I’m looking for suggestions for our next family car. It’s me, my wife, and two boys (7yo and 4yo). I’ve been driving a 2009 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The Jeep is the “Rocky Mountain Edition”. It’s black with alloy wheels and a bunch of chrome. It’s nothing fancy, but it looks sexy. Pretty happy with it, but it’s starting to show its age. Plus we saved some money in the pandemic and we can afford to get something nicer. The market is really confusing because every type of SUV looks exactly the same. Now everybody has chrome accents and alloy wheels. What can we get that is practical, but could still turn heads? I mean in a sophisticated, stylish sort of way. We want to look important. Heheheh I’m thinking about $30k. Probably about 3 years old. I never bought a new car, but maybe I’d consider it. A brand new Kia might be cooler than a used Lexus. I dunno. Hit me with some ideas.
Just because I think a vehicle might turn heads you might not even want it in your driveway. Seriously you want to look important ???
It’s hard enough to recommend a vehicle for someone who says they value things that can be measured. You value things that are important to you, but that we can’t guess.
Mazda CX 5 is pretty nice and under $30,000 . Its also fun to drive and looks good.
A new Acura comes with a 50K warranty. Not much luck finding anything that looks different.
I’d have a lot better idea if you’d supply a list of a few that you might like.
Lincoln Navigator.
What about a Chrysler Pacifica van? And I would suggest a new one if you can afford it.
Does anyone look important driving a Pacifica ? As if that should be a criteria for what one drives.
Karen and Kyle would never be seen in a mini van.
You might recall my tale about an old acquaintance from high school. While he can ill-afford a luxury car, he leases a new Cadillac sedan every 2 or 3 years because, “The doorman at the casino is really impressed when I pull up in a Caddy”. 
Different strokes for different folks, I guess.
$30K is a tricky price point for a Grand Cherokee Sized vehicle. New for $30K I’d look at a CX-5, but that is smaller than a GC. Used I’d head back to a Grand Cherokee if you like that style. Or maybe a Wrangler, but you won’t get a good one for $30K three-years old. This was a tough one!
I AM important. =P
No, seriously, though. I get what you’re saying. When I was poor, I had my share of crappy $2000 beaters. It’s not a huge ego thing for me. But I’m at a certain point in life where I’m just going to be really awkward if I don’t have something that looks decent. It’s stupid. I know. It is what it is.
When we ordered our new Olds in 1974 the wife was a little concerned that it might look too flashy. I said after what we had been through we deserved something new and flashy so lets be happy. $30,000 though might be a little on the low side.
My brother bought a 2011 Toyota Seqoia Platinum for his growing family a couple years ago and it checked all the important boxes for them. My brother rejected a lot of midsize suv’s because the 3rd row is so close to the tailgate. Must have seen some things as an ICU nurse to make him worry about such things. Less concerned with image as having something you don’t have to shoe horn 3 booster seats into the back of which was the situation with their Subaru Legacy wagon, which is now my brother’s winter ride (It was his car to begin with)
An AWD Sienna might have worked if they were even willing to consider a minivan.
We bought the Grand Cherokee 7 years ago for $20,000. I figured $30,000 was pretty generous. But you may be right. I’m still feeling that out.
Here is how I feel ( Important ) about a vehicle purchase. If the wife person does not like it for any reason we just look until we both agree to purchase something.
Look at the 2018 Acura MDX. You can get a loaded off lease MDX for around $30,000. My neighbor did that is is very happy.
Buy the nicest used vehicle for you Jeep and $15000 and put $15000 into either a bank account or mutual fund.
Money in the bank make me feel much more important than whatever I chose to drive.
About 30 years ago I started my last trucking job as a road driver for a very large trucking company.
I needed a car to drive to work that would hold my suitcase and all my radio gear tool kit and books plus a lunch box and thermos for the first leg of a trip. The car might sit for 4 days at a timer and my wife would have our better car. Work was a mile and a half away.
I found a 1966 Valiant for $235. We were allowed to work 70 hours every 8 days and that did not count sleeping or waiting out of town or meal breaks. We had NO scheduled days off. Th only time you did not have to be available was if you were out of hours or for 9 hours after a trip home.
A lot of other drivers who had not been out of work much had $40,000 pickups to pull their campers or boats even though they did not have time to use either.
I started out as a casual driver in December and got seniority in January. One of the other drivers congratulated me in the parking lot and said to me that now that I was on steady, I could get a better car. I laughed and said, I don’t need a 40,000 dollar pickup to sit here and rot while I am working.
A couple of weeks later I returned after a 4 day trip about 6am and it was knee deep snow and -16 F. There were 5 of us who returned within a half hour of each other and my Valiant was the only one that started. I gave the others a jump with my jumper cables I kept in the trunk. I felt very important that day.
That’s a great story!