Motor week on PBS is reviewing the Rav4 today, comes on here in about 5 minutes.

What are you looking for it to do? Do you have a family? what kind of driving do you do? What kind of cargo do you usually tote around? What's your weather like?

It's really hard for anyone to give an opinion without knowing how YOU use your vehicles.

I have a Toyota FJ--it's amazing!!! I'd consider it a mid-size, although it may look a little larger than that. It's great for a couple--not so good for hauling a bunch of kids in the back seat (those suicide doors make getting in and out of the back a bit challenging, especially in a parking lot). It's nice and high, big heavy-duty tires for driving in challenging conditions. The seats are easy to fold down if you do carry large things in the back. It's got a household outlet in the cargo area. It's extremly comfortable.

But, as I said, I wouldn't recommend it for somone who often has more than 1 passenger. The gas mileage is low--which is fine for me, I do little driving--but might be a consideration. It's got 3 front wipers--which gives the best coverage of any car I've ever had, but then, you have to replace three when they 'go'. It's lots of fun to drive, but does have a couple of blind spots that take a little getting used to.

You can put a whole lot of 'stuff' in the back--when DD got her condo, we went out and bought her all sorts of stuff--a patio furniture set, vacuum, linens, kitchen appliances, etc (can't remember everything--it was 6 years ago) and were able to load it all into the FJ.

Another advantage is that all the FJ's are manufactured in Japan--so there's better quality control than on those T's that are manufactured in the US, and the FJ's almost never have recalls--they're of a higher quality.

Best of all? They're fun, and not that common--you don't see one on every block. And you NEVER have a problem finding your car in a parking lot!!!

I love my Hyundai Santa Fe, but I have also only heard good things about the 2 you mentioned.

Mazda CX-9, Nissan Murano, Honda Pilot... all got good reviews.

Love the Infinity product, my sister has the bigger one and it is wonderful. Open the back door push a button and all the seats fold down(one row at a time per button push) and open up the back for massive storage, true luxury all the way.
I love my Hummer but if I was looking for a new vehicle in the suv family I think it would be an Infinity.
If I wanted one that did not look as much like an suv I would consider the Audi product or the Mazda both great companies.
Rankings: New SUVs
here is a ranking guide

Sorry,a majority of the time it would just be dh and I in the vehicle. We do
pick up our grandson every other week end....he is about an hour and
a half away. We also have a carport not a garage so it needs to fit
the space. Thanks,Raven for the link.

i'm at that point where my poor venture is falling apart...it's just the 2 of us, but i LIKE the space of going to the home depot and not worrying...

dh is 6'4'' and i'm big so are the honda and toyota's made for us?

My GF purchased a Rav4 last year. She loved the way it looked.....but is disappointed with it. She tried taking it off road, just a gravel road with rocks and pot holes. It threw the alignment off. Cost her $70. She thinks if it can't handle THAT....then what can it handle? She plans on giving it to her daughter in 4 years when she learns to drive. She also owns an older Chevy Tahoe and loves it.

Another GF's mother owns a Rav4, only highway driving and loves it. Has 179,000 miles on it.

I own a Land Rover and yes....it can pretty much go anywhere. Love it!

I have a Honda CR-V and I love it. I've had several different Hondas over the years and they have all be excellent.
Joann

If you did not want a ""SUV"" off the road, we like the Chev Equinox and it handles good on the road, and has room in the back for suitcases, not sure of the milege, but we made two trips to CA and enjoyed it very much.Real easy to park. I have the all wheel drive.

BMW X3
Love it!

I used to have the Lexus 400h loved it, now I have the Toyota Highlander hybrid, love it also!

Going out tomorrow to check out the Subaru Forrester and a
Madza. Don't remember model. The Highlander or BMW wont
fit In our carport :(

I have a Honda Odyssey going on 13 years old~~love it. My next car will be the CRV~~DH has a Pilot~~DD#2 has a Civic~~DGD has a Fit. I do like the looks of the Highlander also~~Older DD has a BMW SUV in the 5 series~~that is all they drive is Beemers, they love them but too pricey for me.

I have a Subaru Forester. A big part of what sold me on it was the fact that its 4-wheel drive really is 4 wheel drive, as opposed to nearly all the rest where the vehicle is a small front wheel drive chassis with a SUV looking body bolted on and a limited slip rear differential that, if the front wheels start slipping, will then transfer some of the engine power to the rear wheels.

Another big factor was the fact that I'm 6'2" and the other similar sized SUV's didn't quite fit.

Here's my advice. Go rent each of the vehicles you're thinking of for a day and drive it around as you normally would. Or take a trip and rent the vehicle to see how it works for that. Yes, you'll drop a few bucks doing this but I can tell you that you'll find out quickly if the vehicle suits you.

Reviews and others opinions are great but the best thing you can do is drive it. Each vehicle will have it's own quirks; some will require more repair than others (even of the same type); handlig will differ etc, etc.

Sometimes the vehicle that looks great on paper just doesn't work in reality.

I have a CRV and love it... had it for over 4 years, and have just practically worn it out... it has almost 28,000 on it now... just kidding about the almost worn it out part obviously!... It is so easy to drive and very easy to manuver in and out of parking spaces. With the way it fits in our garage I am sure it would fit under your carport just fine. It easily fits into the garage with plenty of space left over. The gas mileage is decent, I get about 23 average and most of mine is just around town with a little bit of highway thrown in. The only thing I have had to do it put a new set of tires on it. For some reason Honda does not put long lasting tires on them. Google it, you will see that for yourself. Unless they have changed since I bought mine. I had to put new tires on at about 18,000 miles. Other then the tires have not had to do a single thing to it except normal upkeep, oil changes etc. If I needed another new car I would without a doubt buy another CRV

We currently have a CRV and a Pilot - a CRV is much smaller than a Pilot and has a 4 cylinder option only. It's clearly not intended for off road use so no surprise someone ran into problems doing that. We've had a few Toyota SUVs in the past and they were also good.

When I bought the CRV I considered Mazdas and Subarus but their consumer reports ratings weren't quite as good. And since I'd had quite a few Hondas and Toyotas that served me well I decided to stick with those brands. Chose the CRV over RAV4 because I liked the looks of it better.

We have a Honda CRV and LOVE it! We tried to buy used (a few years old) and literally couldn't find any. People hold on to them. Ours is getting close to 10 years old and we haven't done much to it, just regular maintenance.

Our garage is short, and the car fits in fine, but a Honda Accord is a wee bit too long. A Honda Pilot would never fit.

When we were shopping around, we tried the Rav-4 and Ford Explorer. My DH is 6'4" and had zero leg room and couldn't fit in the Rav-4, so that was out. I thought I'd like the Explorer, but once I test drove it, I didn't like it. The blind spots on Fords are terrible.

My friends have a Subaru Outback and really like it.

I drive a Ford Edge, and have been very happy with it.

I have a Hyundai Tucson that I like a lot. It is 6 cylinder so doesn't get fabulous mileage. When I was shopping for an SUV I looked at the Rav4 and the CRV. I thought it was more work to drop the seats down in the CRV than in the others. It's really easy in the Tucson.

The Honda CR-V has been top choice for several years. This year (2013) Toyota is trying to unseat Honda's grip on the market and reviews so far indicate that Toyota has finally hit the mark. Toyota's 2013 model includes a base engine, 2.5 L, 4-cylinder matching Honda's 2.4 L 4-cyl offering.

Last year, I went shopping for a used Honda, Toyota, or Subaru and came away with the Honda. I was hesitant about the smallish engine for that size vehicle, but that concern went away when I test drove the vehicle. Honda;s engine has variable valve timing and it works flawlessly. Honda wrings about 170 hp out of that mill and it is surprisingly smooth; The 5 speed transmission shifts are smooth and the conntrol suytem logically seeks the correct gear. I rate Honda's engine-transmission as the best 4 cyl engine I have ever driven. For 2013, Honda has tweaked 4-cyl engine tuning and bumped output to 175 hp.

I bought the Honda CR-V last summer and used it for a 3000 mile trip - loved it. One caveat: The CR-V, and others of similar design have a big blind spot to the rear when backing up. Objects near the vehicle are unseen. I recommend a backup camera. It is available, but I don't know in which year that began.

Mileage around town is 23 to 25 miles/gal; highway at expressway speeds is 27 to 31 mpg.

Among my associates, two have tried the Toyota RAV-4, was dissatisfied and changed to the Honda CR-V. However, that could change for the 2013 models. But for a used vehicle, you'd be shopping for models older than 2012, and for these, I recommend the Honda.

Toyota did offer both 4-cyl and 6-cyl engines in the RAV-4. I recommend the 6-cyl. The gas mileage is about the same as the 4 and it is a much better engine for the application.

The Honda CR-V is available in front wheel drive and AWD (all wheel drive). The AWD is engaged at all times. When the system detects that the front wheels are slipping, up to 50% torque can be supplied to the rear wheels. This comes in handy for getting through a slick spot, but in my opinion, is not as good as a true 4-wheel drive ala Jeep. Because the sysem is enaged all the time, there are restrictions. The vehicle should not be towed (front wheels on a dolly and rear wheels on the road); Instead, it should be put on the bed of the tow truck or trailer. All tires must be the same size. Mixing a new tire with nearly worn out ones can cause the torque transfer clutch to drag. AWD also adds weight. Additional components are the rear drive shaft, rear differential and drive axles, and transfer gears. These parts add maintence items.

In the used Honda market in my area, the AWD option holds value. For same models of used CR-Vs, the ones with AWD commands a price addition equal to the cost of the AWD option when new.

Hi,well went to check out Subaru Forrester. I liked it
dh didn't. We both drove it and he prefers the Honda
Cr-v.....better ride. I like the 0 interest for 63 months
on the Subaru also...lol. We seem to be leaning to
wards the Honda at this point but it's still up in the
air. The Honda and Toyota definitely have more
style. Thanks for all your input!! :). Will keep
you posted.

If you have a preference for the Forester, maybe mentioning my point from above about it having actual All Wheel Drive, rather than an after-thought, add-on faux AWD. Or bringing up the fact * that Subaru cals the Forester a car, whereas the other manufacturers disingenuously label their vehicle as "light trucks" so that they can follow the less-stringent collision and safety standards afforded to small trucks.

These might be enough to tilt him away from the CR-V and towards the Subaru that you like.

* disclaimer: The fact mentioned above about small car vs light truck designations for compact SUV's definitely was true when I was looking in the Summer of 2005, I don't know whether it is still true today.

I've had a CR-V for a couple of years and like it quite well. However, when dh drives it more than 20 minutes or so, (we usually take it on trips and he likes to drive,) he has back problems. Perhaps it's not wide enough? And dh is not a large man. We're still trying to figure out how to use a small pillow to hopefully help. Good luck with your decision.