What Car, Truck Or SUV Have You Driven That You Didn’t Expect To Like That Won You Over??

My wife's Evoque turned out to be a quite good small SUV. She got it because she liked the looks , it was the right size and felt it was more sporty than others available to her at the time (2014). She made a good choice, it had very nice handling, lots of features, great sound system, was reliable, excellent in deep snow and mild off roading, comfortable enough for long trips (was a little stifly sprung but not too much).

The Evoque and the Discovery Sport are the only LandRover/Range Rover products that are reliable and well-built.

Perhaps that is because they are basically Ford Escape's under the skin?

The Discovery Sport is actually a wonder of packaging efficiency - for such a small vehicle, it has tons of space.

SUV's are almost all 4 wheel shoe boxes with high center of gravity. Very forgettable and unacceptable for serious drivers.

Clearly you've never driven a Porsche Macan.

The topic was vehicles, put your glasses on! "So tell us which vehicles (Car, Truck, SUV) did you think you wouldn't like that won over your affection?"

For a while we've had an Escalade ESV as the best solution to stuff six kids into and its a good vehicle, but my wife and I have always had cars of our own. In her case it's so that she isn't stuck with the mom car all the time. The Lexus LC was her desire, so I got her one and after she lived with it, she liked it but didn't love it. So when she made noises about getting rid of it, her mother took it and her dad bought her a replacement vehicle. The two of them went shopping and she returned with a mommy car with the X7. I think the X7 is very attractive but I didn't think it would be one that would give a driving experience beyond politely pleasant. I was prepared to have a "meh" opinion of it, but I love it. When I can get away with it, I take it to Newport Beach. With Jed heading off the college, the X7 can take the rest of us around town, but for a long trip the ESV wins by a landslide.

I never dreamed I would ever own a Korean car. But I have to admit that I am impressed with my Niro PHEV. It's now a year old and has been 100% flawless in every regard. There are things I'd still improve, but no complaints at all with the car as is.

About two weeks ago, I finally took a company car from stock: an Explorer XLT stickered at $45K which I think is $5k too much. I hate the way it looks and had a very negative first impression when they first arrived on the trucks--and customers unfortunately agree too often. I essentially got told to drive a loaner because it's cheaper than me driving my personal cars. It's been to Newport Beach once where it impressed no one. We drove it to Indio Friday with the 5 boys with Jed and his boyfriend following. Although I'd still get the Telluride first, the Explorer simply isn't as terrible to live with as its first impression leads you to believe. It was able to tow the toys from the house to the desert yesterday without any drama. It hasn't won me over yet, but I don't hate it. I plan to drive it to Tucumcari in a bit to pick up my Jensen.