Best Used Small SUV for 2022

The 2015 Honda HR-V VTi has scored a surprise win in the category of Australia’s best small SUV in carsales Best Used Cars for 2022, proudly presented by Bingle.

Despite arriving in the market after the appealing Mazda CX-3 and the already well-established Mitsubishi ASX, the Honda HR-V hit the ground running in 2015, achieving commercial success in next to no time.

True too of its rivals, Honda’s small SUV has rapidly stolen sales from the small, light and micro passenger cars that were once the exclusive preserve of inexperienced drivers.

Older buyers are also beginning to seek out small SUVs rather than smaller passenger cars because the small SUV delivers a hip point that makes them easier to enter or leave.

Vehicles like the HR-V represent better value in many cases; they can cart around more junk, if that should be a selling point, and even in 2015 they were usually fitted with a reversing camera for the sake of improved safety.

Beyond its competitors in the segment, the HR-V provides enhanced practicality – roomier in the rear than its rival from Mazda – making it more comfortable, as well as dynamically safer and more fuel-efficient.

Running costs are lower and the resale value is hard to top. To many buyers, the HR-V is an attractive design too.

Although it couldn’t match the Mazda or the Mitsubishi for affordability at the entry level, it came with a five-star ANCAP safety rating, 16-inch alloy wheels, a standard reversing camera and Honda’s very useful ‘Magic Seats’ for optimal packaging flexibility.

The Honda HR-V VTi racked up an impressive 40.9 points from RedBook and 39 from the judges for a total of 79.9 points out of 100.

A brand-new design in 2015 (in Australia at least), the base-grade HR-V VTi with standard continuously variable transmission was priced just under $25,000 plus on-road costs on release. This was as much as $5000 more than the most affordable Mazda CX-3, but with extra equipment to offset much of the difference in price.

RedBook values this variant of the HR-V for 2015 at $18,684 in 2022.

After driving the HR-V for the 2015 media launch, reviewer Matt Brogan delivered his verdict: “The HR-V is an agile and practical example of its kind, and one we think shows a lot of promise. With any luck the model will be the start of a turnaround for the marque and, based on our first impressions, could again help Honda party like it’s 1999.”

You can read more about the HR-V in our launch review here.

“The HR-V embraces a lot of Jazz thinking when it comes to spaciousness and practicality. In its segment the HR-V is a very easy car to drive, and is plainly finding fans among family buyers” – Ken Gratton, carsales technical editor

The Honda HR-V had sold just under 11,000 units by the close of 2015, placing it fourth in the small SUV segment for that year – an unexpectedly strong result in its first year on sale. Those competitors ahead of it were the Hyundai ix35, the Mitsubishi ASX and the Mazda CX-3.

The ix35 was soon to be superseded by the larger Hyundai Tucson, which would sell in the medium SUV segment; both the ASX and the CX-3 were priced well below the HR-V, selling on the strength of affordability and the perception of better value.

But with its practicality, added equipment, strong resale and respectable running costs, the Honda HR-V is a deserving winner in its category of the 2022 carsales Best Used Cars, proudly presented by Bingle.

Find a used 2015 Honda HR-V VTi on carsales

Honourable mentions:

The entry-level Nissan QASHQAI ST scored 33.9 points from RedBook and 41 points from the judges for a total of 74.9
RedBook value: $18,371

“Certainly the QASHQAI is a well-tuned vehicle and is more dynamic than the X-TRAIL, which makes sense if you are trying to differentiate two similar vehicles competing in the same part of the market. You could even say the QASHQAI has a bit more personality” – Bruce Newton, carsales senior journalist

“Give a car an unpronounceable name and unusual transmission and you could have a problem. But add a compelling shape, lots of equipment and sharp pricing and you have a sales hit called QASHQAI” – Cliff Chambers, carsales used-car buying expert

The Subaru XV scored 34.2 points from RedBook and 39 points from the judges for a total of 73.2
RedBook value: $21,142

“Often overlooked, the XV has been around for long enough now to generate lots of good owner reports” – Cliff Chambers, carsales used-car buying expert

“Subaru 4x4 safety delivers great city and off-road driving, albeit in a slightly smaller package. Six-month service schedules increase the cost to run” – Ross Booth, RedBook data services director

What makes a car eligible for carsales Best Used Cars?
• Less than six years old
• Standard side curtain airbags
• Standard Bluetooth
• Standard electronic stability control (mandated for 2014)
• Standard reversing camera for SUVs

How did RedBook weight the categories for scoring?
• 10 per cent for resale
• 10 per cent for ANCAP rating
• 20 per cent for cost of ownership
• Five per cent for service intervals
• Five per cent for number of days for vehicle to sell

Read all about carsales Best Used Cars for 2022 here