My dad just returned his Toyota 4Runner and is looking to lease something else. He already made clear that the 4Runner was a bit too rough on his back and that it had way too much power for Florida... So he's looking for a 4 cylinder or small 6, and it has to be an SUV / Wagon since he does Kayaking, etc... + it's the only big car in the family, I borrowed his 4Runner several times to move stuff around since I drive a Z and my wife a Scion Xa..
Anyway, price range it's definitely under US $28k after taxes and fees.
He liked the Mazda CX7, but waayyyy too underpowered, the Turbo version has excellent power and drives great, but for the price he thinks he could get something else.
He got a great deal at Volkswagen for a Jetta SportWagen 2.5L 5 cylinders... but he is concerned with reliability since our Audi A6 and VW Cabrio were constantly breaking down. I told him that with a 36-month lease he shouldn't have any problems (as opposed to owning the Audi like he did for about 6 years).
Then there is the new Subaru Outback, pretty darn good car, you can smell quality all over when you sit down inside... He even said that he would have purchased the car already if it wasn't because the salesman was such a douchebag... I think after taxes it reaches $30k or so, but he seems to like the car a lot.
He drove the Toyota Highlander (4 cylinders) and said that it feels like crap... I didn't get to check that one out, but he seems to be sure that his new car won't be a Toyota.
I don't think he likes the Honda CR-V, I'll ask him if he wants to check it out, price seems about right.
Any suggestions? $20k to $27k or so? The Nissan Rogue is a piece of crap imo so I told him not to bother checking that out, and the Murano too expensive.