It’s time to replace Ms. Napier’s car, a RAV4. It’s normally for local driving including our steep driveway with ice and snow. We usually take it for a week on the Outer Banks, during which we will drive it out on the beach most days. It is satisfactory on the sand, which is a cinch if it’s wet and smooth but can be challenging if it’s soft and dry and lumpy. Normally you have to go through considerable soft sand to reach the harder stuff. We have also used her Jeep Patriot, Jeep Cherokee, and Blazer, all of them satisfactory on sand (though mechanically unreliable generally). Though I did have a bad experience trying to use my Honda Civic wagon, because it had some kind of viscous coupling between front and back which quickly overheated, and because its tiny wheels sunk so quickly in soft sand.
But we’re thinking of replacing it with a Subaru Forester. I’ve had one for 6 years now and plan to buy another for myself when this one is more worn out. I think they’re great cars and so does Consumer Reports. Reliability and safety are big with me. We’re not playing “dune buggy” here, we’re packing grandkids in the back.
How would a Forester do? I don’t really know how the drive works on Foresters, especially whether there’s a soft coupling that couldn’t handle the stress of extended partial slipping. I think we’ve seen them out there, but am not sure – maybe it’s the pretty similar Outback we’ve seen. I’ve never tried my Forester; trying it amounts to committing to using it for an entire week vacation which would be a big mess if it didn’t work. It’s a couple days drive to get there, not something I can just try on a whim.
If it matters, we’re talking a low level package, with no “sun roof” or “moon roof” or whatever they call a door + window in the roof. I want an “Earth roof”, which is an ordinary roof with no holes cut in it, designed specifically for driving on planet Earth where it rains, because I think they mostly leak.
I would think the RAV4 would have better rust protection which is a large factor with a salt water car. Also Subaru uses braking individual wheels for torque vectoring which may not be the best idea on sand though I really don’t know and I don’t know what system Toyota uses.
Why would you assume that? Subarus are extremely common in places with lots of snow, which means lots of salt. I’ve never had rust problems on my various Subarus.
I readily admit to my bias but my wife is on her second Subaru and is ready to get a third. The things are absolute goats and are difficult (but not impossible) to get stuck. One of the reasons is that 3 wheels can be slipping and the 4th will still get power, which Subaru calls their “Symmetrical AWD.” I don’t know about Toyotas but most vehicles don’t work that way.
We’ve also never had a leak from a moon roof. It’s getting harder and harder to find vehicles without them.
We recently got a Subaru Forester Wilderness Edition, which we really like and is all about being off road. Practically speaking, good luck even finding a RAV4.
This was several months ago and maybe new cars are finally coming in, but back then, Toyotas were just out of stock and the dealer was selling them over sticker with a wait to get anything. The Subarus were in stock and we got ours for sticker (yay?).
The Wilderness edition has bigger tires, is higher off the ground, and has a skid plate. I’d be surprised if you could get a Forester without a moonroof, but maybe.
Anyway, we really like it, but it’s also our first new car in 6 or 7 years, so it’s nice to have a backup camera and adaptive cruise control, neither of which we had before, so maybe I’m not the best judge. The main downside is that the engine is pretty low powered for its size, so don’t expect to beat anyone off the line.
I think the RAV-4 may sit higher off the ground than the Forester. Depends on the year and the specific wheels and tires. I wouldn’t drive a good car on the beach, I’d use a Jeep instead.
Base Foresters have slightly higher clearance (8.7 vs. 8.4 inches for base RAV4). Premium RAV4 models have 8.6 inches and the Forester Wilderness has 9.2 inches.
The Forester Wilderness has 9.2" of ground clearance vs 8.7" for the regular Forester and and 8.4" or 8.6" for the RAV4. The RAV4 Hybrids only have 8.1"