[Aggie93]

Vehicle recommendation treads seem to be popular now. Yesterday, I got hit with a $2700 bill for my wife's Highlander. I'm not sure I want to put $3k into a vehicle worth $7k, plus my wife said she is tried of it and has been thinking of a new car. We liked the car and the functionality of it, specifically the fold down 3rd seat and reliability.

It will be used mostly for <20 mile trips and 4-5 weekend trips (200+miles) per year.

Also since moving to Pittsburgh from Dallas, an AWD makes sense. Marginal I know, but my wife does go to the gym before we get plowed out - and my suggestion of helping me shovel for her workout has not worked.

I think I want to keep it under $30k and we usually buy a 2-3 year old car, but this is not set in stone. My guess is the market for 2-3 year old cars is tight since sales plunged in 2009-10.

After skimming Edmunds, my short list right now is:
Acura MDX
Buick Enclave
GMC Acadia
Lincoln MKT
Mazda CX-9
Toyota Highlander

I plan on looking at the X5 and Q7, but I don't think my wife will think it worth the extra $.

What am I missing (better than Edmunds' review) and which should I cross off. Would like a list of four vehicles before test driving. I'm just remembering how much I hate this process.