Best Small SUV 2021: Ownership costs

Car companies are typically now transparent about ownership costs such as scheduled servicing, and some have added sweeteners such as free roadside assistance and longer warranty periods than ever before as these have become key selling points.

With the help of the value experts at RedBook, we’ve also uncovered how the small SUVs we’re assessing in this mega-test compare for resale value when it comes time to move them on.

The best warranty is offered with the Kia Stonic and MG ZST, both of them offering seven-year/unlimited-kilometre cover.

All others on test have a five-year/unlimited-km warranty, but Toyota adds the sweetener of extending its warranty for the C-HR and Yaris Cross to seven years for their powertrains only, provided you have proof of correct, up-to-date servicing through its dealer network.

Routine maintenance timeframes are set at 12 months for all vehicles here, but the maximum distance intervals between services are different.

If you tend to clock up high kilometres you might not appreciate the 10,000km service intervals of the Kia Stonic, Mazda CX-3 and CX-30, the MG ZST or the Nissan QASHQAI. The rest allow up to 15,000km between services.

Capped-price servicing (CPS) generally offers some peace of mind for new vehicle buyers, allowing them to budget for routine maintenance at least.

All manufacturers represented here offer pay-as-you-go CPS, and some such as Skoda and Volkswagen provide pre-paid service plans too, which are useful if you’re wanting to roll the service costs into a loan or lease agreement.

The minimum capped-price service period offered in this group is five years. In fact, other than Kia’s seven-year CPS offer and Ford and Nissan’s 12-year program, all are five years. We have taken the first five CPS service prices for each and averaged them to give an average annual cost.

While showing CPS prices for up to 12 years (Ford and Nissan) seems admirable, it’s really not much more than a marketing exercise. No-one can say what a service due in 2033 will cost, especially as all such CPS programs clearly state that prices are subject to change.

The Volkswagen T-Roc has the highest service cost here with an average of $533 a year and the Toyota C-HR the cheapest at $195 a year.

When it comes time to sell, some SUVs hold their value better than others, as our RedBook values after 12 months show.

These figures are for 2020 models, so while you are likely to hold on to your SUV for more than a year, these prices give an indication of where each vehicle is tracking compared to others.

Car companies can sometimes use an unusual tyre size on a new vehicle, which ends up costing you more to replace them.

None of the tyre sizes here appear to be rare in the market, so you can budget for between $200-$350 a corner for good quality replacements.

Ford Puma ST-Line V
Warranty years/km: 5 years/unlimited
Service intervals months/km: 12 months/15,000km
Average annual cost for first 5 services: $303
Dealer service network: 240
Roadside assist period/linked to servicing: 1 year free/Yes

Hyundai Kona 2.0 Highlander
Warranty years/km: 5 years/unlimited
Service intervals months/km: 12 months/15,000km
Average annual cost for first 5 services: $319
Dealer service network: 240
Roadside assist period/linked to servicing: 1 year free/Yes

Kia Stonic GT-Line
Warranty years/km: 7 years/unlimited
Service intervals months/km: 12 months/10,000km
Average annual cost for first 5 services: $425
Dealer service network: 134
Roadside assist period/linked to servicing: 1 year free/Yes

Mazda CX-3 2.0 Akari LE AWD
Warranty years/km: 5 years/unlimited
Service intervals months/km: 12 months/10,000km
Average annual cost for first 5 services: $355
Dealer service network: 150
Roadside assist period/linked to servicing: 5 years free/No

Mazda CX-30 G20 Astina FWD
Warranty years/km: 5 years/unlimited
Service intervals months/km: 12 months/10,000km
Average annual cost for first 5 services: $334
Dealer service network: 150
Roadside assist period/linked to servicing: 5 years free/No

MG ZST Essence
Warranty years/km: 5 years/unlimited
Service intervals months/km: 12 months/10,000km
Average annual cost for first 5 services: $300
Dealer service network: 72
Roadside assist period/linked to servicing: 1 year free/Yes

Nissan QASHQAI Ti
Warranty years/km: 5 years/unlimited
Service intervals months/km: 12 months/10,000km
Average annual cost for first 5 services: $297
Dealer service network: 189
Roadside assist period/linked to servicing: 5 years free/No

Skoda Kamiq 110TSI Monte Carlo
Warranty years/km: 5 years/unlimited
Service intervals months/km: 12 months/15,000km
Average annual cost for first 5 services: $463
Dealer service network: 36
Roadside assist period/linked to servicing: 1 year free/Yes

Toyota C-HR 1.2 Koba AWD
Warranty years/km: 5 years/unlimited
Service intervals months/km: 12 months/15,000km
Average annual cost for first 5 services: $195
Dealer service network: 200
Roadside assist period/linked to servicing: None/No

Toyota Yaris Cross 1.5 Urban AWD
Warranty years/km: 5 years/unlimited
Service intervals months/km: 12 months/15,000km
Average annual cost for first 5 services: $205
Dealer service network: 200
Roadside assist period/linked to servicing: None/No

Volkswagen T-Cross 85TSI Style
Warranty years/km: 5 years/unlimited
Service intervals months/km: 12 months/15,000km
Average annual cost for first 5 services: $527
Dealer service network: 105
Roadside assist period/linked to servicing: 1 year free/Yes

Volkswagen T-Roc 110TSI Style
Warranty years/km: 5 years/unlimited
Service intervals months/km: 12 months/15,000km
Average annual cost for first 5 services: $533
Dealer service network: 105
Roadside assist period/linked to servicing: 1 year free/Yes

Best Small SUV 2021 RedBook resale table: