6000+GVWR SUV; fuel-efficient as possible; small as possible; reliable

Here's a list of qualifying vehicles:

http://www.alphaleasing.com/businessaspects/over6000gvwr.asp

The 4Runner is the clear winner in reliability. Very few vehicles hold up as well. You've driven the Limited? A good friend just bought one.

Among the others, the Flex has been pretty reliable from 2011 on in our stats. If this is a vehicle you'll only have for three years or so, it should be fine. Drives BIG, though. As does the Explorer, but in a different way. We own a 2008 Ford Taurus X, which shares some components with both. At nearly seven years of age various bits are clearly less than robust.

The Grand Cherokee is probably the best fit, except for reliability concerns. Note that even with the Jeep your odds of no repair in a given year aren't bad (we have odds stats for the 2011 and 2012). How long are you likely to keep it?

If you're likely to own it that long, the Fords and the Jeep really are crapshoots. Major mechanical problems aren't likely, but as you note the diesel is new this year. I also don't have a huge amount of confidence in the transmission used in the Fords, as it wasn't originally designed for an engine as strong as the EcoBoost. No widespread transmission failures so far, but they're also only approaching five years old. Wish I could report otherwise.

The best indicator of how the Fords will hold up for 7-9 years could be the Ford Freestyle, since it's now that old. Solidly yellow for the 2005 and 2006, then green for the 2007. Different engine and transmission, though, with the latter a CVT.

The current transmission was first used in the 2007 Edge, which otherwise was on a different, Mazda-derived platform. The 2007 and 2008 Edge are both green.

To view specific repairs, click the links in the right column (and be signed in).