Tom, I don't have any personal experience with SUVs(have never even driven one), but the December issue of Consumer Reports concentrates on the reliability factor and has some good info.

It begins with "Only two years ago, Ford was Detroit's poster child for reliability...Since then, a perfect storm of reliability problems has dropped Ford to next to last among the 28 brands in our survey".

Toyota and Mazda have about the top performance(their tests)and reliability(owner reports)combination. Of the ones you mention, the Toyota Highlander and Mazda CX-9 are ranked at the top of the midsized SUV category.

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Enjoy the music, not the equipment.