I just went through a similar shopping comparison
mainly looked at the cx-5, crv and rav 4
this vehicle is for work and so budget was very strict as I didn't want to be out of pocket personally - so that ruled out the Forester
cargo room in cx5 was too small and it felt a little claustrophobic in the driver's seat
rogue was too small
I have a grudge against Ford (had a Taurus wagon- it blew up
)
Mitsubishi outlander looked nice but read article that suggested due to low sales volumes the dealer network is very weak and could go the way of Suzuki making future parts/repairs expensive
rav was very comparable but interior was all over the place- could not get heated seats without moving way up in trim level/price- did not have lever in cargo area to fold seats down- crv has rear headrests that fold themselves down so that the seat goes nearly flat
but biggest downfall of the rav was the backseat- a good 4" narrower than the crv - we have 2 carseats in the back and I wouldn't be able to get my butt in the middle should we want to take a 5th passenger
maybe not an issue for you but something to be aware of
also the "eco" and "sport" drive buttons on the rav are out of sight and very awkward to reach for
I found the rear sightline much bigger in the crv
went with the 2013 CRV LX AWD- just got it Friday
I felt the same when test driving it- just kinda "meh" nice- but.....not exciting
however- the more I drive it the more I like it
there are quite a few cuv comparison articles out there that I found very useful
good luck!
