Starting Price: $24,250 ($25,625 including $1,375 destination)
Fair Purchase Price: $24,576
The Hyundai Kona is all grown up for 2024. Its overall length grew by nearly six inches, which means there’s good legroom for rear-seat passengers. With all five seats filled, there’s room for 25.5 cubic feet of gear behind the second row. Once you start reconfiguring the cabin, however, you can get 63.7 cubic feet of cargo in there. Fuel economy is as good as 35 mpg on the highway, too. There is also a Kona Electric, but its starting price is beyond the scope of this story.
The Kona is KBB’s Subcompact SUV Best Buy for 2024. It’s also an IIHS Top Safety Pick+, the highest award the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety gives. The Kona comes standard with blind-spot warning, front and rear cross-traffic avoidance assist, lane-keeping assist, and safe exit warning. It even comes standard with a 12.3-inch touchscreen, wireless smartphone connectivity, and cruise control. It is protected by one of the best warranties you can get: 10 years/100,000 miles for the powertrain and five years/60,000 for the vehicle. See Hyundai Kona models for sale near you
2. 2024 Kia Seltos
Starting Price: $24,490 ($25,865 including $1,375 destination)
Fair Purchase Price: $24,907
A significant refresh for 2024 gives the Kia Seltos more technology, updated styling, more power, and a new transmission. That all adds up to an even more compelling package for families. This previous multiyear Subcompact SUV Best Buy Award winner offers a lot of value at a low starting price. This is another example of a small SUV offering a generous cargo space. There’s 26.6 cubic feet of space behind the back seat, which you can boost to 62.8 cubic feet by folding down the rear seats. Rear-seat legroom doesn’t suffer to allow for cargo in back, either. Second-row passengers have a relatively spacious 38.0 inches of legroom.
The base model Seltos LX comes standard with all-wheel drive and Kia’s Drive Wise suite of safety tech. This suite includes forward collision-avoidance assist, lane-keep assist, lane-departure warning, and lane-following assist. Move up one trim, and the S comes standard with blind-spot collision avoidance and rear cross-traffic collision avoidance. An 8-inch infotainment system and smartphone connectivity are also standard. The Seltos can go up to 409 miles on a tank of gas, and fuel economy is as good as 34 mpg on the highway. See Kia Seltos models for sale near you
3. 2024 Subaru Crosstrek
Starting Price: $25,195 ($26,540 including $1,345 destination)
Fair Purchase Price: $25,398
Also significantly updated for 2024, the Subaru Crosstrek is the most refined it has ever been, with a quiet interior and comfortable ride. But that doesn’t come at the expense of the Crosstrek’s aptitude in the great outdoors. The Crosstrek comes standard with all-wheel drive, a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT), and 8.7 inches of ground clearance. There’s even a Wilderness trim level available with more ground clearance, its own wheel/tire combination, and additional body protection.
The Crosstrek is roomy, with more than 100 cubic feet of space for people and 20 cubic feet of cargo room behind the second row. With the seats folded, the cargo volume is 54.7 cubic feet.
While the Crosstrek is available with two engines, the base engine is the one you can get in this price range. It isn’t super-fast, but the power is competitive in its segment. Fuel economy is very good. Even with the most off-road capability of any vehicle on this list, you get up to 34 mpg on the highway and a range of over 500 miles (estimated). These numbers are especially impressive, considering this is an AWD-only SUV. This Subaru comes standard with the EyeSight suite of safety features. The Crosstrek also boasts excellent resale value. See Subaru Crosstrek models for sale near you
4. 2024 Honda HR-V
Starting Price: $24,600 ($25,950 including $1,350 destination)
Fair Purchase Price: $24,963
As the subcompact SUV segment matures, so do the vehicles in that segment. Take, for example, the Honda HR-V. The second generation of the 5-passenger small SUV is larger, more refined, and uses a more powerful engine than the first gen. The HR-V’s footprint allows for 98.7 cubic feet of room for passengers, with 37.7 inches of legroom in the second row. There are 24.4 cubic feet of cargo behind the second row, which expands to 55.1 when the rear seats are folded.
As you would expect from a Honda SUV, the HR-V comes with a wide range of standard features with an emphasis on safety. The LX, the only trim level that falls within a $25,000 price range, includes the Honda Sensing suite of safety features. That comes with driver aids like lane-keeping assist, forward collision warning, road departure mitigation, automatic high beams, and adaptive cruise control. The HR-V is an IIHS TSP+ for 2024. See Honda HR-V models for sale near you
5. 2024 Toyota Corolla Cross
Starting Price: $23,860 ($25,210 including $1,350 destination)
Fair Purchase Price: $24,302
If you want the practicality, safety, reliability, and fuel efficiency of the Corolla but need more cargo space, the Toyota Corolla Cross is the SUV for you. It also adds to the mix a higher seating position and available AWD.
Every Corolla Cross comes with Toyota Safety Sense 3.0. This suite includes pre-collision warning with pedestrian detection, proactive driving assist, automatic emergency braking, lane-departure warning and assist, and adaptive cruise control.
With about 95 cubic feet of passenger space, 32 inches of rear-seat legroom, and 24 cubic feet of space behind the second row, the Corolla Cross makes great use of space.
Fuel economy is as good as 33 highway mpg with front-wheel drive, with a range of nearly 400 miles. There’s also a Hybrid, but it isn’t available in this price range. See Toyota Corolla Cross models for sale near you
