Cars
Michael Gil/Wikimedia
ByMike Shutt/
Compact SUVs have become an incredibly popular vehicle. Among the top 25 best-selling cars in the United States in 2024 so far, you could consider roughly 10 of them to be compact SUVs. They rank as high on the list as the number three position with the Toyota RAV4, falling just behind the FordF-Series and Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck juggernauts. These are vehicles that are designed to satisfy what so many people are looking for in a daily passenger vehicle. They are larger than your typical sedan, making them good for families, but they aren't so large that they become unwieldy and intimidating for drivers. Though they are of a larger size, they still remain relatively fuel efficient compared to other SUV sizes on the market. For your average, everyday driver, they simply make sense.
As their popularity grows, that does not necessarily mean everyone purchasing them are getting brand-new vehicles from the factory. People are still looking at the used markets for reliable and worthwhile options available for good prices. However, not every single compact SUV is created equally, and a number of models out there have proven to be poor bets on the used market. This could be a poor model from a particular year that typically is reliable every other year, or it is a model that consistently comes up short year after year. After digging through reviews and reliability ratings from various publications, these are five compact SUVs that you should probably skip over if you're looking for one for your garage.
[Image by Michael Gil via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 2.0]
Ford Escape
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TheFord Escape rounds out that best-selling vehicles in the United States so far in 2024 at the 25th position, but just because it is a fairly popular vehicle does not necessarily mean it comes highly rated. This isn't just true of the most recent model, but the Escape has received subpar reliability ratings throughout the 21st Century. Over that span of time, the compact SUV has gone through four different generations, and many of them have not been able to receive a reliability rating from Consumer Reports of over 40 out of 100. Sometimes the numbers fall below 30, with the 2021 model earning a disgraceful five.
Consumer Reports isn't the only place you'll find the Escape lacking in praise. For example, the 2013 model year saw the SUV tie for tenth place in the overall ranking of compact SUVs by J.D. Power with its reliability score being 13 points lower than the number one rated Chevrolet Equinox. That was a model year that saw 20 different recalls issued for the Escape.
2013 marked the beginning of a new generation of the vehicle, and while the SUVs weren't paragons of reliability beforehand, now it was rare to have your Escape last more than 130,000 miles. As the years have progressed, that estimation really hasn't changed. So, if you're looking at a used model that already has 75,000 miles on it, its lifespan is already over halfway through. Quite possibly more than any other compact SUV, avoid the Ford Escape.
[Image by skinnylawyer via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 2.0]
GMC Terrain
Kevauto/Wikimedia
When GMC introduced the Terrain for the 2010 model year, it existed in this fairly nebulous space between a compact and mid-size SUV. The vehicle received an update for the 2018 model year that placed it firmly into the compact zone. Because of that, one may just consider Terrains from all years if they are looking to get a compact SUV. However, not only are the pre-2018 models maybe a tad larger than one would want — though not so large that you would think they're a whole new category of vehicle — but the reliability of that first generation of Terrain leaves a lot to be desired.
Like the Ford Escape, the reliability ratings from Consumer Reports for this era of the GMC Terrain never get above 40 out of 100. When it comes to J.D. Power, though, it fares much better, often scoring in the '80s. The 2017 model, the last before the generation change, earned an 87 from the institution. However, it does fall behind when it comes to driving experience, with the same model managing just a 74. The oneout of five owner satisfaction rating from ConsumerReports only bolsters that point.
Complaints range from the 3.6-liter V6 engine feeling less powerful than it should to poor visibility. The first six model years have received hundreds of reports on CarComplaints from drivers, with the vast majority pointing to the engine as the culprit. Once you make it to the new generation of the Terrain in 2018, these scores dramatically improve, but you'll want to avoid those early years.
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Jeep Cherokee/Liberty
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The third vehicle on this list is yet another American-made vehicle. There has been a long history of automakers from international companies, particularly Japanese automakers like Toyota, making vehicles that last much longer and are generally more reliable than their American counterparts. While the gap between them may be somewhat overstated, a gap still exists. So, the next compact SUV you should maybe steer clear of on the used market is the Jeep Cherokee, previously known asthe Liberty.
No matter what the name is, the vehicle has had its unfortunate reports. Since rebranding as the Cherokee in 2014, six of the 10 years have received a one out of five owner satisfaction rating from Consumer Reports, with only the 2021 model getting over a 2. Though the ratings for the Liberty are more sparse, they are equally terrible. That 2014 model, in particular, received rough marks, with its 20 out of 100 reliability score and reports of leaking from the exhaust, engine, and transmission and issues with everything from the suspension to electrical system. 11 different recalls have been issued for the SUV, it misses J.D. Power's top 10 compact SUVs of the year by six points, a margin wider than the one between the third and tenth place finishers.
The customer reports over on CarComplaints mirror these numbers, earning an astounding 734 submissions. The 2015 wasn't much better with 714, and if you think the Liberty does much better, the 2006 model has 683 recorded complaints there.
[Image by Shadiac via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 3.0]
Nissan Rogue
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In most cases, the vehicles produced by Nissan can generally be relied upon. The Japanese automaker came in at number 10 on SlashGear's ranking of the most reliable car companies in the world, alongside many other Asia-based brands. However, that doesn't necessarily mean that every single vehicle that Nissan makes maintains that top-tier status, which is where the company's compact SUV the Nissan Rogue enters into the equation.
To be fair, the Nissan Rogue doesn't score as badly on a consistent basis as the three previously mentioned SUVs. For instance, the Rogue will break into J.D. Power's yearly rankings of the top 10 compact SUVs, but it will typically be in the bottom half of that list. The reliability scores from ConsumerReports almost never reach below 20 out of 100, an indication of truly poor sustainability, but they rarely take the step above mediocre. Despite that, the owner satisfaction ratings from the publication are consistently bad, more often than not receiving a one out of five score.The Rogue first hit the market in the 2008 year, and for its first 10 years, it averages about 124 reported issues per year on CarCompaints, with 2013 as the worst year thanks in large part to transmission problems.
The current generation of the Nissan Rogue has seen a good deal of improvement. However, if you are looking for a used vehicle, one that is just a couple of years old isn't exactly a great discount, which means looking at older models that had problems.
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Volkswagen Tiguan
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The last compact SUV on our list is the Volkswagen Tiguan, the sole German-made vehicle here. Compared to the previous anti-recommendations on this list, the Tiguan has not been a consistently poorly received vehicle in terms of its reliability ratings. The first generation, which lasted from the 2009 model year through 2017, performed rather well on J.D. Power's annual rankings of the best compact SUVs, often appearing in the top five of the year and having a reliability score ranging from the mid-70s to low-80s. This praise does stand in stark contrast to the owner satisfaction ratings for this generation from ConsumerReports, with no model year getting over a one out of five score.
That owner discontent continues onto the second generation beginning with the 2018 model, but here, its place on the J.D. Power rankings falls to meet it, as it leaves not just the top five but the top 10 entirely. This is also where you see a spike in recalls. The 2017 model had just four, whereas the 2018 one increased to 13. Pair that with a reliability score of 20 out of 100 from Consumer Reports, and you have something to be avoided at all costs.
Over on CarComplaints, it actually rates 2016 as the worst model year due to high cost repairs to engine failures. Across its entire lifespan, engine problems were the number one issue reported on the site, including it shutting off while driving. Although the full picture of the Volkswagen Tiguan is more contradictory than the rest, that lack of consensus should give you pause.
[Image by Vauxford via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 4.0]
How these compact SUV models were chosen
Vauxford/Wikimedia
Since compact SUVs have become such a popular vehicle to produce as sales remain incredibly strong, there were dozens upon dozens of models to choose for this list from so many companies. To narrow this vast ocean of compact SUVs to just five to avoid for this list, a number of different factors were considered. First and foremost was the reported reliability of each of these vehicles.
Due to this list discussing the possible purchase of a used vehicle, it not being able to be relied upon by the owner is arguably the most important factor in why someone would choose to look elsewhere for their next car. The SUVs reliability was determined by taking into account institutions like Consumer Reports, J.D. Power, Kelley Blue Book, and CarComplaints. These scores were then paired with owner satisfaction scores from similar publications. After taking these scores into account, factors like the number of recalls a model has had enters into it, as a high number of recalls indicates a distinct lack of reliability.
[Image by Vauxford via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 4.0]
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