Driving a new Honda CR-V Hybrid made me question my loyalty to my old Toyota RAV-4

Matthew DeBord/Insider

• I own a 2017 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid, and I love the crossover. But I recently drove a new 2020 Honda CR-V Hybrid.
• I really, really liked the CR-V Hybrid, now available in the US market.
• Here's the thing: I always like Hondas better than Toyotas — they're fun to drive.
• But I've often ended up buying Toyotas, and I think I'm going to stick with the RAV4, even though the CR-V is better.
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Readers perhaps at this point that I'm a big enough fan of hybrids that I own two: a 2011 Toyota Prius and a 2017 Toyota RAV4. I adore the combination of relability and value that these vehicles offer, and I also bought both of the as "certified pre-owned" cars, meaning that I went through a Toyota dealer and got the peace of mind provided by a certification process, plus a warranty.

Now, I intend to buy a used Tesla Model S the next time I'm in the market, but I ended up with the RAV4 last year because I needed a new car in a hurry and already had a relationship with a nearby Toyota dealership.

Over the past six years, I've driven more than my fair share of Toyotas and Hondas, including the RAV4 and CR-V. Both are crucial to their makers' US sales, as they're entry-level sets of wheels for many folks. Until the 2020 model year, you couldn't get a CR-V hybrid in the US. You can now, and Honda let me borrow a nicely-equipped Touring trim that stickered at about $37,000.

I wasn't planning to match it up again my RAV4, but of course I reflexively did. Not a fair fight, as the CR-V was more or less brand new, while the RAV4 is a weathered three year old.

But the fight went on. Here's how it went:

Last year, I bought a certified pre-owned 2017 Toyota RAV4 hybrid. This is not my car. This RAV4 is shiny and new, while as we'll see in a moment, my RAV4 isn't.

Toyota

My RAV4 is a family car, and as a result, it's suffered the usual indignities. I've fixed them with tape.

Matthew DeBord/BI

Read about fixing a car with a cheap roll of tape.

Anyway, the contestants! On the left, my 2017 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid. On the right, a 2020 Honda CR-V Hybrid.

Matthew DeBord/Insider


See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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