Crossover Utility Vehicles, abbreviated as CUVs, occupy a unique spot in the vehicular hierarchy. These vehicles sit just below conventional trucks and compact SUVs and just above sedans, hatchbacks, and station wagons. As a result, these vehicles combine the best of both worlds: an SUV’s road presence and luxury mixed with the agility and urban mobility of sedans and hatchbacks. If one is looking to purchase these vehicles, here are some things to consider beforehand:

Flexible seating
Buyers may eschew purchasing an SUV to go for CUVs, but they usually tend to prioritize the seating flexibility that the larger vehicles provide while going through their CUV options. Buyers should always look for room for flexibility in the second and third rows of seats in their CUV. The CUV must have provisions for users to adjust their seats forward and backward. This helps expand the vehicle’s overall cargo space and also increases the legroom and headroom for the occupants.

What’s more, flexibility in the second and third row of seating is an indicator of a vehicle’s versatility, as that puts the “Utility” in a CUV.

Ease and comfort in driving
CUVs must be just as effortless to drive around town as a hatchback. During test drives, one can check whether a given CUV’s center of gravity is low enough, whether the vehicle has responsive and direct steering, and whether the gearbox and brakes are snappy and quick enough. These elements make handling and driving a CUV simpler in crowded traffic and narrow lanes in cities.

Ease of driving and comfort are the two biggest draws of CUVs in today’s market. Therefore, customers need to prioritize that while purchasing these vehicles.

Fuel and maintenance costs
CUVs tend to be priced competitively as there are so many options to choose from in the market. Therefore, buyers need to check whether the CUV they are considering buying has a high fuel economy on both city roads and highways. Good fuel economy makes a vehicle cheaper to run in the long term. Also, buyers must check whether the vehicle feels solidly built or not. Solid build quality in CUVs prolongs their life and reduces the need to make frequent repairs and component replacements.

Some other factors to consider while choosing CUVs from a saturated list of available options are whether the vehicle comes with advanced safety systems and technologies and whether the vehicle has all-wheel-drive availability.