The Forester is the comparable vehicle to a CRV/Rav4. We have a CRV and an Outback - the outback is much bigger, lower, and smoother ride. That's the family car, the CRV is the commuter car. I'd test drive and see what you like best.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look at the Forester too. For us it felt the most comfortable, I think because it’s taller.

We replaced our Forester with a RAV Hybrid. I like the RAV, but I really miss the Forester.

What do you miss about the Forester? I really liked the RAV4 Hybrid when I test drove it.

Anonymous wrote:Look at the Forester too. For us it felt the most comfortable, I think because it’s taller.

We replaced our Forester with a RAV Hybrid. I like the RAV, but I really miss the Forester.

Are you dead set on those 3 options? The new Mazda CX-50 is very nice. Also Honda CR-V is getting redesigned later this year so if you can wait I would hold off on buying now.

We have a 2017 Outback Touring Edition - agree it's not all that much fun to drive, but we have done some pretty long road trip and you can throw a ton of stuff in the back. Ready for a trade in though.

Anonymous wrote:I tested drove all 3 several years ago and ended up with a Subaru. I really like it, and I think it had the best safety ratings at the time. However, I'm thinking of trading it in for a RAV4 hybrid. I get about 23 mogy in the Subaru.

Pretty much all of the Subaru safety tech that is standard requires an upgraded trim line on a RAV4. If you're trying to get a RAV4 Hybrid, you're easily paying $8K-10K more than you'd spend on a Subaru with the same features and safety tech. And that was in 2019 when I was looking, the spread is probably even greater with Toyota dealerships gouging prices right now.

I have a 2021 RAV4 hybrid and DH drives a 2015 Subaru Outback. He liked his car just fine until we got mine. The outback seems like a ponderous gas guzzler by comparison. It’s really not fun to drive at all, though it has a great turning radius. Don’t know if the newer ones are and better, but I strongly recommend the RAV4 hybrid.

Anonymous wrote:I tested drove all 3 several years ago and ended up with a Subaru. I really like it, and I think it had the best safety ratings at the time. However, I'm thinking of trading it in for a RAV4 hybrid. I get about 23 mogy in the Subaru.

The MPG for Subarus is really pathetic. How do they not even have hybrid versions of their cars? It boggles my mind.

We get about 25 mpg for our 2019 Outback in the city. I get about 33 mpg on road trips, 30 mpg if I have the Thule roof box on top.

Look at the Forester too. For us it felt the most comfortable, I think because it’s taller.

We have an Outback and a RAV4 hybrid. Both are great cars. We were able to get a good deal on the Toyota -- used and purchased from a dealer.

Whatever you get, don’t cheap out on tires. If you’re actually someplace with real winter, snow tires are well worth the money/hassle.

I tested drove all 3 several years ago and ended up with a Subaru. I really like it, and I think it had the best safety ratings at the time. However, I'm thinking of trading it in for a RAV4 hybrid. I get about 23 mogy in the Subaru.

Did you test drive all 3? We were choosing in this range and test drove all 3 of these. We ended up with the Subaru for maybe idiosyncratic reasons (I felt it had the best visibility) but it was easy to choose after test driving.

Subaru is great for that.

I test drove the RAV4 XSE hybrid and really liked it. But I couldn’t justify the price over an Outback at the Limited trim line. Subaru is selling at MSRP right now, but I’m a bit disappointed in Subaru’s real life MPG.

I think the RAV4 hybrid is the best of all worlds - AWD, nice clearance, and it sips gas.

Which one do you like and why? I need a 4WD/AWD because I work in health care (and have to go to work no matter the weather). Toyotas and Hondas seem to have higher mark-ups than Subarus.