The Short List

What these numbers are and aren't

• MSRP is the 2026 base trim including destination, pulled from Edmunds / KBB / Cars.com / manufacturer sites in July 2026. Every field is editable — type over it once you have a real quote.
• Every MPG figure here is the EPA combined rating, checked against fueleconomy.gov for the exact drivetrain shown on each card in July 2026. That is the one number on this page that is genuinely authoritative rather than estimated.
• The X3, X5 and RX are rated on premium fuel and are charged the premium price; everything else takes regular. Both prices are editable above. That gap is worth roughly $30 a month on its own and is easy to forget when comparing sticker prices.
• Drivetrain is now shown on every card rather than buried in the trim name, because it isn't uniform and it moves both price and MPG. The Forester, CX‑5, Crosstrek, Outback, X3 and Highlander figures are AWD; the Atlas, Pilot, RX, RAV4, CR‑V and Grand Highlander are front‑drive and the X5 is rear‑drive. Adding AWD costs roughly $1,600–$2,500 and 1–2 MPG, which the numbers here do not include.
• The 2026 RAV4 is hybrid‑only — there is no longer a gas‑only version to compare, so it appears once, at 43 MPG. The CR‑V still comes both ways and appears twice.
• Insurance is the weakest number here. Published estimates for the same vehicle ranged from $1,766 to $2,890 a year across sources. Treat these as class-level placeholders and overwrite them with your actual quotes. Between the CX‑5 and the X5 the insurance gap alone is bigger than most of the MPG differences.
• Honda's max cargo number is inflated relative to the others. Honda measures to the roof and includes floor space between rows; most rivals don't. Compare the behind‑last‑row column instead — it's the honest one.
• The list mixes two segments and a wide price band. Eleven of these are two‑row five‑seaters; the Atlas, Pilot, Highlander and Grand Highlander are three‑row. Use the row filter before you rank anything — and note that once you set an age at buy, a used X5 lands in the same money as a new Crosstrek, so the price band stops separating them the way it does when new.
• The Highlander has the smallest third row here — 16.0 cu ft behind it, against 20.6 for the Grand Highlander and Atlas. If the third row is the reason a car is on this list, that number is the one to compare, not the max‑cargo figure.
• The photos are the current body style, not necessarily the 2026 car — and not the base trim or the selected paint colour. They're from Wikimedia Commons under CC BY-SA 4.0, credited under each one, because those URLs stay put while manufacturer press images rot. Paste your own URL over any of them; clear the field to get the silhouette back, which is the only thing that follows the colour swatches.
• Colors are approximations for visual reference — names and shades are close but not paint‑chip accurate, and premium colors often cost $395–$1,200 extra.
• Default APR of 6.97% is Bankrate's 60‑month new‑car average as of July 29, 2026. Manufacturer promo financing (VW was running 0% for 60 on the Atlas) will beat it badly — worth checking per brand.
• Buying used inverts the ranking, and the maintenance number decides it. Set Age at buy above zero and the saving is largest on the cars that depreciate hardest — someone else already absorbed the drop — so the X5 and X3 gain far more than the Forester. That is exactly the conclusion most likely to be wrong, because it lands right where out‑of‑warranty repair bills are worst. Each vehicle carries a factory warranty length and an assumed annual escalation past it; those escalation rates are guesses and they are the swing factor in the whole used case. If a used BMW is genuinely on the table, replace them with real numbers before believing the ranking.
• Used prices are estimated from the depreciation curve until you type a real one. The asking‑price box is empty with the estimate shown as a placeholder, and the card says est. rather than asking until you overwrite it. Pay under the estimate and the modelled resale drops with it — a good buy stays a good buy rather than being marked back to market.
• Used loans cost more. Used APR +pts is added to the APR above whenever the age is non‑zero; the default 1.75 points is a typical new‑to‑used spread, not a quote. Lenders also cap terms on older cars — the term field will happily let you finance a 10‑year‑old car for 72 months, which no one will actually do.
• Insurance does not yet fall with age, which flatters the used case slightly. The comprehensive and collision part of a premium tracks the car's value while liability doesn't, so a real used quote lands somewhat below the figure shown here.
• Resale and maintenance are rough brand‑level estimates, not sourced figures — softer even than the insurance numbers. Resale is the share of MSRP retained at five years; maintenance bundles scheduled service and tires into one annual figure. Both are editable per vehicle. They're here because leaving depreciation out entirely is the bigger error: over five years it outweighs every other line on this page.
• Two ways to read the monthly number. Cash out‑of‑pocket is what leaves the bank account — loan, fuel, insurance, maintenance. True cost swaps the loan payment for what the money actually buys: depreciation, the sunk tax and tags, and loan interest. Cash tells you whether you can make the payment; true cost tells you which one is cheaper to have owned.
• The depreciation curve is front‑loaded — roughly a fifth gone in year one — and pinned to the five‑year resale figure. It's a smooth approximation of a lumpy reality, and it ignores mileage, condition and the used market entirely.
• Still not included: tires beyond the maintenance line, unscheduled repairs, extended warranties, and any manufacturer incentive.