I was lucky enough to be the very first renter of this vehicle, it only had 11 miles on it when I picked it up. This was the 2.5 turbo AWD standard trim, MSRP around $57k.
I was pretty impressed with this SUV, and it certainly gave off the feeling of a luxury marquee. It's extremely quiet inside, the ride is great and I thought the driving dynamics were excellent, along with seat comfort. The little turbo 4 had enough power, but at certain revs there was a slight amount of NVH, but you're going to get that with the competition as well. There is a V6 turbo engine that I'm sure would have a lot more power and smoothness (don't get me wrong, the 4 is fine).
The interior is trimmed very nicely, and the switchgear looked really nice and had a great feel. I liked the setup of the infotainment system, the resolution was excellent, it was responsive and laid out logically. The HVAC controls under the screen made use of the system really simple. There is also a ton of room inside, plenty of space in the second row and a huge cargo area with a ton of storage under the cargo floor.
The only real negatives I have are the rotary gear selector and what appears to be a speaker visible from under each front seat. I don't have anything against rotary shifters, but please don't put a second knob that's almost identical right in front of it! I turned the second knob that controls the infotainment by mistake a few times while parallel parking. Also, they could have hidden whatever the grill under the seat is a little better, it looked out of place in an otherwise well appointed cabin.
Worth $57k? I'd say so. I rank my rentals in two categories - ones I want to keep and ones I can't wait to give back. This is definitely a keeper.
I was pretty impressed with this SUV, and it certainly gave off the feeling of a luxury marquee. It's extremely quiet inside, the ride is great and I thought the driving dynamics were excellent, along with seat comfort. The little turbo 4 had enough power, but at certain revs there was a slight amount of NVH, but you're going to get that with the competition as well. There is a V6 turbo engine that I'm sure would have a lot more power and smoothness (don't get me wrong, the 4 is fine).
The interior is trimmed very nicely, and the switchgear looked really nice and had a great feel. I liked the setup of the infotainment system, the resolution was excellent, it was responsive and laid out logically. The HVAC controls under the screen made use of the system really simple. There is also a ton of room inside, plenty of space in the second row and a huge cargo area with a ton of storage under the cargo floor.
The only real negatives I have are the rotary gear selector and what appears to be a speaker visible from under each front seat. I don't have anything against rotary shifters, but please don't put a second knob that's almost identical right in front of it! I turned the second knob that controls the infotainment by mistake a few times while parallel parking. Also, they could have hidden whatever the grill under the seat is a little better, it looked out of place in an otherwise well appointed cabin.
Worth $57k? I'd say so. I rank my rentals in two categories - ones I want to keep and ones I can't wait to give back. This is definitely a keeper.
I like reading your reviews - fair and balanced.
