This.

I put about 1000 miles on a Escape Ecoboost rental and came away very impressed. Great motor, nice steering/brakes/handling by SUV standards.

My parents have a 2012 CRV that I have borrowed on multiple occasions. It feels well put together and totally without personality - a typical Honda appliance. My mom loves hers and it's been flawless, but I would prefer an Escape or CX5 (or a hatchback).

Todd (nostatic) has an X1 that he bought new, you should ask him about his experience thus far.

Now that is the age old problem Matt I agree. Most suv's have no personality. BMW maybe but like the above say they have mechanical issues. I have tried the CX5 and it similarly has no personality. The Miata has a personality perhaps coz of its size.But that is another category altogether. The Forester is pretty good but basically what is boils down to are reliability factor and the features it comes with.
A flat 4 engine.

The VW Tiguan drives nicely and probably better than most suv's but it has reliability issues plus it is not that big.

Well I have about 3 more months before the snow comes and the slick roads so then an suv makes sense....

Guy

I'm assuming you've considered the RAV4. Is the Volvo XC60 too spendy?

Wait.... a Mazda CX5 has no personality..... but the CRV does? WTF

I think the CX-5 will be coming to the US with a diesel sometime soon. Don't know about Canada.

I agree the CRV has no personality but nor does the CX5. One thing that the CRV has that the CX5 does not is that it is more dependable .The fact that there are more CRV's around than CX5's tells me something. WTF
G.

Would this be of any help?
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Reviews | Autoweek

Yes, it tells you that sheeple believe that more sales equates to a more 'dependable' vehicle. :rolleyes:

Good point. It also mean a bigger audience when it's time to sell.

Good point. Then the OP should consider the GM Equinox/Terrain as they are the #1 seller in the small CUV segment.

Sales of Chevrolet Equinox / GMC Terrain through June: 171,518

Sales of Honda CRV through June: 154,692

Sales of Toyota RAV4 through June: 116,952

Sales of Mazda CX5 through June: 50,275

The way I see it is that 50k miles on a GM product = 100k+ miles on a Honda or Toyota. The only way I would be seen dead in a GM product is in a Cadillac hearse.
Just a question of time before Toyota/Honda make a hearse though.....
That is not an anti US statement coz lots of Japanese cars are made under licence in the US.
G

But I thought the number of sales "tells you something" about the dependability :confused:

Anyway, in CANADA, the Ford Escape handily outsells everything else and keeps padding their lead... the Escape is the way to go in Canada. Great little vehicle, every bit as nice as anything else, certainly better than the CRV.

honda.

coming from a guy who recently sold a Cayenne for a Toyota Highlander

Great comparison test by a couple friends:

Ford Escape vs. Honda CR-V vs. Kia Sportage vs. Mazda CX-5 vs. Volkswagen Tiguan - 2012/2013 Compact Crossover SUV Comparison - Motor Trend All Pages

Depends on what is important to you. I owned a CR-V for a month or two. Competent vehicle with tons of room. Quick enough from a stoplight, abysmal when at freeway speeds. Totally boring and uninvolving vehicle. I sold it.

BMW X1 however - I have yet to find a fault with it other than possibly suspect long-term reliability (I'm leasing). It is a small vehicle, but all the stuff that I need fits in it. I got the sport option so the seats give proper support. The 8-speed automatic is pretty slick, and the 2L turbo is plenty quick (240hp/255 ft/lb). The last of the hydraulic steering racks, and all-wheel drive. Plus it comes in orange. It has however been to the shop twice for adaptive headlight errors (I'm at about 12K miles). Fixed quickly under warranty so we'll see how it goes. If it behaves, I'll likely buy it out of lease as I really like the vehicle. Like I said - for me, I can't really find flaws. Sure I'd like to have a 2600 lb coupe with a manual transmission - until I need to haul stuff or sit in LA traffic.

http://nostatic.com/photos/carbike1.JPG

http://nostatic.com/photos/x1-1.jpg

http://nostatic.com/photos/x1-5.jpg

That there are lots of people who don't adequately comparison shop, and will pay more money for an equal or inferior product because of effective marketing?

Sincerely - the happy owner of four Mazdas that have all been flawless vehicles.

The CX5 also just entered the market. While even comparing specific model years the CRV still shows higher sales volume, the CX5 appears to lag even farther than it does in reality because there aren't an additional 10+yrs of models out there. (Your mental count of the number of CRVs out there is very likely influenced by the number of old ones you've seen as well as the number of new ones.)

Mazda is minuscule compared the the big 3, Honda, and Toyota. Smaller production capability, smaller advertising budget, smaller dealer network. So much so that I've read articles questioning their long term ability to stay independent. In my opinion (and many journalists) their cars are class leading, but they are still in many ways a well-kept secret.

"Sheeple"... that is great. Thanks for the evening chuckle... and so true.