Video: Discount-Club Challenge: Compact SUVs

And one way to do that is by shopping at discount clubs like Sam's or Costco. So how do small SUVs like the four we have here hold up? We're gonna take them all on from the smallest VW Tiguan to the largest in cargo capacity, the Mitsubishi Outlander. Now let's see how they measure up. We tried to simulate a typical run to one of these discount clubs. So we got stuff like paper towels, toilet paper, soda, water, ketchup, cereal, chips here, and of course that one impulse item. You never know what it's gonna be when you walk in, but there's something that's dirt cheap, it's a must buy, you can't let it go by. So we got a 26 inch LCD TV. So first up is the Mitsubishi Outlander. It has the largest cargo area at 36.2 cubic feet. It's also the only one of our test vehicles that has this extended gate here. It makes a flat load floor. So if you have a heavy item, you can just slide it in. So we're gonna see how we do. (fast instrumental music) And so everything fit. Wasn't really that easy 'cause of the sizes and shapes of everything. But you can tell how much room there is. So if they're different size goods, it probably fits in a little easier and it certainly does the trick. Next up is the popular Ford Escape. It got 29.2 cubic feet in the back. That's significantly smaller than the Mitsubishi was. So we're gonna see how it handles all this stuff. (fast instrumental music) So as you can see everything fit. We had to take a lot of stuff out of the boxes. We had packed them in just to fill little nooks and crannies. And it doesn't look very stable, but with the door closed, I think it'll be all right. Next up is the Nissan Rogue. At 28.9 cubic feet in rear cargo area, it's almost identical to the Ford Escape. Let's see how it does. (fast instrumental music) Now that's as tight as you can pretty much get and get everything in there. You saw we had to take out the ketchup and mustard to make it fit, but it works. Last and actually least is a VW Tiguan. It's got 23.8 cubic feet back here. And I don't know if all the stuff's gonna fit. Let's see. (fast instrumental music) So as you can see the snack chips didn't fit in at all. The paper towels and the bath tissues kind of sticking out, but they're soft. Let's see if they make it. It works, but you lost some cargo. So what did we learn today? Well, even the smallest compact SUV can fit a lot of stuff from a shopping trip and your family in the back seat. So don't let those specs be your deciding factor. <v Announcer>For additional information on this car or any other, go to cars.com and our blog Kicking Tires.