Hello from Edmonton, Alberta

Good day all,

I find myself in the market for a new SUV, and as a Consumer Reports guy it's hard to ignore the all new Ascent. I was very nearly the owner of a Toyota Highlander Hybrid as it was #2 on the best buy reports (behind the Audi Q7) but after doing a lot of math we realized that the added cost of the Hybrid system would take about 8-10 years to pay off in fuel savings, at which point the battery would need replaced anyhow. So I went back to the drawing board, thinking that a Highlander in good old gas would probably be just fine - but then CR updated their report, and low and behold, there was the Ascent at #1. Took one for a test drive the same week, and really enjoyed it.

That said, we have been a Honda or Toyota family for a very long time, and neither my wife or I have ever owned a Subaru. I have always admired their AWD system, but other than that I have no experience with them. I know how bulletproof my Civics, Accords, Prelude, CRX's, Corollas, Siennas, 4 Runner and Rav4 have been over the years so the idea of buying something else is difficult, at best. So here I am, digging around in this fantastic forum doing the research required to spend $50,000 on what will hopefully be a 15-20 year family member. Feel free to help convince me!!