For me, fun to drive, looks cool, fun to use. Had dinner on the tailgate table last night, opened beers on the bottle opener and marveled at the flood lights that we didn't need but will use! Really happy with our Big Bend. Wouldn't buy any other on the list from CR, and didn't look at them. Converted from Subaru and we have a big Bronco on order also...Here's what I found out from actual road testing. It's not thorough, but I don't charge for publication:
Drives on paved roads-
Drives on gravel-
Drives in sand-
Hauls my family-
Hauls my stuff-
Safety Features-
Styling makes crowds of people turn around and point at it-
Summary- does the stuff you'd expect a car in this category to do in a capable way. Probably has or will develop issues similar to any comparable car. A real review won't come from a collection of Facebook posts about catching rocks with the windshield or noisy tires. If you wanted a silent ride, you shopped the wrong class of car, not the wrong model. Mine has A/T tires and the ride is considerably quieter than I expected it to be. So quiet, I can hear the turbo and transmission operating. If you need to load 5 people, this is the wrong class of vehicle. But I bet 4 adults could carpool with it. If MPG is the deal, you're still in the wrong class and should be shopping E or mopeds.
