Best Crossovers in 2024

Crossovers have supplanted the sedan as the American family vehicle of choice. The advantages of crossovers are many, and the downsides are few. Crossovers offer a better driving position for viewing traffic, an easier cabin to get in and out of, better all-weather capability, and superior cargo space compared to sedans. We’ve listed out our favorites here after testing the best.

Why You Can Trust Car Talk

At Car Talk, our opinions are formed by testing crossovers in their intended environment. Looking for 0-60 times to the hundredth of a second? That’s not our thing. Wondering if a crossover lives up to its reputation for winter performance, provides class-leading value, and offers a satisfying driving experience? You’ve found the right place.

We augment our own testing experiences with information offered by trusted consumer publications that aggregate owner survey results. Quality, durability, and reliability matter, and we scrutinize the charts, graphs, and raw data so you don’t have to.

The Car Talk team puts our knowledge on the kitchen table, and then we bake up a cake for your readers that offers a listing of the best vehicles for their intended use. As you will see, our categories are ones you might really think about. We go beyond size and tend to ignore the “Luxury, Premium, and Mainstream” labels more than our peers.

We hope you like our selections. If a vehicle you are interested in is missing from our list, it is likely because the manufacturer doesn’t trust independent reviewers to report on that model and doesn’t provide the media with test vehicles, which should give you something to think about. We also focus on vehicles you can actually buy, and we will do our best to tell you if anything we recommend is in unusually short supply or sold out.

Best Crossovers of 2024

• Best Crossover: Toyota RAV4 Prime
• Best Budget Crossover: Chevrolet Bolt EUV
• Best Battery-Electrified Crossover: Ford Mustang Mach-E
• Best Crossover for Safety: Toyota Highlander
• Best Crossover for Reliability: Toyota Highlander and Mazda CX-5
• Best Crossover for Luxury: Genesis GV60
• Best Sporty Crossover: Mazda CX-30 Turbo
• Best Crossover For Snow: Subaru Forester Wilderness
• Best 2-Row Crossover For Off-Pavement Adventures: Ford Bronco Sport Badlands
• Best 3-Row Crossover For Off-Pavement Adventures: Honda Pilot TrailSport
• Best Crossover If You Just Won Powerball: Jaguar I-PACE EV400

What’s the Best Crossover?

The best crossover overall that Car Talk can recommend is the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid and RAV4 Prime. These are both electrified versions of one of our nation’s top-selling vehicles. The RAV4 Hybrid itself outsells many brand’s top-selling vehicles in America. Toyota is able to deliver a very high volume of the hybrid. With an EPA rating of 40 MPG combined, all-wheel drive and a spare tires standard, and upgraded infotainment for 2024, the RAV4 Hybrid is hard to beat for those shopping for a two-row crossover. We also consider Toyota a reliable brand based on many factors, and the RAV4 has a Top Safety Pick rating from IIHS.

The RAV4 Prime plug-in hybrid-electric vehicle (PHEV) is harder to find. Toyota only builds about 2,000 per month for the U.S. market, so you may have to shop around and maybe join a waiting list, just like you would for almost any EV. With an all-electric range of 42 miles and a 94 MPGe rating, the Prime is one of the most energy-efficient crossovers in America. It’s also one of the quickest. The Prime allows you to do your routine driving using electricity if you wish. Or, when away from home, you can operate the Prime as a 38 MPG hybrid vehicle and not a plug in. On road trips, you never have to stress about finding an outlet.

Best Budget Crossover: Chevrolet Bolt EUV

Crossovers are available in all price ranges today. However, if you qualify for federal EV tax incentives, the Chevrolet Bolt EUV is an amazing value. With an MSRP inclusive of the destination freight charge starting at just $28,795, the Bolt EUV is already a steal. Factor in EV tax incentives and state EV rebates, and it is possible that you may be paying around $20K for a Bolt EUV - if you can find one. The word is out on this vehicle, so you may need to look around and then pay a dealer markup. Even so, the Bolt EUV is a tremendous value at its price point. The Bolt has a 259-mile EPA-estimated range.

Best Battery-Electric Crossover: Ford Mustang Mach-E

The Tesla mafia will likely storm our headquarters if we don’t pick the Tesla Model Y in this segment, but we will just have to risk it. We drove the Ford Mustang Mach-E back to back with the Model Y and preferred the Mustang Mach-E for multiple reasons. It offers a better ride, a quieter cabin, better infotainment, and comes with a 50-state dealer network if you need help. The Mach-E comes in various flavors, but we like the extended-range AWD ones best. Range varies by trim, but the best one can go 305 miles between charges.

If price is a consideration, check out the Chevy Bolt EUV. The Bolt EUV earned our vote as the best electric vehicle overall. Available to consumers for under $30K, this vehicle is one of the best of all types being produced today.

Best Crossover for Safety: Toyota Highlander

If you need to pick just one crossover among so many safe ones, choose the Toyota Highlander. No brand has poured more effort into safety than Toyota. The Highlander doesn’t just have a long list of standard active safety features, and it doesn’t just earn the highest safety rating from IIHS. It goes beyond that and has also been proven by HLDI to be among the vehicles with the lowest recorded driver deaths based on police-reported fatality data. Don’t forget to buckle up.

Most Reliable Crossover: Mazda CX-5 and Toyota Highlander

We fully expected Toyota to dominate this section. Let’s face it, Toyota and Lexus have a laser focus on quality, durability, and reliability. Say what you will about Toyota’s products not always being the flashiest or offering the most cutting-edge infotainment, but what they sell works. And never stops working. The Toyota Highlander is an excellent example. Consumer Reports has rated the Highlander a perfect 5 out of 5 for reliability in 10 out of the past 14 years. The other years were 4 out of 5 years. Hard to beat. Whether you are shopping new or used, a Highlander is likely to be among the most reliable crossovers you can find.

The Mazda CX-5 is the surprise co-winner of this category. Many publications emphasize the satisfyingly-sporty ride of Mazda’s crossovers, the “premium feel at mainstream prices” the brand offers, and the sharp looks of Mazda’s lineup. But very quietly, the Mazda CX-5 has racked up a long track record of outstanding reliability. The CX-5 has earned either a 4 out of 5 or 5 out of 5 reliability rating every year since 2014 at Consumer Reports, and the model earned a Pre-Owned Vehicle of the Year Award from Wheels TV and the New England Press Association.

Best Luxury-Priced Crossover: Genesis GV60

If we set aside price in our considerations, the Genesis GV60 is our pick as the best crossover. With a bold new style, luxury appointments we found at the top of the segment, and incredible performance, the GV60 reset the bar on all automobiles when it debuted, not just “crossovers.”

The GV60 is not an off-pavement crossover pretending to be an SUV, but rather, a sporty luxury vehicle with all-wheel drive, a slightly elevated ride height, and a smart cargo design. The fact we got this far before mentioning that it is electric is not an accident. Range varies by trim, but the base model has a 248-mile EPA-estimated range.

Best Sporty Crossover: Mazda CX-30 Turbo

Among our favorite crossovers for getaways and back-country blasts is the Mazda CX-30. This two-row crossover is available with a turbocharged engine offering more torque than most luxury brands’ offerings. The CX-30 is a very fun vehicle to drive in all situations, but it really shines when given room to run. The CX-30 offers a geared transmission too. No CVT blahness here. It even has a spare tire and standard AWD. Its upscale looks and the interior are just a bonus.

Best Crossover for Snow: Subaru Forester Wilderness

If you live where snow and ice are part of your commute for six months a year, like we do, you value a vehicle with winter competence. Car Talk’s team of test drivers is mostly New England-based. We drive in all types of wintery weather. Powdery snow, wet toothpaste snow, slush, sleet, freezing rain, flash-frozen black ice, we don’t hesitate to head out when the forecast is for a blizzard or Nor’Easter. You might say winter testing is our specialty.

The great news for shoppers is that more and more crossovers are now leaving the factory with tires officially rated for severe snow duty. The industry uses a little three-peak mountain snowflake symbol to denote this capability. You will find it on a select few models. They include the Toyota RAV4 Woodland Edition, Mazda CX-50 Meridian Edition, the Ford Bronco Sport Badlands, and some Subarus.

In addition to a tire that is designed to tackle snow, we look closely at snow modes and options that help one live in winter. All-wheel drive plus a snow mode plus hill descent control is a must to earn our praise. Our top pick is the Subaru Forester Wilderness because it offers all of these and many more options, such a full-size spare tire. Any Subaru crossover is a great pick for the worst winter conditions you will find, but we feel the Forester Wilderness is the top dog.

Best 2-Row Off-Road Crossover: Ford Bronco Sport Badlands

Body-on-frame SUVs like the Jeep Wrangler and Toyota 4Runner remain the kings of the off-road mountain. However, many of today’s crossovers are quite capable when the pavement ends. The crossover we feel is the closest to the most capable SUV its size is the Ford Bronco Sport Badlands.

This crossover features Goes Over Any Terrain, a.k.a. GOAT Mode, that allows it to handle almost anything you can imagine. Snow, Mud, Sand, Rocky Terrain, or the steep dirt trail leading to your remote cabin. Added touches like all-terrain snow-rated tires, a locking rear differential, a full-size spare, recovery hooks, and a stout 2.0-liter turbocharged engine mean that the Bronco Sport Badlands is ready for adventure the very day you drive it off the lot.

Best 3-Row Off-Road Crossover: Honda Pilot TrailSport

Bigger vehicles are not better for most off-pavement excursions, but many families do go camping and overlanding in big crossovers. The new Honda Pilot TrailSport earns our nod as the best three-row crossover for off-pavement use. With skid plates that can support the weight of the vehicle, trail tires, extra ground clearance, recovery points, and an AWD system offering multiple terrain modes, we found the Pilot to be surprisingly capable on dirt roads and muddy trails.

Best Crossover To Splurge On if You Just Won Powerball

Car Talk has the privilege to test vehicles that are rare and quite high in price. Some are worth the premium price tag, and others not so much. One that we have had a lot of time to experience and which has stolen our hearts is the Jaguar I-PACE EV400.

This battery-electric vehicle is every bit a Jaguar. Luxury is perfectly balanced with performance in this vehicle. It is similar in size to the Tesla Model Y and Ford Mustang Mach-E but has features you cannot find in either of those models. Its personality is intoxicating. Aside from being one of the quickest vehicles on sale today, it pampers the driver. With a range of up to 246 miles, it is also an EV that has a reasonable real-world range. You can even get a spare tire.

What’s the Safest Crossover? Too Many To Name Just One

OK, we threw up our hands in this category, but we think we have a valid reason. Sure, we chose the Toyota Highlander so we could move the story along. It earns the highest possible safety scores from IIHS, and it is ideally sized for safety; Big but not tippy. The problem is, there are dozens of crossovers you can buy today that have top safety scores very similar to the Highlander’s.

Mazda and Subaru, in particular, offer nothing but highly-rated for safety crossovers. Mazda’s CX-5 was the very first crossover to earn a “Good” rating on the newly-toughened IIHS side impact crash test. Subaru’s EyeSight active safety system has long been considered the standard in the industry for excellence.

Crossovers have a slightly higher ride height in comparison to sedans and coupes. This means that a Ford F-150 (America’s most numerous vehicle model) hitting you from the side will do so in the door rather than in your ear. Sorry to be so blunt, but safety is serious business. Although they are higher up than sedans, crossovers tend to be moderate in this regard, and they are not super tall and tippy like some SUVs still are. This is the segment for those who shop safety. Pick any model you like that earns the IIHS Top Safety Pick rating in the size you are shopping. Bigger is better.

Should I Buy a Crossover?

Yes, you really should buy a crossover. Handling that rivals that of a sedan, a better view of the road, a bit more ground clearance for off-pavement driving, easier to get into and out of, safer than sedans, ideally suited for cargo hauling, and packing extraordinary value. Crossovers meld the best attributes of cars, minivans, and SUVs into one vehicle without many of the downsides other vehicle styles come with.

How Much Do Crossovers Cost?

Now that crossovers dominate the market in terms of volume, value is a big feature of many crossovers. We’ve compiled a listing of the starting prices and ending prices of some crossovers that have impressed us. Like any vehicle type, the price spread is very wide.

How Many People Can Fit in a Crossover?

Up to eight is the short answer. The longer answer is that we need to admit we don’t know where crossovers end and SUVs begin. If you call a large vehicle like the Hyundai Palisade and Honda Pilot a crossover, then eight is the answer. Two-row crossovers seat five passengers, and three-row crossovers can be configured for six, seven, or eight passengers.

The 2023 Honda Pilot had a unique feature. It offers three seats in the third row. But in the second row, there are what look like two captain’s chairs. On many vehicles, you have to pick either a bench in the second row or two of these captain's chairs. However, Honda cleverly snuck in a third seat between its chairs in the second row. Honda doesn’t have a special name for this. It just refers to it as a “stowable second-row center seat.” The upshot of this new design is that the Pilot offers what might be referred to as “7 plus 1 seating.”

Coming this year as a 2024 model is the new Toyota Grand Highlander. Toyota has added space to its iconic three-row crossover. Now adults will fit in the third row of this up-to-8-passenger crossover.

What Should I Look For in a Crossover?

Crossovers can offer you many different things. If you are looking for a sporty crossover, the Mazda CX-30 is hard to beat. In that model, look for the turbocharged engine. Many crossovers can now go pretty far off pavement. Look for a trim equipped with snow-rated trail tires displaying the three-peak mountain snowflake. Most crossovers have a compact spare tire, but we suggest checking. Some manufacturers steal it. The Hyundai Tucson, for example, lacks a spare, but the Ford Bronco Sport Badlands has a full-size spare. Many brands now offer hybrid and plug-in hybrid crossovers. Hyundai, Kia, Toyota, Subaru, and many luxury brands now offer great alternatives to high gas prices.

If we could suggest one thing to be sure you get with your crossover, it would be all-wheel drive. The fuel economy penalty is tiny, and the upsides in the sand, mud, wet grass, snow, or full-blown winter storms are enormous.

How Much Cargo Space Do Crossovers Have?

One area in which crossovers shine is cargo capacity. Most crossovers are hatchbacks or wagons, and both of these body styles elongate and elevate the cargo area. If you are looking for the most cargo volume possible, consider a crossover that has a squared-off rear cargo area, like the Mazda CX-5 or Subaru Forester. Models like the Toyota Venza, by contrast, cut out some of the available cargo capacity by making the rear cargo area sloped at the end of the roofline.

Most crossovers offer a cargo floor that you can pull up and reveal more cargo space underneath. This is also a great place for a spare tire. Many manufacturers still offer spare tires in crossovers, but it is becoming hit or miss. The RAV4 Prime plug-in hybrid has one of the largest batteries in its segment and still offers ample cargo volume, and each also comes with a spare tire. It’s not for design, cargo capacity, or fuel efficiency reasons that automakers are stealing your spare. Rather, it is to maximize profits.

When evaluating the cargo capacity of a crossover, consider the space with all rows up and then with the second, and if equipped, the third row dropped down. Also, look at how the cargo floor is laid out. The Honda HR-V has an ideal cargo floor. Low, wide, and with no liftover lip.

Are Crossovers Good on Gas?

Fuel economy was the one last hurdle for crossovers to overcome, and Chevrolet, Toyota, Hyundai, Kia, and Tesla eliminated it. Electrification was the key to this. The Toyota RAV4 Hybrid is rated at 40 MPG. The RAV4 Prime is rated at 94 MPGe, and the Tesla Model Y at 123 MPGe. All three offer class-leading acceleration. Hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and battery-electric technology finally mean that crossovers no longer use significantly more energy than vehicles of other sizes. Our chart below lists the vehicle’s MPG, or if it is electrified, the MPG equivalent estimated by the EPA. Note that we have also listed the EPA-estimated annual energy cost for the vehicle and, finally, its 15-year energy cost.

Should I Get an Electric Crossover?

Most electric vehicles produced in 2024 are crossovers. They range in size and shape, some are called SUVs, and many are really just hatchbacks. Still, the move toward electrification has given designers a broader canvas. Battery-electric crossovers like the Bolt EUV and Ford Mustang Mach-E are great vehicles. However, they come with the need for either a home charger or limits on how you can practically use the vehicle.

By contrast, plug-in hybrid crossovers are expanding quickly in manufacturer’s lineups. Kia, Hyundai, Toyota, Lexus, Mitsubishi, Ford, Lincoln, and every premium brand all offer plug-in hybrid-electric (PHEV) crossover models today with enough EV range for your daily driving and the ability to travel all day as a hybrid before refueling.

Choose the vehicle that suits your lifestyle best, not the one that fits a certain definition.

Will Driving a Crossover Hurt My Dating Prospects?

Let’s face it; The Original Highlander, CR-V, and RAV4 crossovers were not featured in many James Bond movies. They had some swagger in the daycare pickup line, but they didn’t exactly ignite passion among those being picked up in one.

Things have changed. First of all, is driving a car even cool anymore? Many of today’s crossovers are great-looking, fun to be in, and very stylish. The Mazda CX-30 isn’t just a good-looking crossover, it's a good-looking vehicle. The Genesis GV60 definitely turns heads, and the Jaguar I-PACE never goes unnoticed at a valet stand. Pick the crossover that meets your needs. If you feel the need to look cool, then pick one that’s cool.