I realize I’m in a biased subreddit, but I’m weighing my options. I have a 2018 Subaru Outback I was planning to drive into the ground. It has 100k miles and I still owe $10k. My husband has fallen for the Toyota Rav4 Hybrid as we do A LOT of driving. We average 60+ miles a day on work days. Most of our driving now are on back road highways (45-60mph), but I’m about to start a new job that increases my overall driving and adds a lot of city miles. Does a hybrid even make sense for us? We loved the way it drove and the space (albeit slightly smaller than the current car) seems sufficient.
Ideally, I’d drive the Subaru until the wheels fall off, but the new job changes things and my husband is starting to worry about any upcoming CVT issues. If I buy the Rav, I’ll drive it til those wheels fall off instead lol.
Any opinions?
I had a 2015 Forester XT that I just traded towards a Rav4 Prime.
I actually waited 2 years and after a while I contemplated cancelling my spot and keep the Forester because of the price/interest increase.
However, the Subarus CVT are prone to valve body issues (they might be better now, but prob not) and mine was on it’s way out (bucking and stuttering at low speed). So, I bit the bullet and got the prime.
It is leagues ahead in term of everything, especially smoothness while driving. I have no regrets.
Check on google for subaru cvt valve body failure, it’s quite common around 110k miles. Don’t post in the Subaru subs cause you’ll get downvoted (can’t say anything bad there).
Keep the Subaru and maintain it. $10k is less than the $40k you’ll owe on the RAV.
Just keep the outback for now. Then reassess when the refresh of the RAV4 comes out.
When is the refresh due?
What’s the trade in value of the outback today? What will be the trade in value after the “wheels fall off” what’s the price of rav4 today? What will it be once the Outback kicks the buckets and u want a new car? How much would u save in gas a day? Difference in insuring the two cars?
a hybrid has the biggest advantage in city driving but a RAV4 will overall be more efficient regardless of what you do simply because Toyotas engines are the most thermal efficient engines on the market.
Get the rav4 hybrid but make sure you get a good deal coz sales people are just gonna jacked up the price once they know they can take advantage of you. Get the junk fees off the paper. Discount sometimes mean nothing coz the car is already marked-up. Lol.