What’s the best SUV for under $15,000?

As a way to say thank you to our 100^th fan on Facebook we asked them if we could write an article of their choosing. They wanted to know what kind of SUV you could buy for $10,000 to $15,000 with less than 100,000 miles. We kept the search to within 100 miles of their location to see what was trending locally. We broke out Vehiblog’s crystal Vehiball, did some furious rubbing, and came up with our top pics for new and used SUV’s.

 New Vehicles

Surprisingly, one vehicle popped up at multiple locations that you can buy new, the 2014 Jeep Patriot. 

Jeep Liberty (Image courtesy of Jeep)

New prices range from $14,768 to $14,958 depending on options so this vehicle might run a tad over the $15,000 threshold after tax, title, and fees. However, you do get a brand new five door SUV with a 3 year/36,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty and a 5 year/100,000 mile powertrain and roadside assistance warranty. The up (or down) side to this is that you get a front-wheel drive 2.0L four-cylinder engine which puts out 158 horsepower and 124  pound-feet of torque, and a five-speed manual transmission. This provides 23 miles per gallon city and 30 miles per gallon highway fuel economy, which isn't too bad, even for a small SUV. Cargo capacity is 23 cubic feet with the rear seats up and 53.5 cubic feet with the rear seats folded. 

Jeep Liberty Interior (Image courtesy of Jeep)

While fairly Spartan by most SUV standards it does come equipped with some notable features such as cabin filtration, fold flat load floor storage, and a removable/rechargeable interior lamp. Safety features include active head restraints, multistage front airbags, anti-lock brakes, electronic roll mitigation, electronic stability control, hill start assist, seat mounted side airbags, side curtain airbags, and cruise control. It has manual door locks and manual windows which can be a feature (or not) depending on your point of view. It has NHTSA five star driver and passenger crash ratings and five star side impact ratings front and rear. Rollover resistance is only three stars. J.D. Power gives the 2014 Patriot 3/5 stars for overall quality and 2/5 stars for predicted reliability. While this won’t win any off-road competitions, this is perfect for someone who needs a simple on-road SUV for hauling kids and gear without breaking the bank on out-the-door cost or poor fuel economy. With the unveiling of the 2015 Jeep Renegade recently, prices on the Patriot might plummet even further as dealers try to make room for the all new small SUV.

Used Vehicles

While it’s hard to beat a brand new, fairly economical SUV for under $15,000, there are a few reasons why you still may want to purchase used. The first is insurance costs will more than likely be lower depending on what vehicle you get. The second is availability of additional features such as four-wheel or all-wheel drive, or an automatic transmission. Taking these considerations into account, along with vehicles produced in high volumes will increase the chance of being able to compare models in the area, we've come up with our top three choices. In no particular order they are:

Ford Escape (2008-2012)

2012 Ford Escape (Image courtesy of Ford)

The Ford Escape is another versatile SUV/Crossover platform that can be found in a variety of options. Available with either a naturally aspirated four-cylinder or six-cylinder engine the Escape comes equipped with front-wheel drive standard and all-wheel drive as an option. A hybrid variant is also available but probably won’t make the cut into the $15,000 price point. Interior space is approximately 29 cubic feet with all seats up and 66 cubic feet with the rear seats down. Fuel economy ranges from 13 mpg city/17mpg highway for the four-wheel drive V6 model to 34 mpg city/31 mpg highway for the hybrid front-wheel drive version.

Honda CR-V (2007-2011)

Third Generation Honda CR-V (Image courtesy of Wikipedia)

This third generation CR-V is a more like a cross-over and less like a small SUV with the removal of the side-opening rear door which has been replaced with a lift gate. The spare tire mounted on the rear is also gone. The only engine available is a 2.4L four-cylinder engine, typically found in the Honda Accord sedan. Interior capacity is approximately 35 cubic feet with the seats up and almost 73 cubic feet with the seats down. Fuel ecnomy is 21 mpg city/27 mpg highway for the four-wheel drive model and 21 mpg city/ 28 mpg highway for the front-wheel drive version.

Toyota RAV4 (2005-2012)

Third Generation Toyota RAV4 (Image courtesy of Wikipedia)

Also a third generation small SUV/cross-over, the Toyota RAV4 has been a natural competitor to the Honda CR-V. Equipped with a four-cylinder engine standard, the RAV4 also has a V6 engine as an option. Two and four-wheel drive options are also available. The RAV4 has 37 cubic feet of cargo capacity with the rear seats up and 73 cubic feet with the seats down. Fuel economy is 19 mpg city/26mpg highway for the V6 four-wheel drive model and goes up to 22 mpg city/28 mpg highway for the four-cylinder two-wheel drive version.