I've heard of nothing but maintenance problems from friends who are Jeep owners (ok, 2 of them), one with a GC and one with a Cherokee. Not trivial stuff either.

yes personally I'd say away from Jeep... not well known for reliability... so says the handful of ppl I know with them too.

I'm on my third Subaru Forester. It's great for the extremely cold, icy, snowy winters where I live. I just drove a Crosstrek a couple of weeks ago. It was tight and drove like most other Subies. That being said, if you need room, the RAV 4 would be a better choice. I think the Mazda 3 is going to be too small. The Mazda 5 would suit your needs better than the 3. If you expand your choices, the Honda CRV, Ford Escape and a few others are probably worth checking out.

I was in the market for a Crosstrek and got a great deal on a VW Alltrack. Worth a look if you're looking at a Crosstrek.

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“Read the transcript.”

.[/quote]
Dude,

You are clueless.

You think you will be able to hold on to an SUV once the 2nd and 3rd show up?

Just accept your fate and get a Minivan.

You can always come back to a a Truck/SUV once your kids are older.


Seen it over and over, and over, and over......

.[/quote]
I may very well be clueless, but I will not accept my fate. Besides, I don’t think my wife would agree to a minivan anyway.

I am a bit biased as we own one, but I will give another nod to the CRV, we love it , similar size to you (Wife, myself, 1yr old and 2 40lb dogs) we cant fit the dog crate in the trunk area with the dogs, but he have managed to fold it up, put it behind the front seats. Other then that, loaded all the baby stuff and our stuff in just the back wasnt hard (and the dogs had the trunk area)

The ONLY thing I dont like about the CRV is the stupid rear tail lights, I hate the bulge out from the body lines of the SUV.

Definitely. You cannot fit regular size humans in the rear of a CX3. It really belongs in the class of the Mini Cooper and Fiat.

We own a 2014 CX5. The only thing I'd do differently is buy the AWD version, but I can't say I miss not having it. The abysmal GPS system is the only real drawback I can think of on that vehicle. If they'd incorporate Android Auto or the Apple analog as to employ Google Maps, it'd be damn near perfect.

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The devil made me do it the first time, second time I done it on my own - W

The CX3 is definitely a small vehicle, designed as an urban car, so there was a compromise on rear space. That said, one of the things Mazda designers work really hard on (and pride themselves on) is ergonomics and the human-machine connection. As such, alot of work is done on achieving the ideal driving position, the majority of people drive with their seats too far back. FWIW...lol

The iActive AWD system is exceptional. With the more recent addition of G-vectoring control, the CX5 is a great car to drive. You wouldn't believe the difference between a 2018 and your 2014.

May I ask what your specific complaint is with the GPS. Beginning the the 2019 CX9 this summer, Mazdas will come with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto integrated into Mazda Connect. We were slow to the party with those, despite being amongst the first to license, due to the need to integrate them into our system, as our touch screen deactivates above 8 kph. For your car, both will be available as an upgrade through the parts department as a genuine Mazda accessory...

The CRV is becoming a serious contender. Size looks great. And I saw a 2018 yesterday while out walking and liked it a lot more than I thought I would.

I've got to give up my company X1 by next weekend at the latest and have been trying more utilitarian vehicles about the same size. Was pretty much ready to buy a Crosstrek (i liked the way it drove compared to others I'd tried (but it wasn't like the X1), and i guess i liked the outdoor image from the ads - the girl staring at the train and the surfer guy with his grandad) and was quite resigned to the fact that there really is a difference between something like a X1 and a Jeep or Subaru, and it isn't just the badge. Today i had to go with my daughter who was looking to buy a Mazda 3. i had a drive and was really surprised. It was absolutely outstanding for an inexpensive car. Quiet, comfortable, handled well, nice seats, loads of tech we didn't expect in a car at that price. All i want a SUV for is to fit a bike inside and handle the snow - I'm not going off-roading, so I'll be giving the CX5 a go when we pick up the 3, and hoping it is a bit more like the X1 than some of the more rural SUVs I've tried.