I drove (almost) every SUV on the market in comparison... my thoughts...

Land Cruiser - Unbelievable reputation but $75K for off road capability I would use 1 week a year.

Sequoia, Armada, QX - An uglier, top heavy, bus-like set of vehicles you will not find...

Expedition, Caddies, Nav, Suburban, Blazer, Explorer, Excursion, Yukon, Envoy, Cherokee - or so I thought until I drove this lot... Diesel trucks have better ride quality and handling. Aside from price I can not discern what makes these the best selling trucks in America... and they only get exponentially worse over time. Have you ever seen a ten year old Detroit truck that didn't look like crap? Not many.

Hummer - Better get yourself a gas card and a Nav system with every station identified along your route because at 13 MPG you and Chevron will be kissin' cousins.

Land Rover - I fell in love with this car when I drove it. The interior is incredible and it was built by BMW plus it's THE Hollywood and Hip Hop (Owners: Jadakiss, Russell, Cameron Diaz, etc) wannabee ride (which I am sad to say, made me want it more) ... then I went online and the reliability scared the hell out of me. For $80k that should be the least of my concerns.

Toureg - Good reviews, so I went to test drive it. The handing was okay, but the cheap Jetta plastic interior was a turn off.

Volvo - Having owned a red brick rocket (850R) I wanted to like it. The ride was great with a pretty advanced stability system, useable 3rd row and well crafted interior. But the Yamaha (???) engine and extensive list of recalls and buybacks led me to...

RX330 - Lexus quality, but the ride was to soft. Plus (sorry ladies) it's a girl's car.

GX - Looks and rides like an LX that has been crushed from the sides. Way too top heavy and once again a soft ride.

LX - It's a Land with more wood and leather. I think they are overpriced but they definitely hold their resale values. If you need this size and capability, plus have the scratch... I would not be mad at ya'

AMG G-Wagon - Why do Athletes, Rappers and the Nuevo Rich buy them...because we can't. Regarding value... Edmunds says it best "Just when we thought the G-Class couldn't get any more ridiculous, along comes the AMG-tuned version."

ML - Other than the star of the hood, this in not a Merc. No cargo room, sloppy handling and poor build quality. My buddy is a Sheriff and trained to drive fast. I was driving and he was in the passenger seat saying how the X was nice but it (the X) did not drive like the ML. After 15 minutes of hearing this lunacy I pulled over on Route 4 heading uphill. He punched it in sport mode and watch her climb to 100 in 4th gear. My other 6 foot buddy was comfortably sitting in the rear seat. He asked him can you believe we are doing 110? Nah, it feels so smooth like we are doing about 40. 20 minutes later his response was... "This is too much car for you. The handing and power delivery is incredible. The ML can't fu-- with this"

Cayenne - $80k for a Toureg??? NEXT...

Mercury,Mitsubishi, Pontiac, Saab - Surely you jest. I didn't even bother driving these and I am saddened and empathic every time I see someone in one. Kinda like I used to do when I saw someone driving a Gremlin... why did they buy it? Did they get if free from a family member who owned a dealership? Do they know it's a piece of ...


Okay know read this again... http://www.xoutpost.com/articles.php?...ticle&artid=32