Best Off-Road Luxury Cars for 2024
These are the best off-road luxury cars based on iSeeCars' analysis of their off-road specs and capabilities.
The best off-road luxury wagon is the Volvo V60 Cross Country (7.8 inches of ground clearance).
The off-roader lifestyle has become so popular in recent years it’s crossed over from, well, crossovers and SUVs to mainstream car segments. This includes luxury cars like the Audi A4 allroad and Volvo S60 Cross Country.
While not extremely capable off-road vehicles, the models rated below have at least 6.5 inches of ground clearance and either four-wheel drive or all-wheel-drive systems.
These luxury off-road cars also include upgrades like skid plates and multi-terrain select driving modes, items that improve their off-road potential without sacrificing on-road comfort. A more detailed explanation of these features is listed below:
Skid Plates: Skid plates protect the underside of a vehicle by forming a shield between outside terrain and critical drivetrain components like the cooling system, oil pan, and transmission to greatly improve the durability of serious off-road vehicles
Hill Descent Control: Hill descent control is a driving mode that controls a vehicle's speed while descending a sharp incline, ensuring it doesn’t begin traveling so fast the driver loses control or risks damaging the vehicle
Hill Hold Technology: Similar to hill descent control, this technology keeps a vehicle from rolling backwards when climbing up a steep incline; it lets a driver carefully release the brake and apply throttle versus feeling rushed in this process to avoid rolling back
Multiple Driving Modes: In recent model years it’s become more common for off-road vehicles to include specific off-road driving modes; these driving modes coordinate everything from throttle response to transmission shifting to the suspension dampers to maximize a vehicle’s off-road capabilities
Even with the above features you won’t want to venture too far off the beaten path with these luxury cars. But their elevated ground clearance, relatively long-travel suspension systems and off-road technology allow them to handle light off-pavement adventures.
Browse the lists below to see which luxury cars offer these limited off-road capabilities.
How We Rank These Cars
The Best Off-road Vehicles lists rank vehicles by their ground clearance and off-road features.
The best off-road vehicle is specific to one or more trim levels for a given vehicle model, and has the highest ground clearance and the most important off-road features.. In the event there is a tie, 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).
