Volvo's do look hot, I also really like new Jaguar SUV look.
For $30K or less the I would recommend looking at a few year old MDX, RX, Highlander or Pathfinder/QX60, 4Runner. New 8 speed MDX have jerky tranny, but great AWD. Nissan/Infinity can be had for much less than when they were new as they don't seem to hold value as well as Honda/Acura or Toyota/Lexus. Japanese are probably going to be substantially more reliable, than EU or US cars. A friend of ours has Hundai SantaFe with about 180K and that thing has been nothing bur reliable. They take it everywhere too.

I wish we could get the same options offered in other countries - like Benz GL or Toyota LandCruiser without luxury stuff, but with diesel engine, cloth interior, etc.

Car and driver had zero problems with their long term CX-9. I think if you can get a brand new CX-9 Touring for $30k that's a no brainer. Mazda offers a 9 yr 100k mile bumper to bumper warranty you should be able to buy for under $2500 (maybe even under $2k, depends on how cheap they're willing to sell it, dealer cost will be under $2k) and I'd recommend that with how expensive new cars are to fix.

We drove a crap load of cars over the weekend. CX9, couple Edges, couple Hyundai Santa fe's.

Santa Fe felt fastest by far, torque grabbed your by the scruff of the neck and threw you down the road. Interior is slightly sub par compared to the Ford, black on black interior looks pretty good. Tech was good. Drove great. The problem was the only one I could find with the black interior was $1800 more than a comparable Edge, and was smaller.

CX9 drives great, looks great, but lacks interior storage around the drivers area, felt more cramped. Lacks some of the tech of the others. I loved the looks and the interior, but was a few grand more for less equipment and didn't "wow" me on the drive.

Ford: I hate Ford. Fit and finish was garbage, but it was spacious. more usable cargo room, had all the tech we wanted, panoramic roof, 2.0 ecoboost pulled hard enough, price was right, offered full warranty till 2024, wife loved it. 2016 Ford Edge Titanium Ecoboost. Bronze exterior and a saddle brown leather interior. It was the winner.

Sigh.... its not my daily, and will be good for the wife. So far we are averaging 25mpg on it. This isn't mine, but same look

http://i65.tinypic.com/1z49xja.jpg

I'm sorry.


Nice dress! Let those pants go. :P

Let the Ford go. A family member of mine has a 2016 Edge. Absolute junk. Interior feels like junk, the eco boost didn’t do anything for me in terms of power. The transmission is extremely indecisive. Also, the mileage it gets isn’t that great, considering it has a milk carton engine and is geared for Econ.
The turbo in that one also had issues, then the wiring harness was fucky.
I really wanted to like it, because I want American car manufacturers to make solid cars. The edge was just a let down for me.

I know you expressed that yoy didn’t like Foresters. My gf’s mom has the non turbo one, in manual. It’s a hell of a lot of fun to drive for what it is. I got 30mpg+ on my drive up to Montreal from Boston area. The car was perfect the whole time.

There really wasn't much on the market that interested me, but works for the wife/kid. So far she likes it. Sucks to hear you had a bad time with the Ford, not exactly what someone wants to hear after dropping fat stacks on one haha. Every car does have drawbacks. At this point its the best option I think. Now.... she has her car... I get to shop for MY new car.