Like all crossovers, the Nissan Rogue is based on a car platform. They are best suited for people who regularly go off-roading and/or haul or tow heavy loads. Bottom Lineĭespite efforts of car manufacturers to make them behave less like trucks and more like cars, SUVs remain rugged workhorses at heart. Good examples of ‘real’ SUVs are the off-roading Jeep Wrangler and Ford Bronco, people-hauling Chevrolet Tahoe and Ford Expedition, and luxurious Cadillac Escalade and Lincoln Navigator. You can almost always expect them to have high ground clearance, powerful engines, and rugged and capable all-wheel or four-wheel drive systems, features that allow them to go places and do things that most other cars can’t.

They are intended more for heavy-duty driving than for everyday use.Īs such, SUVs are heavy and robust vehicles with serious performance credentials, particularly in the area of off-roading and towing. Truck-based, body-on-frame architectures are strong, durable, and fairly cheap to make but heavy and not very space-efficient. This guide uses the term ‘SUV’ only to refer to traditional SUVs unless stated otherwise. While not as popular as it was just a few decades ago, this method of construction is still employed by car manufacturers, and the SUVs that use them are what auto journalists and experts commonly refer to as ‘traditional’ or ‘real’ SUVs. Īll SUVs were once built using a body-on-frame architecture derived from a pickup truck, meaning their body and frame are manufactured separately before being bolted together later on in the assembly process. You can learn even more about SUVs in our detailed SUV buying guide. Sure, they need high safety ratings too, and great fuel economy doesn’t hurt, but what you really want is a vehicle that offers value for your money and won’t let you down.The Chevrolet Tahoe is the quintessential SUV. There is more to good, reliable SUVs than just how much practicality or comfort they provide. Advantages and Disadvantages of Shopping For the Most Reliable Crossovers and SUVs As a rule of thumb, the longer the warranty, the more faith a manufacturer has in its product, which should directly translate to how reliable the vehicle is. Therefore, it is good to see what kind of warranty is available. Warranty: Reliability will only get you so far, and eventually, something is going to break.Advanced driver-assist technology also helps to raise the score. Power are a good place to find these figures, but looking at recall history and complaints on the NHTSA website is a good idea, too. Dependability score: A reliable crossover or SUV will clearly need a higher-than-average dependability score to back up the claim.

The best way to bring in more buyers is to offer more for less. Competition is fierce in the USA, with automakers each vying for a greater share of the market. Price: The second value-for-money factor is the price.And, in the case of an SUV, whether it be small or large, the job it needs to do is move people and stuff comfortably. The first is how well a vehicle gets the job done. Practicality: Two prime factors go into determining value for money.Here are the qualities we look for when placing an SUV or CUV on our list of the best reliable SUVs: What Does It Take to Earn a Spot On Our List of the Best and Most Reliable SUVs?

Best crossover suv