Best used small SUVs to buy in 2024

Sales figures show us each month what the most popular used cars are for Australian buyers, but popular doesn't also mean best.

When it comes to small SUVs, we reckon you should make sure the three models below are high on your list of cars to consider.

JUMP AHEAD

• Near new: Skoda Kamiq
• Mid range: Kia Seltos
• Budget: Mitsubishi ASX

Near new: Skoda Kamiq

Simplify your life

A newish Skoda Kamiq is a textbook value pick. Why? Skodas are still a little less known to the average buyer than, say, a CX-3, so the resale is a bit weaker, which is great if you want to snag a top buy and hang onto it long term.

Then there’s the fact near-new cars are the best buying in today’s dysfunctional used market, where stupid asking (but not sale) prices for high-kay, 10-year-old cars have prevailed since the lockdown era.

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Icing the cake is the Czech brand’s standard seven-year warranty (from September 2022), which brings ample peace of mind.

As the brand’s USP goes, the smallest Skoda has the equipment of rivals a grade up, and near the space of alternatives a class up. This makes the not-so-small Kamiq more spacious than a Volkswagen T-Cross, for example, with even the range-opening

Style 85TSI brimming with twin digital displays, 18-inch alloys, Apple CarPlay/ Android Auto, wireless phone charging, keyless entry/start and a powered tailgate.

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Mid range: Kia Seltos

It pays to let the belt out a bit...

Spend $30K if you can on a used Kia Seltos, because while circa $25K cars are available, they’re higher-mileage examples and/or steel-wheeled 2.0-litre petrol base models… which cost $25,990 drive-away new.

The base car is not without its appeal, however as a used car that extra $5K brings far more bang for buck. Think Seltos GT-Line 1.6-litre turbo AWD with as little as 30,000km, complete with nav, head-up display, sunroof, and adaptive cruise.

The Seltos launched in late 2019, so any example will still have at least three years of its seven-year, unlimited-kilometre manufacturer’s warranty to go, which is fantastic.

But enough of the pragmatic stuff. As well as being a terrific ownership proposition, the Seltos is spacious for the class, has a handsome, scaled-down medium SUV look and, in up-spec form, 130kW and 265Nm powering through a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.

An ANCAP five-star car – like all our SUV picks – the Kia wagon features AEB (radar-based on top grades or as an option), lane-keep assist and six airbags.

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Budget: Mitsubishi ASX

Like Steven Seagal, it's hard to kill

Buyer-favourite rather than journo’s pick, Mitsubishi’s ASX has been a massive sales success in Australia for one big reason: value.

That’s even more true of a few-year-old ASX which you could own for little more than $20K. Shop carefully for a low-kay, dealer-serviced example delivered from October 2020 onwards and you could qualify for the Tri-Diamond brand’s warranty extension, taking cover from five to 10 years: new-car territory.

While not exciting to drive or very refined, the front-drive ASX is spacious for the class, dependable and, with seven airbags, the availability of AEB, and a five-star ANCAP rating (from 2014), safe.

These dollars should buy the world’s best base ES grade with a 2.0-litre petrol and five-speed manual, which leaves CVT autos and a series of grades topping out at Exceed to Aspire to.

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