New Range Rover Evoque & Lexus UX vs Volvo XC40
Buying and owning
Costs, equipment, reliability, safety and security
Each car has strengths and weaknesses, depending on how you obtain and run them. For example, the Evoque is the most expensive if you’re paying cash up front. And although Volvo was the only manufacturer we could get a discount from, the XC40 still isn’t as cheap to buy as the UX after you’ve haggled.
However, the Evoque has such strong predicted resale values that by the time you’ve factored in depreciation, insurance, servicing and fuel costs, it’s the cheapest to run over three years for private buyers paying cash, followed by the XC40.
On a PCP finance deal (over three years, with a 36,000-mile limit and a £4000 deposit), the UX is most expensive, at £530 per month, while the XC40 and Evoque come in at £494 and £496 respectively. The UX is the cheapest to lease, though, at £398, with the XC40 next on £414 and the Evoque topping out at £425.
If fuel costs are most important to you, the UX trounces its competition. In our real-world tests, it managed 47.7mpg, and it’s particularly efficient around town, where it can maximise the use of its battery power. The XC40 recorded 37.3mpg, ahead of the Evoque on just 33.8mpg.
For company car drivers in the 40% tax bracket, the UX is by far the cheapest; you’ll sacrifice £275 per month until April 2020. Meanwhile, the XC40 will cost £439 and the Evoque £474.
Standard kit on all three cars includes heated front seats, dual-zone climate control and alloy wheels. But the UX is easily the best equipped, as long as you pay for the Premium Plus and Tech & Sound option packs of our test car. Over and above its rivals, it gets a heated steering wheel, adaptive cruise control, keyless entry and a head-up display. Like the XC40, it also comes with privacy glass.
Euro NCAP awards both the XC40 and Evoque five stars for safety. If you drill into the detail, the XC40 racks up a few more points here and there, but both are very protective of their occupants. The UX is yet to be tested.
As standard, each car comes with city automatic emergency braking, lane-keeping assistance and traffic sign recognition. You can’t get blindspot monitoring on this version of the UX, whereas you can on the other two, as part of a £1000 pack on the Evoque and either a £600 or £1500 pack on the XC40. The pricier of the XC40’s packs includes adaptive cruise control, as does the Evoque’s.
Lexus is renowned for dependability; it came second out of 31 manufacturers in our latest Reliability Survey, whereas Volvo was a mediocre 21st and Land Rover a very poor 30th.
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