What car; the Murano v. Ford Edge v. what else thread

The old 2001 Grand Cherokee died on the way home .. well, it still runs, but the electricals seem to be shot. the entire dash went dead and there's a burnt electrical smell.. but it got me home.

Back to the real topic though. The Mrs. and I have been planning to replace it with something brand new off the lot in the very near future. I'm normally a used car guy, but we're planning on adding a baby to the family soon, and also want to do some credit building.

I'll need something family hauling capable. We're regular road trippers. We do a bunch of hiking and some light camping. I'll also have to hook up a light trailer occasionally .. probably only in the 1,000 to 2,000 pound range. Oh, and there are times I have to haul IT equipment for work. Think work group sized laser printers and servers.

I was originally wary of the CVT in the Murano, but there are tons on the road and they don't seem to blow up .. and the Mrs. likes the way the look. They have just about the right mix of space, utility, and economy. On the negative side, they're due for a major update in 2015 model year, so the 2014s may be long in the tooth compared to more recently updated options.

The Ford Edge seems to be in about the same category, and is more recently updated. I haven't been in many of Ford's newer cars, but I've heard good things.

I've really liked recent Mazdas, but they don't seem to have a competitor. The CX-5 is too small, and the CX-7 seems to big (unless they've updated recently.)

What does the collective think? Are there competitors I'm overlooking?

The new Ford Escape, (the CX7 really isn't that big), Kia and Hyundai whatevers....

mndsm wrote: The new Ford Escape, (the CX7 really isn't that big), Kia and Hyundai whatevers....

Yeah, the CX-9 is the big one, the CX-7 are pretty decent. Check out the Hyundai Santa Fe and Kia Sorento(?) for sure. Not the turd buckets they once were.

fromeast2west wrote: The old 2001 Grand Cherokee died on the way home .. well, it still runs, but the electricals seem to be shot. the entire dash went dead and there's a burnt electrical smell..

Oh, and have you tried turning it off and on again?

Yawn. Sorry, SUV's, lost focus.

Cx7 plus corn is an awd boostie filled sleeper. Remember the ms3 started out as a truck engine.

I wouldn't own a Murano without a decent extended warranty, an AWD one anyway.

When I was at Nissan, I lost count of the number of leaking transfer cases I saw. There's a 5 year, 60K mile power train warranty, a lot were covered, but there were a lot more that weren't, 60,001 miles = you're boned. Oil cooler leaks were another common failure. Their CVT does appear to be more robust than the one in the Rouge.

I'd expect the Murano to have the worst fuel economy of what you're shopping it against.

• Lee

Cx-9 is a more reliable, more fun to drive edge(same chassis and engine, built in Japan, tuned by mazda). Our 2010 grand touring is absolutely great. Drive one. J

Concerning the Moron-O, I don't think I could ever get over the fact I was driving such a hideous looking vehicle.

I am looking for something similar. Started out with Forester XT, moved to Outback 3.6R, and am arriving at a newer used Tribeca with the 3.6R drive-train (non-CVT auto). Might want to check those out. Nissans don't look so good these days IMO. They are always giving them away with promos around here, too.

I don't understand the allure of SUVs. What's wrong with a wagon or a full-size car? I mean, unless you WANT to dump 100-dollar bills straight into your gas tank.

New Sorento/SanteFe are a great option. mid-high 20's, turbo-4 power. Great room and nice drivers. Plus dat warranty.

In reply to Sky_Render:

He's not asking for opinions on why his question may or may not be dumb. He's asking what in that category is a good option. Do you have any suggestions or do you want to just keep telling him he's dumb?

I would avoid the CX-7 with the 2.3L turbo.
I recently wrote about quality concerns regarding chain failures and turbo failures on low mile engines (out of warranty.)

The 2.5L n/a engine might represent a value if you can take advantage of the car's overall poor reputation (read: low price) but avoid the actual engine responsible for the reputation.

We just got back from doing test drives at the Nissan and Mazda dealers, and the surprise contender right now is the CX-5 .. which I know nothing about because it wasn't on the original list we were going to look at.

In reply to Sky_Render, I actually like wagons, but one of the reasons an SUV is on the list is because of it's height, and the ease of dealing with a baby seat for someone prone to back problems. Leaning in to deal with a baby seat in a wagon is a no-go. The other option would be a mini-van, which I'm OK with, but SWMBO is anti-minivan.. so smaller SUVs and crossovers are our market... at least until they make a power wagon with rear seat gull wings or something... maybe if Will I Am would stop molesting DeLoreans we could make that happen?

Anti-stance wrote:

fromeast2west wrote: The old 2001 Grand Cherokee died on the way home .. well, it still runs, but the electricals seem to be shot. the entire dash went dead and there's a burnt electrical smell..

Oh, and have you tried turning it off and on again?

Nah, it's pretty well knackered. I'm just glad I wasn't hauling 'The Internet' around at the time, or who knows what sort of trouble I'd be in now.

Did SWMBO try the Mazda5?
We have one and like it very much. There is a lot of Mazda5 GRM love. Here is 13 pages of that love.

Had the CX-5 been available when we shopped for our '10 Mazda5, we could have easily gone that way too.

I personally drive a Saturn Vue with 4 cyl and manual trans. I could very well see it replaced with a CX-5.

Rental company put me into a cx5 for a recent vacation. Doors in the back did not seem big enough to get my Britax car seats into. Went back and exchanged it for a passat. The car was pretty bad but my kids had plenty of rear seat room and that is all that mattered at the time.

Look into a rav4 or crv if you want something built for kiddo hauling.

Ultimately sliding doors win.

My first taste of the Mazda5 was a Hertz rental (classified as mid-size, not van) in St Louis.
We were the heroes of my nieces wedding as we were one of the few left at the end of the night with a vehicle large enough to haul back many wedding presents.