I know it’s not as crude and brutally-capable as the original Defender, but for most folks ACTUALLY buying Land Rovers, this hits the spot, and fills an odd niche. It doesn’t compete with a side-by-side/UTV, nor a Jimny, nor a Wrangler. It competes with used G-Wagens and a new Lexus GX, and the like. It’s for folks…

I certainly hope so. I know it’s not as crude and brutally-capable as the original Defender, but for most folks ACTUALLY buying Land Rovers, this hits the spot. It doesn’t compete with a side-by-side/UTV, nor a Jimny, nor a Wrangler, and it’s not really meant to. It competes with used G-Wagens and a new Lexus GX, and…

To me, that sounds like a self -burn. The damn trucks are beating his own dedicated race cars. It’s like if Ford entered Raptors in LeMans and won it overall. Or maybe Toyota with HiLuxes or Mazda with B2200s, pick your metaphor.

Too loud.

She said she didn’t want slow and loud, and you submit something worse in those metrics to the HR-V she already disqualified?

I’d get a RAV4 over a CR-V, but I’d get (and have gotten -twice!) a CX-5 over a RAV4.

Sure, but then you have a gm product, and, well...

Great cars, but about 2 classes larger than a RAV4, and 3 larger than an HR-V. CX-5 and CX-3 are more her target.

I agree with your sentiment, but the CX-3 is a class smaller than the CX-5. My wife and I are on our second CX-5 (she really liked the newer body style and features) and we test drove the CX-3 when were shopping for the first one. They’re very different. Both very good, just very different. The upcoming CX-30 (dumb…

You say that, but mine and my wife’s crossovers (XC90 and CX-5, respectively) got us home drama-free on over 8" of snow, freezing rain, and ice last year. Tires make a huge difference, but sometimes it’s really great to have ground clearance and 4driven wheels to make use of them  

Niro is 2WD only for some dumb reason, like the Soul.

Ick. We’re trying to improve her situation, not worsen it. 

SX4 is better than the Aerio, but I wouldn’t categorize either as “quiet”.

Foresters are nearly as big as my gen-1 XC90. Yikes!

Such a great choice but none under $30K that I've yet seen on the used market.

Just had a customer trade in her Kona for a CX-5. The “funky” appearance had gotten old, and she wanted something slightly bigger and more civilized. Personally I dislike anything that puts turn and/or brake signals at or below bumper height, as it makes them harder to see and not in line-of-sight for anyone higher…

Bigger than a RAV4, reliability issues, and lifting a newer car reeks of a poseur. Plus modern stability control and other safety systems are designed for factory height. You’re forcing something to go far beyond manufacturer’s intent with too little benefit and too great a risk.

Recommending an Infiniti is a reprehensible thing to do, BUT in this instance, these aren’t bad (my sister-in-law has one). It’s essentially a G37 hatchback (not Q50) with a taller roof. RWD-based dynamics, nice exhaust note, decent interior (but badly dated), and the reliability kinks are largely worked out.

These are actually pretty good, but I wouldn’t want one without a CarMax-like warranty/service plan on it. I’ve seen a few needing turbos and some expensive cooling system repairs.

My mom actually went from an X1 to a new 2019 CX-5. The X1 was a hoot to drive, but surprisingly cramped, no useful storage solutions, very wanton for features for the price, and had the reliability “sword of Damocles” always overhead.