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With an MSRP of $26,695, the Taos is in the middle of the pack as far as pricing – but it’s all pretty close. The HR-V is the most expensive at $26,900, while the Corolla Cross ($25,435) and Crosstrek ($25,810) are at the bottom. Of course, looking solely at price doesn’t provide a complete value picture, so we’ll explore more information on what you’ll get for comparably priced competing trim levels.
What’s under the hood helps the Taos stay ahead of the competition. It’s the only vehicle in this group with a turbocharger: the others are all naturally aspirated. As a result, this VW leads with 175 horsepower produced by a 1.5-liter four-cylinder turbo engine. The Corolla Cross comes closest with 169 horsepower. Meanwhile, the HR-V (158 horsepower) and Crosstrek (152 horsepower) are at the back of the pack. The Taos’s peppiness can also be attributed to its eight-speed automatic transmission, while its rivals only have continuously variable transmissions (CVTs), which a lot of drivers dislike.
Volkswagen helps the 2025 Taos stand out in this crowded field with some attention-getting standard features, even on the base trim. Heated front seats are included on the entry-level Taos, but they are not available in the base editions of the competitors mentioned on this page. Similarly, the 2025 Taos comes with blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert, but these advanced driver aids are only found on the more expensive trims of the rivals we compare it to here.
The Volkswagen Taos achieves EPA estimates of 25 mpg around town and 33 mpg on the highway for the all-wheel-drive configuration. While its city rating falls behind the Toyota Corolla Cross (29 mpg city) and Subaru Crosstrek (27 mpg city), the Taos offers better highway fuel economy than the Corolla Cross (31 mpg) and Honda HR-V (30 mpg). Only the Crosstrek edges out the Taos in highway efficiency with 34 mpg.
While all four vehicles have similar exterior dimensions, the Taos maximizes interior space with 37.9 inches of rear legroom, making it superior to the Corolla Cross (32.0 inches), the Crosstrek (36.5 inches), and the HR-V (37.7 inches). In addition, the Taos has better front and rear headroom (40.7 inches/39.8 inches), beating the competition by at least 1.3 inches in the first row and 0.8 inches in the back.
The Volkswagen Taos provides 24.9 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seats, outperforming all three challengers. This gives the Taos an advantage over the Honda HR-V (24.4 cubic feet) and notably greater capacity over the Toyota Corolla Cross (21.5 cubic feet) and the Subaru Crosstrek (20.8 cubic feet). With roughly 15% more cargo volume than the Corolla Cross and 20% more than the Crosstrek, the Taos offers substantially more room for groceries and gear without having to flatten the rear seatback.
According to Edmunds’ expert reviews, the Volkswagen Taos earns the highest overall rating among competitors at 8.1 out of 10, significantly outpacing the Corolla Cross (7.4), HR-V (7.5), and Crosstrek (7.6). The Taos particularly excels in interior quality (8.5/10), technology integration (8.5/10), and utility (8.5/10). The HR-V keeps pace with the Taos, as it also received an 8.5 for interior quality. These ratings reflect the 2024 Taos model, as Edmunds hasn’t evaluated the 2025 edition yet. The ratings for the other models are for 2025.
