I'm a huge fan of wagons over SUV's. If you've got an SUV and a wagon of approximately equal sizes (interior wise) with the same engine, the wagon is going to be more aerodynamic, handle better on the road, get better mileage, have a lower center of gravity and generally be better at anything performance car oriented.
SUV's are absolutely working with a handicap when it comes to on road behavior. That doesn't mean they can't be good (hey man, i've driven a Macan GTS, no doubt about it, in a vacuum it's a damn fine vehicle) but it does mean they would drive
better if they weren't...you know....a foot off the ground.
That very fact would always bother the crap out of me if I owned an SUV. However, it's also a thing that wouldn't necessarily bother other people, which is totally fine. And that's to say nothing of the actual very real reasons one might want an SUV (like, driving on surfaces that are NOT smooth asphalt, or simply because there aren't very many wagons in the U.S. and SUV's are undeniably practical.)
So in theory, i don't like them, but in practice?
I kinda get it.
Side note: I went to New Orleans a while back and i've never seen a city with such bad pavement. I feel like you'd have to be mildly insane to drive anything around there without a bunch of ground clearance. If I lived there, i'd put a lot of thought into buying a quick SUV. I'd just make sure my tires weren't too low profile.
Anyway, i don't like em for me, but I don't judge either. People have their reasons.