The saga continues...so glad we don't have to rush into buying a car... the inventory is starting to improve, but the process is still slow and painful.
I thought I'd give a quick update.
Gave up on the Cherokee L due to reliability and part availability concerns (i.e key parts not available so they credit the car).
MDX had the pole position. Didn't like the local dealer so we paused it since we had a lot of options if we're willing to drive a couple hours away. She's having second thoughts because of the cost of the car though, so she went back to the drawing board and wanted to literally test every car in its class.
So she ...
Test drove the 4Runner - liked it but "trucky" to her. Turn radius is more like my suburban for parking as well, which was odd. I had a Gen 4 and don't recall it being so wide. Personally I of course like it more than her so I'm biased. She would put this truck (Limited) over the GX460 given the marginal cost. Truck is awesome though and in the running if she were to look at this v. GX460, but I think she's passing on this if she can figure out the Mazda purchase (noted below).
Test drove the Mazda CX-9. She really likes this car. I test drove it too and found it surprisingly fast and fun. Great features. Almost fully to Fully loaded is low to mid 40's as well compared to everything else we looked at in the 50's+. It kind of looks like an MDX (I put a picture below to show similarities). It's not an MDX of course, but frankly it's such a nice car, I, personally, struggle with the MDX pricing v. the CX-9. At the marginal $15k extra cost for MDX this CX-9 car seems to be a winner. She may order one this month.
(As an aside: if we didn't need/want the space we'd really look hard at the new CX-50 - we looked it over since the dealer had one...such a nice car. It has to be a competitor with the Outback, check it out if you're looking)
The consumer report reviews on CX-9 are among the highest as well. That drew her to try it. The reddit/KBB/consumer reviews all high as well.
Anyways....does anyone have feedback CX-9?
Here's her two options she likes: #1 Touring Plus in Blue or Black (I like both, but blue would be my pick on that model) or #2 Grand Touring in Blue (further below). I like them all, but the grand touring has an option for tan leather, heated 2nd row, heated steering wheel, 360 monitor, and a bunch of other upgrades. It's $4k more, so maybe worth it ($42k v $46k)? Not sure - appreciate any feedback on that.
Thanks everyone for following the journey!