Best Small and Compact SUVs for the Money for 2026
The best small and compact SUVs for the money are ranked based on an analysis of their price and average lifespan, with the top-ranked models offering the longest life at the lowest price.
The best small and compact SUV for the money is the Ford Escape which has the lowest iSeeCars Annual Lifespan Cost. We rank vehicles by how much a vehicle costs to purchase relative to how long the car lasts which we believe is a good determiner of value - the lower the cost, the better the value. The Ford Escape has an average new car list price of $32,708 and an average lifespan of 167,919.4 miles or about 15.1 years, resulting in an annual purchase cost of $2,163. Using this method, the second best small and compact SUV for the money is Mazda CX-5 with an Annual Lifespan Cost of $2,196. In third place is Honda CR-V which has an iSeeCars Annual Lifespan Cost of $2,387.
The best small and compact SUV for the money is the Ford Escape which has the lowest iSeeCars Annual Lifespan Cost. We rank vehicles by how much a vehicle costs to purchase relative to how long the car lasts which we believe is a good determiner of value - the lower the cost, the better the value. The Ford Escape has an average new car list price of $32,708 and an average lifespan of 167,919.4 miles or about 15.1 years, resulting in an annual purchase cost of $2,163. Using this method, the second best small and compact SUV for the money is Mazda CX-5 with an Annual Lifespan Cost of $2,196. In third place is Honda CR-V which has an iSeeCars Annual Lifespan Cost of $2,387.
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Annual Lifespan Cost
2163.23
- Avg Lifespan: 167.91940625K Miles (15.12 Years)
- Starting MSRP: 30350
iSEECARS SCORE
iSeeCars Best Car Rankings are calculated based on an analysis of data from over 12 million cars that assesses how long each vehicle lasts and how well it retains its value over time, along with safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association
See how we rank these cars
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Reliability
7.8
/ 10
-
Value Retention
7.6
/ 10
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Safety
8.0
/ 10
-
Annual Lifespan Cost
2196.3
- Avg Lifespan: 169.53209375K Miles (15.66 Years)
- Starting MSRP: 29990
iSEECARS SCORE
iSeeCars Best Car Rankings are calculated based on an analysis of data from over 12 million cars that assesses how long each vehicle lasts and how well it retains its value over time, along with safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association
See how we rank these cars
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Reliability
7.9
/ 10
-
Value Retention
8.2
/ 10
-
Safety
8.0
/ 10
-
Annual Lifespan Cost
2387.21
- Avg Lifespan: 176.897609375K Miles (15.33 Years)
- Starting MSRP: 30920
iSEECARS SCORE
iSeeCars Best Car Rankings are calculated based on an analysis of data from over 12 million cars that assesses how long each vehicle lasts and how well it retains its value over time, along with safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association
See how we rank these cars
-
Reliability
7.9
/ 10
-
Value Retention
8.7
/ 10
-
Safety
9.0
/ 10
-
Annual Lifespan Cost
2417.6
- Avg Lifespan: 174.858609375K Miles (15.11 Years)
- Starting MSRP: 29800
iSEECARS SCORE
iSeeCars Best Car Rankings are calculated based on an analysis of data from over 12 million cars that assesses how long each vehicle lasts and how well it retains its value over time, along with safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association
See how we rank these cars
-
Reliability
7.8
/ 10
-
Value Retention
9.0
/ 10
-
Safety
8.0
/ 10
-
Annual Lifespan Cost
2492.45
- Avg Lifespan: 178.78534375K Miles (16.69 Years)
- Starting MSRP: 34995
iSEECARS SCORE
iSeeCars Best Car Rankings are calculated based on an analysis of data from over 12 million cars that assesses how long each vehicle lasts and how well it retains its value over time, along with safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association
See how we rank these cars
-
Reliability
8.0
/ 10
-
Value Retention
8.1
/ 10
-
Safety
9.0
/ 10
-
Annual Lifespan Cost
2791.77
- Avg Lifespan: 156.588265625K Miles (13.86 Years)
- Starting MSRP: 29995
iSEECARS SCORE
iSeeCars Best Car Rankings are calculated based on an analysis of data from over 12 million cars that assesses how long each vehicle lasts and how well it retains its value over time, along with safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association
See how we rank these cars
-
Reliability
7.6
/ 10
-
Value Retention
8.5
/ 10
-
Safety
9.0
/ 10
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Annual Lifespan Cost
2991.3
- Avg Lifespan: 147.200109375K Miles (11.49 Years)
- Starting MSRP: 29090
iSEECARS SCORE
iSeeCars Best Car Rankings are calculated based on an analysis of data from over 12 million cars that assesses how long each vehicle lasts and how well it retains its value over time, along with safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association
See how we rank these cars
-
Reliability
7.2
/ 10
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Value Retention
7.7
/ 10
-
Safety
7.6
/ 10
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Annual Lifespan Cost
3048.24
- Avg Lifespan: 149.724703125K Miles (11.07 Years)
- Starting MSRP: 28800
iSEECARS SCORE
iSeeCars Best Car Rankings are calculated based on an analysis of data from over 12 million cars that assesses how long each vehicle lasts and how well it retains its value over time, along with safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association
See how we rank these cars
-
Reliability
7.2
/ 10
-
Value Retention
7.7
/ 10
-
Safety
8.0
/ 10
-
Annual Lifespan Cost
3395.05
- Avg Lifespan: 134.841921875K Miles (10.11 Years)
- Starting MSRP: 28790
iSEECARS SCORE
iSeeCars Best Car Rankings are calculated based on an analysis of data from over 12 million cars that assesses how long each vehicle lasts and how well it retains its value over time, along with safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association
See how we rank these cars
-
Reliability
7.0
/ 10
-
Value Retention
7.8
/ 10
-
Safety
9.0
/ 10
-
Annual Lifespan Cost
3431.91
- Avg Lifespan: 151.503734375K Miles (10.75 Years)
- Starting MSRP: 29995
iSEECARS SCORE
iSeeCars Best Car Rankings are calculated based on an analysis of data from over 12 million cars that assesses how long each vehicle lasts and how well it retains its value over time, along with safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association
See how we rank these cars
-
Reliability
7.2
/ 10
-
Value Retention
7.6
/ 10
-
Safety
7.1
/ 10
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Annual Lifespan Cost
3636.25
- Avg Lifespan: 143.9203125K Miles (10.51 Years)
- Starting MSRP: 30200
iSEECARS SCORE
iSeeCars Best Car Rankings are calculated based on an analysis of data from over 12 million cars that assesses how long each vehicle lasts and how well it retains its value over time, along with safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association
See how we rank these cars
-
Reliability
7.1
/ 10
-
Value Retention
7.7
/ 10
-
Safety
8.0
/ 10
-
Annual Lifespan Cost
3720.86
- Avg Lifespan: 123.43128125K Miles (9.97 Years)
- Starting MSRP: 30805
iSEECARS SCORE
iSeeCars Best Car Rankings are calculated based on an analysis of data from over 12 million cars that assesses how long each vehicle lasts and how well it retains its value over time, along with safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association
See how we rank these cars
-
Reliability
6.9
/ 10
-
Value Retention
7.8
/ 10
-
Safety
7.5
/ 10
-
Annual Lifespan Cost
3767.43
- Avg Lifespan: 117.848421875K Miles (9.15 Years)
- Starting MSRP: 29450
iSEECARS SCORE
iSeeCars Best Car Rankings are calculated based on an analysis of data from over 12 million cars that assesses how long each vehicle lasts and how well it retains its value over time, along with safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association
See how we rank these cars
-
Reliability
6.8
/ 10
-
Value Retention
7.9
/ 10
-
Safety
9.7
/ 10
-
Annual Lifespan Cost
Not Available
- Starting MSRP: 29900
iSEECARS SCORE
iSeeCars Best Car Rankings are calculated based on an analysis of data from over 12 million cars that assesses how long each vehicle lasts and how well it retains its value over time, along with safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association
See how we rank these cars
-
Reliability
Coming soon
-
Value Retention
8.1
/ 10
-
Safety
10
/ 10
-
Annual Lifespan Cost
Not Available
- Starting MSRP: 31845
iSEECARS SCORE
iSeeCars Best Car Rankings are calculated based on an analysis of data from over 12 million cars that assesses how long each vehicle lasts and how well it retains its value over time, along with safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association
See how we rank these cars
-
Reliability
Coming soon
-
Value Retention
7.9
/ 10
-
Safety
8.0
/ 10
-
Annual Lifespan Cost
Not Available
- Starting MSRP: 27695
iSEECARS SCORE
iSeeCars Best Car Rankings are calculated based on an analysis of data from over 12 million cars that assesses how long each vehicle lasts and how well it retains its value over time, along with safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association
See how we rank these cars
-
Reliability
Coming soon
-
Value Retention
7.7
/ 10
-
Safety
8.0
/ 10
-
Annual Lifespan Cost
Not Available
- Starting MSRP: 25035
iSEECARS SCORE
iSeeCars Best Car Rankings are calculated based on an analysis of data from over 12 million cars that assesses how long each vehicle lasts and how well it retains its value over time, along with safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association
See how we rank these cars
-
Reliability
Coming soon
-
Value Retention
8.9
/ 10
-
Safety
7.0
/ 10
-
Annual Lifespan Cost
Not Available
- Starting MSRP: 26500
iSEECARS SCORE
iSeeCars Best Car Rankings are calculated based on an analysis of data from over 12 million cars that assesses how long each vehicle lasts and how well it retains its value over time, along with safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association
See how we rank these cars
-
Reliability
Coming soon
-
Value Retention
7.7
/ 10
-
Safety
7.0
/ 10
Related Rankings
How We Rank These Cars
The Best Cars for the Money list ranks cars by their annual cost, which compares the purchase price of the car against how long the car lasts. We believe this is a good determiner of value--the lower the annual cost, the better the value.
iSeeCars analyzed millions of cars to determine how long each car can last. Then we calculated the annual cost over the lifespan for each vehicle. In the event two or more vehicles have the same annual cost, we use iSeeCars proprietary rating of the overall quality of the car (iSeeCars Score) to break the tie.
The overall iSeeCars Score is an analysis of three factors: reliability, resale value and safety. It is calculated based on the latest research and analysis by our data science team. The data analysis comes from over 12 million new and used vehicles in our Longest-Lasting Cars and 5-Year Depreciation Studies, combined with NHTSA and IIHS Safety Ratings.
Vehicles are scored in three categories:
Reliability
The reliability score represents an analysis of iSeeCars' proprietary research on the longest-lasting vehicles.
Value Retention
The value retention score is based on our data science team's statistical analysis and prediction of 5-year depreciation from MSRP to determine which cars hold their value best, using US Bureau of Labor Statistics data to adjust for inflation.
Safety
The safety score is calculated based on the last five years of crash test ratings from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and incorporates the latest Top Safety Pick information from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).