Reliable 6-to-8 year old car

There are a lot of choices in this market segment, so are you considering an SUV for the room it offers or are you looking for some other consideration such as 4WD/AWD? If you're looking for reliability a used Toyota Camry or Honda Accord are in your price range. If you want something a little bigger than that a Chevy Tahoe, Ford Expedition, or GMC Yukon might fit the bill but for your max price you'll probably have to settle for an older one with some miles on it. Fortunately, the drive trains on these are time tested and pretty bulletproof so reliability should not be much of an issue there either.

I'd recommend you avoid the Ford Escape. Three of my brothers have owned them and two of them had transmissions go bad. Ford does make an AWD version of the Fusion and that might be a good choice. I'm personally rather partial to Mazda, having owned a Mazda6. I like the CX-7 but I'm a little leery about turbochargers so I'd be reluctant to buy a used one with the turbo engine. The Explorer has been around for a while and third generation (2001-2006) and fourth generation (2007-2013) have generally solid drivetrains and can be purchased at reasonable prices. The difference between the V-8 and the V-6 in terms of fuel mileage is negligible and the V-8 is a stronger engine which won't have to work as hard so I'd prefer a V-8 over the V-6. The only negatives I'm aware of with those cars is the speed sensors for the 4WD/ABS which are on the hubs. If you're mechanically inclined they're not too tough to fix and fairly inexpensive. Also, if the sensor does go out the car can still be driven although you won't have either 4WD or ABS.