Best Luxury SUVs Under $45,000

Car and Driver's rankings are based on the results of extensive instrument testing of hundreds of vehicle models every year, as well as the subjective experience accumulated by our expert editors in actual driving. We ranked the best luxury cars based on approximately 200 data points covering acceleration, handling, comfort, cargo space, fuel efficiency, value for money and driving pleasure. We take rankings very seriously because we want you to have a comprehensive understanding of the models you are interested in.

The scoring and ranking of Car and Driver are derived from the extensive instrument tests we conduct on hundreds of models every year, as well as the subjective feelings formed by editorial experts in actual driving. For luxury SUVs priced at less than US$45,000, we score a 10-point scale based on approximately 200 data points covering acceleration, handling, comfort, cargo space, fuel economy, cost performance and driving pleasure. Then, based on these scores, we compared each car with other models of the same class. We treat scoring and ranking extremely strictly because we want you to have a comprehensive understanding of the models you are interested in.