Help mom pick a new CUV/SUV

Mom (68 years old) currently has an 08 Caddy SRX that is draining her pockets. Brake rotors wear out every 15k, rusted brake lines, pinion bearing whining, tranny cooler leaked, new MAF sensor... all before it hit 60k. She's tired of it.

Need to pick a good new or lightly used vehicle for her.

Requirements: - AWD or 4WD - reliable as f**k - minimal bells and whistles; she likes power windows and seats, heated seats, and power rear gate, but she doesn't need tons of luxury. She also likes the big moonroof in the caddy but I think she could live without it. - as much American as possible. She wouldn't mind a foreign marque as long as I can prove to her that a significant amount of the money stays here. I already showed her how much of her Caddy is Australian and German so I at least have her off the GM/Ford/Dodge bandwagon. - inexpensive maintenance and repair. Her previous SUVs were a boxy blazer, a 96 rounded blazer, and a trailblazer.
- Cost is not a huge issue, but I will assume she's thinking somewhere in the sub-$30k range - Prefers a usable 3rd row seat for people taller than 3' 6", but I might be able to talk her out of that since she never uses the third row in her

My initial thoughts; BMW X5 since it has the 4 years free maintenance (although it doesn't cover much)

Ford Flex? They any good?

GMC Acadia? Terrain? Traverse? Equinox?

Discuss.

Buddy of mine has a Flex and swears it's great. I've heard less than stellar reviews of the Acadia family of transmissions.

My step-mother bought a Lexus RX350 recently and loves it.

I'd talk her out of the 3rd row seat. While I like the Flex a lot- it's a big mini-van that doesn't have sliding doors.

A size of vehicle I like a lot is the Edge- and I think everyone makes a CUV that size.

I know you can get an Edge with AWD with the base V6, and with heated seats and a power lift gate. We've had one.

IIRC, the X5 is nearly the same size.

IMHO, one of the real benefits for the aging crowd for a vehicle that size- super duper easy to get in and out. Virtually no climbing to either get in or out.

Isnt the acadia the same platform as the caddy? All i know is they have alot of customer complaints about noises and build quality. The lincoln i think is the better option as far as american suv's in that size. A few of our customers have made the move. I also like the new explorer but havnt done any research on that since my wife wants a smaller edge/equinox.

Kia Sorento? They're built in Georgia and they will definitely have the options she's looking for.

I know they're pretty reliable and have a good warranty.

We just got my Mom (she's 71) a 2016 Ford Escape. Pretty much for the reasons above it's real easy for her to get into/out of. She has had it about 2 months and loves it. I had one for 2 weeks in Denver turbo/4wd and really liked driving it. The Turbo/4wd can be had for under your budget of 30k.

The new Honda Pilot fits the bill except price, and it's built in Alabama. Maintenance should be pretty minimal I suspect?

Highlanders are US made too! Rav4's are made in Canada.

How small can she go? CRV/HRV would be my pick if if you don't need a good AWD setup. If her driving pushes the AWD, then Subi.

And odds are most of those are either US or Canadian built.

Inlaws are loving their FWD Sorento. He's averaged 27mpg on their month long journey from Tucson to the east coast and back. Simple, long warranty, easy to drive and built in the US.

Bobzilla wrote: Inlaws are loving their FWD Sorento. He's averaged 27mpg on their month long journey from Tucson to the east coast and back. Simple, long warranty, easy to drive and built in the US.

Another vote for a Sorento, we have a 2011 FWD base model that's been solid. Available with third row and AWD, big enough inside to be useful and small enough outside to be easy to handle in traffic and park. Even performs well with the 2.4 if they don't want to step up to V6 powah..

curtis73 wrote: ...as much American as possible. She wouldn't mind a foreign marque as long as I can prove to her that a significant amount of the money stays here. I already showed her how much of her Caddy is Australian and German so I at least have her off the GM/Ford/Dodge bandwagon.

The charts list information that NHTSA received from vehicle manufacturers about the U.S./Canadian content (by value) of the equipment (parts) used to assemble passenger motor vehicles.

http://www.nhtsa.gov/Laws+&+Regulations/Part+583+American+Automobile+Labeling+Act+(AALA)+Reports

Note: the is no distinction between US and Canada. They are both considered "domestic".

There can be some real suprises. For 2015, the best you can do is 75% Domestic and that includes the Honda Minivan, Camry and Sienna.

There can be some surprises like:
Buick Encore 3%
Cadillac SRX 25%
Ford Fusion 25%

06HHR wrote:

Bobzilla wrote: Inlaws are loving their FWD Sorento. He's averaged 27mpg on their month long journey from Tucson to the east coast and back. Simple, long warranty, easy to drive and built in the US.

Another vote for a Sorento, we have a 2011 FWD base model that's been solid. Available with third row and AWD, big enough inside to be useful and small enough outside to be easy to handle in traffic and park. Even performs well with the 2.4 if they don't want to step up to V6 powah..

What kind of fuel economy are you getting out of the 4-banger? I would have called "shenanigans" on the F-I-L's claim of 27+ on his GDI 3.3 until we started going through his month of receipts and the miles on each tank. He was refilling about every 300-350 miles and putting in 10.5-12.5 gallons each fill up.

My wife drives it most of the time, but when I have filled it up we are averaging about 320-380 miles a tank with the 2.4. On the low end of 320 in town fill-ups and on the high side of 380 (sometimes 400) on the highway with about a 12-13 gallon fill up. Touched 30+ on a couple of highway trips back when I was keeping track. Average about 24-25 in mixed driving.

In reply to curtis73: Unless she's driving in significant snow, try to convince her she doesn't need AWD/4WD, it makes the car less reliable. Let her know that we have the 2nd largest car industry behind China, I believe. I also think that all the major manufacturers have a North America HeadQuarters, dealerships (of course), and manufacturing plants. The foreign companies weren't founded here, but they do have business operations here, so they're not so "foreign" anymore.

06HHR wrote: My wife drives it most of the time, but when I have filled it up we are averaging about 320-380 miles a tank with the 2.4. On the low end of 320 in town fill-ups and on the high side of 380 (sometimes 400) on the highway with about a 12-13 gallon fill up. Touched 30+ on a couple of highway trips back when I was keeping track. Average about 24-25 in mixed driving.

Damn. May have to look into one of these for the wife in a couple years. She's only getting 35-37 out of her Rio and she loves SUV's.

Mr_Clutch42 wrote: In reply to curtis73: Unless she's driving in significant snow, try to convince her she doesn't need AWD/4WD, it makes the car less reliable.

I fully agree. I'm kind of anti-4wd, but she does use it. In fact, she could actually benefit from full-on 4wd. She goes to three different mountain camps to cook for the guys during several seasons fall, winter, and spring, all three of which really need a little extra ground clearance and definitely more than 2wd. Nothing hardcore offroad, but when you're three miles in the wilderness on a mud road and have to forge three creeks to get there, she needs more than 2wd. The SRX was just about right, if not a little on the lightweight side, driveline wise.

She is also, um, (how do I say this nicely) not a very intuitive or technical driver, so AWD in the PA snow is definitely a benefit to her. If it prevents her bitching every time she gets stuck, its a win.

KyAllroad wrote: My step-mother bought a Lexus RX350 recently and loves it.

Can I assume they have fixed the horrifically fragile and expensive transmission issues?

alfadriver wrote: I'd talk her out of the 3rd row seat. While I like the Flex a lot- it's a big mini-van that doesn't have sliding doors. A size of vehicle I like a lot is the Edge- and I think everyone makes a CUV that size. I know you can get an Edge with AWD with the base V6, and with heated seats and a power lift gate. We've had one. IIRC, the X5 is nearly the same size. IMHO, one of the real benefits for the aging crowd for a vehicle that size- super duper easy to get in and out. Virtually no climbing to either get in or out.

Trying to talk her out of 3rd row. She seems to want it for family vacations with the 7 of us, but honestly we've never done that in one vehicle because you just don't have enough space for 7 people's luggage when there are 7 people. That is like Excursion territory.

At least for now, she has no issues with aging that would require any specific vehicle entry concerns. She would be equally comfortable and pain-free in a Jeep or a Corvette.

dropstep wrote: Isnt the acadia the same platform as the caddy? All i know is they have alot of customer complaints about noises and build quality. The lincoln i think is the better option as far as american suv's in that size. A few of our customers have made the move. I also like the new explorer but havnt done any research on that since my wife wants a smaller edge/equinox.

The Acadia is the Lambda platform which shares with the Enclave and Saturn Outlook. The SRX is on the Sigma platform, but they do share the LY7 V6 common to both. Caddy was the only marque to use the Sigma platform in the US, so it is somewhat unique in North 'Muricah

JohnRW1621 wrote:

curtis73 wrote: ...as much American as possible. She wouldn't mind a foreign marque as long as I can prove to her that a significant amount of the money stays here. I already showed her how much of her Caddy is Australian and German so I at least have her off the GM/Ford/Dodge bandwagon.

The charts list information that NHTSA received from vehicle manufacturers about the U.S./Canadian content (by value) of the equipment (parts) used to assemble passenger motor vehicles. http://www.nhtsa.gov/Laws+&+Regulations/Part+583+American+Automobile+Labeling+Act+(AALA)+Reports Note: the is no distinction between US and Canada. They are both considered "domestic". There can be some real suprises. For 2015, the best you can do is 75% Domestic and that includes the Honda Minivan, Camry and Sienna. There can be some surprises like: Buick Encore 3% Cadillac SRX 25% Ford Fusion 25%

Bingo. Excellent resource, thank you

I enjoyed driving the new MDX (which has a small-person third row). It handled almost as good as my WRX lol.

Also have spent some time in the Lincoln MKX (or is it MKZ) and it's really nice and really sporty. Basically a more stylish and nicer version of a Ford Escape, IIRC.

Is a Forester too Foreign? How about Outback?

The MDX is built in Alabama by some cool dudes the drove One Lap with me. They're solid car/truck things.

mikeatrpi wrote: Is a Forester too Foreign? How about Outback?

Forester shows 0% US. Outbacks show 50% US. Not sure I can sell that. I printed out the list from JohnRW's link and after seeing 27% on the Caddy, their eyes are open to how much American they can get, so I'm not sure 50% is enough for them. Great resale though, and I think Subaru makes a good car.