Probably going to end up with one or the other. Any owners out there of either of these with opinions? Thanks!
My mom had a ‘97 (first year) CRV, which I inherited in 2009. We both enjoyed it. A little underpowered (2 liter 4 cylinder) but solid all wheel drive. No experience with a RAV 4
Check out Subaru. The symmetric all wheel drive with snow tires is the nuts! 2017 Outback - last tank of gas - 585 miles on 16.9 gallons gas.
What years are you looking at? Hondas are usually pretty good, their NVH and overall quality went down in the last decade or 2, but they've been getting better. You could only ever get a 4 cylinder in a crv. They'll work, but are unexciting. The 2017 crv did get SUV of the year. A co-worker has a 17 she got new, but she isn't much of a car person. She has figured out how to drive it, for the most part. 2 other coworker's have nearly identical 2008/09 model crv's that haven't really given them much issue. The RAV4 used to be available with a 3.5 v6. Those hauled a$$. Most are 4cylinders though. All new ones are 4 cylinder, and some hybrid. The hybrids are the only ones that are zippy of the current generation of RAV4. The RAV4 will be completely new for 2019. My buddy's Mom has a 2017 non hybrid RAV4. It has not given her any issues. The RAV4 is a better vehicle IMHO, and if you want any zip, get the new hybrid RAV4, or a used 3.5 v6. Yes, the hybrid ones are faster than the regular gas only 4 cylinder.
We have a 2015 CRV and we love it. The CVT transmission is great. It has plenty of power without the loud noise you usually get from a 4 cylinder. My wife’s commute is 70 miles a day on main roads and she averages 32 mpg which is outstanding as far as I’m concerned. We were able to get heated seats on a lower model, usually they are only available on the high end models. I like Toyota’s and I’m sure the RAV4s are great also. Good luck!
Mom just went from a v6 accord(piston rings went) to a 4 cyl CRV. She says it’s gutless but is happy with everything else. I haven’t gotten to drive it yet.
Looking at a '13 rav4 and a '14 crv. 31K and 41K respectively. Price is the same for each....asking 17,000. I don't care for the cvt and didn't know that the crv had one. A buddy has one on a nissan rogue and admits that the belt has to be changed out every 60,000 miles-pretty much scheduled maintenance for it. I'm fine with the 4 cyl as I don't really have a need for quick pickup....not much traffic to merge into around here! I test drove the rav4 and will probably test drive the crv this morning. i drove it like I would normally drive and didn't notice any power starving issues but maybe I should have tromped on it to really find out!
Just looked and found out that 2014 was the last year without the cvt. They switched over to cvt in 2015 and also increased the torque ratings and tweaked the engine for a bit better gas mileage.
Love my 2014 RAV4, 87K miles and no issues. I think the RAV4 is a little longer than the CRV, my year anyway. That's what sold me, since I scrounge wood. An 8 foot 2x4 fits nicely laid on the center armrest. I have gotten 12 footers home weaseled in diagonally up on the dash.
We took the crv for a quick ride today. It must be a base model judging from the sound when you close the doors...just kind of tinny, don't know quite how to explain it. Then the salesman says, "you're the 3rd person that took it out for a test drive today!" I replied with "thats good, it'll be a easy sell for you." I told him I'd think about it some more; he asked if I wanted to take it for a longer possession. I told him if someone offers what he wants, by all means grab it. Leaning pretty heavy towards the rav4 now, but that guy is only budging 500 bucks. Low balled him at 2000 less than his original asking price, but no go.
That's not the base model effect with the tiny doors. That's just how they are. Like I said, honda has cheaped out on little things like door insulation, an extra reinforcement here and there, etc. But they are slowly getting better. I wouldn't buy a vehicle with a CVT, personally.
The 14 crv does not have a cvt. The 15 is when they switched over to them. Yeah, no door insulation is the first thing I thought of when I shut the door!
Cant go wrong with either IMO. My parents have a CRV and love it. My wife and I looked at the Rav4 but ended up going with the 4Runner instead...we needed something bigger, but the Rav4 seems solid. I think Hondas and Toyotas are great vehicles. Nothing flashy but just good, well made, reliable vehicles. I would just drive both and pick whichever you like driving better, cant go wrong with either really.
Yep, I'm aware of the CVT years vs regular transmissions. The 5 spd auto on the crv is not as good as the 6 spd on the RAV4. Couple that with the better quality of the Toyota, and the slightly roomier interior of the RAV4, I'd go Toyota. Does one have more options than the other? That's the only thing that might sway me if I were you.
They are typically pretty good, but head gaskets are an issue on these. I think all of these can take a class 2 hitch. If not, class 1 will haul a small trailer. Which is really all you'd want to haul anyway with a NA 4 cylinder. You could open this up to include the Mazda CX-5 and Ford escape as well. Both are great vehicles. Of all of these, I'd be looking at the Mazda pretty hard. I'd say it's really the best looking, and best interior quality of any of these small SUVs. There's some German firms that have better AWD systems than subaru.
Wife has a 2011 CRV 130,000 miles that she bought new I keep telling her we need to upgrade she says keep yer cotton picking hands off my car! she wants to hit 200,000 it has been a great trouble free car for her and does very good in snow better than my Tacoma 4WD that is no lie
