My father just returned his Ford Explorer and is looking to charter something else. He previously made clear that the previous SUV was not very kind on his posterior and that it had more than necessary power for Florida… So he's on the lookout for a 4 cylinder or a small 6, and it has to be SUV in view of the fact that he enjoys surfing, etc… and this is the only big vehicle in the house, I borrowed his SUV quite a few times to relocate things around because I own a Honda Accord and my partner a Scion Xa.

Anyway, the budget; it's positively below US $32k including taxes & fees.
He liked the GMC Acadia, but it's way too underpowered, the Turbo version has excellent engine capacity and drives great, but for that much he opines he can do better.
He received a magnificent bargain at Volkswagen for a Jetta SportWagen 2.5L 5 cylinders… but he has a reliability concern given that our Audi Q7 and VW Beetle were constantly facing problems. I recommended that with a 36-month lease he shouldn't face any troubles (in contrast to driving the Audi like he did for around 6 years).
Next there is the recent Subaru Outback, a pretty darn good car, you could smell superiority all over if you choose to explore this car… Dad even suggested that he might have purchased the car by now if it wasn't for the salesman being such a nincompoop… I feel after taxes it gets to $28k or so, however he does seem to be fond of the car a lot.
He drove the Toyota Highlander (4 cylinders) and was of the opinion that it felt quite badly… I didn't get to try out that one, however he does look to be sure that his new SUV will not be a Toyota.
If you are aware of any good SUVs that he can think about without having to splurge a ridiculous amount of money, your suggestions are most welcome.