Equinox, Rav4 or CR-V

[nepean]

A second vote for Hyundai. I have a 2009 Santa Fe and I LOVE my "truck". It is a the first non GM car that I have ever owned. It is getting almost as good mileage as my small car that I got rid of. I have only changed the oil in it and there has not been one problem with it in a year. We drove to WDW last December and drove through one of the major snow events inthe Washington area and we did not stop and we stayed on the road. We did have snow tires on it but it is not 4 wheel drive. The insurance on it is less than on my DH 2006 Chev Impala and it is obviously worth more. We looked at the Equinox and it would have cost 25% more to get the same options, like heated leather seats, moon roof, etc. I have a friend that bought one over 9 years ago and it is still going strong. Everyone I know that has one loves it and has had no problems whatsoever. I did notice that there were not as many on the roads in the US than here at home in Ottawa. My car was assembled in Alabama USA.

Nepean

 

[SalandJeff]

LOVE my CRV. This is my third Honda (I drive my cars forever - my first Honda had 185,000 miles on it when I sold it). My CRV is a 2002 and is still running great. Honda's are made to last.

 

[alymae1010]

I bought my 2010 Equinox last July, and I am in love with it! I couldn't be happier with my choice.

 

[dfchelbay]

We have narrowed a vehicle search to the following:

Chevrolet Equinox, Toyota Rav4, or Honda CR-V. (As close to a SUV as possible without sacrificing good mileage.

The criteria was over 20 mpg/city and over 26 mpg/highway. Must have leather with heated front seats (winter) and sun/moon roof (daughter).

We would like to get a third seat, but understand these models do not come equipped as such.

Anyone have any advice??

Thanks

Tim/Hawk

Check how much insurance will run on all three cars. We found last year that with our insurance carrier, foreign autos ran about $100-$150 more every six months than the american cars we looked into. So, you may want to check into how much it would be to insure each of the cars you're interested in purchasing. If I were to choose from the three you've narrowed down to, I would choose the Honda...hands down. If you don't get Consumer Reports at home, go to the library, or a bookstore and look at the annual buying guide book they put out each year. You can see how each car ranks, in many different categories.

 

[TarzansKat]

I've had my Honda CR-V for a little over a year now, and I love it. The mileage is fairly good considering I don't do a lot of highway driving. It's reliable, a smooth ride, and the perfect size for our soon to be family of four. I couldn't be happier with it.

 

[jodifla]

The Honda and the CR-V are pretty small. The Equinox feels a lot bigger.


Tops on our list for our next car is the Ford Escape. Ones built after 2008 have a newer design. They are also bigger than the Rav or the CR-V

 

[mrodgers]

Still driving our 2003 Honda CR-V nearly 8 years later. Almost 100,000 miles and never a problem. Love it!

That's like saying, "I've had my Chevy for nearly a week, almost 500 miles and never a problem."

 

[Golf4food]

Ford Escape would also meet all of those criteria. We love ours. Like the Equinox, though, too (formerly the Pontiac Torrent). Don't like the interior of the Honda or Toyota or the side-swinging rear door on the one.

Other good brands to check would be Hyundai (Tucson or Sante Fe) and Subaru (highly under-rated in the US - they make very good vehicles).

 

[sbell111]

We would choose a 2010 Equinox over a RAV4 or a CR-V in a second.

 

[mamaLori05]

We have a 2004 Honda CRV and LOVE LOVE LOVE It!! We have never had any problems with it, and it has 95,000 miles on it now. It handles awesome in the snow, has pleanty of room (expecially since the back seat can slide forward and backward making pleanty of leg room for adults), and has always been reliable for us.

We have baby #3 on the way and are looking at purchasing a Toyota Sienna mini van so that we can spread out a little. We can fit the 3 car seats in the back of the CRV, but it is tight and not something I want to do daily. We definately won't be getting rid of our CRV, and I can guarantee you my husband and I will be fighting over it when we don't have to hall all 3 kids around. We both LOVE that car!!

As a side note, my cousin is a mechanic and he told us to never ever ever buy a chevy. Just something to think about.

 

[dznyacct]

LOVE LOVE LOVE my CR-Vs . I have a 2000 CR-V (Cecelia, my son named her ) that my son has been driving for 2 years. I have a 2009 CR-V (Mildred, named after my Grandma ). I have driven only Hondas for over 20 years. OK, I did have a 7 month lapse in judgement when I bought a VW bug. Not a wise move in snowy Indiana . I hate winter driving (one reason why I'm pushing to relocate to Florida ) and the CR-Vs (and any of the other Hondas I have owned) are wonderful.

 

[NJGirl]

Have an Equinox that i bought last year and I love it. I love how much room it has...especially the back seat. It slides 8 inches I think each way, so its comfortable even for adults back there.

 

[Swimalie]

We have a 2000 CR-V and LOVE it. It has 123,000 miles on it and has yet to have a problem that my husband couldn't fix easily (differential fluid needed changing- only issue in the 10 years of the car). Our car has gone cross country from Oregon to Virginia and made several trips from Virginia to Georgia. It is very comfortable and holds all our stuff well. We love it. At this point we are looking to buy a new car this time next year. We are looking at the CR-V, Forester or Outback with a huge leaning toward the Forester. We won't consider a Toyota right now not only for their recent problems but also because my mother in law has a 2001 Rav4 and it's had issues that our Honda has not and she's done a lot less driving than us.

We have considered the Ford Escape but only the hybrid option and with the hybrid it's too costly at this point. I personally would not buy a Chevy. The only American cars I trust are Fords.

Good luck and have fun shopping!

 

[ENSOCK]

I have had the Toyota Rav-4 since March! Love it!!! The gas milage stays around 28 miles. I have a heavy foot but it is mostly highway that I drive. My best advise is to test drive each one. I really wanted the Nissan Rogue until I drove it. It made me have a panic attack just sitting in it!
Good Luck! I hate to purchase a new car!

 

[SarahKate]

I don't think you could go wrong with either CR-V or RAV4. My husband has had one of each and never had problems with either! I think he really liked the RAV4 better, but this has been several years ago and both models have changed significantly.

Just to throw another possibility in there - we bought a 2011 KIA Sorento in March and LOVE it. It's classified as a small SUV but the interior dimensions are BIGGER than the Honda or Toyota. It's very, very roomy and has a 3rd row option. Ours is a V6 and is very peppy. Really decent gas mileage, highway we get up to about 23-25 mpg, in town it's around 19-20.

It's made in Georgia not overseas.

Recent crash tests came out and it scores as good as you can possibly get - GOOD in ALL categories. Which makes us feel even better about our choice! It has wonderful safety features - downhill assist (only helpful if you live in the mountains I think!), tons of airbags and a sensor that detects if the vehicle starts to lose stability so the airbags are ready in the event of a rollover, our model also came w/ the backup sensors.

The one thing that sticks out in my mind re: the Ford Escape when we were doing all our research is that the brakes were not great......noticeably so. Previous years may not be that way, but I remember reading a few different places that the brakes are not great. Other than that I think it's a good vehicle!

 

[mrodgers]

Just some more information for the suggestions of a Ford Escape. My wife just had her appointment for the state inspection. This is the 3rd inspection since buying it new and the 2nd time it failed. I need to replace the lower control arms, $498. 60,000 miles (definitely not expected)!

I have 500,000 miles previous on 3 Toyotas and 1 Nissan. That's 500,000 miles and 4 Japanese vehicles, and all I've ever replaced was a clutch on my Toyota at 150,000 miles (expected) and a single ball joint at 180,000 miles (expected) on the same Toyota. I also replaced the original rotors on the Nissan at 165,000 miles, the same day I had to replace all 4 rotors on the Mazda Tribute (Ford Escape) at 35,000 miles (definitely not expected) with a failed inspection.

I now have more money into repairs on the Tribute in 60,000 miles than I have in 500,000 miles on 4 different Japanese vehicles.

Something to think about. There's a reason that Toyota, Honda, and Nissan cost a bit more than Ford or Chevy. They cost more because you don't have to constantly work on them. I kick myself constantly now for thinking of buying a new Ford product over a used Japanese car.

 

[jedijill]

My brother and SIL have a 2005 Escape that they bought new. 172,000 miles and the only issue (other than normal wear items) was a plastic piece broke and one cylinder was missing. My brother got the code and was able to replace it for less than $100 last week.

Jill in CO

 

[speedyf]

Just wanted to put my input in that we have been happy with our Toyota Highlander and Camry and would probably go with the RAV4 or the Honda.

Also...for the "American Made" people...I noticed on the web that Equinox are built in Canada ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAMI_Automotive

I also noticed that the RAV4 may be built in Canada too? http://www.automobile.com/toyota-to-build-new-rav4-plant-in-woodstock-ontario.html

So who knows what or where you are buying from these days?

Our Camry was built in Kentucky...and I used to work for the Nissan Plant in Smyrna, TN (outside Nashville) while in college in the early 90's.

Speed

 

[kydisneyfans]

Just wanted to put my input in that we have been happy with our Toyota Highlander and Camry and would probably go with the RAV4 or the Honda.

Also...for the "American Made" people...I noticed on the web that Equinox are built in Canada ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAMI_Automotive

I also noticed that the RAV4 may be built in Canada too? http://www.automobile.com/toyota-to-build-new-rav4-plant-in-woodstock-ontario.html

So who knows what or where you are buying from these days?

Our Camry was built in Kentucky...and I used to work for the Nissan Plant in Smyrna, TN (outside Nashville) while in college in the early 90's.

Speed

A little off topic, but thanks for buying that Camry, it keeps 7-10,000 people working in my community here in KY. Our son has a great education from the tax dollars provided by this "foreign" plant.

Our "American" Saturn Vue was built in Mexico, and our government bails this company out for outsourcing building vehicles across borders.

The next vehicle in my driveway will be a Toyota.

 

[allysonlauren]

Equinox for sure! My mom has had an Equinox since they came out and go a 2010 model back in December. It is one of the best crossover SUV's out there. It gets good gas mileage and has plenty of space on the inside. Once I graduate from college, get a job, and have a little money saved, I am most definitely getting an Equinox!