dseag2

Everyone forgets about the Infiniti because it was introduced ahead of its time as a CUV and didn't have ample back room seat. Now that the CUV segment is booming and they have stretched the wheelbase by 4" it is a contender again.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

cx-5 is nice and as you say, the recent refresh was a good one (and needed). i would by no means call it the current benchmark for compact cuv's. for value, i think the refreshed rav4 hybrid is amazing. i've never been a fan of its looks or somewhat chintzy interior, but both are improved for '16 as well as availability of lots of safety tech and the modest price diff for the hybrid pretty much makes it a no brainer.

then there's the '16 hyundai tucson, a VERY nice new version of their cuv.

i actually don't. i love mazdas but in general they're noisy and seem to get noisier as they age (a bit like hondas). buicks have very good reliability records and of course they're super quiet. if it's for your mom too, perhaps she won't be driving a whole lot anyway?

yes, i looked at the ex35 (q50) when i was shopping last time around. unfortunately they were rarer than sasquatch so i had to abandon my search pretty quick.

there's also the honda cr-v touring which i ALMOST bought. smooth, very easy to drive, nice interior, very functional and of course great fuel economy. there's a reason it's the hottest selling cuv.

ST430

She's coming from a 13' RAV4 so the X1 seems small, while the MDX is quite big (although i wanted to drive it since we were at Acura anyways). Murano seems like a good compromise at this point, but we'll be looking at the Santa Fe Sport just in case as well. I'm not a big fan of the CX5 styling, but do like the CX3. I'll probably get our new car tomorrow.

UDel

I don't have the link but there were a few head guys at BMW that admitted they needed to quickly and heavily update the X5 when the new 2nd Gen MDX came out because the 2nd Gen MDX was superior to the X5 in many ways, I remember reading reviews where the MDX was beating the X5 which never happened and coming in first or 2nd place and the sales of the 2nd Gen were huge.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

cx3 is likely no bigger than an x1, hr-v, etc. what about the tucson? or heck a volvo or subaru wagon? subaru is on a huge roll for the past couple of years... not luxurious though.

ST430

Ya, look at my earlier comments on the Forrester XT / Outback H6. Just test drove the Tucson 1.6 turbo Limited, and while its really nice inside, powertrain leaves a lot to be desired with significant turbo lag. They didnt have any Santa Fe Sports in stock.

I also drove the QX50 ala EX37. Very tall wagonish profile, great power and handling, but very dated interior, however can be had for like 34k, which is a really good value.

CapeDave

The car that surprised me the most in this category is the Ford Edge and Escape. Both very nice cars. I may very well end up with a 2107 Escape.

Aron9000

Not a huge fan of the new Escape. I personally don't like the styling or the driving position. The way the windshield is angled, its huge, with a huge dashboard, it feels like you're driving a minivan

JDR76

I recently had an Edge rental when visiting family in San Jose and my wife and I were both quite impressed with it.

nicedude

Sounds like the NX is the best choice for your under $40K budget. The RDX, while a better value, just got refreshed and is going be replaced in a few years since its current generation was introduced as a 2013 MY. The Q50X, while the sportiest of the Japanese preimum/luxury options is also really old and going to be replaced soon (and I don't mean its name).

In regards to the German offerings, the Q5 is really old and will be replaced soon, while the X3 and GLC are probably out of your budget.

The X1 that you like, is one class smaller, just like the Q3 and GLA. More like lifted hatches than real crossovers.

dseag2

We will be trading for an SUV in less than a year, and I'm actually waiting for the Infiniti QX30 before making any type of decision. It is based off the Mercedes GLA with the 2.0 liter turbo and looks really sharp. The interior looks great as well.

pbm317

dseag, while the QX30 definitely looks sharp, and has some nice Mercedes-Benz bones, I found the powertrain combination in the CLA/GLA to be one of the worst, specifically in initial acceleration from a stop. The initial slippage of the DCT paired with turbo lag can make starting quite frustrating in my opinion. There's just too much of a delay between stepping on the accelerator and the vehicle actually moving forward with any actual pace. I felt this always created a difficult situation, especially when trying to turn out from a side street and timing gaps in traffic. I had to re-calibrate when I needed to start the acceleration process.

dseag2

That's not good. Thanks for the heads up. Maybe that's why Audi chose not to put a DCT in the new S4 since they've changed over from a supercharged (instant response) to a turbo (lagged response) motor. I will definitely keep this in mind when test driving. Much appreciated!

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

i just saw it just got a refresh so maybe the last '15 santa fe sports were gone and no new '17s yet... anyway, here's an article on the changes. looks like solid updates which were already out in europe apparently. not sure if you can wait until it's available to try it though.
http://www.carscoops.com/2015/09/fac...-santa-fe.html

ST430

It's already out, just in really high demand. We decide to wait a little bit until we see 17' models in October. We were about to get a Murano Platinum, but they didnt have the color combo we wanted.