FWIW, I think the leading candidate right now is a RAV4 Hybrid Limited. There are a couple arriving in October, which would meet our timeline.
JohnnyMac, am I crazy or did you (or your wife) have one of these for a time? If so, what did you think of it?
Yes we had ours for two years, at which point it was worth around $10K more than what we paid new, so of course I convinced my wife to swap it out.
So I'll give you two opinions, mine and my wife's because they are quite different.
My wife LOVES the exterior looks of these, she loved the fuel economy, and felt some sort of pride in owning a Hybrid.
I thought the exterior was decent to look at, the interior to be incredibly blah, the drive to be fairly blah, but did like the fuel economy.
We both agreed that the seats were horrible for long drives, she still talks about the torture she endured on her trip to NL to visit her folks.
Never really had an issue with ours, but then we only had it for 2 years and around 20,000kms. It didn't help that our dealer here in Fredericton for service is horrible and the thought of dealing with them for another year (had 3 years of service free) was not something I was looking forward to.
But that's just the opinion of two people, don't let our experience taint your decision. The Rav4 is a perfectly fine vehicle, it'll get you to where you need to go efficiently, reliably, and be worth decent coin when you are done with it. I just personally want all that and some personality and "luxury".
Have you not tried the CR-V Hybrid, I think there are a bunch here in Fredericton
https://www.riverviewhonda.ca/vehicles/new/?sc=new&mk=Honda&md=CR-V%20HybridWhen is the Mazda CX-50 supposed to get their Hybrid version, best of both worlds, Toyota Rav4 Hybrid tech but Mazda styling and interior quality.
Edit: I see that the Honda Hybrid has a $1,000 "finance bonus" and their interest rates are quite a bit less depending on the term. And if you are the type to buy extended warranties the Honda's are cheaper overall for that as well.