Best Used Hybrid SUVs

Hybrid SUVs offer a great combination of practicality and fuel efficiency, and these are the best choices to search for if you're shopping for a used example.

https://www.caranddriver.com/shopping-advice/g69496586/best-used-hybrid-suvs/ (Dec, 2025)

There are some big and expensive vehicles on this list, but take a look at:

• Honda CR-V Hybrid (2020+):  https://www.caranddriver.com/honda/cr-v-hybrid
• Toyota RAV4 Hybrid (2017+):  https://www.caranddriver.com/toyota/rav4-hybrid-2021

Are Hybrids Good for Long-Distance Driving?
We explain how driving a vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine, batteries, and one or more electric motors impacts road trips.

https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a61730444/are-hybrids-good-for-long-distance-driving/

" Adding electrification to an internal combustion engine (ICE)—better known as a hybrid—typically yields fuel economy improvements; however, these improvements tend to have the greatest impact in city driving, and not on a long-distance highway drive."

" The electric portion of a hybrid power-train is most active in the city. Because the electric motor or motors are designed to assist the gas engine rather than replace it, they're not as powerful, making them most helpful when small amounts of power are needed. This includes easy acceleration and trundling along at low speeds.

...  Hybrids also capture energy under braking that would normally be lost as heat to the friction brakes ..."

" Ignoring slowdowns for traffic or construction zones, highway driving is a steady-state affair, or it should be if you have your cruise control set. Because of this, there aren't many opportunities for the hybrid system to harvest energy under deceleration. The hybrid system doesn't get the day off, though; many systems will run the gas engine at a higher speed than needed, but one that's efficient, and use the extra power to run a motor-generator that can then feed power to the battery or directly to a traction motor. All of this is to say, if you're worried about highway driving being detrimental to a hybrid system's longevity, don't be"

" For plug-in hybrids, the story is similar to that of the non-plug-in full hybrid. Plug-ins have the bonus of some all-electric range courtesy of a larger battery and a way to plug it into the grid. Once the battery's charge is depleted, however, so is the vehicle's electric-only range. You might get a couple dozen "free" miles at the start of your trip, but then the car will act like a normal hybrid ..."

"In general, hybrid systems provide a fuel-economy boost in steady-state, high-speed driving ..."

" Plug-in hybrids are biased more toward efficiency on short trips, when they can use the greater capacity of their batteries and sometimes not even call up the gas engine. The plug-in's larger, and therefore heavier, battery coming along for the ride has its drawbacks. Once its all-electric range drops to zero, the system acts like any other hybrid, with the extra weight of the battery doing no favors to overall efficiency."

"To sum things up, hybrids have no issues with long-distance driving."