As if the impending arrival of your first child isn’t stressful enough, you’re undoubtedly shopping for a seemingly endless list of baby gear. Cribs, strollers, bottle warmers, sound machines and whatever the heck a MamaRoo is. You’ll likely get most of that stuff from a baby registry. But the biggest baby gear item requires a more significant cash outlay: a new vehicle for your growing family.
We can’t help you pay for that, but we can point you toward five great SUVs of different sizes that all start for under $40,000. Edmunds’ car experts focused on three qualities: 1) lots of space between the first and second-row seatbacks for bulky rear-facing infant safety seats; 2) big rear door openings to make it easy to get your newborn in and out; and 3) a roomy cargo area for all of your baby gear. The pricing below includes destination fees.
Subcompact SUVs are not usually top choices for young families because of their limited space for cargo and child safety seats. The Volkswagen Taos is an exception. It’s one of the roomiest models in its class and even rivals a Mazda CX-5 for all-around baby-toting usefulness. Got a rear-facing infant seat, or even a convertible seat, combined with a stroller and a travel crib? No problem — they’ll all likely fit without having to slide the front seats far forward. The 2025 Taos also receives some welcome improvements such as an updated interior with a bigger center touchscreen and a more powerful engine that gets up to an EPA-estimated 31 mpg combined.
2025 Taos starting price: $26,420
The Niro is available as a hybrid, plug-in hybrid and all-electric vehicle. The hybrid comes oh-so-close to matching the Toyota Prius’ fuel economy by getting up to an EPA-estimated 53 mpg combined. It also costs less than the Prius and has a more spacious back seat. The cargo area is nice-sized too. There are a lot of hybrid-powered SUVs available and the Niro is one of the least expensive. The plug-in version and the Niro Electric are considerably more expensive than the regular Niro hybrid, but otherwise they share the same family-friendly utility.
2025 Niro starting price: $28,385
The CR-V has long been a go-to choice for parents and rightfully so. It’s an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Top Safety Pick. It has a vast back seat, so you won’t likely have to move the front seats up to accommodate the infant car seat in any of the rear positions. The CR-V’s rear door openings are huge, and cargo space is among the roomiest you’ll find for a compact SUV. The entry-level versions of the CR-V come with a 190-horsepower engine, while the more expensive trims have a 204-horsepower hybrid powertrain that gets up to an EPA-estimated 40 mpg combined.
2025 CR-V starting price: $31,495
The Equinox EV is Edmunds’ top-rated electric SUV under $40,000. It has loads of space between its first and second seating rows for fitting a rear-facing child seat. The cargo area is also of a decent size, though ultimately you’ll find more in the CR-V and other compact SUVs. Its electric vehicle credentials are also excellent. It traveled 356 miles on a full charge in the independent Edmunds EV Range Test and has enough power to zip around town without issue. Basically, the Equinox EV is a great family-friendly SUV, and a great EV, at a reasonable price.
2025 Equinox EV starting price: $34,995
The Santa Fe is the most expensive vehicle on our list, but it is a great choice if you foresee multiple children and want to get a head start with a slightly bigger vehicle. It has three rows of seating. That’s good for future-proofing and just generally handy for those times when you’re going out to dinner with the grandparents and want to take just one vehicle. The Santa Fe isn’t quite as large as Hyundai’s Palisade, but it’s roomy enough for new families and is less expensive. It has also received the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Top Safety Pick+ award for crash test results and is available with a hybrid powertrain that gets up to 36 mpg.
2025 Santa Fe starting price: $35,775
Edmunds says
These are great SUVs to start your search with. Make sure to bring along your car seat and any other baby gear on a test drive to know for sure what will work for you.
Picture Courtesy: Courtesy of Volkswagen of America via AP
