I have been looking to change vehicles for a couple of years. I have a special needs child, he was injuried by his vaccine at 2 months old, so I needed something that would fit his walker and wheelchair. We already own a minivan so I did not want to have a second one of those but wanted a small to midsized SUV with features. I was driving a '98 BMW M3 4 door/ 5 speed which was a total blast to drive, required premium but got decent MPG. I bought it when it was 2 years old and drove it for 8 trouble free years. Best, most solid vehicle I have ever owned. Very high maintanence costs even for basic stuff when it required them and I ate through tires. Terrible in the winter but I put on snow tires each year (separate set of rims) so I survived Kansas winters - traction control was excellent.

First choice a few years back - Nissan Murano
Pros:
Looks
CVT transmission
Available Options
Cons:
Had to disassemble part of wheelchair to get it in
Knee hit on dash when I drove it
To get manual shift mode required SE which requires premimum gas

Toyota RAV4
Pros:
V6 engine power / potential MPG
Fit both wheelchair and walker, no folding, only remove head rest on wheelchair
Quality behind the name
Cons
Lack of options
Boring interior
Keen hit on dash when I drove it
Less than stellar stereo

Honda CRV
Pros:
Quality behind the name
Cons:
Boring
Lack of features
A bit too small

Infiniti FX35
Pros:
Rear drive bias
Lots of power
Lots of features
Cons:
Price
Requires premimum
Small rear area, did not fit both wheelchair and walker

Ford Escape
Pros:
Hybrid option (if you can wait and pay full price)
Excellent seating
Good features
'08 got rid of cute 'ute look
Cons:
Terrible wind noise with sunroof open
Just too much interior noise in general
Have had bad luck with Ford in the past on quality issues

Was almost ready to give up and look at sedans when I decided to check out the Outlander last Saturday morning. I saw it on Motorweek on PBS a while back and it looked interesting. This vehicle just does not get much press. Drove one with cloth but could not get seat in a decent position for me, I am 6' tall but most of my length is in my legs, not my torso, so I sit odd in vehicles. Drove a loaded, except for back seat DVD player, XLS and really liked it. Had to pick up my older son from a soccer game so I left and sent wife over to dealer in the van with the walker and wheelchair. They both fit and she really liked it too so she drove the sales guy out to our house and we followed him back in the M3 and did the deal. Dealership had hit closing hours in mean time so we did not deal all that long, got a great trade in value on my car and down to invoice on the Outlander so I was very happy. Plus I got the 1.9% for 48 months which I had no idea was going on.

Outlander review
Pros:
Love the way the back opens, makes loading items like the walker super easy, best in class in this aspect
Stereo - the RF stereo ROCKS and I listen to a lot of '80s hair metal so ROCKS really applies - best stereo in a vehicle I have ever listened to
30 g HD - I take 4 CDs to work each day, record 2 on way in 2 on way home, love to have a lib of music built up for road trips
Navigation - we have a Gamin navigation system, would not have bought it but it was in only vehicle that had other options I wanted, very useful though
Can play DVD on navigation when parked, I use it with my younger son while we wait places for everyone else, hassle to take him in every store, this passes the time
Looks - has some agressive looks to it, not plain, not many on the road, I like that
3 row seats, only expected seating for 5 (see above list) but the extra will come in handy with kid buddies etc.
Uses regular - gets excellent MPG so far
CVT transmission is nice and smooth
Looks of interior storage
HID headlights, really light up the road
4WD so I will not be white knuckled all winter
Excellent base warranty, did not have to get an extended one

Cons:
Wish it had dual zone climate control - liked it in M3 / our van
Plastics are a bit cheap, hopy the hold up
Wanted a color change, only one they had was silver on black, same as M3, easy to keep clean and I do like the slight blue tint to color
Not very many dealers at this point, this one seems very nice, hope it stays that way
DRL instead of real fogs - not a big deal

I had one big issue post delivery - hard water spots on the windows. I know this was due to lazy dealer washing, hose it off, let it dry in the sun. I tried all the web remedies - vinegar water, scraping with razer blade, CLR (cleaner you see on TV), various glass cleaners, nothing worked, spots bad enough in morning sun I was about read to take it back and have them fix it or replace glass. Did more web searching and saw posts on Zaino and Gariot Garage stuff, did not want to order at $15 a bottle plus $9 shipping so I called local auto parts places. One had nothing the next had a glass polish called Glass Grub which was also mentioned on web. I bought a $4 bottle and went to work, wet glass, rub on (it looks like an auto wax), pour water to take it off, dry and window clean. Worked like a champ, you can't see it any more so I am very happy with the vehicle.

Everyone I have shown it to has been very impressed. They love the tailgate area the most, the stereo sound and all the features I got for the price. I think I am making new sales showing it off, others considering it over a minivan etc. Off to clean the sunroof as I have a little time and I can do it in cool garage.

 

congrats on a new car! I agree with pretty much everything you said. However, what about CX-7/CX-9 and SantaFe. Have you test driven those?

 

Crud, I knew I forgot a few

Mazda CX7
Pros:
Sporty looking
Decent features
Cons:
Not so hot MPG
Requires premimum
Interior quality issues (as reported on web sites, very thin carpet)
Back area a bit smalll

Mazda CX9
Pros
Big
Nice ride
Cons
Too big, really a minivan without sliding doors
Drove like a minivan

Acura RDX
Pros:
Good looks
Drives like a sports car
Good features with tech package
Cons:
MPG
Premimum only
Space in back was not big enough

I never did drive the Santa Fe. Have some friends that own one and love them. When I looked it up on-line it appeared to be missing some features that I wanted so I did not even give it a chance, would have been nice to look at it just to round out the list.

 

Nice review, and congrats on the purchase. Hope you continue to like it!

 

after reading your review and about spots on a window I went to shucks and got the same $4 bottle of glass wax

 

Great review but you don't have a CVT. It is a 6 speed automatic transmission.

 

^^^ i thought something was wrong there.

 

I would say the CVT is a minus on the Murano. A lady at work had hers go out and from what hear she isn't the first