The midsize SUVs are an excellent choice for small families to be able to enjoy the outdoors with activities such as skiing, hiking and camping etc. Most of these families will be looking for a vehicle that is priced below $35,000. Most of the affordable mid-size SUVs come with five-passenger seating as the standard. However, this seating capability can be increased by adding a third row of seating. The third row increases the seating capacity to seven or eight. Although picking one vehicle from the available options of ideal affordable mid-size SUVs is difficult, the final decision lies with the car buyer. It is the user’s requirements that decide the most suitable vehicle for his family.
Honda Crosstour
The Crosstour is one of the affordable midsize SUVs available on the market. It is an attempt from Honda to mix the best of an SUV with the best from a sedan into one wagon. This affordable, mid-size SUV only succeeds partially in the attempt. The Crosstour comes with a good engine and a smooth drive but the overall performance leaves you feeling disappointed. There is a lot of room for passengers but the luggage area is small and one usually buys a wagon specifically for the cargo space. This and the expensive price tag are the two main problems with the car. The Crosstour is also marketed as a genre-bending vehicle that enhances the cargo versatility with an AWD and brings this to the famous Honda Accord platform. The sedan characteristics picked from the Accord such as excellent passenger accommodation and a balanced performance remain intact with the Crosstour. Therefore, the Crosstour will suit people who give more importance to the seating capability than the luggage carrying capacity.
You can get some higher end models of the Crosstour, and some of them are equipped with AWD. The Crosstour has a standard V6 engine. The year 2012 will see the name of the vehicle change from Honda Accord Crosstour to Honda Crosstour. You will also get a USB port and Bluetooth as standard equipment. The Crosstour also comes with excellent safety features. The basic model of the vehicle retails for about $30,000 and it obtains fuel mileage of 18 mpg in cities and 27 mpg in cities.
Subaru Tribeca
The Tribeca from Subaru is one of the affordable midsize SUVs. The main advantage of having a Tribeca is that it can seat up to seven passengers and comes with standard AWD. However; most reviewers are of the opinion that it is expensive. It is a decent vehicle but in this market, “decent” is probably not enough. The Tribeca comes with standard AWD, which is rather unusual in this segment but remember that AWD has negative impact on any vehicle’s fuel mileage. There are three versions available with the Tribeca and they are subdivided into various packages and extra features. The basic model comes with a respectable quantity of equipment but you need to add many standard features as optional packages. This increases the price further, which is already too high. All the Tribeca models come with a 3.6-lit 6-cylnider engine, AWD and seating capacity for seven. The basic model is available with price tag of around $30,000.