunt during the week between meeting with clients. I got downsized earlier in the year and am looking at ways to get the best bang for the buck while making sure I don�t miss out on meeting with clients due to a little nasty weather.

Gas mileage is huge here, specifically; I would like to have a city/hwy range of 22 - 30 or close to that. I also want to keep cost down and need AWD or 4wd for the snow. It won't be used for any serious off road. I don't have any plans to pull trailers at this time, but that could happen at some point, especially my Rubicon. I would also like to keep the cost in the low to middle $20s.

I recently figured out that this seems to be an exploding market, with every major and minor manufacturer offering at least one, if not two models.

What are your experiences with any of these models?

Ford Escape
Ford Edge
Chevrolet Equinox / GMC Terrain
Nisan Rogue
Toyota RAV4
Honda CRV
Kia Sportage
Hyundai Tucson
Mitsubishi Outback Sport
Suzuki Vitara

In each model, I'm more concerned with the smaller, more fuel efficient engine, so 4cyls instead of 6cyls. This isn't a type of vehicle I've ever really looked into much, so I'm hoping that the 30,000 plus members can help me out. If there is another model that I've left off, I would really appreciate input on that also.

As always, thanks in advance!

Chris

My wife had two 2000 CRV Hondas (first was totaled). My daughter currently drives it (has 180,000 trouble-free miles on it. My wife now drives an 05 Honda Element and likes it a lot. Visibility can be an issue with the Element as the B & C pillars are large.

We have the Honda Pilot and are very satisfied with it. Lots of room, 4wd, great power and gas milage.

The Hyundai Tucson or Sante Fe are great little SUVs. My wife loves her 2009 Tucson. My only criticism is that is has a bit too much road noise. Other than that, I think I'll buy one for my next vehicle, also.

I like my KIA Sportage, 2002 with 91,000. Mileage is right at 20-21 combined city/highway with the 4 banger. Except for price I would look at the Subaru Forester. The Suzuki Grand Vitara is also on the short list.

CRV. I am 6' 3" tall and have plenty of head room. It rides and drives very well.

How about leg room. My wife has an Accord and it is very incomfortable for me to ride in. I am 6'4" I am interested in getting the Accord Cross-Tour next, its like 8" higher off the ground. If the leg room is better than a 2000 Accord, it may be the way we go.

Although they have gained a rather questionable reputation as far as their "manliness" goes, you didn't include any Subarus on your list. The newest Outback wagon looks more like an SUV than it used to, and the Forester might be worth a look, too. I believe that they are rated close to 30 mpg highway.

The Subaru may have the best no-nonsense AWD system compared with the vehicles that you mentioned.

Edit:
Just noticed that T LEE beat me to it.

I'd definitely look at the Mazda CX-7 S Touring AWD.

Easily the best handling and best looking crossover out there.

Superb 244hp turbo 4 cylinder, superlative brakes, sportscar handling, great interior.

Consumer reports rates the 4-cyl RAV4 as the highest mileage of any non-hybrid SUV. The V6 model (269 HP) gets only 1 MPG less, does 0-60 in 6.7 seconds and is rated for 3,500 pounds with the towing option. The base model 4-wheel drive V6 can be had for around $27 grand.

Which is $13,000 more than we paid for our first site built home!

You can easily get a Forester in his price range. I recently looked at Foresters before buying an Outback. A nicely equipped Forester could be had for $20K.

The seats in the Forester were a deal breaker for me,they were terribly uncomfortable. Ended up with an Outback 2.5i which is the base model. It still has a/c,cruise,power windows,locks,and mirrors and C/D player. The OB came in at about $1000 more than the Forester.

The Subaru AWD system is the gold standard. They're like tanks in the snow.

The Ford Edge is a pretty solid choice. I have a 2008 that I absolutely love for what it is. Mine is a SEL with awd, V6, leather, sync, urgraded wheels, etc... It is pretty loaded, everything that the Limited gets except the powere passenger seat and the chrome trim. Driven conservatively, I have managed right at 30 mpg highway (67ish mph and no ac). You should easily be able to get one in the mid 20s.

Having sold and owned several Subarus including my present Legacy GT Turbo wagon I can say that although the Suby AWD system is indeed very good I still prefer the Audi quattro system.
Everything the Suby system is plus refinement.

Suzuki SX4 AWD 28/29 mpg.

Wait, wait, wait, am I reading this right, are you guys actually pushing Subaru's.... I'm actually looking at an older outback for a runaround that gets better gas mileage than my truck.

When I managed a small used car dealership Subarus and VWs with over 200K still brought a nice dollar and never sat on the lot very long!

Let me third (or fourth!) this motion: look hard at Subaru!!

I just sold my '09 Forester to my daughter. When I bought it (brand spanking new) I paid a tad over $24K for it, with all the options except the big engine. I drove it to work (50 mile commute) for 2.5 years, took it hunting in WI, WY and MN on and off-road, hauled a 400-lb bison carcass back from WY on/in it, and had an aggregate 24.3 mpg over those 2.5 years.

I was shopping for an SUV to meet the demands you've cited, and additionally I wanted it to be able to handle the absolutely horrific road conditions we have/had in Wisconsin every winter. I am 6'2" tall, 220 pounds, and my daughters are 5'6" and 5'9" and slender. We test-drove every one of the vehicles in your list except the Mitsubishi.

In the end I selected the Forester, and was absolutely pleased with it. Its intelligent AWD traction-control system is second to none (I realize some like Audi's quattro system better, but on snow, ice and mud, the Audi's I've tried don't come close to the Subaru system). I hear Mercedes Benz has a new system that rivals it, but that's out of my price range (as is Audi, to be honest).

As a final, and I believe telling, point: Subaru's reputation for low maintenance costs and longevity is real. Among my kids and myself, we've now owned 6 Subarus. All were cheap to run, easy to maintain, free from electrical gremlins. I just scrapped my first Legacy wagon ('93) a couple years ago, with 390,000 miles on it. It still ran great, but the body was rusted out to the point of being unsafe. My Forester, which I bought in January 2009 and sold to my daughter 2 months ago, has 110,000 miles on it. I have yet to do ANY engine or transmission work on any of them, other than scheduled maintenance. I can't think of any other brand of vehicle I and my family have owned, other than Mercedes Benz, with such a stellar maintenance record, let alone SIX of them.

Here's a couple of high points on your quoted list:

1. The Chevy Equinox is a death-trap. It was the worst-handling, least stable vehicle on your list on DRY road, and on snow/ice, it was truly frightening.

2. Almost all of the vehicles on your list are far from roomy inside for an average person, but for a tall person only the Escape and the Forester offered what I consider ample interior dimensions. The Honda is OK, the Toyota is claustrophobic.

3. At the end of my car search, I narrowed it down to three: the Nissan, the Toyota, and the Subaru. Driver ergonomics, traction-control system, and experience with Subaru were the points that led to the Forester as final winner.

Hear, hear,

My youngest son was a manager of a local Subaru service department so I tried the Forester (good price!). I'm now on my third one. The 2011 is larger, quite comfortable, decent mileage, and good off road within reason. I wouldn't want to take it through deep mud 'cause it's not as high as a full size but so far it's great for normal stuff and snow.

I really improved the off-road performance of my Forester by putting Blizzaks on it each fall. Not only do the Blizzaks give unbelievable traction on icy roads in winter, they do really well on slick, greasy, wet-leafy, muddy Wisconsin backroads.

As for deep mud, I don't go there. My son likes that stuff, but he's got a lifted '96 Jeep Cherokee that'll go anywhere (although it is ungodly uncomfortable on pavement above 45 mph!).