[Sportstick]

One last comment which could delight her and displease you...

I have a lot of industry-side experience with buyers of minivans. The distribution is bi-modal, and we can set aside the young families. A significant cohort of older buyers (not motivated by children nor grandchildren's needs) choose them due to ingress/egress and the chair-height seating position. Those older buyers report they do not climb up nor sit down in a minivan...they just slide in, and that seating position gives them more comfort than other vehicles for short or longer trips. Depending on how you are weighting your decision, you might fight back the horror and take her along for one test sit/drive in a Pacifica, Odyssey, Carnival, etc.

https://www.motortrend.com/reviews/2...n-test-review/

[Unicorn123]

Originally Posted by Sportstick

One last comment which could delight her and displease you...

Ouch!

Excellent point though...

[leftoverture]

Originally Posted by Sportstick

One last comment which could delight her and displease you...

I have a lot of industry-side experience with buyers of minivans. The distribution is bi-modal, and we can set aside the young families. A significant cohort of older buyers (not motivated by children nor grandchildren's needs) choose them due to ingress/egress and the chair-height seating position. Those older buyers report they do not climb up nor sit down in a minivan...they just slide in, and that seating position gives them more comfort than other vehicles for short or longer trips. Depending on how you are weighting your decision, you might fight back the horror and take her along for one test sit/drive in a Pacifica, Odyssey, Carnival, etc.

https://www.motortrend.com/reviews/2...n-test-review/

Minivans are excellent choices for many people. This is good advice.

[Miata13]

Originally Posted by Sportstick

I'm a bit puzzled by some of these suggestions. The first filter is for optimal seat comfort for a passenger with a back problem that may not improve and will likely deteriorate with age. Back problems tend to do that. Once that criterion is applied, then other factors (driveability, interior design, etc.) can create a subset. How are these recommendations focused on relieving discomfort for a passenger's back condition? There has been one OEM I know, and only one, with in-house orthopedic experts, and that has been Volvo. Whether that staffing continues in Goteborg during the days of Geely ownership, I don't know, but that is certainly where optimal knowledge has resided.

FWIW - We have enjoyed the excellent seats in both our former '05 Volvo V50 and current '15 Volvo V60 Cross Country.

[albertw]

Originally Posted by Sportstick

One last comment which could delight her and displease you...

you might fight back the horror and take her along for one test sit/drive in a Pacifica, Odyssey, Carnival, etc.

I understand that modern minivans are refined vehicles, and I would prefer one to a three row SUV if I needed something that huge. If someone made one the size of the original Voyager/Caravan or Odyssey it would be on my shopping list. Mazda used to make an even smaller one (5?) that would be the ideal size for us but it has been discontinued.

[60_Driver]

My wife has a 2016 Mazda CX-9 in the grand touring trim. She was driving a 328i prior to that and wanted something that could handle baby duty & didn’t feel like driving a couch.

5 years and 65k miles later - we’re both very happy with the Mazda. I’m sure the CX-5 drives even nicer if you don’t need the 3rd row or extra storage. That said, I don’t disagree with the other Mazda owners thoughts on the seats. The cockpit is also a bit snug for larger drivers. I’m 6’1, 180 and don’t have any complaints but they would not be good hip room for someone with a stockier build.

Good luck with the search & I hope the info helps!

[Neverlost99]

Originally Posted by albertw

When we settled on our current cars, the M240i was to be the long trip and entertainment driving vehicle, and the '16 RAV4 was to be the local errand and wife's car. Unfortunately my wife has developed a back problem that isn't likely to get better, and she finds the low seat of the 240 very uncomfortable. Consequently we're doing a lot more miles in the RAV, and I do most of the long distance drives because she really doesn't like driving.

I have to go all the way back to an early 60's Valiant to find a car I owned that was less satisfying and pleasant to drive than the RAV4. It is clumsy in corners even at wife-tolerated speeds, the transmission is extremely annoying, on cruise it alternates between accelerating and decelerating, the engine makes an annoyingly loud moan when accelerating moderately hard, and considering how poorly it handles it has a needlessly harsh ride. And it has a dead spot on centre that is three times wider than the one on my 240. We bought it because it was the first car we saw that had a good 360 degree camera system, and the wife refused to drive the year-old Camry after she saw how much easier it made parking.

I had hoped to upgrade the 240 to a 911 before I got too old to drive enthusiastically, but I'm mostly very happy with the 240 (except for the steering - I keep telling myself F1 drivers go much harder than I can even imagine with no steering feedback at all so stop whining) so getting an SUV that is more satisfying to drive than the RAV is a much higher priority. I don't read many SUV road tests, so I don't know much about them. It seems that a Macan is probably the best driving vehicle of the compact SUVs out there, but that would be the most difficult choice as the nearest dealer is 2.5 hours away and the next is 5 hours, so getting routine service will be awkward and getting a difficult problem addressed if the closer dealer is uncooperative will be impractical.

I am reluctant to go out and test drive a dozen different vehicles, as Covid is far from over and we have an immunocompromised individual in our family. I would be grateful for any advice or comments about compact SUVs from my fellow driving enthusiasts.

Did the Valiant have a push-button tranny?

[albertw]

Originally Posted by Neverlost99

Did the Valiant have a push-button tranny?

I don't remember! That was 55 years ago. I remember driving a push button Chrysler product but I think it was not that Valiant. (Actually, my sister drove it a lot more, as I lived within walking distance of campus. I drove it mainly on trips home, and in the summers I preferred my motorcycle.) I do remember that against a 35 mph prairie headwind 65 mph was about all it would do. The steering was something like 6 turns side to side. And my C5 Z06 got 40% better gas mileage.

[jzeiler4]

Originally Posted by albertw

If someone made one the size of the original Voyager/Caravan or Odyssey it would be on my shopping list.

We have been in a Caravan type platform ever since they first came out for our family car. We are now quite happy with our 2018 Pacifica and have put 36,000 on it with out a hiccup. Almost as much fun as the M240 (no it's not).

[stein_325i]

If comparing luxury cars (new) I recommend you check out the Genesis GV70. I sat in one this weekend and was incredibly impressed.

Other than that, the Macan is definitely the best handling SUV on the market, along with the Alfa Stelvio, and the CX-5 is the best option if wishing to stay under $40k.