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Used test: Hyundai Tucson vs Vauxhall Grandland X vs Volvo XC40 costs
As two-year-old used buys, these family SUVs are around £5000 cheaper than new, plus their hybrid tech should save you even more cash over time. But which of our trio should you choose?...
Buying and owning
Costs, equipment, reliability, safety and security
The Hyundai Tucson and Vauxhall Grandland X have each dropped to £27,000 after two years, while the Volvo XC40 comes in at £30,000. Considering the XC40 was the most expensive car when new, that's understandable. It also indicates strong resale values for the future, which is worth keeping in mind. What's also worth remembering is that our figures relate to the models in the specifications featured in this test.
In terms of fuel economy, the Grandland X returned an impressive 40.8mpg with the battery fully drained, beating the Tucson’s 36.1mpg and the XC40’s 32.6mpg efforts.
Replenishing the Grandland X’s battery from empty to full takes around 1hr 45min using a typical home wallbox if the original owner added the optional 7.4kW on-board charger from new (it was £500). It takes 3hr 30min with a three-pin plug. With the Tucson and XC40, there’s no need to plug them in, of course: you just fill up at the pumps and go.
Looking at insurance, the Tucson should prove the cheapest. It's in insurance group 19, meaning it'll cost around £580. The Grandland X, in group 23, is up next. It comes in at around £661. The XC40 is in group 26, so it'll set you back around £719.
For a single service of the Tucson, we were quoted £170 by Hyundai. With Vauxhall, we were quoted £1165 for the Grandland X, but that does include three services. A single service of the XC40 comes in at £350.
None of our contenders can be called poorly equipped, and all come with climate control, adjustable lumbar support and LED headlights. The Tucson adds heated seats and keyless entry. All get automatic emergency braking (AEB) and lane-keeping assistance, while the Tucson comes with blind-spot monitoring (the regular kind, not the camera-based version).
In our latest What Car? Reliability Survey, the Tucson hybrid proved as confidence-inspiring as cars come. With a stellar 100% reliability rating, it ranked top out of 39 cars in the family SUV class. The XC40 hybrid came 12th, with a rating of 95.9%. The plug-in hybrid Grandland X didn't feature, but the model as a whole placed 27th, its rating being 91.7%.
As brands, Hyundai placed fifth out of 32 manufacturers featured – another very good result – while Vauxhall ranked 23rd and Volvo 17th.
All three cars earned five-star ratings during Euro NCAP safety testing.
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