Most Reliable SUVs With Good Gas Mileage: The Brand That Beat Toyota Also Does 30 MPGAutoblogAdam LyntonTue, September 8, 2026 at 9:30 PM UTCAdd us on GoogleAutoblog and Yahoo may earn commission from links in this article.The mpg number on a window sticker comes out of a lab test, run on the car sitting in the showroom this afternoon. Dependability data works the other way round. It comes from asking owners who bought three years ago how the thing has held up since. Shopping for a reliable SUV with good gas mileage means using both at once, and the list that holds up under both is shorter than you would expect.The industry average in this year's dependability study reached 204 problems per 100 vehicles. Fewer problems is the better score, and this year's average was the worst since the study was rebuilt in 2022. The brand that finished first among mass-market makers was not Toyota, Honda, or Subaru. It was Buick, at 160, for the second year running. Toyota came eighth at 185. Every score below comes from that 2026 study, which surveyed 33,268 owners of 2023 model-year cars, and every mpg figure comes from fueleconomy.gov.AdvertisementAdvertisementHonda came in at 211 PP100, worse than the 204 industry average, which keeps the gas CR-V and its 30 combined off this list. Hyundai cleared that average comfortably, at 198, and its case for inclusion gets its own section below.Toyota Corolla Cross: 32 MPG CombinedIt's the highest-mpg SUV you can buy without an electric motor, rated 31 city and 33 highway with front-wheel drive, and nothing else in the class matches the combined number.Other lists still put the Nissan Kicks Play first at 33 combined, but Nissan stopped building it after 2025 and there is no 2026 version to buy.Toyota's 185 PP100 is eighth overall and well clear of the industry average. The catch is size. This is the smallest, cheapest SUV Toyota sells here, and adding all-wheel drive costs two mpg, dropping the gas car to 30 combined.2026 Toyota Corolla Cross XLE in Soul Red CrystalToyotaView the 3 images of this gallery on the original articleNissan Rogue: 32 MPG CombinedTwenty-nine city, 36 highway, 32 combined with front-wheel drive, 31 with all-wheel drive. That highway figure is the best in this group and does more real-world work than a combined number if your week is mostly interstate. The AWD Rock Creek trim drops to 29 combined, a real cost for what is mostly an appearance package.AdvertisementAdvertisementThe smaller Kicks is the other half of Nissan's case here, at 31 combined with front-wheel drive and 30 with all-wheel drive. That is the narrowest all-wheel-drive penalty of any vehicle on this list, one mpg, and it undercuts the Rogue on price.Nissan finished at 194 PP100, tenth in the ranking. The brand clears the industry average without clearing it by much.NissanView the 3 images of this gallery on the original articleHyundai Kona / Venue: 31 MPG CombinedBoth crossovers return 31 mpg combined, matching the Volkswagen Taos below and beating every all-wheel-drive-only option on this list. Hyundai's 198 PP100 clears the industry average of 204 comfortably, though neither model has won a dependability award outright.Kia Seltos: 29 MPG CombinedWorth knowing before you shop it: for 2026 the Seltos is all-wheel drive only. The 2.0-liter returns 27 city, 31 highway, 29 combined, and the 1.6-liter turbo drops to 25 combined. With no front-drive version to buy, it lands below the Taos and the Envista here despite being the newer design.AdvertisementAdvertisementKia sits at 193 PP100, ninth overall and a single point ahead of Nissan.KiaView the 3 images of this gallery on the original articleSubaru Crosstrek: 29 MPG CombinedThe only vehicle here holding a model-level award rather than a brand average. J.D. Power named it most dependable in its segment, and Subaru placed sixth overall at 181 PP100.Twenty-six city, 33 highway, 29 combined on the base engine, and 26 combined on the Wilderness. That is level with the Seltos, which is the only other all-wheel-drive vehicle here, and Subaru's 181 PP100 sits twelve points ahead of Kia's. So it does the same mpg as the Seltos, from a brand that scored better, and it has the award the Kia never won.Subaru CrosstrekSubaruView the 3 images of this gallery on the original articleVolkswagen Taos: 31 MPG Combined, And The Worst Score In The StudyThirty-one combined puts the Taos level with the Kicks and the Hyundai pair, and ahead of both all-wheel-drive options here. Volkswagen also finished last of every brand measured, at 301 PP100. That is 97 problems per 100 vehicles worse than average and nearly double Buick's score.AdvertisementAdvertisementIt belongs on a list of the best fuel efficient SUVs and nowhere near a list of dependable ones.Buick Encore GX: 30 MPG Combined, And The Best Score In The StudyBuick's 160 PP100 is the best mass-market result for the second consecutive year. It also finished third among mass-market brands in J.D. Power's initial quality study in June, at 162. The two studies ask different questions and Buick placed in the top three of both.Buick rates the Encore GX at 30 combined with front-wheel drive, on either the 1.2-liter or the 1.3-liter turbo three, falling to 27 combined with the 1.3 and all-wheel drive. The Envista, front-drive only, is 28 city, 32 highway, 30 combined.The Envista arrived for 2024, though, so it was not in the 2023 sample the study measured. Buick's 160 was earned by the Encore GX, the Envision, and the Enclave. If you want the Buick whose score is actually built on owners of that car, it is the Encore GX.AdvertisementAdvertisementThe Chevrolet Trax is the same vehicle underneath, same 1.2-liter turbo three, same six-speed automatic, same front-drive-only layout, rated 28 city, 31 highway, 29 combined, and Chevrolet finished third among mass-market brands at 178 PP100. The Trax costs less. The Envista is quieter and better trimmed. Neither offers all-wheel drive, so the Encore GX is the one to order if you need it.BuickView the 3 images of this gallery on the original articleThe VerdictFor the highest combined figure, the Corolla Cross. For highway miles, the Rogue. If you need all-wheel drive, the Crosstrek over the Seltos, on the same 29 mpg and a better record.And if you are willing to look at a badge you had written off, the Encore GX pairs 30 mpg combined with the best mass-market dependability score in the industry, in both of the studies that measure it, and offers all-wheel drive at 27. Nothing else on this list does that. Buick's problem is that nobody expects Buick to be the answer here, which is a marketing failure rather than an engineering one.AdvertisementAdvertisementNone of this is a guarantee. What a three-year-old car did tells you nothing certain about the one on the lot, and every vehicle above is currently being sold in a version that will not turn up in a dependability study until 2028 at the earliest.This story was originally published by Autoblog on Sep 8, 2026, where it first appeared in the Features section. Add Autoblog as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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