Budget Conscious but Reliable: Equinox, CX-5, Outlander, or CX-9?

[HerRoyalHighness]

Very true. The Explorer is a much larger vehicle with much more trunk space than I need. The only things I really haul around are chairs for sitting on the sidelines at football games, a tote bag of snacks, of and a cooler filled with water, Gatorade, and Gogurt. And those usually end up in our Sienna more often than not because we usually end up bringing along an extra kid or two from the cheer squads or the football team.

I hear you. I am doomed to have a minivan for all of eternity. Not really sad...has a billion cup holders

 

[npatellye]

I did find one Telluride available about an hour away…but it’s $6,000 over MSRP so that’s out. I found a Palisade which is also over MSRP but by about $3,000. That’s also out.

I guess I’m between the CX-5, the Outlander, and the Equinox.

 

[cvjw]

Can you not wait a bit and get a Toyota or a Honda? I would pick either of those over any of your listed options.

 

[npatellye]

Can you not wait a bit and get a Toyota or a Honda? I would pick either of those over any of your listed options.

I had a CRV and hated it with a passion. I had a RAV4 and liked it but I want a RAV4 Prime which is not available anywhere within 100 miles. I could probably just wait out the crazy markups but I have a feeling I’ll be waiting a while.

 

[badiggio]

Had Explorers for years,the Sport model.Loved the space and power when needed.When we didn't need all that space anymore,we downsized to the EDGE ST.

 

[tvguy]

Test drive an Edge and an Escape and see what you think.
But you are in a awful spot with new cars almost impossible to get, and with prices thousands over sticker. Have you considered hanging onto the Explorer for another 2 or 3 years until the market (hopefully) settles down?

 

[Communicore1991]

Are GMCs anywhere on your radar? I had a GMC Terrain and liked it and now have a GMC Acadia and love it! Very reliable, lots of power, and I'm 6'4 and have plenty of room in the cabin wherever I sit. My Acadia is now 5 years old and all my passengers always mention how quiet and smooth of a ride it is.

Happy to answer any additional questions you may have as well.

 

[npatellye]

Test drive an Edge and an Escape and see what you think.
But you are in a awful spot with new cars almost impossible to get, and with prices thousands over sticker. Have you considered hanging onto the Explorer for another 2 or 3 years until the market (hopefully) settles down?

I could wait but I’m not sure about another 2-3 years. I think I could wait another year or so until next summer. I did find a RAV4 Prime and a Santa Fe PHEV at dealers not too far away and, with PHEV rebate, they are looking like solid options. I will definitely put the Edge and the Escape hybrid on my test drive list. I’m hoping to get a little more fuel efficiency since my commute to work is a little over 30 miles each way (though that’s much better than my pre-Covid commute of 55 miles each way).

 

[npatellye]

Are GMCs anywhere on your radar? I had a GMC Terrain and liked it and now have a GMC Acadia and love it! Very reliable, lots of power, and I'm 6'4 and have plenty of room in the cabin wherever I sit. My Acadia is now 5 years old and all my passengers always mention how quiet and smooth of a ride it is.

Happy to answer any additional questions you may have as well.

I’m open to GMC. How’s the mileage? I mostly drive highway miles to work.

 

[tvguy]

I could wait but I’m not sure about another 2-3 years. I think I could wait another year or so until next summer. I did find a RAV4 Prime and a Santa Fe PHEV at dealers not too far away and, with PHEV rebate, they are looking like solid options. I will definitely put the Edge and the Escape hybrid on my test drive list. I’m hoping to get a little more fuel efficiency since my commute to work is a little over 30 miles each way (though that’s much better than my pre-Covid commute of 55 miles each way).

We used to use Explorers at work. Normally ran them 300,000 miles without issue. They now use Escapes, but had a number of Escapes totaled in traffic accidents, and had trouble finding any Escapes around here. They bought a Subaru Outback, because at least here Subaru dealers seem less impacted by the car shortage. If you live in snow country, I would think Subaru should be on your list to consider too.

 

[npatellye]

We used to use Explorers at work. Normally ran them 300,000 miles without issue. They now use Escapes, but had a number of Escapes totaled in traffic accidents, and had trouble finding any Escapes around here. They bought a Subaru Outback, because at least here Subaru dealers seem less impacted by the car shortage. If you live in snow country, I would think Subaru should be on your list to consider too.

Good to know! I had the Subaru Ascent on my list but it’s very difficult to find within a reasonable distance and, if I do find it within 100 miles, it’s thousands over sticker. So I ended up ruling it out.

I did get my Explorer back today and it looks great, drives fine. Someone is coming Monday to detail the inside of it so it’ll be cleared out of the winter dirt and kiddie crumbs while I use it and figure out what to trade it in for.

 

[nene0182]

I have a 2021 Mazda CX-5 Grand Touring with the preferred package, I previously had a 2019 Ford Escape. The Ford was “alright” but there is something about my Mazda that a year later I still love. I obviously can’t speak to durability since mine is only a year old with 6,500 miles on it but many people on the CX-5 Facebook group I’m on have vehicles with almost 200k miles on them. I think it’s definitely worth a test drive.

 

[HopperFan]

Love my Equinox - but it is a Chevrolet.

 

[npatellye]

Love my Equinox - but it is a Chevrolet.

I know. My phone is wonky and somehow I hit something that autocorrected to Chrysler and I didn’t proofread before posting the poll.

 

[jeff_h]

DW has had an Equinox Premier AWD since 2018 and zero issues with it, she loves it.

 

[kydisneyfans]

We bought a Mazda new and never spent so much time in the repair shop with a car. It was 8 years old with barely 100K miles on it, the headlights were so dim you couldn't drive at night, and we had sudden acceleration issues. We only got 2K out of in when selling. I'll never go Mazda again. We have 3 Toyotas totaling nearly 400,000 miles. The only issue has been an A/C compressor was replaced today on our 12 year old truck. When spending that amount of money, just make sure you get what you want.

 

[Communicore1991]

I’m open to GMC. How’s the mileage? I mostly drive highway miles to work.

I also do mostly highway driving to/from work. I have the V6 engine and I'm pretty much at a solid 20/21 MPG. I reset my trip computer every time I fill up and that's what I consistently see. I don't know if they still do it, but my 2017 will automatically switch between 4 and 6 cylinders to be more economical as well.

And in terms of reliability, I do close to 14k miles a year so 5 years in I'm just under 70,000 miles.

 

[robinb]

We purchased our son a brand new Mazda when he went to college. At the time, we had the Mazda, a Honda, a Subaru and a Toyota. Only the Mazda had to go to the dealership. Always something going on with it. We would never buy another one.

I would never buy another Mazda either. We owned a Mazda 5 and it was terrible. We name all of our cars and the Mazda’s name became “Hoopity”. I couldn’t wait to get rid of it (but still kept it for 8 years). We’ve owned a number of Toyotas and SAABs and we now own a Honda and a Subaru. We liked all of our cars except the Mazda.

OP, I’m not sure you need to limit yourself to local dealers. Don’t they still ship and trade cars between dealers? Also, if your perfect car is a couple states away you can negotiate by email and road trip it back. We drive our SAAB 9-3 convertible cross country. It was an adventure lol.

 

[npatellye]

I also do mostly highway driving to/from work. I have the V6 engine and I'm pretty much at a solid 20/21 MPG. I reset my trip computer every time I fill up and that's what I consistently see. I don't know if they still do it, but my 2017 will automatically switch between 4 and 6 cylinders to be more economical as well.

And in terms of reliability, I do close to 14k miles a year so 5 years in I'm just under 70,000 miles.

I probably will do about the same in terms mileage each year by the time I account for driving the kids to and from camp each day for a month, cheer practices, football games away, dance lesson, etc. I’m just hoping to get something that gets more MPG than my Explorer. I’m averaging about 22/23 MPG per tank as a whole and gas up here is still well over $3.50/gallon, even with the gas tax holiday until August. The Toyota and Hyundai PHEVs are looking more and more promising to me, especially with the rebate.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I don’t have an opinion on any of the vehicles you listed but if you truly need to get around in snow, I’d be looking at 4WD, which your Explorer is, not AWD.

Dh has had 4WD trucks since the early 1990’s and they are amazing in snow. Even I felt very confident driving it through 18” once with no slipping at all. Meanwhile, my first snow with my current AWD Lincoln MKC slid a lot just taking a slow turn on a flat, residential road in maybe 5” of snow. I thought AWD was better than that. When you need a vehicle with real traction in snow, only 4x4 will do.
BTW, we are in South Jersey and get far less snow than New England. If I were in your shoes, I would limit my focus to 4WD or you will sorely miss your Explorer. They are great vehicles. My parents had his & hers Explorers.
I don't know of anyone with a newer one though for more recent reviews.