The Most Affordable AWD SUVs You Can Buy In 2026

Saving as much money on a vehicle has become even more important as the average price for a new car still sits above the $45,000 mark, according to J.D. Power. While this average can easily be above your budget, some manufacturers are still building much more affordable nameplates that can potentially be perfect for you, depending on your needs. Those that put more of a focus on performance and standard convenience features quickly approach that average number, but if a small, nimble, yet equally practical SUV is what you're looking for, you may be in luck.

Quite a few of the most affordable new cars you can buy at the moment are compact crossovers and SUVs, which isn't too much of a surprise as manufacturers continue to drop their standard cars in favor of the larger, more in-demand segment. The increased space inside will benefit everyone, but if you live somewhere that experiences a lot of changeable weather, rear or front-wheel drive won't always cut it. Going for an all-wheel drive SUV inevitably pushes those super low prices higher, but a handful still manage to stay well under the $30,000 mark when routing power to each wheel. Here's a look at the ten cheapest new all-wheel drive SUVs you can buy.

The HR-V has been the smallest and most affordable SUV from Honda for quite a few years now. Competing in the subcompact crossover segment, it doesn't really get much smaller than this. Despite its size, though, Honda manages to pack it full of safety and standard features that tend to be reserved for higher trim levels, with the refresh brought in for the 2026 model year doing exactly that and putting things like a 9-inch center touchscreen inside the base trim. Things like wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto were also added.

One element that's stayed the same since the 2023 crossover is the engine. Using the same platform as the Civic, the HR-V comes with a 2.0L inline-four producing 158 horsepower and 138 pound-feet of torque, which is enough for zippy urban driving. Like many compact crossovers, the HR-V comes with front-wheel drive as standard, with a $26,600 starting price. For an extra $1,500, real-time all-wheel drive can be added to any trim, making the most affordable AWD version of the 2027 HR-V cost $28,100 (along with a $1,550 destination charge).

Staying with Japanese manufacturers, Mitsubishi has a much more limited lineup compared to the likes of Honda, but with the nameplates it does offer, it manages to stay relatively competitive across the board. One of the two SUVs that we'll cover here is the Eclipse Cross, which is the more expensive one as standard. A main complaint that surfaces for the Eclipse Cross, particularly in its latest guise, is the lack of standard features on the tech side. It still has an 8-inch display in the center, but you'll need to climb the trim levels to get some more comfort and convenience.

For performance, the 2026 Eclipse Cross falls in line with a lot of its main rivals by not prioritizing it. A turbocharged 1.5-liter four-cylinder is used across the lineup, producing 152 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque. Not much by any means, but again, still enough to do what the crossover is designed for. Priced at $27,795 for the base trim, it's a little more expensive for the base version when compared to the HR-V, but you do get all-wheel drive as standard to earn the extra few thousand. The eight-speed CVT also has a sport mode to add an extra spring in its step.

Hyundai has been putting a lot of effort into making its cars look more distinct recently, using a lot of hard lines and modern styling to give the nameplates some extra personality. The result is some SUVs that look more aggressive than they perform, but if you want a frugal, practical crossover with a little more character, the Kona should certainly be considered. It's been in its current form since 2024, introducing Santa Fe-esque design elements alongside the unique panel work the last-gen models have. For the engines, though, this area mostly stayed the same.

For the base models, the 2027 Kona is powered by a 2.0L four-cylinder producing 147 horsepower and 132 pound-feet of torque, numbers which have stayed the same for years now, albeit with some updates. This only shows how good a frugal engine it is, getting to 31 MPG in front-wheel drive. Adding all-wheel drive to the Kona, which is available on the most affordable base trim, drops this to 27 MPG, which is still a great number. Starting at $25,500, the all-wheel drive configuration costs another $1,500, along with the standard $1,650 destination charge.

If an all-wheel drive setup can be synonymous with a car manufacturer, very few have the same claim to that as Subaru. With some of the deepest roots in rally, the Japanese brand was one of the key pioneers for rolling it out for mass-production cars alongside the likes of Audi, but the Subaru Leone had power sent to all four wheels in 1972 before using it for dedicated performance cars like the Legacy Turbo. Fast forward to 2026, the all-wheel drive system has become a major sell for Subaru, with the compact Crosstrek being the most affordable entry point.

The Crosstrek, along with all gas-powered SUVs from the brand, comes with symmetrical all-wheel drive as standard. Sending power to all four wheels constantly, this gives the Crosstrek an advantage on looser, rougher terrain compared to most of its rivals. It should also help out in changeable conditions on tarmac. It's motivated by a 2.5L four-cylinder Boxer engine producing 180 horsepower and 178 pound-feet of torque, which is also up on quite a few SUVs in the segment at a similar price point. For the base 2026 model, the Crosstrek will cost a minimum of $26,995, with a $1,420 destination charge.

Quite a few compact or subcompact crossovers share a platform with an equally small sedan, if the brand has one that's still in production. While it's rarer these days, Toyota still offers a couple of nameplates in the segment, including the super-cheap Corolla. For those who want the affordability and efficiency of the sedan but the practicality of an SUV, the Corolla Cross does a great job in bridging the gap. While the hybrid version also manages to stay under the $30,000 mark as standard, the standard gas-only trim remains the cheapest way to get all-wheel drive on top of the usual benefits.

Priced at just $25,335 for the front-wheel drive version of the L trim (with a $1,595 destination charge), it's only just over $2,000 more expensive than the sedan. To add all-wheel drive, this is also a little cheaper than others in the segment at $1,300, keeping it as one of the AWD SUVs on sale by some margin. Under the hood, the Corolla Cross's 2.0L four-cylinder produces 169 horsepower and 151 pound-feet of torque, which is there or thereabouts with the rest of the segment. Efficiency also takes only a slight hit, down to 30 MPG combined, compared to the 32 MPG rating in the front-wheel-drive model.

We've covered the first of the two compact Mitsubishi SUVs already, but if you want to save more money compared to the Eclipse Cross, the Outlander Sport is the most affordable SUV from the manufacturer at the moment, starting at $23,995. It's worth noting the key differences between the two SUVs, with the Outlander Sport losing a little performance and interior space. The Outlander Sport also doesn't come with all-wheel drive as standard, but it's another that gets offset by its low MSRP to stay affordable when adding it on.

The base S trim doesn't have the option at all, but the ES trim with all four wheels receiving power starts at just $26,895. Along with the driveline, a few more features are also added to the ES trim to further add to the value-for-money, such as lane departure warning and forward collision mitigation tech. It does have one of the lowest outputs on the list, though, with the 2.0L four-cylinder producing 148 horsepower and 145 pound-feet of torque.

Mazda's lineup of SUVs may be confusing at first glance, as the manufacturer uses very similar names for very similar models, making it difficult to know which one is best. Luckily, now that the CX-3 has been discontinued, the CX-30 is the only SUV competing in the compact segment for the brand. Adding a touch more size inside and out, the CX-30 is more than equipped to go toe-to-toe with just about every other SUV on this list, particularly in harsher conditions.

Unveiled in 2019, as of this writing the CX-30 is still in its first generation. Other SUVs on this list have been updated much more recently than the CX-30 has been on the market, but Mazda has done a solid job in keeping its smallest SUV up-to-date with various smaller updates over the years. The biggest and most welcome update made, though, came in 2022, making all-wheel drive standard across the lineup. This remains the case for the 2026 model paired with a turbocharged 2.5L four-cylinder producing 186 horsepower and an equal amount of torque. Not bad at all for its starting price of $26,375 for the base trim, with a $1,595 destination charge on top.

Moving over to the American manufacturers offering all-wheel drive at the lowest prices, none can compete with Chevrolet in this area. As GM's budget-focused brand, Chevrolet has a great lineup of affordable SUVs at almost every size of the segment, but it's the compact ones that are some of the most accessible on the market. The Trax is the most affordable overall, but the Trailblazer is the cheapest (and highest-quality) SUV from the manufacturer with all-wheel drive available.

Launching in its current, revamped compact guise in 2021, the Trailblazer was most recently updated for the 2024 model year, remaining fundamentally the same in 2026. Starting at just $23,600, the front-wheel drive version is one of the most affordable new vehicles full stop, and adding all-wheel drive to the base LS trim will cost you an extra $2,000. The $1,795 destination charge is a touch more than others, but the super low starting price helps keep it low overall. Elsewhere, the 2026 Trailblazer with AWD uses a 1.3L turbocharged engine to produce 155 horsepower and 174 pound-feet of torque; the front-wheel drive engine is slightly smaller and less powerful.

The title of cheapest SUV on this list as standard goes to the Nissan Kicks. Part of the Japanese manufacturer's lineup since 2018, the Kicks entered its second and current generation, acting as the ultimate city goer with extra space inside compared to the likes of the Sentra sedan. With an MSRP of $22,790, the base front-wheel drive trim is only beaten by the Chevy Trax and Hyundai Venue on price. Unfortunately, though, this is one of the SUVs that locks all-wheel drive behind higher trims, with the SV AWD starting at $26,490 (with a $2,245 destination charge).

This gets the price tag in the same ballpark as the rest of the segment when opting for all-wheel drive, but still easily one of the cheapest. No SUV included here has notable power by any stretch, but the Kicks is another one of the lowest, producing 141 horsepower and 140 pound-feet of torque. However, it does counteract the deficit with a strong 30 MPG combined with all-wheel drive, a rating that not many can match in the segment.

Similar to its parent company, Hyundai, Kia has a couple of the most affordable SUVs on the market, even managing to undercut the direct equivalent from its sister manufacturer. While Hyundai focuses on refinement, Kia is designed to be the more modern, sportier brand of the two, at least visually. For access to all-wheel drive, the Seltos is the way to go here, and it's the only SUV on this list that's been redesigned from the ground up for the 2027 model year. Kia is taking a modern design philosophy to another level compared to Hyundai, with the Seltos now being one of the most distinct compact SUVs around with its boxy, sharp-edged look.

While the hybrid model adds a new mechanical setup, the 2027 Seltos sticks with last year's engines, which were borrowed from the Hyundai Kona. This gives it the same 147 horsepower and 132 pound-feet of torque from the 2.0L four-cylinder. Built on the same platform, the two are also super close in dimensions across the board. The Seltos has the lower starting price, though, at $24,990, with the all-wheel drive option pushing the base trim up to $26,690 (with a $1,495 destination charge).