Honda HR-V, Toyota Yaris Cross, Toyota C-HR, Mazda MX-30 or Volvo XC-40 ?

[december2020]

We need to buy a second car around the summer time.
It'd be mainly for me but DH would also be insured on it to be able to drive it.

It's mainly of school runs, food shopping, any hobbies and sport runs, zipping within the city, days out, and maybe in the longterm also for trips a bit further away.

It needs to have a high driver vantage point.

Of course I will be test driving these to see what feels the best but would love any reviews or alternative models to look into that could fit the bill.

It would be my first proper car, so keen to make an informed purchase with reviews (alongside my own research of course).

MX30 is fucking terrible. Probably has less than 150 miles real world range.

Avoid XC40 - Volvos are unreliable and expensive tat to put right.

If you want a reliable bombproof car, the C-HR, HR-V and Yaris Cross are the only ones you should consider.

The only downside to the Yaris Cross, is that the interior feels rather cheap and has very horrible touch plastics everywhere.

I'd say test drive the C-HR and HR-V and pick between those two.

I had a Yaris and loved it, so Yaris Cross for me.
i also love the look of the Volvo, haven’t driven one though.

We just bought a C-HR. Fantastic car.

I'm a big Honda fan so the HR-V would be my choice.

Had my C-HR 3 years now. Love it.

The Volvo xc40 is one of the most reliable small family SUVs on the market, so I don’t know what data the PP is drawing on there. Narrowly beaten by some of the smaller and mid sized Lexus SUVs but not by much.

in your position, my priority would be fuel efficiency and reducing emissions. If you are never going far some sort of EV seems a no-brainer if you have somewhere to charge it off-street.

Also, I love Hondas. They are amazing feats of engineering. Just so reliable.

I had one from 11 to 17 years old, and the only thing I ever had to do was put in a new set of spark plugs, and obviously consumables like tyres and discs. That was it.

https://www.whatcar.com/volvo/xc40/estate/used-review/n17574/reliability

Fair to say any braking issues are serious enough to want to walk away from this sort of crap car.

There's a reason why Volvos will never surpass Lexus, Honda or Toyota for reliability - because they are fucking shite. Like all Euro-built cars.

I love my Volvo xc40, have never had any issues with it. Feels so safe and is really zippy.

That's crazy on the Volvos, I always thought they were built well and to last. So always took them as a good car. They've done a bloody good marketing job!!

Looks like the general lean is to the Yaris Cross, C-HR or HR-V!
Are they any models that could also fit the bill that I haven't thought of?

I will of course go try them out myself but there are so many car brands and models out there, it'll be good to narrow it down to an initial set to explore more into!

and thank you!!!

You could also consider a bigger, if used/second hand Lexus NX.

I love my yaris cross!

What did you end up getting? Currently have the same dilemma

We’re just in the process of buying and opted for the Yaris Cross.

Final update - we got a ex demo Yaris Cross and I love it!

Can't comment on the models you've asked about but I'm on my second Honda CRV after I killed my first in a collision. They are so reliable and other than routine maintenance don't cost a fortune to run. I'll more than likely get another Honda when this one dies.

We bought a Toyota C-HR earlier this year and it is a great car, would highly recommend. So econimical.