As JDR76 pointed out, the Cadillac CUE system has had consistently bad reviews from a user-friendliness point-of-view to glitches and usability.

Although the SRX looks rather "compact", it's not. At 190.3" in length, this falls in the "larger midsize" territory in terms of exterior size yet, cargo capacity is relatively tight at 29.9 cu ft. If I recall, exterior size and cargo capacity were key criteria for you.

Go check out the Volvo XC60 for a test drive 182.2" and 30.6 cu ft cargo. You never know. It may suit you best in terms of price, features, and size. A friend of mine, a big car enthusiast as well, has the 2013 XC60 T6 and absolutely loves it.

 

I didn't much care for the SRX...

Have you driven a loaded Jeep Grand Cherokee? Did we talk about that already?

 

It's been nearly a month.. have you test driven anything yet? All the online forums and message boards and reviews won't mean much, you need to get out there and experience them for yourself. And since you're only leasing for 3 years it's not the end of the world if you don't like it. Nearly any car should be pretty good reliability wise to get you through 3 years with minimal major showstopping issues. Get out there and DRIVE!!

 

3 years is still a pretty long time if you don't like the car you leased. You'll probably end up changing it sooner than 3 years if that's the case.

 

Does anyone know if dealers would give their cars for overnight extended test drives. I am not sure if this is common and which brands do vs. don't offer this.

 

Some dealers do this, though it has never happened to me. I'm to chicken to ask I guess.

 

I have had dealers that knew I was seriously interested in buying a car let me leave my car and take a car home overnight. If you mean overnight road trip I seriously doubt any would let you do that.

 

That's usually not an option unless you really want to take a bath. There are usually big penalties for early lease-termination, though the specifics may differ with each contract.

 

More dealerships probably would allow that if it weren't for some insurance issues that may be involved. The dealership's insurance company may not allow it......nor even state law in some cases.

 

MOST leases nowadays allow you to trade out or buy out the lease at any time as long as you can get the payoff. The payoff is the residual plus all the remaining payments. Thats usually doable about 6 months before the end.

 

I just want to take it overnight home, not an overnight roadtrip...

I guess, I will ask my Acura dealer and Lexus dealer fi they would allow it.

 

As to a 3 yr lease term, apparently Acura (or the dealer) is very flexible. I have a buddy who leases an MDX which he uses in his business. He leases for 36 months, is always over on allowable mileage, and between the 24th and 30th month rolls out of the lease into a new lease with zero out of pocket at the same or less monthly lease rate for a comparable equipped vehicle. He did this 3 times until this past September. With the 2014 recently out the dealer was not as negotiable and his lease rate was higher. However he needed tires and a major service on his 2012 and calculated that these costs, plus the better gas mileage of the 2014 offset the higher rate. The way the MDX holds it value, apparently the dealer could easily sell the used MDX at a sufficient price to make the numbers work internally.

 

They have no other way to sell Acura`s as of right now, so they are doing the right thing.

And Marshall, I hear you on the major cost of trading in a car that was leased before the end, however, when I was a car salesman I`ve seen it happen a whole lot. People bought Kia Soul's, older Foresters, Jeeps and were simply not satisfied with the products.They took the hit to be in a car they truely liked even if it meant to pay more.

 

Lexus does the same thing.

 

Maybe in the US, not in Canada. So I can't speak to what happens on the south side of the border. Here in Quebec, they are still playing the: ``We are Lexus, we don't have to lower prices to sell cars`` policy. Yes they will call you 3-6 months before, but not a whole year before the end of the term.