I shopped both the CRV and the Forester on my last buy cycle.
In the end, I went with the CRV.. even though CR rates the Forester higher overall.
Reasons:
I don't like the boxer engines, and wish Subaru would just move on to something better. And the CRV performed better in all ways on my test drives.. but not in a compelling manner.
The Forester has a better system with EyeSight compared to HondaSensing, but not enough to pull the trigger
The CRV gen5 was simply more refined in design and finish when I compared them and test drove them.
We are a long time Honda owning household.. so there needs to be a compelling reason to switch to Subaru (or some other brand and model), and there simply was not one this time around. All vehicle brands and models have some issues and shortfalls for sure... but better the devil you know then the one you do not.
But I never give Honda a free pass when it comes to a new vehicle purchase. They do fumble sometimes.. particularly where Civics are concerned... so they have to be favorably competitive when I am shopping. So.. once again... we will see next time.
