The Front Row

Just make sure you do your research on multiple cars. Go to www.edmunds.com and read the consumer reviews of each model that you are interested in...You will see the consistencies to allow you to make an educated decision. Good Luck!

We love our Acura MDX. AWD standard, with great space.

We went with the 4 cylinder simply due to the mileage factor. Clearly there is a noticeable difference but I still felt completely comfortable with its ability to get up to speed. I don't see it as a problem at all and I live with a lot of hills.

Our second choice was probably the Mazda CX5 or Ford Escape. But, I personally don't like what the Escape looks and feels like these days, although it drove really well. And the Mazda was cool but I guess we just felt that the Outback was the superior ride for our needs.

I wish you the best of luck. The process is always kind of a drag but it sure is fun when you bring that baby home!

Go Bucks.

I work for General Motors. Looks like I'm in trouble.

I'm surprised over 1 page of posts and not one mention of the 2013 Ford Edge. WOW is that thing nice. My parents just got one.. very nice. I told them I couldn't drive it on a daily basis because it was so comfortable I'd probably fall asleep on the way to work! I drive a car during the summer but I do have an SUV for the Winter. It's an old school 2005 Chevy Trailblazer but it's 4X4 and BAD ASS in the winter. If you're worried about snow... get something 4X4. I've noticed a lot of different types of "AWD" (some, not all) out there seem a little gimmicky.. don't always work right.. atleast not the way you'd like it to. If weather is a big concern, I'd definitely recommend something you can flip into 4X4 and any second.

I am interested also...

Gosh, where do I start!

I actually have a TON of inside info into how this organization is biased and corrupt. Unfortunately, I can't get into too many specifics as I don't want to out my company or anybody I've worked with in regards to these guys. But I can speak in generalities. I work for an American based Fortune 500 company. We are the leader in our industry in the products we sell. We sell PREMIUM products, Quality is #1. Most of our products are backed by a life time warranty that we do actually stand behind and honor. We distribute our own products through our own stores... so you won't find our products at some Big Box Store like some of our competitors. In numerous instances, our competitors don't even HAVE a comparable product, but that doesn't stop Consumer Reports from lumping our products in with inferior products and then of course.. somehow finding a way to rate our products lower. Go figure. Anyways, Consumer Reports WILL NOT disclose their testing methodology. But we test our own products extensively, as well as our competitors products. Because in our Industry we make sure our products out perform our competitors products and do extensive testing on not only our own products, but competitive products. Our internal tests don't come close to matching up with how Consumer Reports ranks the products tested. It's as if they threw darts at a board or something and ranked all these products. And not just our own products.. I'm talking about our competitors products now too. Often times, a competitor that usually runs a somewhat close second to us is dumped right to the bottom. Don't care for the internal tests? That's fine, I can understand that. In our Industry, there is a recognized INDEPENDENT testing organization that our company and our competitors send our products to. Their tests almost always come up with similar findings to what we come up with internally.. with the occasional surprise here or there. But they are a recognized and respected independent testing organization industry wide. Guess what? Consumer Reports doesn't have any sort of relationship with them. It's like they don't even know they exist. I'm sure they don't even care that they exist. We venture to guess that they don't like us and our usual closest competitor due to price. Yes, we are expensive.. but you get what you pay for in almost all instances. But then again, who can say for sure when they don't disclose their testing methodology.

Long story short, Consumer Reports has a cult like following and they cater to this base. They are simply interested in selling their magazines or their online versions. They're actually very clever about knowing who their customer base is and what it is they're looking for & want to read. If you look out there, there is a WEALTH of information that highlights the bias' of a lot of their opinions on a wide range of products. They were involved in a bait & switch scheme that pertained to their "build a car" program a while back. It was also found that on certain car brands that they "assumed" based on history that these brands were so reliable they didn't even bother to test the new models at all and didn't wait for suvery data to come back from customers before issuing their recommendations. For the most part, they don't even use any scientific method when testing vehicles either. They're mostly subjective. Probably the scariest area that Consumer Reports dabbles into is health & drugs. They have no idea what the hell they're talking about when it comes to that stuff. I'm begging any of you... do NOT make health/drug decisions for yourself or your family based on what you read in these "reports". Find respected medical publications.. not these guys.

As a disclaimer - I'm not saying Consumer Reports is wrong on every product, every time. It would actually be pretty hard to pull something like that off. But if you think there aren't many biases that go into what they publish, then I'd challenge you to do further research on what you're buying, and also do some research on Consumer Reports themselves. Believe me.. I WISH I could tell you guys more of the things I know.. but I'm not going to get myself, my co-workers, or my company into any trouble here. But it's all out there if you're interested in finding it!

Don't disregard sedans. They have just as much room and in some cases more than the "suv"s. They are better on gas as well. Don't get a 4 wheel drive if you don't plan on doing a lot of off roading. They dramatically increase the price tag and are expensive to fix. You don't need 4 wheel drive for winter driving. Front wheel drive is fine. You can seat as many in a 4 door sedan plus you will save a few dollars.

I compared the two a few years back. SUVs, unless I was was getting a luxury model like the Cadillac, BMW, or other expensive model, offered nothing more than I could get from a sedan as far as space, seating capacity, and comfort which were my three criteria. SUVs require you to flip down your seats to get access to the storage so you lose seating capacity. Sedans have huge trunks off the hop without the need to sacrifice seating. Plus I can flip the back seats down and carry 8-12 feet long pieces of lumber.

Don't pay for what you don't need.

Of the original models mentioned I would highly recommend the Subaru. My wife and I have leased two Legacies from them (sedan version of the Outback). They worked wonderfully in the areas you are concerned with. The Subaru AWD system is really tops in the industry (and almost every sales person at other dealerships aren't even willing to object to that). Further, the gas mileage on the Legacy for my wife was 30mpg. For an AWD car, that is as good as you are going to get without going hybrid.

We recently turned our last one in for an Infinity G37x. While the Infinity is more fun to drive, we lost some interior space and we lost about 8 MPG. My wife preferred the Subaru. It's somewhat an apples and oranges comparison, but I do find it interesting that my wife ends up preferring the vehicle that was $15k cheaper based off MSRP.

By the way, we spent four months researching AWD sedans. These were the two that we narrowed it down to. We looked at every single entry level luxury vehicle and everything else. Money wasn't an issue, so the net we cast at the start was pretty wide. We did read the Consumer Reports write ups, but we also researched many other ways including the IIHS which is probably the least subjective research on crash testing. (There was no testing completed for the Infiniti we leased which resulted in us taking a short lease). I read a lot of useful info on Edmunds.com and interviewed about 8 salesman by asking them to exclude the vehcile they were selling and make a suggestion among their competitors.

Ironically, I need a gas grill before spring. What site am I checking for information? I'm sure you can guess. LOL What's my other option? Amazon?

I don't want to hijack the thread but the Weber Genesis is on my short list. Unfortunately it pushes a grand. I am a die hard fan of the Weber Kettle for when I don't want any propane in my food. I love my Kettle.

Another hijack alert....

I debate whether to cover or not cover the grill. I have been told that if you cover it, the moisture underneath the cover doesn't evaporate and causes the rusting. That it's better not to cover the grill so the moisture doesn't linger.

My current Charbroil has only lasted six years uncovered.