Small SUV suggestion?

cookie123

New member
A friend of DH's is interested in buying my Prius. I don't know if I can give up the gas mileage! But there's little else I like about it. I would hope to find something newish ~ a few thousand miles.

I've been considering the CRV and the Santa Fe Sport or Tucson (I know they have heated cloth seats which appeals to me) or the Mazda CX5 which sounds like a bad car seat decision. I'm not sure I want leather again. My last 2 or 3 cars have had it and the seats have all been so hard! Uncomfortable. So any other ideas?
 
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cantabdad

New member
If you're looking for a small SUV, the ones that are rated as a Top Safety Pick or TSP+ by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety are:
- Subaru Forester
- Mitsubishi Outlander / Outlander Sport
- Mazda CX-5
- Nissan Rogue


The CX-5 seems fine for carseats in general, but there have been several discussions here about the difficulty in doing 3-across because of the very narrow middle seat on trim levels that have the 40-20-40 fold-down split. Maybe that is what you were referring to.

I know that you can get the Forester with heated cloth seats (Premium trim with All-Weather Package). The other Japanese makers (Nissan, Toyota, Honda, and Mazda) all generally offer heated seats only with leather, as far as I can tell.
 

cookie123

New member
I'm disappointed to see the CRV wasn't a safety pick. I think it only got the second rating on the small off set test.
 

nataliem257

New member
If you're looking for a small SUV, the ones that are rated as a Top Safety Pick or TSP+ by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety are:
- Subaru Forester
- Mitsubishi Outlander / Outlander Sport
- Mazda CX-5
- Nissan Rogue

The CX-5 seems fine for carseats in general, but there have been several discussions here about the difficulty in doing 3-across because of the very narrow middle seat on trim levels that have the 40-20-40 fold-down split. Maybe that is what you were referring to.

I know that you can get the Forester with heated cloth seats (Premium trim with All-Weather Package). The other Japanese makers (Nissan, Toyota, Honda, and Mazda) all generally offer heated seats only with leather, as far as I can tell.

Also, the Nissan Rogue received a 3 star result on the NHTSA front impact test. The other 3 are 5 star overall.
 

DawgDad

New member
I'm disappointed to see the CRV wasn't a safety pick. I think it only got the second rating on the small off set test.

I am fairly certain the 2016 model is a new generation overhaul for the CRV. Should be quite an impressive change. They were the class leader for a long time and have let many new small SUVs creep into their space, so I would assume they will come out with a great looking, safe, and full of features CR-V.
 

Violet's Mom

New member
Not to downplay the importance of your crash-test concern - it was certainly something we looked at when we bought a car recently - but probably any of those cars would be better than the Prius in that regard.

I am fairly certain the 2016 model is a new generation overhaul for the CRV. Should be quite an impressive change. They were the class leader for a long time and have let many new small SUVs creep into their space, so I would assume they will come out with a great looking, safe, and full of features CR-V.

Honda dealer said the Pilot was likely going to be overhauled for next year (they have the SE edition this year, which is apparently commonly done before they revamp the car). He didn't mention the CRV. They both could use it, I think.
 

DawgDad

New member
Honda dealer said the Pilot was likely going to be overhauled for next year (they have the SE edition this year, which is apparently commonly done before they revamp the car). He didn't mention the CRV. They both could use it, I think.

Yep, definitely heard the same for the Pilot. I was just going on industry speculation and Honda's typical generation timeline. The CR-V is due. The other cars in it's class have already had their overhauls and have surpassed the CR-V in so many ways...but it's not a profitable segment yet, so I can see why they could be hesitant in overhauling it.
 

Violet's Mom

New member
Not to downplay the importance of your crash-test concern - it was certainly something we looked at when we bought a car recently - but probably any of those cars would be better than the Prius in that regard.

The Prius was a top safety pick when I got it.

No offense intended - I was thinking of Prius C and V, which have had poor scores on the small overlap test from 2012-2014. (If I remember correctly, the top safety pick was rescinded for the prius V after the small overlap test in 2012.)

Looking at the regular Prius, I guess Toyota wisely didn't do the small overlap test on it until 2014 and it scored an adequate - significantly better than the c and v.
 

cookie123

New member
No offense taken. I was just pointing out that it was lol! I was looking at some site comparing vehicles. It gave miles per trip and gallons per tank. Now I'm reconsidering! I kind of like the time and money I save filling up with 9 gallons!
 
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Violet's Mom

New member
No offense taken. I was just pointing out that it was lol! I was looking at some site comparing vehicles. It gave miles per trip and gallons per tank. Now I'm reconsidering! I kind of like the time and money I save filling up with 9 gallons!

That kind of gas mileage would be awesome. Even a CRV will probably be quite a shock!
 

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