Subaru Forester vs Toyota RAV4: MPG, Fuel Cost, Recalls and Safety

On EPA ratings the 2025 Toyota RAV4's best version gets 39 mpg combined against 35 mpg for the Subaru Forester.

Subaru Forester

35mpg

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

Toyota RAV4

39mpg

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

Data: US EPA and NHTSA2025 model yearUpdated Nov 12, 2026

The cheapest Toyota RAV4 to fuel costs $1,600 a year at EPA's prices, $200 less than the cheapest Forester. NHTSA lists 4 recalls for the 2025 Forester and 4 recalls for the RAV4.

Side by side

2025 model year	Forester	RAV4
Fuel economy (EPA)
Best combined rating	35 mpg 2.5L 4-cyl hybrid · AWD · CVT	39 mpg (clearly better) 2.5L 4-cyl hybrid · AWD · CVT
Best gas rating Gas engines only; hybrids and diesels excluded	29 mpg	30 mpg
Hybrid or plug-in available	Hybrid 35 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	$1,800	$1,600 (clearly better)
5-year fuel cost vs average new vehicle Cheapest-to-fuel version (EPA)	Saves $2,000	Saves $3,000 (clearly better)
Safety (NHTSA)
Safety recalls, 2025 model year Counts depend on sales and time on sale	4	4
Owner complaints, 2025 model year Filed with NHTSA so far	102	113
NHTSA overall crash rating Range across tested versions	5 stars	5 stars
Rollover risk Range across tested versions; lower is better	17.4%	13.3% to 15.5% (clearly better)

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 Forester rated higher in 2 and the RAV4 in 15 of the 17 years both were sold.

Subaru Forester
Toyota RAV4

2025: Subaru Forester 35 mpg · Toyota RAV4 39 mpg

Show as a table

Best combined rating by model year, Subaru Forester and Toyota RAV4
Model year	Subaru Forester	Toyota RAV4
2010	22	24
2011	23	24
2012	23	24
2013	23	26
2014	27	26
2015	27	26
2016	27	32
2017	28	32
2018	28	32
2019	29	40
2020	29	40
2021	29	40
2022	29	40
2023	29	40
2024	29	39
2025	35	39
2026	35	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.

Subaru Forester (left bar)
Toyota RAV4 (right bar)

2026: Subaru Forester 4 recalls · Toyota RAV4 2 recalls

Show as a table

Safety recalls by model year, Subaru Forester and Toyota RAV4
Model year	Subaru Forester	Toyota RAV4
2010	17	14
2011	16	11
2012	15	6
2013	12	5
2014	2	7
2015	3	4
2016	3	3
2017	1	3
2018	3	3
2019	3	8
2020	0	6
2021	0	5
2022	1	3
2023	1	3
2024	2	4
2025	4	4
2026	4	2

Questions

Which gets better gas mileage, the Forester or the RAV4?

For 2025, the RAV4. Its best version is rated 39 mpg combined; the Forester's best is 35 mpg.

Which is cheaper to fuel, the Forester or the RAV4?

For 2025, the RAV4. At 15,000 miles a year and EPA's fuel prices, its cheapest version to fuel costs $1,600 a year and the Forester's costs $1,800, a difference of about $1,000 over five years.

How do the Forester and the RAV4 compare in NHTSA crash tests?

The 2025 Forester is rated 5 stars overall and the RAV4 is rated 5 stars overall. Rollover risk is 17.4% for the Forester 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.