The best used SUVs for under £5,000 in 2025

Written by Keith Adams Updated: 20 January 2025

If you want the most capability and versatility for your money, you can do a lot worse than looking at the best used SUVs under £5,000. To make our list of great used cars, a good used SUV blends all the attractive points of SUV ownership – a high driving position and plenty of space – with effortless reliability and frugal running costs. Not a tall order for these trusty bargains.

Most good SUVs lend themselves perfectly to carrying passengers, luggage, and hobby equipment. They’re so commodious that most of this stuff goes in without having to drop the back seats. What’s more, they’ve also often got excellent towing capabilities, making them a go-to choice if you’re a trailer or caravan owner.

They’re sometimes misunderstood as gas-guzzlers, but that’s far from the case with the family-focused models we’re looking at here. Many use efficient diesel and petrol engines, which can be as economical as regular family hatchbacks. We’ll whisper this, but most SUVs are just jacked-up hatchbacks. Add plastic cladding, larger wheels, taller suspension, and ta-da, an SUV.

With a handful of crystal-clear exceptions, these cars aren’t going to be automotive mountain goats. You won’t find differential locks, snorkels, or agricultural levels of refinement. Some cars here will even have luxuries like heated seats and parking cameras.

The choice of SUVs on the market is vast and has been growing non-stop for years, so there are lots of options out there, including those featured in our lists covering the best-used SUVs for under £15,000 and the best-used SUVs for under £10,000.

If your budget is tighter still, you might think the options are comparatively few and far between – but, even with £5,000 to spend, there’s still lots of choice in the second-hand SUV marketplace. To help you with your search, we’ve rounded up our top picks for the best used SUVs under £5,000 in the UK.

Top 10 SUVs for under £5,000 2025

Used SUV UK buying advice

Consider your budget

There’s more to buying a used car than just its purchase price. You’ll also need to factor in the cost of insurance, or the cost to change your insurance policy to cover the new car, and the cost of VED. In some cases, VED alone could be several hundred pounds, so check first.

Then, there’s also the cost of any potential repairs or updates that might need to be carried out; a used SUV might need new tyres or a timing belt change, or perhaps you’d like a media system with Apple CarPlay or Android Auto support fitting, all of which can quickly bust your budget.

Consequently, it’s worth taking the time to account for any potential costs, to make sure that your £5,000 purchase doesn’t suddenly become a £7,000 one. In some cases, spending a bit more upfront on a cleaner, better-maintained car, or one in a more ideal specification, can actually save you a chunk of change, so tread carefully.

What are you using the used SUV for?

A lot of people buy SUVs because they perceive them to be safer and more practical which often may not be the case. You need to check the Euro NCAP ratings to see whether the car you’re interested in is safer than any of the alternatives and, usually, a good estate car can easily be more spacious than a regular SUV – and a whole heap better to drive, to boot.

That’s not to say that SUVs are devoid of advantages, though; they’re often easier to get in and out of, while facets such as their increased ground clearance and taller-profile tyres means they have less difficulty tackling rougher roads and terrain. And, of course, they’re typically far better at towing than some alternatives.

In some cases, though, you might be buying an SUV simply because you like it – and there’s nothing wrong with that. But, if you’re thinking it might be more practical or sensible for your usage, bear the above in mind and take some time to reflect if an SUV is really what you need. A conventional spacious hatchback or estate, after all, will often be far less expensive to run, easier to handle, and more rewarding to drive.

Is the SUV you’re looking at the one to buy?

Buying a used car can be a bit of a minefield, but we’ve plenty of advice on how to buy a used car. In short, though, you’ll need to look carefully at aspects such as its service and MOT history, as well as making a complete visual and mechanical check of any prospective purchase.

In particular, do keep an eye out for timing belt changes in the history, if required, as a new timing belt and supporting work can cost a small fortune. Bear in mind the additional complexity of many SUVs, too; you’ll need to ensure that the all- or four-wheel drive system is working properly, and you’ll need to check that it has been serviced as and when required. Any repairs here could be costly, and quickly spoil your budget.

Be mindful about where you are buying the car from, too; if you buy from a dealer, you’ll have some protection should anything go sideways. If you buy privately, and end up with a complete lemon, you might struggle for any kind of reimbursement. To keep fuss to a minimum, unless you’re happy to accept the risks, it’s probably best to aim to buy from a good independent dealer who also offers a warranty.

Buying a used SUV on finance or outright purchase

Used car finance is an option if you can’t afford to buy the car outright. There are some pitfalls, though, and you’ll end up spending more than the purchase price of the car if you choose to finance it. If you’re interested in financing a used car, though, or need to finance one, check out our guide to used car finance.

What used SUVs nearly made the cut?

There are so many SUVs available for £5,000 that there were going to be some inevitable and brutal cuts that would still make for superbly reliable SUVs.

The Suzuki Vitara could have quite easily taken the place of the Skoda Yeti on this list, but those thirsty petrol engines and relatively buoyant used prices knocked it just shy. Likewise, the E70 generation BMW X5 could have taken the XC90s place as our premium pick. The standard seven seats fitted to the XC90 really stood in its favour. Then there’s the Lexus RX, a pioneering hybrid SUV with impeccable build quality. It’ll be a steadfast pick, but early examples are now over 20 years old.

Think of these three cars as interesting alternatives to our list. If you can live with the foibles, they’ll make for fine transport.

What should I avoid when looking at secondhand SUVs?

You’ll see lots of inexpensive premium SUVs available on the used market, such as Porsche Cayennes and Range Rovers, but they’re cheap for a reason: they are, more often than not, unpleasantly expensive to run and repair. Many have also lived a hard life by this point, and been neglected, so they won’t be nice to own, drive, or live with.

You might also encounter petrol-engined variants of some more sensible SUVs but, again, you need to consider the costs. Petrol SUVs, especially older ones, typically burn through fuel at a vast rate of knots, and the running costs could very quickly start to grate. There are exceptions to the rule, mind, but you need to check carefully to avoid any unpleasant surprises.

Keith Adams is the Editor of Parkers. During his career he has been the editor of Classic Car Weekly, Modern Classics and Honest John Classics, as well as writing for CAR magazine, Practical Classics, Octane, Autocar and The Independent among others. Keith lives in rural Lancashire and enjoys buying and selling cars as well as reading and writing about them.

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