It’s been a little more than two years since I chucked my 2016 Subaru Forester, which I didn’t love, for a 2024 Honda CR-V Hybrid AWD my family has nicknamed ‘Big Red.’ I’ve driven it almost 18,000 miles in that time, and have used a little under 500 gallons of fuel. While my decision wasn’t primarily motivated by saving fuel, I am curious how I’ve done so far.
If you missed the whole saga of my Forester, most of my issues revolved around small maintenance issues and overall disappointing quality. The CVT was underwhelming in the way most CVTs from that era are, and the fuel economy was an abysmal 24 MPG lifetime by the time I decided to sell it.
Now that I’ve had the CR-V for a while, I can do the math to determine whether or not this makes any economic sense purely on the basis of sipping gas.
The Subaru Forester Versus The Newer Hybrid CR-V
Above is what my Forester looked brand new and, as I remember it, what it looked like when I got rid of it. Just a totally decent crossover. What’s curious about Subaru is that it sort of gives off this vibe of being efficient, but many of its vehicles end up being a little below average. With the introduction of hybrids, Subaru has fixed a lot of its own issues in this regard (and the hybrid is definitely the one to get).
The goal, though, is to compare it to my older vehicle. With the CR-V Hybrid, I’ve tracked the fuel economy very closely since first getting the vehicle. The total number of vehicle miles driven since acquiring the car in the summer of 2024 has been 17,874, but the first 52 miles were before I started tracking, so my fuel economy estimate is based on 17,822.9 miles. In that time, I’ve used one gallon of gas for every 37.5 miles driven, for an MPG of 37.5 and a total fuel usage of 475.3 gallons. This is almost dead-on where the EPA estimate is. Assuming an average cost of $3.55, my total money spent on fuel was about $1,687.23.
I didn’t track fuel economy for the full life of the Subaru, but once I decided to start tracking it, I ended up with an average of 24 MPG. If I’d kept the Subaru and driven the same amount, that would have required 742.6 gallons of fuel, or $2,636.30, which means in a little more than two years I’ve saved about $949.07, or roughly a car payment each year.
That’s not nothing, but it’s not really a big enough savings in just gasoline to justfy getting rid of the Subaru. I did sell the car at a good time and got a high value for my resale (another nice thing I can say about my Forester), so there was a secondary benefit there. If fuel prices get closer to averaging $4.00, then that’s about $500 a year in savings. Gas prices would have to get to $6.00 a gallon before I’m saving enough money each year to feel like it made sense on fuel savings alone, and even then it’s a stretch.
A Non-Gas-Powered CR-V Versus A Hybrid
Ok, what if I’d have gotten a CR-V non-hybrid instead of a CR-V Hybrid? At the time, a CR-V non-hybrid got 29 MPG combined and cost about $3,000 less. At an average of $3.55 a gallon, that’s $494.53 saved. At an average fuel cost of $4.00 a gallon, it’s $557.22. Not great, not terrible. Because I don’t drive the exact same amount each year, it’s maybe easier to figure this out by looking at a per-mile cost.
At $4.00 a gallon, I spend about $0.107 per mile driven in my CR-V Hybrid. The non-hybrid CR-V is $0.138, and the Forester is $0.148. I’ve already made up $557.22 of my delta in this scenario, so I just need to make up $2,443. That comes to a break-even around 80,000 miles, which isn’t bad.
If gas prices go down, then it’ll be a little longer, but I plan to own this vehicle until at least 100,000 miles. At that distance, I’ll eventually be quite happy with my decision. My costs to maintain the CR-V have been lower so far and, at least in theory, I’ll spend less money on brakes than with a non-hybrid over the distance.
Climate Plays a Role as Well, Plus I Think I’m Driving Slower
Admittedly, the mild summer I’ve had in New York this year has played a big role. I reset the B trip meter when it gets cold, and reset it again when it gets warm. So far, I’ve put 4,422.7 miles on Big Red since it turned warm in roughly April of this year, and I’ve done an incredible 39.8 MPG over that period. At the end of a very cold winter, I saw the car’s MPG drop closer to 34 MPG.
Hybrids, like electric cars, tend to perform worse in the winter, and Big Red has not been an exception. If it’s a mild winter, I may luck out and improve, or at least maintain, my current high fuel economy.
I think I’m also driving more efficiently. As I wrote shortly after getting the CR-V, the game I play with myself is trying to see how long I can go just on battery power. That’s still something I do because of the car, so I think it gets credit.
I’m happier overall with the CR-V than the Forester, have spent less at my local Honda dealer than I did at the Subaru dealership, and don’t have to deal with CVT woes on account of the CR-V not really having a transmission. The Forester handled a little better, but the slightly softer ride in the Honda more than makes up for it in city driving.
With gas prices being where they are, getting more than 500 miles out of a tank of gas also just feels better, even if the economics of it don’t necessarily justify making the switch purely for fuel economy reasons.
All photos: Matt Hardigree
Why is the Autopian, the world’s best automotive site, always comparing EVs and Hybrids, and ICE cars solely thru mpg, and not adding the cost of the electricity? Then not considering the resale value where the EV Part stands for Extreme losses Value? The cost for parts is more expensive but the need for parts less. Seems the required maintenance is higher with an EV but I am not positive. Can we get a from new through average years of ownership to resale value sold with gas and electricity and installed charger costs or electric cost at fast charging not cheap overnight charging?
Wait, wait: you had a Subaru Forester??
Tell us more!!
Of course the Honda is a better experience, especially in the “back to the dealer” department. Should have picked one instead of the Subaru in the first place, and you’d probably still be driving it.
One thing I hate about MPG as a measure of efficiency is it doesn’t scale well in real world use and past about 30-35MPG the big number looking improvements are pretty insignificant. Here’s how many gallons it would take to drive 1000 miles in 5 MPG increments:
10MPG = 100G
15MPG = 66.7G
20MPG = 50G
25MPG = 40G
30MPG = 33.3G
35MPG = 28.6G
40MPG = 25G
45MPG = 22.2G
50MPG = 20G
By simply switching from a 10MPG vehicle to a 15MPG vehicle you’ve saved more fuel on that one trip than someone else switching from a 20MPG vehicle to a 50MPG vehicle. That 30MPG improvement between 20 and 50 sure does sound a lot more impressive than the 5MPG improvement between 10 and 15, but it actually accomplishes less.
Math works out.
That’s not surprising. In my experience it’s necessary to go at least as far back as the early 1980s to find a car with a proper CVT. If the belts aren’t out where I can see them then how am I supposed to trust the transmission?
“With gas prices being where they are, getting more than 500 miles out of a tank of gas also just feels better, even if the economics of it don’t necessarily justify making the switch purely for fuel economy reasons.”
Just imagine how much fuel you would have saved if you had purchased an Ioniq 5 (or equivalent) prior to the war-of-choice instead.
“I think I’m also driving more efficiently.”
Easy to do.
CRVs are among the slowest vehicles on the road, and can usually be found loafing along in the left lane – their drivers pretending not to notice others pass on the right….
If I had charging available where I live (in an apartment), it was definitely on the list.
“Gas prices would have to get to $6.00 a gallon before I’m saving enough money each year to feel like it made sense on fuel savings alone, and even then it’s a stretch.”
Those of us living in the SF Bay Area have a different take…
YMMV, indeed!
We purchased a standard CRV when they were first released. We may have gone with the hybrid, but the wait was an additional 4 or 5 months. The gas version alone on my wife’s highway focused commute is 34 mpg. Getting 2 or 3 MPG more in the hybrid wouldn’t make sense cost wise.
I’ve been sniffing around CRVs lately and found your comment very interesting. You’re dealing with a lot less complexity too.
The next iteration of this question is about the average length of trips. Because for me the question was, if most usage during the day is under 40 miles, then a PHEV was my best bet.
Since I take a train to commute most of my way to work, the PHEV option became a big saver. Now I gas up maybe once a month. But your usage case has to match or the additional cost will never be made up.
Yeah, exactly. If I could plug-in a PHEV would have made a lot of sense for us.
Am I the only one who remembers a time when article titles could start with the actual information (Like “I saved XX gallons“) instead of Here/This/How, and we still read it and found it readable and just as entertaining?
Something about not starting a title with an article or adverb… eh. I’ll take my rant off the air. That ship has sailed.