I Regret Buying A New Subaru Forester, So Here’s What I Replaced It With

I think it’s well established that my Subaru Forester ownership was a little underwhelming and, for the last year, I’ve been on the hunt for a replacement. Well, I’ve finally sold the Subaru and bought something new: meet our new 2024 Honda CR-V Hybrid Sport in Radiant Red. Here’s why I think ‘Big Red’ is a perfect replacement for the Subaru Forester.

There were a lot of arguments I made for different vehicles, and I’ll explain why I didn’t end up with those (sorry everyone who wanted me to get a Maverick). If you’re in the market for a new crossover-sized vehicle I can hopefully impart some helpful advice, as I think my situation is fairly common.

The CR-V solves a lot of problems I had with the Subaru and, equally importantly, allows me to keep telling people to buy hybrids without the hypocrisy of not owning one. I know I’m in the honeymoon period, but the CR-V so far has (mostly) met or exceeded my expectations.

How I Got Here

In 2016, my wife and I had a kid and moved out of New York City. A car would be required to ferry our new kid around to her various appointments, daycare, playdates, et cetera. We lived close enough to a train that the Forester would primarily be my wife’s car and I suspected I’d buy something fun for myself as a cheap project car.

I hadn’t been as active in car reviews at the time, and there were great deals on Forester. Having recently driven one around for a week I thought it was good enough for our needs, fairly safe, and cheap enough to pull the trigger.

The Forester ended up being my Joker/Honda-ownership origin story. You can peruse this tag page to see all the issues I had in eight years of ownership, but I can summarize it with the following points:

• My Forester needed way more non-warranty maintenance in the first 60k miles than I budgeted for, including new control arms on both sides and two rear wheel bearings.
• It ate headlight bulbs, and tires, and was constantly just out of alignment.
• The fuel economy was worse than the already low EPA estimates.
• I grew to despise the CVT.
• It looks and drives like everything else.

I’d been sensing something big was about to go wrong with the Forester around the time I got an email from Carvana giving me a better-than-expected amount of money for the car, and that was all I needed to finally pull the trigger.

Why I Didn’t Buy A Maverick, RAV-4, Kia Carnival, Or Cross Corolla Hybrid

I think I’d have been happy with any of the range of cars I tested to replace the Forester, even if some of the vehicles were not entirely serious (I wouldn’t have really purchased an F-Pace SVR because I cannot afford an F-Pace SVR. If I could have gotten $60k on trade-in for the Subaru that might have been a different conversation).

There were, ultimately, four serious contenders.

Kia Carnival Hybrid

I thought the regular, non-hybrid Kia Carnival was an excellent family cruiser. This one surprised me and was also the one my family seemed to enjoy the most. And then I found out that they were coming out with a hybrid! I was excited until they said the Carnival Hybrid was going to start at $41,895, or almost $3k more expensive than the Sienna. Too rich for my blood.

Toyota RAV4 Hybrid

In theory, a Toyota RAV4 Hybrid is price-competitive with a Honda CR-V. In practice, the high demand for the RAV4 meant that it’s likely going to be more expensive. I think it’s totally worth it, but after driving a PHEV model I didn’t feel compelled to fight for one. My family also thought the seats were a little stiff and uncomfortable.

Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid

Like the RAV4 Hybrid, the Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid in AWD trim has a little motor to power the rear wheels, and this gives the vehicle a way to travel in a low-speed EV-only mode. I’m a big fan of this and the Corolla Cross Hybrid overall. I built one and the MSRP was only around $33k for a model with everything I wanted. When I showed this to my family they asked if we could drive it. I told them we already had! They didn’t remember it all. Also, actually getting one for $33,000 seems like a huge PITA.

Ford Maverick Hybrid

If it were entirely my choice this is what I’d have gotten. I think that the Maverick is a handsome, versatile, and efficient choice. Being a Texan I love the idea of a truck and I’m sure, with a tonneau cover, it would do everything my CR-V Hybrid does and some things it doesn’t. It’s also a few grand cheaper even after all the price increases.

My family didn’t buy these arguments. The lack of an AWD version of the Maverick Hybrid was a big issue, as almost every other hybrid comes with the ability to power all four wheels. And up here it’s sometimes necessary, although I argued I’d just get steel wheels and snow tires. The lack of a full-time, waterproof storage area was also a point against it.

I tried.

Why The CR-V Hybrid

We do regular traffic meetings and talk to Beau about the site. We were in one of these calls a few weeks ago reviewing our traffic when a few of my previous Subaru articles popped up. I recounted all the issues I was having and Beau joked “You know, we sell cars here…” as a reminder that, when the time finally came, I could consider buying a car from our sister company, Galpin, and one of its many fine dealerships.

Because I wanted something reliable and hybrid, I’d had my brain locked in on a Toyota product given the company’s stellar reputation, even though my wife and I had a good experience with our last non-project car: a Honda Civic that will seemingly be around longer than an Olympics commercial break (friggin’ Peacock). So why wasn’t I actively considering the CR-V Hybrid?

I’ve had the chance to drive a few fifth-generation CR-Vs and I never loved them. The CVTs in the gas-powered models were just as clunky as what the Subaru had, the performance was lackluster, and the costs always seemed high to me. They were not bad cars, they just weren’t for me.

Was the sixth-generation version any better? Friends had told me good things, and I thought the new CR-V was the most attractive version since the original, so I decided to borrow one. After a few days, I was convinced this was the one.

Let’s go back to my original issues:

My Forester’s non-warranty maintenance was too high/it eats tires and bulbs

The CR-V has a reputation for being light on service needs. This is something I’m going to have to prove over time, but already I’m getting two years of free oil changes and tire rotations.

The Forester’s Fuel Economy Is Terrible

I’ve now put more than 1,000 miles on the CR-V Hybrid under a mix of circumstances, and ‘Big Red’ has averaged 38.6 MPG. If I’m being charitable, the Forester averaged 24 MPG on its best weeks. That means I’m getting over 50% better fuel economy. It’s awesome. I’m also finding myself hypermiling more than was possible in the Subaru.

The CVT in the Forester is trash

There are few good CVTs and I suppose the Forester is somewhere in the middle, but being an average CVT still means it sucks because almost all CVTs are bad. The Toyotas avoid the low-speed torque issues you get with most CVTs by using an electric motor to provide low-speed power. The Honda CR-V Hybrid has gotten around this problem by basically not having a traditional transmission. It even fakes shifts in a way that I don’t hate!

The Forester had an unremarkable driving experience

The Forester wasn’t particularly great to drive. It was fine. The CR-V is also fine. It’s maybe a little more fine because it feels more solid and is damped a bit more towards comfort than the Forester. I have to give the Forester points for having better steering feel, even if it only reminded you that the car had again wandered out of alignment again for no discernable reason. Given that this is mostly a school bus that runs around town, the tradeoff for a little less steering feel for a little more comfort is one I’m fine making. I still have my BMW if I want to feel something.

I also find myself “sailing” the car more, which is my version of hypermiling. There’s no dedicated and selectable EV-only mode you get with PHEVs and other hybrids like the Toyotas. This is a bummer as I think I’d be able to get a bit more mileage out of the CR-V Hybrid if it did. The flip side of this is that the transition from gas to electric modes is smoother than any other vehicle I’ve driven, and it allows me to back off throttle a little at 40-60 mph and ‘sail’ the car on automatic EV mode for long distances.

I’m not sure how much gas I save and it’s possible the answer is: Very little. On the other hand, it’s kinda fun.

Why I Got A Honda CR-V Hybrid Sport Instead Of A Sport Touring

David Tracy and I both share an inclination towards thrift, which is why it’s so amusing that he spent almost as much on a used BMW i3 that was decontented as I did on a fancy new Honda CR-V Hybrid. A follow-up article is hopefully coming wherein we debate who got the better deal (it was me [Ed Note: I have a carbon fiber body. [drops mic]. -DT]).

You’d think I got the base model CR-V Hybrid Sport because I’m cheap. This isn’t the case. I got the base model CR-V Hybrid Sport because I’m cheap and it’s an incredible deal. The car I reviewed was a CR-V Hybrid Sport Touring, which is the top of the line, with the Sport-L in between.

This is a hilarious way to name trims: Sport, Sport-L, and Sport Touring. Why is “L” between Sport and Touring? Why are they all named “sport”? I don’t know.

The CR-V Hybrid in Sport trim has everything I want in a car:

• CarPlay/Android Auto
• A sunroof
• Auto power front windows (something the Forester didn’t have, just driver-side)
• Roof rails
• Rear A/C (also something the Forester didn’t have)
• Rear USB C ports (ditto Forester)
• Cloth seats (I don’t like the leather-trimmed seats on the Sport Touring)
• Blind spot monitoring/emergency auto-braking/lane keep assist/adaptive cruise control
• Dual-zone automatic climate control

Even better, it doesn’t have a couple of items I didn’t want:

• Power liftgate – It just seems like another thing to break and I don’t need it. I get it if you do and it’s not a critique, I’m just not a fan
• Wireless phone charger – These barely ever work and just take up space.
• Navigation – That’s what the CarPlay is for!
• Bigger wheels – The 18-inch wheels are already big enough

The one item the Sport doesn’t have that I’d want is wireless CarPlay, but that requires going up to the larger infotainment screen. Is it worth another $3k to jump from the Sport Hybrid’s starting AWD price of $35,850 to $38,850? Nah.

I did splurge for the “Radiant Red” paint for an extra $455 and that was it. The only option I needed! My car MSRP’d for $37,655 with destination and handling fees. I know a guy so I paid a little less than that. Overall, what you get on a Sport trim model is impressive and I deeply appreciate a good value.

Honda also has reasonable financing deals right now if you have good credit, so it was really a no-brainer.

Wait, You Bought A Car In LA? How Does That Work?

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It just so happens that The Autopian has a new partner in car shipper Nexus Auto Transport. It was a total fluke, I promise. The nice folks at Nexus Auto Transport reached out to me around the time I was looking to transport a car and they were super cool and said we could put a timelapse camera on the truck to film a cross-country journey. It worked and it looks awesome!

Look for that post to come in the next week or so along with everything I learned about the process. In the interim, if you’re looking to ship a car I suggest you reach out to Nexus Auto Transport.

I was so happy to get my new car, and I’ve had a great time driving it thus far. Here was it this weekend:

Look at that sea of whites, blacks, greys, and grey-blues! She’s always easy to find. I don’t love the black wheels, if I’m being totally honest, just because I’m worried about keeping them clean. They look great here, though.

I plan to write up the whole ownership experience and we can find out if my gut is trustworthy or not. The next story, barring any surprises, should be about what I learned from shipping a car from one end of the country to the other.

Did I make the right call?