Honda/ Subaru/ Toyota

[s.e.charles]

i'm a shrinking 5'6", and I have to crunch to get into my Tacoma. 170# on a good day, and had to squeeze behind the wheel in my 2500 Savana. have no idea how a 300# plumber can get in & out of these things all day long.

gave up shifting 20 years ago and never missed "the thrill". same with cranking. but then, i don't play the radio or futz with all the steering wheel controls either.

 

[Papa Tac]

In 2017, I went off the highway and rolled our Forester doing 100km/h (60 mph) and walked away. My skiing buddy would have said it was Forward 1 1/2 with a twist.
I walked away with 3 broken ribs and a concussion. The cage I was in held up like a vault, though the rest of the car was totalled - I just opened the door and stepped out. The wife says I should have sent the story to Subaru.
Guess who gets my vote...

 

[shade]

If it matters the new CR-V Hybrid is being released soon. If it's anything like the new Insight, it'll be a great vehicle on the road. Off-road? ?‍♀️

Like Dave said, all three options in you poll are good vehicles. Lots of Subaru love here, for good reason. Once I put decent AT tyres on my Baja, it was a joy to drive in snow, mud, and on slightly rough trails. It's a shame Subaru doesn't offer a two-speed transfer case.

 

[jadmt]

I have owned 4 Subarus, the last being a 2016 Outback limited and never again will I own one. I have also owned 3 CRV including a 2016 touring. I would not own another CRV either but for different reasons. We had the last outback less than a year and it just kept going back to the dealer for noise issues they just could not fix and the reason I won't get another was Subaru (company) just kept telling us to keep bringing it back to the dealership who could not fix it. The dealership told us to ignore the noise and just drive it until something failed... They would then say bring it to a dealership 200 miles away etc. I will say on the other previous Subarus we put a lot of miles on them and they all needed head gasket replacements along the way. Hopefully by 2020 they will have that sorted but who knows. Honda have been issue free for us other than wife was rear ended in the first one by 1970's big boat at about 35mph and that kind of sold us. The reason I won't get another CRV is they are just too boring. No issues ever on any of them but life is too short to drive such a boring vehicle.

 

[Todd780]

I think they'd all be good vehicle. If looking at 2019's I'd go with the Rav4. But, that's subjective just because I think it looks better than the other two....

Especially in the Trail trim.

Good luck in your search!

I didn't note... Have you driven them yet? Maybe rent one each one for a day and hit the road? One may feel fine for a half hour or in town so but you may find after a couple hours the seat isn't comfortable or something...

 

[DaveInDenver]

gave up shifting 20 years ago and never missed "the thrill". same with cranking. but then, i don't play the radio or futz with all the steering wheel controls either.

If you're buying new it doesn't matter, Subaru dropped the stick from the Forester in 2019 anyway. Toyota eliminated the stick option from the RAV4 with a generation change several years ago. Not sure if the CRV does or ever did have a stick.

Yeah, steering controls, I dunno. I have them in my Tacoma and they don't do anything since I replaced the stereo with an aftermarket Alpine. The Forester has them but I don't drive it enough to have the muscle memory. It's also got the cruise control buttons in the steering wheel which isn't intuitive to me either since I'm used to them on a stalk. So I do have to glance down to use them.

 

[wnybiker]

I have a 2013 Subaru Forester and a 2004 CRV. The Honda is the better vehicle. The engineering is better (controls, layout, under hood accessibility, etc). The Forester, which was meticulously maintained ahead of maintenance schedule by the local Subaru dealer, blew a head gasket at 60K miles. Subaru America paid for the repair, but it was still a reminder about Honda reliability.

 

[Todd780]

I know it's not on your list but, we've had a Hyundai Tucson for almost 5 years that hasn't given us an ounce of grief.

 

[ram2500_24v]

I am not totally sold on the necessity of a all wheel drive SUV versus a sedan car. I have a 2003 VW TDI Jetta which I have driven a lot and it has returned very good MPG's , been very reliable , easy to work on and reasonable in snow/ice conditions.

I live in Saskatchewan, Canada and we get our fair share of snow and in five years I can recall getting stuck once (which I shovelled myself out of).

 

[DaveInDenver]

@ram2500_24v, the advantage of the Subaru for us is clearance and better handling of unmaintained winter roads.

The Jetta we have is a 2002 wagon and with decent tires and snow cables it's a fine road car (we have been very happy with it) but it's just starts to get limiting off pavement. She actually punched a hole in the oil pan on a dirt road above Lake City, CO, so she found the real off highway limit of a Jetta and she leaped across it.

So when the time came to replace the Jetta (it's getting pretty rusty and at 165k reliability of it for long trips is questionable) it was up to her and she wanted something better suited off highway. We have my truck for more difficult trails but there's a space between typically snowplowed and graded roads but not quite needing low-range (which I have a truck to do) that she wanted her car to handle.

The Golf Alltrack was an option but at the time it was a new model. The CRV and RAV4 simply did not appeal to her (too boring). She just really liked the Forester. If we were doing it now I think it's possible we'd have gone with a Golf Alltrack to be honest (you can get a stick shift now, at least in the S trim). Although I don't know how it fares for clearance.

 

[s.e.charles]

. . . I didn't note... Have you driven them yet? Maybe rent one each one for a day and hit the road? One may feel fine for a half hour or in town so but you may find after a couple hours the seat isn't comfortable or something...

i work for a family that has a few year old Outback. bang my head every time i get in, but my tacoma knocks my hat off, too. seat comfort? taco leads the pack thumbs down for sore butt syndrome even with 1" seat risers in the back bolts. my former employer's porsche would make my lower back hurt for 2 days after i would drive it 30 miles round trip for service work.

NB: even though not responding to every contribution, i AM taking it all in! thanks for the input-s.

 

[shenrie]

All the vehicles mentioned are bland compared to their looks in the late 90’s when you could id any of them from afar well before you were right on top of them. Pretty much all suv’s Look alike anymore.

I also agree that you should consider the Hyundai. They have come a long way in the last few years. Have a friend at work that uses his for towing rental campers and raves about how well it does.

All are also mainly fwd until sensors “sense” stuff and start controlling things as the computer sees fit, which I personally don’t care for. So also a wash in that aspect to me.

In all reality it’s going to boil down to interior comfort and space, and that’s going to be a very subjective opinion, especially after hearing your thoughts on seating. I still put bucket seats from the 90-91 civic si in all my old cars. Super comfy and they hold my fatass in place remarkably well. Most comfortable seat I have are the 03 e350 cargo van seats. They look horrendous, but travel better than anything else I’ve personally used. So definitely take the advise above and spend some good seat time in all the vehicles you’re considering. That will most likely be the deciding factor.

If you do your own wrenching, I’d opt out of subaru. Basic plug changes are a pita compared to the other 2 and you need special tools for water pump/timing belt replacements. Getting the t-belt back on subarus is tricky comparatively speaking.

All other things aside, If it were me I’d go for whichever one had a turbo and manual option. I will always lean to honda cause I know how bulletproof they are. I’ve been thrashing on them for 30 years now. Nothing newer than a 08 and mostly late 80’s early 90’s models, but the amount of abuse they take without issue has never ceased to amaze me.

 

[s.e.charles]

I saw a jaguar which looked like a ford focus. the jellybean cars are here to stay

 

[Simons]

All three of them have fairly low tow ratings, I’d suspect in the 1500-2500lbs region. The new generation RAV is available with a 3500lbs rating depending on certain options. Not sure about the Subaru but the CRV and RAV are timing chain engines so no belt to change... I think the RAV still has the centre diff lock button on the dash.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Grassland]

Hyundai Tucson/Kia Sportage, with the exception of the 2.4 engine, unless you have extended warranty, in which case why not the 2.4 engine, because 1-2 years old they go for peanuts. Especially volume trims.

Wouldn't drive a a newish CRV because I have a pulse. Previous generation Rav4 is probably your best bet, but I much more so enjoy the styling of the current generation. We shopped those briefly but if you want options, ticking boxes and moving up trims puts them into the low to mid 40s in central Canada.
Back in 14 we shopped a Crosstrek but was too much $ for too little performance. Haven't really looked at Subaru since, especially once they dropped the XT trim Forester. Though a buddy has a 3 year old Outback since new, zero problems, and loves driving it. 2.5 4 cyl and CVT, maybe the plain jane Forester will be OK, it weighs less.