Hi Lee, I drove the 2014 CX5 GS. It has a 2 litre engine that is adequate. It uses regular gas vs. premium in the Tiguan. I felt the CX5 did everything well and has a great instrument display. It feels quite a bit bigger than the Tiguan and the reviews given are good.

With the back seats down there is lots of room to put a bike or cargo. I was impressed with the overall quality. It steers very nicely(steering wheel stays centred) and the ride is not harsh.

This predicament or choice reminds me of 12 years ago when we were buying a car for my wife. Reliability vs fun to drive factor. Camry vs Jetta. Ended up buying a Camry when we should have bought the more fun to drive smaller Jetta.....
Guy.

Had you bought a Jetta 12 years ago, I doubt you would be Tiguan shopping.;)

Good point! Am going to try the Forester in the next couple of days....
G

Another vote for the Mazda. My 3 has been awesome, and we loved my wife's 5 before trading her up to the Odyssey - we would have kept the 5 if not for the space demands of another kid.

Upon my recommendation - my father bought a 2014 CX-5. Loaded to the hilt and he loves that thing. Brilliant cars. Fun to drive, low maintenance, and very much on the affordable end of the segment.

Nobody like the new Mitsubishi Outlander?

My wifes daily driver is a 2007 Toyota RAV4 with a 3.5 V6 it is as reliable as a stove. Has a touch over 70k and we have had to replace nothing other than brake pads ( once ) and tires. It has tons of power and set the cruise for 65 she'll get 30 mpg. It's comfortable, quiet, easy to drive/park there's not much not to like. Yes it is a Japanese appliance but for a daily driver it is perfect.

my next car is gonna be a mazda…. either cx-5 or a 3 hatch!

I took my Boxster to the local indy shop yesterday. My wife and I walked over to pick it up later. My wife asked what the owner of the indy shop liked of the following 3 cars.

CX5? Being Asian his words are few and precise(a good quality!). His head goes side to side and says second level.
Tiguan? His hand goes up and it wobbles accompanied by errrr.
Forester? His head nods up and down and says Subaru is here for the long term.
He should know as to what cars he works on more often.

Neighbour just returned from a trip yesterday with his 2014 Forester. I asked if I could take it for a local test drive which I did. Sounded quiet, smooth and drove well.
He said however it took about 10 minutes to get good heat in the middle of winter. The Forester auto trans has only 4 speeds but I can live with that as we don't get out of town too much but I will later try it on the hiway.

So far of the three cars the Tiguan was the most fun to drive but coming off the Boxster I want reliability so from what I have read so far Subaru is up there.
In my reading I have come across that Toyota reliability is not what it used to be.
I will keep on with the test drives though.......G