On 25 Oct 2004 12:17:27 -0700, (Avery)
wrote:

>Searching for an SUV, over the past three weekends my wife and I test
>drove several models. We haven't come to a final decision yet and
>would appreciate some input. We want a new small to medium sized SUV
>below 25k (us dollars) (below 23k is preferable). My wife and I drive
>aggressively, plus where we live, highways have short on-ramps so
>acceleration is a must. Safety ratings must be five stars, it must
>have a usable back seat and it needs to have a mechanical rating.
>We've narrowed our choices down to the CR-V, Chevy Equinox and the
>Liberty as a 3rd option. We ruled out testing the Toyota Rav 4 because
>the interior looked too small.
>
>I've included a summary of our experiences for each. We tested only
>automatic models that came in under 23k.
>
>Honda CR-V
>- Impressive acceleration for a four cylinder engine. Why is that?
>- Good mechanical and safety reviews
>- Fully functional back seat that folds down nicely
>- the cargo door swings sideways making it problem when parked two
>feet from another car. This makes it useless 90% of time. This is
>necessary since the spare is on the back, but there's cargo space
>under the back compartment that's the same shape and almost the size
>of a spare tire.
>- cloth interior looks cheap.
>
>Mitsubishi Outlander
>- Good acceleration for a four cylinder engine but not as good as the
>CRV. This bumped the CR-V up on our list.
>- Back door hinges upward (the proper way)
>- Interior is rather boring for the price-range model we looked at.
>
>Chevrolet Equinox (my wife likes this vehicle above the others)
>- 6 cylinder engine. Best acceleration of what we've tested.
>- Fully functional back seat that folds
>- First-run model so there's no history to research. Yes, it's build
>on all existing parts, but still.
>- Seems rather big to me for some reason. Maybe psychologically when I
>think "Chevy", I think "big"
>- Seemed like a lot of vehicle for its price
>- Instead of a curtain to cover anything in the back, there's a
>plastic shelf. This is a nice thing. But it's not quite big enough to
>fully obscure anything back there. No big deal though.
>
>Subaru Forester (vanilla four cylinder model)
>- Tight cockpit.
>- Bad acceleration
>- Expensive to add a decent engine
>- We didn't feel it was worth the price
>
>Hyundai Santa Fe
>- A friend of mine had access to some research that made us consider
>this
>- Weak acceleration on the six cylinder (non V6) model. Much less then
>the four cylinder CR-V
>- tight cockpit. My arm was pinned against the door.
>
>Jeep Liberty
>- One of my favorites
>- Good acceleration (tested 6 cyl model)
>- I like overall aesthetics
>- The backseat is useless. It doesn't adjust for comfort and there's
>no leg room.
>
>We'd go with the CR-V in an instant if it had six cylinders. The fact
>that it has four concerns us.
>
>Any advice is appreciated.
>~ Avery

My wife's car is a 2003 CR-V. It's a 4wd model with a manual
transmission -- which helps the acceleration and probably the gas
mileage. She is a landscaper and uses the vehicle to haul around
a lot of tools, etc for her business. So far, the CR-V has been
absolutely flawless. It is reliable, fun to drive and cheap
(everything is relative) to purchase and maintain. The back seat
is quite large and useable. When the rear seat is down, it does
well carrying her tools around.

In a nutshell, I'd buy another one in a second when the time
comes.