Top 5 UNDERRATED SUVs Under $15,000 | ReDriven

Last week we published our Top 5 Underrated Cars Under $15,000 list, but this week, it’s SUVs but we have a few rules and guidelines.

Firstly, we’ve tried to make sure that these SUVs are actually relatively capable off-road, they’re not necessarily hardcore off-roaders by any means, but they can all handle themselves when the terrain gets tough.

Secondly, we figure that if your budget is $15,000, reliability and low maintenance costs will be priorities so yes while there other SUVs for this budget that are arguably nicer to drive and live with, the SUVs we’ve listed have proven reliability records and even if things go wrong, shouldn’t cost a fortune to fix.

Thirdly, even though these SUVs are reliable and capable, they’re not necessarily the best, just hugely underrated, with a thorough service history they’re all good but for whatever reason, it seems like we’ve all forgotten these exist.

Finally, as always, we’ve tried to stick with SUVs that are as internationally available as possible, so while the US, UK, European, Australian and other markets have SUVs that nail this category, if they’re only exclusive to a couple of countries, they’ve missed the cut.

We’re trying to be as inclusive as we can here at ReDriven.

Also, yes the list is in numerical order but as we all need different things from our SUVs, there isn’t a winner as such, these are all highly recommended in their own unique way.

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At ReDriven, we’ll be taking you through the pros and cons of a huge range of used cars to see how well they’re going now that they’re a few years old, have thousands of kilometres on the clock, and are coming toward the end of their warranty, or maybe don’t have one at all.

Plus, thanks to our resident mechanic, Jim, you’ll find out what commonly goes wrong with them and what might need to be fixed.

Most importantly, we want to make ReDriven a voice for the most in-the-know used car experts there are...you guys.. See, you’re the ones that actually buy, live with, love and sometimes unfortunately hate the cars we’ll be reviewing.

So we want to hear your thoughts. Hit us up in the comments, or on Instagram and Facebook.

We’d love nothing more than for you to give us as much feedback as possible, so we can make this channel the best it can be.

Find us on:

[jzfromauburn]

Redriven = The Most Underrated youtube channel under subscribers...

Seriously guys this channel deserves millions subscribers! Informative, well researched, honest, entertaining... Keep up the good works guys!!

[matthewwijsma]

1st Generation KIA Sportage - Mazda engine, ladder chassy, propper 4WD with low range transfer case. Excellent little off-roaders with a set of wheels.

[TomS-hotd]

HRV, lol I remember seeing one of these running Chatswood in Sydney early 2k with the personalised plate Mac OS X

[tlevans]

We had a little Terrios as my wife's first car in Dubai, and it was amazing off road and in the sand dunes. Let some air out of the tires and the little thing never got stuck a single time. We passed lots of Pajeros, Patrols and Land Cruisers that were up to their floors in sand and had to be dug out, while we drove rings around them. It just didn't have enough torque to spin the wheels and bog itself down. We nick named it the "Sand Spider". Even after she upgraded her car to a Pajero, we kept it for Dune bashing.

[bondjamesbond]

Hi from a subscriber in the UK- completely agree with your choices. Unless you are wealthy and own several cars, reliability is the most important feature when buying a car. Love all of these cars but due to the stupidly expensive annual vehicle duty you have to pay in the UK, all of these cars are very expensive to tax and petrol/ diesel is almost double the price it is in Australia. Keep up the good work love your channel.

[SusakolEbata]

I really love this type of video. Its pretty fair reviews. Keep up a great work and keep uploading!! Got my Mazda Axela because of you guys 😁

[MrSokster]

What a nice surprise as i really find all your videos on spot. I bought a 3 door manual HRV a couple of years ago, still happy that the Honda stands out while most of the cars look similar. It serves me well and actually hearing all this stories about limited off-road use i was cautious but it actually really surprised me in really hard conditions and also snow. Since then i even dragged a small tractor from a muddy field 😂 Greetings from Austria to each one of you making this channel possible ✊

[KingOfBanks]

Tough list to crack! Good choices and reasoning. Always feel the Lexus RX range is a good luxury option within this price range.
Maybe an over-rated list next?

[jonathanpeterson]

I bought a 2001 Nissan Pathfinder SE for $500 and that thing refused to die. The R50 Pathfinder/QX4 with the VQ35DE is one of the best hidden gem SUV’s on the market. It is Unibody and prone to rust, especially in the rust belt, but man it was a good off-roader.

[nicholaswright]

Fun video and good choices lads. The Pajero io are now in rare supply but are super cool, I always get excited when I see one on the road.

People seem to misunderstand the point of an underrated video. There's no point recommending an early Rav4, X-Trail or Suzuki Vitara/GV in this category, everyone knows these cars are a great choice with many upsides, hence they are well-rated, and generally more sought after and expensive. These videos help people to consider a model they may not even know existed and possible save a bit of coin. Keep up the good work!

[Bretzky]

Was expecting an X trail and even early Sorrento. The bonus with the Sorrento is it can pull the family caravan

[martinzazvonil]

Disappointed to not see a second hand Subaru Forester on there. Very bullet proof cars if well looked after and super-capable off road with the permanent AWD. But admittedly I am a self-confessed Subie simp.

Loving the channel, keep it up!

[psmail]

I loved my first gen, two door, silver HRV. Everything you said I agreed with … except I think they look much better in Sport model guise with the spoiler and the wheels and I reckon they handled ok for such a tall skinny car … certainly better than my current 2009 Forester. I made haste down the great ocean road in mine on more than one occasion and that was quite fun. Cheers.

[billabongRTO]

Hi guys! I really think that the Nissan T30 (X-trail) and it's mechanical sibling, the Renault Duster (available everywhere else but the USA and Australia) should've been on this list. They are way more capable than the Honda CR-V, and well within budget. Cheers!
LE: and as someone said below, first gen RAV4 also should've been here.

[evlampii]

Pajero iO is also known as Pajero Junior in some countries. That is the best option among your list. Others are neither city nor offroad. And adding Kruger and Challenger is a strange choice - for $15000 it is a huge gap from Terios and other small cars. I am from NZ and was driving most of the listed ones. Terios was most terrible, but what about late Terios - the short lived SUV? I didn't have a chance to drive it, but it was not expensive even new.
Now I am on my third Subaru - Forester, got it just in time new for $37000 two years ago as ex-demo with 900km on odometer.

[deancooper]

+sorry dewds but you're wrong about Mitsubishi making the Challenger the first 4x4 wagon based on a 4x4 ute chassis. Toyota did this back in the early 1980s with the 4Runner which was built on the Hilux chassis. The early 4Runners were a two door example with a fibreglass removable rear section. Later 4Runner variants were full steel body four door examples and they all sold like hot cakes in Australia, and spawned the whole Hilux Surf import craze in the 1990s. Toyota made this segment, not driven both early and late 4Runners and they're pretty solid and cool cars even today.

[qbmac]

I'd pay good money for a 3 door 4x4 SUV if a new model was brought out today

[melissabarrett]

I was so hoping for something on the Honda CR-V pre 2007 models with auto transmission. They seem incredibly versatile, practical and popular and have seen some that are still powering along with over 450, 000km on them.

[squakke]

I used to car camp in a 3 door HRV. It was great!

[balt]

Love the channel, team! Thoughts on the SZ Mk1 Ford Territory AWD Diesel for the Aussie market?