You can put a great family SUV on your driveway for less than £15,000 if you buy used, but which car should you choose? Here's a list of our top 10 favourites...
The times of SUVs being only for rural folk with deep pockets are long behind us. Nowadays, the class is home to many family favourites. Many people adore their style and practicality, and if you're reading this, you're probably one of them.
One of the best aspects of family SUVs is their affordability, especially used. You can actually put an excellent example on your driveway for less than £15,000, and that's despite the recent surge in used car prices.
Read on as we count down our top 10 list of the best on the market.
Nissan Qashqai
The Nissan Qashqai was a trendsetter when it arrived and it continues to be a very popular choice. This second-generation car is quiet, comfortable and economical. The driving experience leaves room for improvement, as does its questionable reliability (see our latest What Car? Reliability Survey), but it remains a sensible, compelling choice.
We found: 2019 Nissan Qashqai 1.3 DiG-T Acenta Premium, 37,000 miles, £14,495
Find a used one for sale here
Pros
- Quiet and comfortable
- Sips fuel
- Lots of equipment
Cons
- Poor reliability
- Ride suffers on 19in wheels
- Limited rear visibility
Renault Kadjar
Perhaps a little overshadowed by the more popular Nissan Qashqai (a shame, really, considering that the two are basically identical under the skin), the Renault Kadjar is a bit of a bargain. It has a big boot for all your pram and/or weekly shopping requirements, plus it can be had with a smooth 1.3-litre turbo petrol engine. It’s hardly exciting to drive, but it is refined and comfortable.
We found: 2020 Renault Kadjar 1.3 TCe Iconic, 56,080 miles, £14,799
Find a used one for sale here
Pros
- Spacious interior
- Bigger boot than sibling Nissan Qashqai
- Quiet petrol engines
Cons
- So-so quality
- Grabby brakes
- Choppy ride on big alloys
A premium badge and a high-quality interior make the Audi Q3 a desirable used proposition. It also comes with a fine choice of punchy and efficient engines, decent refinement and tidy handling. It's a popular car so it holds its value well, and that means our budget only buys you a 2015/2016 version of the first-generation model, otherwise it might have finished higher in our list. We found: 2016 Audi Q3 2.0 TDI
150 SE, 44,651 miles, £14,798 Find a used one for sale hereAudi Q3
Pros
Cons
- No more space than a family hatch
- Seating not especially versatile
- Very firm S line suspension
Toyota C-HR
The C-HR handles sweetly, is swift enough for most needs and looks just as interesting inside as it does on the outside. All in, it's quite a departure for a conservative brand like Toyota. It's not as practical as one or two of the other cars on this list, but it's good to drive, comfortable and reliable.
We found: 2018 Toyota C-HR 1.2T Icon, 27,633 miles, £14,790
Find a used one for sale here
Pros
- 1.2 petrol is good to drive
- Plenty of equipment
- Well built
Cons
- Hybrid model is noisy
- Rivals are more practical
- Infotainment isn't great
The recent facelift of the Tucson means that the values of earlier examples have dropped, meaning you can get a well-specified example easily within our budget. And we do mean well-specified: SE Nav comes with rear parking sensors, heated front seats, climate control and a reversing camera. Oh, and sat-nav. It's also comfortable, spacious and practical. We found: 2019 Hyundai Tucson 1.6 GDi SE Nav 2WD, 51,530
miles, £14,730 Find a used one for sale hereHyundai Tucson
Pros
- Five-year warranty
- Lots of equipment
- Cheap to buy
Cons
- Plasticky interior
- Firm ride
- Some thirsty engines
Kia Sportage
The Sportage in mid-spec ‘2’ trim has sat-nav, rear parking sensors, heated front seats, power-folding door mirrors, climate control, auto lights and wipers, and privacy glass. You'll also be getting one of the most dependable family SUVs available – as shown by our latest What Car? Reliability Survey – and it came with a seven-year warranty new, so there should be plenty of cover left.
We found: 2019 Kia Sportage 1.6 GDi 2, 38,705 miles, £14,795
Find a used one for sale here
Pros
- Spacious and practical interior
- Good value for money used
- Neat steering
Cons
- Diesel engine can be noisy
- So-so ride and handling
- No automatic emergency braking on some models
Car buyers do like a premium brand, and they don’t come much more blue-chip than BMW. The current X1 is great to drive, comes with bags of room inside and has a quality interior that features the excellent iDrive infotainment system. It's well equipped, too, and our most recent What Car? Reliability Survey found it to be one of the most reliable family
SUVs available. We found: 2017 BMW X1 2.0 18d sDrive, 54,687 miles, £14,899 Find a used one for sale hereBMW X1
Pros
Cons
- Lots of road noise
- Fairly pricey
Volkswagen Tiguan
The Volkswagen Tiguan has regularly been one of the most popular family SUVs around. This second-generation version is beautifully made and finished, and is also a solid performer, especially if you go for the torquey 2.0-litre that has no trouble carrying a car-load of people around (or towing a caravan). It's also refined, practical and spacious.
We found: 2017 Volkswagen Tiguan 2.0 TDI S, 59,739 miles, £14,800
Find a used one for sale here
Pros
- Good to drive
- Refinement
- Smart interior
Cons
- Rearmost seats in the Allspace model are very tight
- Handsome, but not very exciting to look at
Another great family SUV, the Seat Ateca is one of the very best of its kind to drive – feeling sure-footed on a challenging B-road, nimble on city streets and refined on a motorway. It’s also backed up by a cracking range of engines. Practicality is still a top priority: the doors open wide to make putting a child car seat in easier, the boot is big and the interior is spacious. We found: 2018 Seat Ateca 1.0 TSI Ecomotive
SE, 24,731 miles, £14,950 Find a used one for sale hereSeat Ateca
Pros
Cons
- Some rivals offer more flexible seating
- Interior isn’t that plush
- Rivals offer lower CO2 emissions
Skoda Karoq
The Karoq just edges out its broadly similar sibling the Seat Ateca to the top spot. It's extremely practical (even more so than the Ateca), plus it drives well and is excellent value for money. The ride is cosseting too, and it's decently refined in town and on a motorway. The Karoq’s greatest asset, though, is its interior, which is flexible, smart and beautifully built, with loads of space for all your passengers.
We found: 2018 Skoda Karoq 1.6 TDI SE Technology, 51,000 miles, £14,995
Find a used one for sale here
Pros
- Spacious and practical interior
- Comfortable ride
- Punchy engines
Cons
- A little bland to drive
- Not as efficient as some
- VarioFlex seats optional on some models