These brutes do have an alarming thirst for gasoline, but what they lack in efficiency, they more than make up for in terms of capability. They can fit up to eight people and their gear, and navigate bad weather and shoddy roads, thanks to their robust underpinnings and four-wheel drive—all while towing a large boat.
Read our review of the Chevrolet Suburban/GMC Yukon.
Best used sports car: Mazda MX-5
These days, more and more people are choosing to indulge themselves, and as a result, pre-owned sports cars are having a moment. Drivers looking for something with a high grins-per-kilometre figure would be perfectly served by anything with a Porsche badge. But those cars aren’t cheap, and they’re increasingly difficult to find due to red-hot demand. Thankfully, the Mazda MX-5 has always been an incredible sports car bargain since it first turned a wheel in 1989. Mazda’s little funster is all about that intimate connection between driver and machine, with enough handling prowess and horsepower to navigate your favourite stretch of backroads—it’s no surprise that AJAC named it the Best Performance Sports Car in 2019. MX-5s are also impeccably built and are lauded for their reliability. What’s not to like?
Read our review of the Mazda MX-5.
Best used minivan: Dodge Grand Caravan
Parents, take note: this is the perfect family vehicle. Does it look cool or offer much in the way of luxurious touches? Not really. But it does offer one revelatory feature no other minivan does—Stow n’ Go seating. With a flip of a lever, the seats fold away acrobatically into the floor, neatly disappearing while leaving a cavernous space in their wake. You’ll never have to wonder “Will it fit?”—because it will.
Want more good news? With the current Pacifica model garnering all the headlines (and the lofty price tag to match), Grand Caravans are much easier on the wallet, and they’re widely available, too. They are fairly durable as well—they have to be, to stand up to the abuses a hockey team subjects them to on the way to practice—but because Chrysler built so many of them, parts are generally cheap.
Read our review of the Dodge Grand Caravan.
Best used pickup truck: Ford F-150
Fun fact: If Ford only sold the F-150 and abandoned the rest of its vast portfolio of vehicular offerings, it would still be a successful Fortune 500 company. That’s because the F-150 pickup truck finds itself atop the list of most popular vehicles in North America year after year. And these days, it’s no longer the exclusive domain of contractors and tradespeople. With its dizzying array of body configurations, trim levels and drivetrains (transmission, driveshaft, axles and wheels), there is an F-150 for everyone. Its popularity is also attributed to its robust build quality and reliability—owners report few problems of concern despite the punishment they subject their trucks to. The 2015 model and newer are particularly good bets because Ford switched to military-grade aluminum for the bodies, making rust a thing of the past. And not that this truck needs more praise, but AJAC named the F-150 the Canadian Utility Vehicle of the Year in 2015.
