Small- Midsize Suvs

It's unfortunate that Nissan did that with all of their new models. I used to own Nissans and wanted to get a new one until I saw that they recommend premium fuel for all of their vehicles. (PS- Volkswagen did it too)

I've now switched to being a Toyota person. Love the RAV-4. It's a great vehicle. Easy to drive and use (back seats fold and remove easily). Good gas mileage, and NO premium fuel. I've heard the Honda CRV is also a great small SUV.

I have a 2007 Mitsubishi Outlander and it has been very reliable, utilizes the cheapest grade gas and gets pretty good gas mileage. I test drove a bunch of SUV's (plus owned a Jimmy for 12 years) and the Mitsubishi had the best performance and you didn't feel like you were in a small vehicle that would tip over going around a corner. I have a 6 cylinder engine so it has great get up and go, and it is front wheel drive (which my husband loves) that you can throw into All Wheel Drive when you need so that helps with gas mileage as well because AWD uses more gas. That's my thoughts on the subject, hope that helps you a bit.

Hi M.. I have a Honda CRV and it is great, I get about 28 MPG highway and around 19 to 20 city. Lots of room, I have 2 full sized carseats in it. And plenty of room in the trunk also, I can fit my double stroller and lots of the other neccessary baby items. My husband has a trailblazer and that has a lot of room in it also, I could fit both my car seats next to each other and sit in the back with my girls.

A year ago we were looking and the Hyundai Santa Fe, is very similar to the Murano. We love it. When Hyundai's first came out, they were a less than satisfactory product but they have made a change and the Santa Fe is one of their best offers.

We have 2 cars that we love. A 2006 Dodge Calibur. It is great for 2 car seats and lots of room in the back. It is front wheel drive and gets 26-29 in the city and over 30 on the highway. When we found out we were having a third kiddo, we had to get a new car since 3 cars seats don't really fit (a booster and 2 car seats would). We love our Suzuki XL7. Only problem is that we have to move the 2nd row of seats up to get in to buckle our 2 in the third row. Tons of storage if you have both kids in the 2nd row. Gets 18-20 in the city and haven't had it really on the highway yet. My best friend also has one of these since 2003 and they still love it, even with 4 kids (the 2 in the last row can buckle themselves in). We worked with a guy a car broker place and he did all the work and found us exactly what we wanted for the price we wanted (meaning we didn't have to do the looking - he did it all and we just showed up to test drive something). Great for our busy schedules.

We have a 2007 Hyandai Santa Fe and I absolutly love it.. Great on gas milage and still is 4x4 so I can get around in the snow.. it feels like a luxury car but still is a suv "crossover".....hope this helps!

I have a Mazda 5 and I love it. It is pretty small, but will fit up to 6 people. It has two seats in the second row and two seats in the back, but you can fold down any that you are not using. With all four seats up, you only have a little bit of storage space behind the last row and the back, but it is enough to fit a stroller, etc. I have two kids, but it is great to be able to fit another kid with a carseat when needed, or else go with the grandparents to dinner all in one car, etc. We bought our car used, but even new I think they are under $20,000 and really pretty good on gas. Hope this information helps!

K.

We love our Mazda CX9. We also liked the Mazda 7, but decided the 9 would fit our family better in the future. I made my husband crawl in back to see if he would fit in the 3rd row of seats if necessary - he said it would be okay for a short trip. I have two boosters and an infant seat in across the back, something I was not sure our Jeep could handle.

WE just got a subaru forester using the cash for clunkers program. We like it. We traded in an old Honda Passport. It doesn't have quite as much cargo space as the Honda but it gets way way better gas mileage. I haven't used it a ton yet so I can't give a full review, but it won SUV (Sport Utility Vehicle) of the year from Motor Trend. My mom has one and she loves it. It's her favorite car to drive in the winter. My brother in law also just bought one and he loves it.
When you decide check into costco pricing. We got a discount(below their invoice) on top of the cash for clunkers program. With the costco discount the dealers are supposed to show you their invoice. At least with new cars anyway, I don't know how it works with used cars. Good luck.

Hi M., if it helps at all, I just sold my Nissan Murano because I had my third child and needed a third row vehicle, BUT I would buy a Murano again in a heartbeat if I didn't need more seating. I LOVED LOVED LOVED everything about it - the way it drove, the room inside, gas mileage, cargo space, everything. Also, I never put premium gas in it once and was never told I needed to.

M.,

I just bought a Nissan Rogue and LOVE it! It handles beautifully, has lots of room, AWD, and uses regurlar gas. Sometimes the manufacturer recommends a higher grade of gas, but that is not necessary at this altitude. I've had the car one month and am getting 23 mpg in the city and 28+ mpg on the highway.

E.

Love, love, love my Toyota Rav4!!

We had a Toyota 4Runner and it was our favorite car. Now we drive a Toyota Sequoia and love it, but we liked the 4Runner better. I don't remember the exact gas mileage I was getting but I know it was about the same as a minivan. Good luck!

We love our subaru forester - very useful, runs really well, good mileage and cute too! We find it has plenty of storage space - my husband carries his remote control airplane and all the equipment in the back. It does only seat 5, but it's very comfortable and has the best heating and cooling system of any car we've ever had!

I've had a Saturn Vue AWD for about a year now. I researched it safety-wise compared to all other vehicles in its class and it was by far the best. They have a new body style, so they look like the Murano a lot. It gets good gas mileage (and it takes the low grade gas) and it's good in the snow too. Although Saturn is in limbo right now financially, they are reorganizing and you could probably get a sweet deal. The service they provide is hands down the BEST i have ever encountered. They're now at like Wadsworth and Quincy, sort of by Costco. Hope that helps.

We have a Ford Freestyle, I guess you would call it a "crossover". It's a 4-door with 7 passenger seating. We only have 2 kids, but we LOVE the extra seating for visitors and when our kids have friends over. The back seats fold down really nicely, and you can actually fold down all of the back seats, too. It has a nice look, not a mini-van, not a huge SUV. My husband calls it a wagon on steroids. It gets great gas mileage for a 7 passenger - about 21 city, 26 highway. No mini-van or SUV can get close to that, unless you can afford a Toyota (we couldn't!). They quit making them in 2007, so they are only available used. (They actually redesigned them and now they are called the Ford Taurus X and they are alot more expensive).You can get "regular" or "limited". Limited has the leather seats, DVD player all that stuff.
Good luck!

Have you checked out the Saturn View? I've ridden in one, and it was fairly roomy; I think it was good on gas.

The other one I've heard about recently is the new Chevy Equinox. It's supposed to be gas efficent too.

Good luck!

Might not be big enough, but we LOVE our Subaru Outbacks - both our '97 with 150,000 miles and our '06 with the nicer finish out. Subarus have an awesome reputation for quality, service, and resale. The Forester model is now pretty large, and there's also the bigger Tribeca.

I have a Kia Sorento that I just bought and I love. They have a smaller- size SUV as well that you might like. Kia dealers here have been offering amazing deals on their cars. We got ours for $10,000 off the MSRP. They have good safety ratings and the online ratings were very good as well. It has a ton of room and my daughter's car seat not only fits in no problem, her feet are no longer jammed into the front seat. Good luck!

Unfortunately, I think most (if not all) new cars need premium gas. Total bummer, I know.
We just recently looked for a nice cross over, the top ones were the Rav4 and the CRV. Both had really nice interiors, excellent space and decent-ish gas mileage. The only problem was that we couldn't get a standard in either of them and that was MY requirement. We ended up getting a Nissan Xterra. Not as good on the gas mileage, but met all of our requirements (space, standard, 4WD).
Good luck!

I love the Honda CR-V-safe, reliable, and cute, after the redisign in 2008 made them less boxy.

We have a Honda CR-V. It gets about 23 mpg and uses the mid-grade fuel. The dealer told us that in high altitude, you can use the lower grade gas but we have just used the recommended. We enjoy the roominess and it has been great with the car seat. Good luck!

We have a Nissan Rogue and just love it ~ just a little smaller than the Murano and no premium gas required (I had never heard this before).

We have a Ford Freestyle. (I think now it is called the TaurusX.) It's a crossover, and gets pretty good gas mileage. We absolutely LOVE it! It seats 7, but the back two seats fold down. We just leave them down and use the space for storage. Then when we need to take more people somewhere we put them up. Good luck in your search!!

I have been driving a free Mary Kay Saturn VUE for the past 2 years and loved it (no premium gas) but they are about to upgrade me to a Chevy Equinox which is even more luxurious inside and better on gas and also doesn't need premium gas!! Love them both!

I've been told by a variety of car buffs that you don't need to use premium in Colorado. (I do in my car - I guess I'm just cautious that way.) But, we've had fabulous luck with Toyota, Honda and Acura vehicles. My hubby said Volkswagen is making some good vehicles and you get quite a lot for your money. However, I'm not sure they make an SUV.