Had this same thing with my wife. She wanted a new vehicle but had no idea what she wanted. We spent hours on the computer looking at everything at around the same price range you are in. My only stipulation was nothing directly own by General Motors, I hate that company with passion.
We ended up writing down 22 vehicles and started visiting dealerships. My goal was to cross as many off the list as possible. We did have some she definitely did not want and some stayed on the list as maybes. When she saw the Nissan Murano, she really liked it and kept telling me so in comparison. I was done going to dealerships, actually going to just one is enough for me.
So I bought the Murano without her knowing and asked her to come to the dealership after work to just test drive it. Whole dealership knew it was a surprise when she showed up. She drove it home and thanks me to this day of what I did.
So maybe just surprise her....
