Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

I look at so many of these boring midsize SUVs and feel like I could just pull a name out of a hat and I'd be neither happy nor sad about what name it showed me. The idea of an Explorer or a Highlander or anything in that class makes me feel like... "Ok. Fine. It's a car. Whatever. It's better than walking."

 That's fair and you should definitely buy what you like, but I look at your list of potential candidates and feel exactly like the above, regarding each of them.


Except the 4Runner, those are pretty cool.

But... Toyota... so it's on my "never again" list.

buy the sports car

LOL. I've already got my toy car. It's not a "sports car", but it'll do. 

That's fair and you should definitely buy what you like, but I look at your list of potential candidates and feel exactly like the above, regarding each of them.

Except the 4Runner, those are pretty cool.

But... Toyota... so it's on my "never again" list.

Yeah, it's a matter of personal preference. I don't expect many to share mine. I joke that I should start a consulting company. Bring me your idea. If I hate it, it's going to be wildly successful. If I like it, you're catering to a niche audience and it'll never take off. 

This is again the personal preference thing. When it comes to Euro cars, I like Audi and BMW. Mercedes, outside of the AMG GT, has never seemed all that interesting to me. 

That said, I'm not buying a Euro vehicle. They're all excluded from my list for a reason. Despite the fact that they've embraced EV faster than some other marques. 

Badge, you're like Mrs B.R.A.D. here...

You're trying to steer me to the vehicle(s) you'd want me to have, rather than the vehicle(s) I actually want 

youse guys could fly into Minneapolis next weekend to pick up your dream vehicles and then drive them home!

Badge, you're like Mrs B.R.A.D. here...

You're trying to steer me to the vehicle(s) you'd want me to have, rather than the vehicle(s) I actually want

I mean....that's Mrs. Everybody.  That's kind of what Mrs.'s do.  

My i s c & a aggie wife doesn't necessarily try to steer me toward what she wants, rather she steers our collective decision toward the absolute most expensive options possible.  She just can't settle for a lower trim level, once she discovers what the highest trim levels offer.

When we bought my Tahoe back in 2007, I was fine with a low-level LS trim with cloth seats, as long as it was 4WD and had the towing capacity I wanted.  Of course, we ended up with the top trim tier Z71 4x4 with leather seats, sunroof, and every automatic option possible.

When we bought my pickup in 2018, I found an F150 that I liked with the lower-level XLT trim package that had cloth seats, but was 4WD and had the towing capacity that I wanted.  Of course, we ended up with the top trim tier Platium with leather seats, FX4 offroad package, double-size sunroof, automatic retractable running boards, and every other option an F150 could be loaded with.

I didn't even bother to look for a basic Jeep.  I knew she was going to automatically go for the Rubicon with leather seats and all possible options.  And that's what we got.

Oddly enough, that sounds kinda like me.

When I bought my Jeep, I went for the Rubicon. One reason was at the time it was going to be my daily driver so I wasn't going to focus on modding it. So I wanted something that had all the capability from day 1. I hadn't planned at the time to get divorced and need to buy the Flex, which allowed my Jeep to be the "toy" and I've been slowly adding mods since. 

When I bought my Flex, I didn't want to go any lower than the Limited (top) trim. I wanted the upgraded sound system, and a couple other features (I forget what they are now), only available in the Limited. I chose against the EcoBoost AWD model in Limited. Thought that was more related to finances (I was less far along at that point 1 year removed from my divorce), and that I had heard that the AWD power transfer unit was problematic in the EcoBoost models, and I thought it risky. 

Now, looking at EVs, I'm looking for trim levels that at the VERY least have the higher HP/torque variants. This is especially true if I ended up with something like the EV9. In RWD trim, it's slower than the Flex. But in AWD, it's almost 400 hp and almost 450 lb-ft torque. The top (GT-Line) trim pushes torque up over 500 lb-ft and can bring 0-60 under 5 seconds... In a 3-row SUV. 

My goal as I've said multiple times is to own a car 10+ years if I can. If you're going to do that, is it worth skimping on the creature comforts and performance if you don't financially have to?