Honda CR-V vs Toyota RAV4: MPG, Fuel Cost, Recalls and Safety

On EPA ratings the 2025 Honda CR-V's best version gets 40 mpg combined against 39 mpg for the Toyota RAV4.

Honda CR-V

40mpg

Best 2025 version: 2.0L 4-cyl hybrid · FWD · CVT

Toyota RAV4

39mpg

Best 2025 version: 2.5L 4-cyl hybrid · AWD · CVT

Data: US EPA and NHTSA2025 model yearUpdated Nov 11, 2026

The cheapest Honda CR-V to fuel costs $1,550 a year at EPA's prices, $50 less than the cheapest RAV4. NHTSA lists 6 recalls for the 2025 CR-V and 4 recalls for the RAV4.

Side by side

2025 model year	CR-V	RAV4
Fuel economy (EPA)
Best combined rating	40 mpg 2.0L 4-cyl hybrid · FWD · CVT	39 mpg 2.5L 4-cyl hybrid · AWD · CVT
Best gas rating Gas engines only; hybrids and diesels excluded	30 mpg	30 mpg
Hybrid or plug-in available	Hybrid 40 mpg	Hybrid and plug-in 39 mpg; plug-in 94 MPGe
AWD or 4WD available	Yes	Yes
Lowest annual fuel cost 15,000 miles at EPA fuel prices	$1,550	$1,600
5-year fuel cost vs average new vehicle Cheapest-to-fuel version (EPA)	Saves $3,250	Saves $3,000
Safety (NHTSA)
Safety recalls, 2025 model year Counts depend on sales and time on sale	6	4
Owner complaints, 2025 model year Filed with NHTSA so far	300	113
NHTSA overall crash rating Range across tested versions	5 stars	5 stars
Rollover risk Range across tested versions; lower is better	15.5%	13.3% to 15.5%

Marks the clearly better figure. Small gaps (under 2 mpg or 5%, $100 a year in fuel) and overlapping crash-test ranges are not marked, and recall and complaint counts are not scored because they depend on how many were sold.

Best combined rating by model year

The best-rated version of each, every model year since 2010. The CR-V rated higher in 4 and the RAV4 in 8 of the 17 years both were sold; they tied in 5.

Honda CR-V
Toyota RAV4

2025: Honda CR-V 40 mpg · Toyota RAV4 39 mpg

Show as a table

Best combined rating by model year, Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4
Model year	Honda CR-V	Toyota RAV4
2010	24	24
2011	24	24
2012	26	24
2013	26	26
2014	26	26
2015	29	26
2016	29	32
2017	30	32
2018	30	32
2019	30	40
2020	38	40
2021	38	40
2022	38	40
2023	40	40
2024	40	39
2025	40	39
2026	40	43

Recalls by model year

Safety recalls NHTSA lists for each model year. Counts depend on how many were sold and how long each model year has been on the road.

Honda CR-V (left bar)
Toyota RAV4 (right bar)

2026: Honda CR-V 2 recalls · Toyota RAV4 2 recalls

Show as a table

Safety recalls by model year, Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4
Model year	Honda CR-V	Toyota RAV4
2010	15	14
2011	13	11
2012	3	6
2013	2	5
2014	1	7
2015	3	4
2016	3	3
2017	7	3
2018	5	3
2019	8	8
2020	9	6
2021	5	5
2022	6	3
2023	8	3
2024	5	4
2025	6	4
2026	2	2

Questions

Which gets better gas mileage, the CR-V or the RAV4?

For 2025, the CR-V. Its best version is rated 40 mpg combined; the RAV4's best is 39 mpg.

Which is cheaper to fuel, the CR-V or the RAV4?

For 2025, the CR-V. At 15,000 miles a year and EPA's fuel prices, its cheapest version to fuel costs $1,550 a year and the RAV4's costs $1,600, a difference of about $250 over five years.

How do the CR-V and the RAV4 compare in NHTSA crash tests?

The 2025 CR-V is rated 5 stars overall and the RAV4 is rated 5 stars overall. Rollover risk is 15.5% for the CR-V and 13.3% to 15.5% for the RAV4.

Sources and method

US EPA fuel economy data (fueleconomy.gov), file dated Nov 4, 2026, and EPA fuel prices.
NHTSA recall file dated Nov 12, 2026 and owner complaint file dated Nov 11, 2026; NHTSA 5-Star Safety Ratings.

We compare the best-rated version of each model unless a row says otherwise. How we build these pages. Spotted an error? Tell us.