I love my car, but after 7 years it seems I am always putting it in the shop for repairs. The vehicles I love are all sooo expensive these days! But I looked at a Jeep Compass last night and it has lots of bells and whistles on it for about $20,000. less than one I REALLY like. Trouble is, it is only a 4 cylinder. Anyone ever driven one? Would I be sorry getting a 4 vs. 6 cylinder vehicle? Gas mileage is much better on 4.

I bought a new compass this past October....got the Limited.

Love it! For a 4 cylinder, it actually has pretty good pickup. On the highway, I figure I get about 24-26 miles to the gallon. I also have an 8 cylinder truck, and I was still very impressed the power and pickup of the Compass.

Now I know this will not help you as much, but being in Wisconsin, I really appreciated the AWD, and it really did handle beautifully this past winter....better than most cars I have had in the past.

If you liked the Compass, you might also want to look at the new Patriot. Built on the same frame I think, but also equally likeable for a similar price.

Feel free to PM if you wanna know more about my Compass!

What other car are you looking at?

The one I would like to have is the Lincoln MKX but the price tag of $43,000 is a little out of my reach. The other one I would like is the Lexus RX 350, but it too is a little too much. I am also interested in the Saturn Vue. It is not as expensive. What I really want is one of the small crossover SUVs.

We just bought a Toyota Highlander in December and are very happy with it. Lexus is the luxury line of Toyota by the way and someone told me that there is a Lexus version of the Highlander, not sure if it is the RX 350 or not. On our budget, the Lexus wasn't an option! We narrowed it down to the Toyota or a Honda Pilot because they both hold their value well and have pretty good reliability ratings. We chose the Toyota over the Honda because we couldn't find a Honda garage that was open when we could get there.

The Saturn Vue has not gotten terribly good ratings in Consumer Reports and other car reviews, unfortunately.

I have some friends with Highlanders and they really like them a lot. I also have heard that Kias and Hyundais are really getting good safety and quality reviews in the last year.

Consumer Reports tends to use outdated information (i.e. 2004 info for a 2007 model). You can check their little disclosure for the dates of the vehicle reviewed most of the time. Check out sources such as Road & Track or Car & Driver for more realistic comparisons. I've found them to be more accurate than consumer reports. I would also suggest researching online to.

Test drive the vehicles you like. Each person has their own preferences. Like the Toyota, the Lincoln MKX is the Ford Edge or Mazda the same vehicle as well.

Consumer Reports tends to use outdated information (i.e. 2004 info for a 2007 model). You can check their little disclosure for the dates of the vehicle reviewed most of the time. Check out sources such as Road & Track or Car & Driver for more realistic comparisons. I've found them to be more accurate than consumer reports. I would also suggest researching online to.

Test drive the vehicles you like. Each person has their own preferences. Like the Toyota, the Lincoln MKX is the Ford Edge or Mazda the same vehicle as well.

Check out msn.com auto section for user / consumer reviews for the latest models. The reviews are from consumer who own them and they give honest reviews.

I bought a used Highlander 2 months ago & really like it so far. A bit disappointed that the gas mileage isn't better but it's a 4WD so I shouldn't have been surprized.

My husband is driving a highlander right now, (monthly-changeout company car,) and it is great. I have an Equinox (Chevy) that I got recently because my little car died and I got pregnant at around the same time, and it was the best deal I could get, but I ended up loving it. If I had to trade it in right now, I would probably just get another one!

The Equinox and the Pontiac Torrent are the same vehicle as well. We looked at a Torrent before we bought the Highlander, but my wife did not care for it. She said she sat too low and there was not enough room. To be honest, she didn't even take it for a drive, her heart was set on the Highlander.