I posted a thread needing some advice a while back re. a new addition to the family. A number of you gave excellent advice and DriveBy in Chicago even went out and checked something for me - thanks!
I never realized what a difficult task this would be. Our needs were for an SUV, Semi luxurious, AWD, 25 mpg, 5 start crash rating, navigation and seating for 7. Our intention is to give this car to our oldest when he gets his license in 3 years or so. Selection came down to Traverse, XRS, Enclave (pretty much all the same car), and the Veracruz. They ranged from the Mid $40K to Mid $50K I was not real happy with any of them for various reasons.
We modified our criteria to seating for 5 instead of 7 and that expanded the search incredibly. First on the list was the Edge and last was the X5. I checked out everything in between and to my disappointment the prices did not really drop much. The Edge was in the mid $40K and it drove okay. The Honda Accord Crossover was a piece of garbage for $42K - a seriously over rated vehicle.
I kept going back to the Mercedes ML but it was more than what I wanted to spend. After weeks of looking I decided to look on Autotrader and I found a 2007 ML350 with 6000 miles Mercedes Certified. I negotiated an extended warranty through 2014 with 100K miles warranty for $33K and was as happy as a dog-in-heat. My son is ecstatic too. First thing he did was recline the passenger seat all the way back and gave me a devilish look. Oh boy!
I never realized what a difficult task this would be. Our needs were for an SUV, Semi luxurious, AWD, 25 mpg, 5 start crash rating, navigation and seating for 7. Our intention is to give this car to our oldest when he gets his license in 3 years or so. Selection came down to Traverse, XRS, Enclave (pretty much all the same car), and the Veracruz. They ranged from the Mid $40K to Mid $50K I was not real happy with any of them for various reasons.
We modified our criteria to seating for 5 instead of 7 and that expanded the search incredibly. First on the list was the Edge and last was the X5. I checked out everything in between and to my disappointment the prices did not really drop much. The Edge was in the mid $40K and it drove okay. The Honda Accord Crossover was a piece of garbage for $42K - a seriously over rated vehicle.
I kept going back to the Mercedes ML but it was more than what I wanted to spend. After weeks of looking I decided to look on Autotrader and I found a 2007 ML350 with 6000 miles Mercedes Certified. I negotiated an extended warranty through 2014 with 100K miles warranty for $33K and was as happy as a dog-in-heat. My son is ecstatic too. First thing he did was recline the passenger seat all the way back and gave me a devilish look. Oh boy!
