Best Used Cars and SUVs Under $15,000

The models below (listed alphabetically within each segment) are the ones we’d recommend to our friends and family. Each has standard electronic stability control, an important safety feature. Some were also available with active safety features such as forward collision warning (FCW), automatic emergency braking (AEB), blind spot warning (BSW), and/or rear cross traffic warning (RCTW) as optional or standard equipment when they were new.

These vehicles performed well in our tests when new, and consistently demonstrated multiple years of much-better-than-average reliability in our Annual Auto Surveys.

Of course, even for the used cars we recommend, there can be outliers. Maybe a former owner didn’t care much for car maintenance, or there was a problem at the factory the week the car rolled off the line. Before you buy, make sure to pay for a thorough inspection by a certified mechanic so that there are no surprises down the road.

This article is available to CR members.

See the Used Car Top Picks and Which Brands Make the Best Used Cars?