You really should test drive the Subarus. They are way nicer than similarly priced Hondas and Toyotas. You get a lot more features in a Subaru at $30K than you do for Honda or Toyota.

We got a premium Outback in 2019 for $30.5K. We were also considering the RAV4. To get a similar set of features, we would have needed to spend around $37K with Toyota. It was a no-brainer.

Subaru. Base trimline comes chock full of standard safety features:

AWD
Eyesight Driver Assistance Tech: Advanced Adaptive Cruise Control with Lane Centering, Pre-collision Braking, Lane Departure and Sway Warning, Lane Keep Assist, and Automatic Emergency Steering
High Beam Assist (HBA): Available High Beam Assist works in conjunction with EyeSight to automatically switch the headlights between the high and low settings when an oncoming vehicle is detected, enhancing safety for both you and other drivers on the road.
Vehicle Dynamics Control (VDC)
4-wheel Anti-lock Braking System (ABS)
Brake Assist
Brake Override System: If both brake and accelerator pedals are pressed simultaneously, the system reduces the operation of the accelerator pedal to help prevent unintentional vehicle acceleration.
Traction Control System (TCS)
Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS)
LED Daytime Running Lights (DRL)
Rear-Vision Camera

Subaru advanced frontal airbag system (SRS): Dual-stage deployment driver and front passenger front airbags
Side curtain airbags
Seat-mounted front side impact
Front passenger seat cushion airbag
Driver's knee airbag

Whiplash-reducing front seats with height and tilt-adjustable head restraints
Rear height adjustable head restraints
Height adjustable 3-point front seatbelts
Rear child-safety locks
LATCH system

Keyless entry system
Anti-theft security system

2024 Outback (base): $29K
2024 Forester (base): $27k, Premium trim: $30K
2024 Crosstrek (base): $25K, Premium: $26K, Sport: $29K

I don't think any of those are $30k unless you're buying used. I paid more than that for a civic recently.

I’ve been a VFD in MoCo since college. I’m a trained heavy rescue technician (translated: cutting cars up to get people out of them after crashes).

Until we upgraded our rescue tools a few years ago, the car that was harder to cut up than anything else on the road was either a Subaru wagon or Subaru SUV. They were absolute nightmares to cut apart because of the hard steel alloys in the A-B-C-D pillars and the door crossmembers.

If I had to pick a car to crash in it would be one of those probably the wagon.

But I understand they are also troublesome from a mechanical/repair perspective, so that cancels a bit of the advantage. Too bad. Odds are you won’t be in a crash - but odds are it will break down one day.

Look at IIHS safety reports. Very few cars did well with the updated side impact testing, which accounts for the fact that you’re more likely to be hit by a SUV than sedan these days. I had thought I’d get a RAV4, CRV, or forester. But after reading the IIHS reports, I decided to get either the CX-5 or Outback. I ended up with the Outback because we needed the extra legroom and cargo space. We’ve been happy with it.

We drive a Subaru and I love the safety features. Automatic breaking, lane assist, and the backup camera is very good.

It's the little stuff I've come to appreciate. Like there are lights on the side view mirrors that come on when someone's in my blind spot. I'm a safe driver and always look, but I didn't have that on my last car (a Toyota) and I love it -- it's so nice to know I have that backup when I'm on the interstate and other people a driving dangerously.

Very, very sold on Subaru here.

They all hold up well in a collision. Make sure they have all safety features that help avoid a collision like blind spot monitoring and that they have good visibility

Check Consumer Reports. I believe Toyota had a big safety push in terms of making the features standard, but I'm sure hte others have caught up.

As fro automatic braking, it's typicall using the same sensors as for variable cruise conrol.

Right now we’re looking at a Honda CRV, RAV4, or maybe a Subaru. We would like to get the safest car with automatic braking and a decent chance to hold up in a collision.

Subaru markets very strongly that it is the safety car, like Volo used to do in the 90s, but I’m not sure if that is actually born out?

It’s really hard to compare with the testing since the test don’t really mimic real world but instead pit similar size cars against each other.

I’m also curious about how automatic breaking is implemented across this range of cars, since they won’t have the smarts or AI models.