The Honda CR-V is one of the most desirable compact SUVs on the market. It has earned its following through proven reliability, efficient powertrains, a relatively spacious and flexible cabin, strong safety scores, modern infotainment and driver aid technology, and an overall sensible balance for a small crossover/SUV. It’s a vehicle that makes practical sense, delivering dependable everyday usability without flashy pretensions.
But some buyers want a bit of flash. It’s just that often, they can’t afford a lot of that flash. That’s where depreciation comes in to help. Few realities change affordability faster than time and mileage, and luxury vehicles are especially susceptible to it. In today’s ever-broadening SUV market, luxury models that were once out of budgetary reach have shed a big chunk of their sticker prices, and older examples, such as these, find themselves in the $30,920–$42,250 window the CR-V occupies.
Models are listed in descending order based on used price, from the most expensive to the most affordable.
2021 Tesla Model X Performance
Starting Fair Purchase Price: $39,693
One of the most desirable SUVs on the market, the 2021 Tesla Model X Performance, which traded in six-figure territory, now finds itself in the $40,000 range, roughly the same cash outlay as a new upper-tier Honda CR-V. And you’ll find an equal, and even better, level of equipment, with all-wheel drive standard, a larger, more richly appointed tech-intensive interior with seating for up to seven, adaptive suspension, and the ability to save up to $300 per year on energy cost (though there is the investment of a home charger).
The 2021 Tesla Model X is a much larger, heavier, more powerful SUV, with blistering acceleration that belies its bulk, and high-tech systems that were seemingly lifted from a sci-fi film. However, it lacks the CR-V’s everyday practicality, urban friendliness, and tight handling in confined spaces. The Honda’s cargo volume and passenger comfort for five people are hard to beat for daily errands, but the Model X would be the choice for longer family trips with room to stretch out.
2022 BMW X5 xDrive40i
Starting Fair Purchase Price: $38,329
Before the proliferation of the SUV, the BMW X5 was the go-to luxury challenger to the domain of the American SUV, through its performance and elegance. In 2022, the BMW X5 retailed in the $62,645–$84,795 range, with the all-wheel drive xDrive40i near the lower end. It now starts at under $40,000, according to Kelley Blue Book, and toward the better-equipped 2026 Honda CR-V models, outdoing the Honda in interior room and opulence, performance level, and infotainment and safety tech beyond what the CR-V’s trim levels offer.
The 2022 BMW X5 xDrive40i is bigger all around—more passenger room front and rear, bigger cargo capacity, heftier presence on the road, stronger acceleration, handling prowess, and ride demeanor. The 2026 Honda CR-V, meanwhile, is lighter, more fuel-efficient, easier to park, and cost-effective to live with. Its predictable handling and fuel economy prioritization will suit suburban life better every day, though the BMW will eat up highway miles in comfort.
2025 Audi Q3 S-Line 45 TFSI
Starting Fair Purchase Price: $38,475
The new Audi Q3 is actually one of the most affordable luxury SUVs available, and matches up pretty well with the Honda CR-V, with basically the only difference being price and all the extras that the premium brings with it. The 2025 Audi Q3 started at about the top end of the CR-V price range, and now sneaks in under it, which makes it a priority purchase, given its stronger turbocharged engine, sport-tuned suspension, upscale leather interior, and badge appeal.
Although they are comparable in size (the CR-V has a marginally bigger footprint), presentation, and intent, they outdo each other in various areas. The often overlooked Audi Q3 is tighter and sportier, with sharper handling and a higher level of interior. It trails the Honda on interior room and cargo versatility, and is more efficient with a smaller engine that can save almost $1,000 per year on fuel costs. The Audi ride is tuned more for long highway trips and off-roading efficacy, while the CR-V likes its suburban neighborhoods.
2021 Lexus GX 460
Starting Fair Purchase Price: $38,172
One of the more robust luxury off-roaders, the Lexus GX 460 today typically shows around the $40,000 mark, down considerably from its 2021 MSRP range of $54,475–$65,740. In contrast to the current Honda CR-V, the big Lexus GX comes with a big V-8, full-time four-wheel drive, an upscale interior loaded with standard features like leather upholstery, multi-zone climate control, advanced safety aids, and off-road-ready hardware.
There aren’t many similarities between the 2021 Lexus GX and the 2026 Honda CR-V, other than price and profile. The GX is much larger, heftier, and seats up to seven. It’s built on a traditional SUV body-on-frame platform, can tow more, uses a powerful V-8 and full-time 4WD for robust wilderness capability that allows it to climb over just about anything from craggy, eroded trails to … well … a CR-V. In contrast, the CR-V is far more maneuverable and efficient in the urban jungle.
2023 Maserati Grecale Modena
Starting Fair Purchase Price: $37,638
Many potential CR-V buyers probably wouldn’t even consider a Maserati Grecale, many because they don’t even know what that is, but the buy-in price for the near-exotic SUV puts it within striking distance of all but the least expensive FWD CR-Vs. And you get the dynamic driving version of the compact 2023 Maserati Grecale, including a 325-horsepower 2.0-liter turbo engine, standard AWD, adaptive suspension, opulent Italian interior, and richer tech content.
The longer you look at it, the more you appreciate the simplicity and understand the restrained but cohesive design language running throughout Maserati at the moment.
– Garret Donahue for TopSpeed
Superficially, the 2023 Maserati Grecale is quite similar to the CR-V in size—Grecale is marginally larger, but lacks the cargo volume and rear-seat practicality of the Honda, mainly because it’s squatter, which aids in its handling prowess by lowering the center of gravity. The Grecale’s upscale interior is also more serene, promoting its long-distance grand-touring aspirations. Both would feel equally at home in an urban environment, with the Maserati doing it with a prestigious flair.
2021 Range Rover P360
Starting Fair Purchase Price: $36,935
Hands up all who would choose a Range Rover over a Honda CR-V if you could afford it? Well, thanks to the magic of depreciation, you can opt for a 2021 Range Rover for the same price of a mid-tier 2026 Honda CR-V, and get a larger, more plush interior, a higher degree of tech in controls and driving aids, off-road prowess that belies its ultra-luxury persona, full-time 4WD, air suspension, and brand-cachet admiration (and maybe a little suspicion) from neighbors.
You cannot compare the Honda CR-V to the Range Rover when it comes to history, road (and off-road) ride, and handling, unless it’s navigating the Costco parking lot at Christmastime, but then very few Range Rovers visit Costco parking lots at any time. The two also don’t compare in terms of sheer size and power, with the Range Rover translating the bulk into more composed and cushier highway runs, while the CR-V gets the nod on ownership costs—insurance, maintenance, and annual fuel.
2021 Porsche Cayenne
Starting Fair Purchase Price: $36,049
Just as you wouldn’t pass up a Range Rover if it cost the same as a Honda CR-V, you won’t pass up a Porsche Cayenne. It should be noted that Porsche Cayennes are expensive regardless of their generation, but all you really want is Porsche engineering excellence. That means you’re simply playing with degrees of performance once you go above the entry-level 3.0-liter twin turbo V-6 Cayenne, and it already blows the CR-V out of the water with its 335 horsepower.
Getting away from the obvious, the 2021 Porsche Cayenne (today, the previous generation) is bigger, heavier, and will get you to your holiday visits a lot more quickly and a lot more comfortably. It will also get you around a racetrack a lot more aptly and draw a lot more attention around your suburban neighborhood. However, it will cost from $1,400 to $1,800 more for fuel every year, and a lot more for insurance and maintenance, even routine stuff.
2023 Volvo XC90 B6
Starting Fair Purchase Price: $35,566
Volvos have always attracted a certain buyer who craves safety and minimalism, and that continues to hold true as the company transitions to widespread electrification and SUVs. The Volvo XC90 hybrid is the top-tier Volvo SUV, but also one of its more popular, ranging in power delivery from a mild hybrid turbo engine (which makes it price competitive with the cheapest CR-V) to a supercharged and turbocharged mild hybrid (the B6), to a plug-in variant.
The size difference between the 2023 Volvo XC90 B6 and the 2026 Honda CR-V is obvious, and that translates into more interior room for more passengers in upscale splendor, but still humble in its presentation, greater flexibility for hauling IKEA boxes of various sizes, and the ability to keep a semblance of city handling due to its lithe form. Naturally, the smaller Honda is easier on fuel and parking-lot maneuverability, but it can’t touch the Volvo on safety features and solidity.
2020 Cadillac Escalade
Starting Fair Purchase Price: $34,788
Okay, you can choose a terrifically simple and practical 2026 Honda CR-V, but if you go back a couple of years, you can choose a behemoth of a Cadillac Escalade, in which you can probably haul a CR-V around. Even the full-spectrum 2020 Cadillac Escalade can almost price-match the top-tier Honda CR-V Sport Touring Hybrid, and it will beat it down with its monstrous body-on-frame platform, gigantic but dependable 6.2-liter V-8, and home-theater-like interior plushness and comfort.
You can’t compare the 2020 Cadillac Escalade to the 2026 Honda CR-V on anything but price. The Escalade is behemothly large, with the capability to move far more people and a lot more cargo, even with the two entities at capacity. It will lumber down the highway with nary a disturbance in the cabin, and use a heck of a lot more fuel doing it. In contrast to the CR-V, it will also force you to park at the far end of the parking lot, which means going to the mall will allow you to more easily get your daily steps in.
2022 Land Rover Discovery P300 S R Dynamic
Starting Fair Purchase Price: $31,963
The 2022 Land Rover Discovery almost matches up exactly with the 2026 Honda CR-V, in looks as well as pricing. The venerable off-roader has flowed into the mainstream a lot since its quirky beginnings, but it has retained the hallmarks of what made it desirable as Land Rover’s entry-level SUV, including the ability to transport up to seven passengers (sideways in cargo-hold jump seats, in the first generations). Ironically, the first-gen Discovery was badge-engineered as a Japan-only Honda model.
Though both the 2022 Land Rover Discovery and 2026 Honda CR-V bear a similar balanced profile, the Discovery is far larger (there is a smaller Discovery Sport) and more capable of hauling more people and/or cargo, as well as driving outside urban circles. As with most other luxury SUVs, the Discovery trades on overall size, performance, amenities, and cachet, but the CR-V cashes in on efficiency, reduced ownership costs, and urban maneuverability.
Sources: Kelley Blue Book, the EPA, Car and Driver