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What other SUV brands did you consider?

8K views 48 replies 34 participants last post by  webspoke 
#1 · (Edited)
just curious if anyone cross-shopped other brands or was Jeep your #1 choice all along?

Ford Explorer, Toyota 4Runner, Nissan Pathfinder, Dodge Durango, BMW X3/5, Audi Q5 etc?
 
#2 ·
Coming from a Tacoma, I was sure I was going to drive the 4Runner but after a few test drives, I thought I'd better give a few others a quick look. The Pathfinder, Highlander, MDX, Q5 and the X5 were on the list and didn't even look at buying a Jeep (or any other non-American, American brand) until I happen to see a TV ad. An overnight test drive later, I was impressed enough to pull the trigger. I've only had it for a day but I'm really happy with it considering the price, amenities, and what I got for my trade.
 
#3 ·
I considered/looked at/test drove several brands and models. I turned in a 2010 Outback Limited, which I considered and ruled out on a number of factors. Others, Ford Explorer, Audi Q5, and the only other real consideration was the Touareg TDI. I test drove the 2011 TDI Lux and the decision was in the air. I wasn't ready to order until September which meant I had to wait on the 2012 VW. VW decided to change the trim options, making Nav a separate otion, effectively raising the price, and based on that fact the obvious choice was the Jeep.
 
#4 ·
in order of want (2nd to jeep, of course).

1) VW Touareg TDI - was just coming out in May when I got my jeep. lease factors not attractive. hard to find. great vehicle though.

2) Toyota 4Runner - great off road, not so great on road. very expensive for equipment. no nav available on lower trim levels. crappy lease.

3) Audi Q7 TDI - ended up being too expensive equipped how i wanted it. lease factors not attractive. also, seemed very big.

4) Ford Explorer - very hard to track down when i got my jeep. brand new vehicle. couldn't even find one to drive at the time.

5) Nissan X-Terra - this was a throw in because my jeep is my first automatic vehicle in years. I wanted a Pro4x with manual transmission. Several local dealers were unable to track one down. Also, lacking equipment, although price was right for equipment level.
 
#5 ·
I considered and test drove the Porsche Cayenne. Really liked it, but the one that was closest to what I wanted didn't have bi-xenon headlights and it was a 2011. I didn't want to order a 2012 and wait several months, and wasn't quite ready to buy at the time, and decided to save some money and get a 2012 Overland Hemi instead. Actually the main reason I waited is the news of the new Jeep SRT8 came out, but then that price made me decide against it too.
 
#6 ·
For me it was a short list. I had some "must haves" and some "like to have". The "must haves" were limited slip, V-8, 4x4, skid plates. The "like to have" were leather, heated seats, nav system, no center console, and no third seat. The only thing that wasn't on my wish list was no center console. JGC was the only one that fit the bill.:cool:
 
#7 · (Edited)
From Australia, the short list for me was:

1) Audi Q7 - Beautiful looking car, cost big bucks to include a few nice extras.

2) Mercedes ML350 - OK, but every man and his dog has one here in Perth.

3) Ford Territory Titanium - Not enough features, model overdue for an update, then updated but Ford have ruined the styling of what was a great car.

4) Jeep Grand Cherokee CRD Overland - Exceptional road presence, good value (even for Australian pricing circa AU$80k on the road with a couple of extras), many features and not that plentiful on the road in Perth. Something a little different.

And the winner is:

Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland

Hopefully will be delivered end of this week.
 
#8 · (Edited)
Drove the:
Lincoln MKX
Toyota Highlander
Ford Explorer
Ford Edge
Kia Sorrento
Mitsubishi Outlander

Co-workers have the Lexus. Used it a few times.

Wanted soft interior surfaces (knocked Toyota, Edge, Kia, and Mitsu out of the running). Mitsu was too noisy on the road, too. Kia was out for no HID as well.
Wanted Panoramic sunroof (knocked Explorer out of the running).
MKX was $10K more expensive (got the JGC Overland w/saddle for the price of the Kia).
The Explorer and the Jeep had the best sound quality when using bluetooth pairing/phone (even though Edge and MKX have the same electronics as Explorer). No echo or muddy sound on the other end of the conversation.
 
#9 ·
Big Subaru fan from the 70's and 80's as I had a fleet car for the past 24 years. But new Outback had/has unresolved harmonic vibration issues at highway speeds. Looked briefly at Explorer. WK2 fits my needs perfectly. Oh, I also wanted a vehicle without the 3rd row of seats which, surprisingly, is not common in this size vehicle.
 
#11 ·
We looked at a *lot* of vehicles:

Lexus RX
Nissan Murano
Chevy Equinox
BMW X3
Audi Q5
Toyota 4Runner
Toyota Highlander
Ford Explorer
Ford Edge
Land Rover LR2
Subaru Outback
Kia Sorrento
Hyundai SantaFe
CPO Mercedes M350
CPO BMW X5

Over the course of 7-8 months...I really think the Jeep is a great value for the money.
 
#12 ·
Lexus GX - Hated to 2010 remodel
Range Rover Sport - Nice but I like the GC better, and a MUCH better value.
Cross-overs ... no thanks.
 
#13 ·
For me, it was between a 2012 Cayenne and JGC. My wife drives a 2012 Cayenne, but given the state of our economy and manufacturing in particular, I decided to buy the JGC to support manufacturing in the U. S. The Cayenne is a better SUV in every respect except for the 4WD system in the JGC. Then again, they compete in vastly different price classes given the fact that in similar configurations, the Cayenne costs about $20,000 more than the JGC.
 
#14 ·
I test drove the Toyota Highlander, Mazda CX-9, Ford Explorer, Honda Pilot, and was going to look at the Kia Sorento and GMC Acadia but never got around to it
 
#15 · (Edited)
I looked at a lot of other vehicles prior to purchasing my 2012 Overland V8 4x4.

In no particular order, the top 3 were...

- Acura MDX - Very nice interior and onroad handling. But no offroad ability and the "socceer mom" look killed it for me.

- BMW X5 - Okay but cramped interior. Great onroad performance. No offroad, poor backup camera, & I-Drive system made it a no go.

- Porsche Cayenne Turbo - Great interior. Improved exterior looks for 2012. Does great onraod and good offroad if properly equipped. But @ 2x the $$ cost of the WK2 made it not realistic.

I also looked at the 5th Gen 4Runner (no V8 meant No Sale for me), Pathfinder, Explorer, Volvo XC90, Chevy Tahoe (too big and too sluggish), and just about every other mid-sized SUV on the market. I felt the WK2 was the only vehicle that met my requirements.


I'm a single guy who was looking for an SUV with the following:
- Good Onroad and Offroad ability (V8 pwr along with Air Suspension allows both)
- Good interior room (I'm 6'1" @ 220 lbs)
- Not a "Socceer Mom" grocery getter
- Good value for the $$$

The Porsche Cayenne Turbo had all of the features and performance I wanted but I just couldn't justify the cost. The WK2 Overland offered similar performance at half the price. :thumbsup:
 
#17 ·
I was looking at the GMC Yukon Denali, my parents have an xl and it is sweet! I really do like what GM has done in terms of build quality on the '08 redo they are nice and I run mostly GMC for my company vehicles. We have Freightliner big trucks which are part of Daimler Chrysler and I really liked the Jeep, it felt just as sure footed and solid as the Denali. I say for the money you get more with the JGC Overland especialy if you opt for the ORAII or Summit. The air strut is a great idea and should be a durable rugged system as long as the components hold up. Quadra Drive and ELSD are top notch systems, the unibody construction is also better. That's all I have to say about that.
 
#18 ·
I checked out several other vehicles. Thought hard about buying an Explorer but read too many horror stories about it. The Enclave came in second but the GC won out in the end, and I have no regrets at all.

We just returned from a 560 mile trip and enjoyed every mile of the drive. :thumbsup:
 
#19 ·
I forgot about the CX-9, we looked at that too.

I really wanted to like the new Explorer (I had one years ago), to me though its too big (its fricking huge), and too minivanish. Great technology in the new Fords though.

I will say that once I drove the Jeep my mind was really made up. Nothing else really compared for me.
 
#20 ·
Really I was looking for a large SUV that could be affordable and be able to tow heavy loads across Kuwait to Bahrain (I sometimes have business there and it's cheaper to tow the samples instead of having to actually ship them or fly them out). I used to be about speed (still get a guilty pleasure out of it) but more of an offroader at heart. So a car that could atleast tackle of few sand dunes and had ability to be modded for offroad adventures was in the list.

Looked at the Chevy Tahoe, really like the look of that big beast. But honestly, price for the 4x4 LT2 was just way too much for what I was getting. I looked around and saw the Toyota Sequoia, pretty ugly in my opinion but had the ability to do everything I wanted. Though I started to feel it was a bit too big for my liking (I already felt the tahoe was a big bit for me but the sequoia was just HUGE, or at least it felt like it in the test drive).

Started to feel helpless. Called in my good friends at VW/Porsche here in Kuwait (In our past 10-11 years in Kuwait we have purchased 5 cars from them. 2 Porsches (mine-bought it used and used it as a rebuild project:996 cab and my dad's 996 turbo) a 2009 Touareg (for my sis, sold it off though), a 2004 Golf 2.0 for my dad as a daily, and a 2011 Passat cc for my mum as her new ride.

They told me to go check out the new Durrango (as I did not want to hop in the new touareg, didn't size up to what I wanted).

I was ready to buy the Durango after a while but then I just fell in love with the new JGC WK2. Instantly changed my mind after a quick test drive and that's where I'm at now.

Lovely beast of a machine!
 
#23 ·
I'm a business analyst/consultant for a consultancy firm here. We are Specializing in IT consulting but also do general business consulting. I've been here for ages. Born here. After gulf war went to Canada, stayed there for severAl years (9 if i remember correctly) and then back here to Kuwait. Had episodes in an out. Spent some time in the uk, Germany and Jordan and uni in Canada/Kuwait! Our consultancy is somewhat of a family business.
 
#27 · (Edited)
I agree with you about the new one, but previous Explorers have always been pretty true SUVs.

The other problem with the new Explorer is it is EXPENSIVE. In order to get the equipment we wanted on the Explorer we would have had to spend $10K more in MSRP than the Jeep we bought, and when you factor in the incredible deal we got on the Jeep, and that you might be lucky to get $1,500 off of an Explorer the difference in cost was more like $15k.

I mean...you can buy an Overland Summit with every option and its still cheaper than a loaded Explorer Limited (they can be $55k), and have WAY more style and capability. $55k puts you into a Mercedes, Land Rover LR4, a new X5, all of which are way more vehicle than an Explorer.
 
#25 ·
I would love to read a thread asking the same question of those who ultimately chose other brands to see what their reasons for excluding the GC ended up being. It's easy to read a thread about people that made the same choice as us; would be interesting to get an outside perspective from folks who made a different (wrong of course!) decision! :eek:)
 
#30 ·
I would love to read a thread asking the same question of those who ultimately chose other brands to see what their reasons for excluding the GC ended up being. It's easy to read a thread about people that made the same choice as us; would be interesting to get an outside perspective from folks who made a different (wrong of course!) decision! :eek:)
I agree, I actually have not bought a WK2 yet. I will need to replace my aging 04 Overland sometime next year and I am of course leaning toward staying with Jeep.

But I am also open to other possibilities, my main other consideration is the Nissan Pathfinder due to the fact that is the only other small to midsized SUV that I have seen that has an available V/8 engine and a fold flat cargo area.

Of course I also need something that is comfortable to drive for long days behind the wheel for my work. I have not test driven either one yet.

I hope I do not make the wrong choice.
 
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