My requirements for an SUV or a crossover were very simple. A mid size station wagon/ SUV with decent size for a weekend getaway for a family of four. Decent ground clearance, good road presence and very good safety. Was not looking for speed/ BHP/ 0-100 dash etc as these are meaningless. Had to be comfortable and luxury/ brand value is a plus and was, IMO, the tilting point. My weekend getaways were to my farm which included some village roads and some mini mountains as speed breakers.
Shortlisted the GLC and went straight to the dealer. Was quite dissapointed as some of the basic features were missing - no memory seats (Me and my wife drive so setting the seats every time is a bummer), second row vents had no temp control (imagine your kids sitting there with the moon roof open in India during day - not good, no remote boot lid (I dont want to get down at every mall entrance just because there is no boot release switch, cmon - the most advertized auto park is a joke as the system is confusing and needs you to switch gears etc, no adaptive headlights etc. Moreover, the GLC was due for replacement shortly and there was copious discounts.
Wasnt looking at the Q5 as I feel its an Audi and belongs to the VW group. Have had unpleasant experience with this brand and so gave it the skip. Volvo is good but lacks brand feel and also they have only 21 service stations compared to 51 of the german marques. If I am taking my family on interstate trips, the last I want to be worried how far I am from the service station in case something goes wrong.
Thats when the X3 got launched and had rave reviews from Carwow etc. So went in and was pleasantly surprised. This ticked all my boxes. The luxuryline is fully equipped, good leather interiors, automatic everything, memory seats, remote boot close and open, three zone climate control, adaptive headlights, etc etc
The engine is responsive, very quite on the inside and the adaptive suspension is a good addition. Desirable brand, largest of the SUV in its class (and at the same time not unwieldy and barge like the X5/ Q7). Have covered 3500 kms so far and it has been great. She is quite a head turner in the phytonic blue and at junctions and traffic we get a lot of attention (may not be to your taste - then accept it when you get into this league)
Not many rattles on the interior but a couple that I managed to solve myself. The interiors and door pads are very well damped and the harman kardon is great - even at high volume (600W peak) there are no rattles - which is great.
Also, I noticed that many reviews are given by bots or random people who dont know what they are reviewing leave alone owning and giving reports. So take these reviews with a bias and thats also the reason I decided I will change it by giving my OWNERSHIP review - not some random ramblings.
Anyone complaining about cost of repairs etc - Do they even own a car in this league? Do they know about BSI and BRI that is on offer? Accept it, the cost of maintaining a car like this is going to be around 1~ 1.25L per year and that had to be considered. Else dont get into this league - there are a lot of cheaper brands below. Just my thoughts