Matthew DeBord/Business InsiderCompact SUVs are selling like crazy these days, threatening to displace the beloved sedan as the starter car of choice. Smaller SUVs and crossovers are also being snapped up by families and retirees, setting off much discussion in the auto industry about whether cars are enduring a slow fade to irrelevance in the US as consumers vote for SUV versatility. Over the past few years, I've sampled numerous compact SUVs, and for the most part, I've found them to be uniformly excellent.