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SUVs have become one of the most popular types of car over the past couple of decades. Cars like the original Toyota RAV4 and BMW X5 took styling cues and raised seating positions from the lumbering off-road vehicles of the 1980s and 1990s and combined them with a more car-like driving position, and the formula really worked - today, you’ll struggle to find a company that doesn’t offer an SUV of some kind.
There’s an option in just about every market segment too, from the city-car sized Toyota Aygo X with its plastic cladding and raised suspension, to high-performance, luxury models from the likes of Bentley, Lamborghini, and even now Ferrari.
SUVs have become popular for good reason. Drivers like the raised seating position, for the extra visibility it promises and a greater feeling of safety than sitting lower down, and make entry and exit easier for some people too. While many are now little more than taller versions of regular cars, chunky off-road style looks also play their part.
They aren’t for everyone - being taller, heavier, and generally less aerodynamic than regular cars means most don’t quite perform or handle as well as their lower counterparts, and tend to use a little more fuel. This in turn has environmental implications that could see SUVs fall out of favour in future, but for the time being, their popularity doesn’t seem to be waning.
These larger vehicles are typically more expensive to buy brand new than the regular passenger cars they’re most closely related to - for example, a brand new Renault Captur costs around £3500 more than a Renault Clio of equivalent specification and engine. Buying a used SUV though can close that gap, and their popularity for so long now means there’s plenty of choice at most budgets.
This will depend on your budget and how you intend to use the car. The good news is that SUVs have been popular for quite a while now so there should be something for just about everyone, whether you want something cheap and cheerful or the most lavishly equipped luxury model.
In terms of usage, most models will be little different from any other passenger car - indeed, most SUVs are based on regular cars, and have the same engines and gearboxes (or more recently, the same electric motors and batteries). If you’re just commuting, doing the school run, or going shopping, then most should do the job. If you need a car that’s capable of proper off-roading though, or you live somewhere that has particularly tough conditions over winter, then several manufacturers still offer SUVs that can tackle far more than kerbs and gravel driveways.
Many models still offer four-wheel drive either as an option or standard fitment, and others have sophisticated suspension and traction control systems to make light work of tough terrain. It goes without saying that you’re likely to have to spend more on a vehicle with these features, so you can save money by not over-estimating how capable you need your SUV to be.
SUVs come in a wide range of sizes too. The larger models can be quite imposing and might have the image you’re after, but bear in mind that they’ll tend to cost more to run, may be more difficult to drive in town if you live in an urban area, and may not be easy to park either. On the flip side, some smaller SUVs are barely more spacious than the hatchbacks they’re based on, while larger models can really give you room to stretch out inside.
Finally, think about what fuel type you may need. Petrol, diesel, hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and electric models are all abundant on the used market, and offer differing levels of performance, refinement, running costs, maintenance requirements, and ease of use.
You can find SUVs for sale nearly everywhere, as they’re one of the most popular types of car on sale and they’re abundant in the used market. The best place to start your search is online, as nearly every used car dealer will have SUVs in stock and tools like the RAC Simple Search make it easy to find what you’re looking for.
If you have a particular car already in mind you can narrow down your search by make and model, but if not, the easiest way to search is by selecting ‘SUV’ as a vehicle type, and then using the normal price, age, mileage and colour fields to home in on a car that suits your requirements.
SUVs might look chunkier and ride taller than regular cars but the process for buying one is the same. There are several checks you can do from the comfort of your sofa or computer desk which should give you an idea whether the vehicle you’d like to buy is worth taking a look at, and then several more when inspecting a potential purchase.
If the SUV is more than three years old, it needs to be taken for an MOT each year, and a record of this can be found on the government’s MOT website. Alternatively, you can use a service like the RAC Vehicle History Check, which highlights MOT records as well as whether the car has any outstanding finance, accident records, or other potential black marks - as well as valuation data, so you can see whether the price you’re about to pay is fair.
Most SUVs will lead no more hard a life than regular cars so once you view a vehicle in person, you can do the same checks: inspect the car for damage, check the tyres are in good condition, make sure the interior is clean and tidy, and ultimately see how it performs on a test drive. If you’re looking at an SUV more obviously designed for off-road use, you might also want to peer underneath in case there’s evidence that it’s had a few knocks and scrapes away from tarmac.
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