The Cadillac XT4 is an excellent choice for those wanting an affordable luxury SUV. Cadillac's entry-level SUV, its compact size blends a roomy interior with easy-to-park proportions. There are many tech amenities, like automatic emergency braking and Apple CarPlay. The XT4 is also fun to drive, with a turbocharged engine and agile handling. While the Macan is the best example of a sporty compact luxury SUV, the Mercedes-Benz GLC-Class is the epitome of style and comfort. Mercedes' attention to detail is exemplified by the GLC's. Best Subcompact SUVs of 2021 Before the age of the subcompact SUV, the term sports utility vehicle referred almost exclusively to tough, large vehicles that drank lots of fuel and wobbled around.
- Best Luxury Subcompact Suv 2016
- Best Luxury Compact Suv
- Best Luxury Subcompact Suv 2021
- Best Luxury Subcompact Suv 2020
- Best Luxury Subcompact Suvs 2019
Non-luxury automakers aren’t the only ones getting in on the subcompact SUV fun. Their higher-priced compatriots are also pumping out these vehicles in record numbers. Granted, with many of these vehicles, we sometimes struggled to see the value proposition of these price points paired with the small space constraints.
However, there are a select few (notably the top 3) that really make a solid case for luxury subcompact SUVs. Regardless of what we as reviewers think, it’s sales that matter and drive decisions in automaker offices. And since consumers seem to love this new subcompact SUV segment, car manufacturers are going to continue to pump them out!
We ranked 11 subcompact luxury SUVs from best to worst by combining their ratings on driving performance, standard features, design, and value.
11. 2019 Infiniti QX30
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The Infiniti QX30 has a comfortable and well-appointed cabin. But even in a segment called “subcompact,” it has less interior and cargo space than its rivals. To add to the woes, loud wind noise intruded into the cabin—a particular disappointment for a luxury offering. Infiniti also has below-average reliability ratings for the QX30. Let’s hope that redesigns coming in the not-too-distant future remedy some of these downsides.
10. 2019 Land Rover Range Rover Evoque
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True to its brand, the Range Rover Evoque is an off-roading beast—a luxurious one at that. The exterior design is one of our favorites on any vehicle, with its front grille that sweeps into the sides and toward the rear paired with a sloping roofline. It does have a well-designed cabin, but that refinement doesn’t extend to the mechanical parts of the SUV. The transmission is poor as are its overall reliability ratings. It’s also more expensive than many other competitors when comparably equipped. When you can find better for cheaper, that’s not a recipe for success.
9. 2019 Buick Encore
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The Buick Encore was one of the first luxury subcompacts on the scene. While it’s still a reliable offering, it’s beginning to show its age. We find that most GM cabins have intuitive infotainment systems, and this Buick has some nice finishes throughout the cabin that don’t feel particularly cheap. But, it’s still not the most luxurious in the class. What really hindered the Encore on our list was the underperforming engine that comes standard.
8. 2019 Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class
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The GLA-Class carries over the sure-footed handling that gives its larger Mercedes cousins high marks in our reviews. The cabin layout is also user-friendly; however, the materials and finishes seem somewhat low-rent for this luxury class. We found it uncharacteristic for MB. The small dimensions don’t particularly stand out in this class and neither does its standard engine offering.
7. 2019 Cadillac XT4
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The XT4 is a brand-new model from Cadillac, and it appears in the middle of our ranking. The interior isn’t particularly intuitive, and we found the brakes especially mushy and unresponsive. On the plus side, we found good legroom in the rear seats and robust engine options for puttering around town.
6. 2019 Jaguar E-Pace
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The E-Pace is not Jaguar’s electric offering (that’s the I-Pace.) A little confused? Anyway, this subcompact luxury SUV has surprisingly good cargo room for the class. And as is common with Jaguar vehicles, the handling and ride control are spot-on. Where it fell behind the segment leaders was in engine performance and subpar fuel economy.
Best Luxury Subcompact Suv 2016
5. 2019 Lexus UX
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The UX is Lexus’s first foray into the subcompact market. Our reviewers were split on the exterior styling. Some found its angular lines aggressive and youthful. Others found it to be a glorified wagon with busy body cladding. The taillights, in particular, were universally agreed to be…odd. Look them up for yourself. We also continue to be critics of Lexus’s unintuitive infotainment setup across its whole lineup. That said, the UX is well-appointed, affordable, offers great gas mileage, and has a smooth and comfortable ride.
4. 2019 Audi Q3
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Best Luxury Compact Suv
The Audi Q3 has the brand’s characteristic handsome interior cabin layout. The materials are upscale as are the standard feature offerings. The infotainment system is intuitive and easy-to-use, and the rest of the cabin is comfortable and roomy for the class. The one small drawback is that fuel economy is lower than competitors.
3. 2019 BMW X2
Best Luxury Subcompact Suv 2021
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If a sporty subcompact SUV is your aim, you couldn’t do worse than the BMW X2. The exterior design features a raked coupe roofline that will turn heads from other drivers and pedestrians. Couple that with BMW’s strong handling and a powerful array of engines, and the X2 may be the SUV that banishes the notion of soccer mom or dad being “uncool.”
2. 2019 BMW X1
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The BMW X1 is similar in dimensions to the X2 except that it doesn’t feature a raked coupe-style roofline. That improves on our critiques of the X2 by increasing rear visibility, rear-seat space, and cargo area. It’s everything we liked about the X2 and more! And now that BMW has announced it is dropping its annual fee to use Apple CarPlay, things just got even better.
1. 2019 Volvo XC40
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Volvo swung for the fences with its first subcompact SUV. and it hit a home run. We found the shorter dimensions and boxier design made the XC40 more handsome than its larger siblings (and those were lookers to begin with). Volvo also has our favorite infotainment design to date. Their dashboards are modern, clean, and intuitive without being overly techy. Furthermore, the XC40 comes at great price points that are filled to the brim with standard features and a luxurious cabin for drivers and passengers alike.
Trending Articles
Consumer Reports (CR) has published its annual vehicle reliability survey. The survey ranked cars, trucks, and SUV models on 17 potential trouble spots including engine, power equipment, body, and electronics. The cumulative score of a company’s models determines the brand’s overall reliability ranking for 2021 models.
The CR survey, which includes over 300,000 vehicles, determines predicted reliability for new vehicles on a 0-100 scale, with the average vehicle being between 41 and 60 points. The fewer the problems, the higher the score. Due to insufficient data, or brands not having enough vehicles, some brands and models were not included in these ratings.
The Most Reliable 2021 SUV
In the survey findings, the Lexus NX. The NX is the company’s entry-level compact crossover with a starting price under $40,000.
The NX blends interior comforts, with lots of standard safety features, and great reliability. It was just one model that helped push Lexus to 3rd overall in brand reliability ratings.
Overall, the top 5 most reliable SUVs in the reliability survey were the NX, Buick Encore, Lexus GX, Honda HR-V, and Hyundai Kona. These models cover the subcompact, compact, luxury, and full-size SUV categories.
The Least Reliable 2021 SUV
The CR survey found that the Ford Explorer was the least reliable SUV. The Explorer was plagued with problems in its engines, electronics, power equipment, body, and transmission. It scored a paltry 1 out of 100 in the reliability survey.
The Explorer, which was redesigned for 2020, was plagued by a rushed production. More specifically, this caused problems with faulty seats, digital displays with buggy software, and loose wiring harnesses.
“The Ford Explorer, redesigned for 2020, is one of the lowest scoring models from any manufacturer — domestic or foreign — this year” – Consumer Reports
The redesigned Ford Escape compact crossover didn’t perform much better. And the subcompact Ecosport crossover was another downer. Overall as a company, Ford did poorly finishing in the bottom 5.
The other lease reliable SUVs based on the survey were the Subaru Ascent, Volkswagen Atlas, Jeep Compass, and Volvo XC90.
The Least Reliable Car Brand
Ford’s luxury brand, Lincoln, finished as the lowest-rated brand for reliability overall. However, there were other manufacturers they didn’t have enough data to rank including Fiat, Chrysler, Alfa Romeo, Jaguar, Mitsubishi, and Land Rover.
Lincolns were plagued with similar problems as described with the Explorer with the Aviator and Corsair having poor reliability.
Mazda Has the Most Reliable Cars
Overall, for the first time ever, Mazda ranked first as the brand with the most reliable vehicles. This is a big win for the Japanese automaker to dethrone Toyota and Lexus at the top spot of the annual vehicle reliability survey.
Mazda’s small CX-3, still subcompact CX-30, and compact CX-5 also performed well in reliability ratings, all scoring 85 or better.
These types of consistent results helped push Mazda into the most reliable car brand spot. We recently ranked the CX-30 on our best SUV list.
The Top 5 Most Reliable Car Brands
In 2020, Lexus took the top spot in the survey. The LS model didn’t fare as well this year and that contributed to dropping the luxury automaker to the third spot. Lexus’ parent company Toyota finished second in the reliability survey for 2021 models.
Buick and Honda rounded out the top five most reliable car brands. Honda’s midsize crossover, the Passport, had reported reliability problems.
What Helped Mazda Have the Most Reliable Vehicles?
Best Luxury Subcompact Suv 2020
Based on the survey Mazda’s success with reliable vehicles is due in part to their use of more durable, six-speed automatic transmissions in lieu of continuously variable transmissions (CVTs).
CVT use is growing in popularity among automakers but they tend to be more fragile and less reliable. That means more repairs, more expense, and a lower reliability score.
Mazda has accomplished while still maintaining above-average fuel economy in their vehicles. And with their crisp handling and quality fit and finish, their vehicles are known to be fun to drive.
CR also noted that Mazda takes an iterative approach to vehicle design. Instead of making wholesale changes on models, they take a more gradual approach to change. This has lead to less flaws with defects and other unexpected flaws due to new technology.
Despite having less emphasis on cabin tech, Mazda still garners excellent safety ratings. It’s subcompact CX-3 model earned an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Top Safety Pick+ award for its crash test ratings.
However, if you like touch screens, large infotainment systems, or other advanced tech, Mazda may not be the brand for you.
The Most Improved 2021 SUV
Buick was the most improved brand for reliability, jumping up 14 spots to the 4th spot overall among carmakers. Its subcompact crossover, the Encore, showed significant improvements in reliability and came in as the second most reliable crossover model.
Other brands that showed improvement in reliability included BMW, with its midsize X5 model making gains, Volvo, with its XC40 performing well, and Jeep with the Wrangler doing better.
German SUV Reliability
Porsche was the highest-ranked European automaker finishing 9th overall among automotive brands in the reliability survey.
Audi was in the middle of the pack. The A5 and A4 models both rated above average. However, its reliability rating was hurt by the subcompact Q3 crossover, the new tech-heavy midsize coupe crossover Q8, and its e-tron electric SUV. These models were found to have below or well below average reliability in the study.
Mercedes may do well on the innovation, comfort, and technology side but they didn’t fare well in reliability. Mercedes finished last among German automakers in the 20th spot.
Tesla Reliability
Tesla’s new Model Y crossover, unfortunately, didn’t fare so well in the CR reliability survey. Reported issues with fit and finish including misaligned body panels and mismatched paint tanked its rating.
Best Luxury Subcompact Suvs 2019
The Model Y’s rating was much worse than average. It dragged the electric automaker down to the penultimate spot in the reliability rankings, ahead of only Lincoln.
Keep Reliability in Mind When Buying an SUV
Vehicle reliability is important as not only is it a major headache when your SUV is in the shop, it can be downright costly. Not only can it increase your maintenance and repair costs, but it also can decrease the resale value of your vehicle.
You can learn more about the CR reliability survey and get the overall brand ratings list here. To view how rating have changed over the past year, check out our most and least reliable 2020 SUVs article.
Had a good or bad experience with a 2021 SUV model? We want to hear from you. Please share your experience in the comments below.
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