New vehicle for wife

Hello wise and knowledgeable TW community, I'm in the market for a new car for my wife. Her current car is an '04 Altima with the VQ35DE, and it's been a great vehicle but we've been letting some friends borrow it for longer than intended and finally decided to just sell it to them to help them out. She wants something that offers similar if not better fuel economy, I'd like it to be safe and reliable, and we're both leaning towards a crossover or small SUV. Price we're looking at is around $15k.

We started the search looking at Rav4s and CR-Vs, maybe an RX 350 if we can find a good one. We're obviously not expecting brand new or low miles, but I feel pretty comfortable buying any of these vehicles with around 70-100k miles.

With all of that said, what I'm asking is kind of two-fold:

1. Are there any red flags with models and model years I mentioned? Any common issues to watch out for, other than the obvious used car tropes
   
2. Are there any hidden gems out there that check the small SUV/reliability marks that fall in my price range?

 

In 2016 (as I recall) Honda changed their TPMS to software (in the CR-V. Don't know about other models) that compared tire rotations to determine whether a tire was low. We had one that the TPMS did not work correctly. After replacing 4 tires in 2 or 3 years we traded it for a 2016 RAV4. I assume later models were improved. I'm not a fan of CVTs, which Honda uses in 2017 and up models. The RAV4 has been great so far.

 

Ive always been a fan of a hot hatch. Imagine having every bit the interior of a small SUV, but it drives like a go-cart. Incredibly fun vehicles.


I would at least go kick the tires of a turbo Elantra GT. They are on the order of 24k brand spanking new, and I bet you could find a good used one for cheap. And its a lot more fun to drive than a CR-V.

 

I suspect the market will need to cool down quite a bit in order for us to consider something that recent right now. A lot of what we're considering is 2010-2014, although that could change if I sell my Supra.

I had briefly considered a Santa Fe. I know very little of Hyundai except that they have made leaps and bounds in regards to quality over the past decade or so. It's a neat looking car, though I would still prefer to find our way into an SUV since I'll be the one driving it if we take it on trips instead of the Taco.

I like the idea of driving something well into 300-400k miles and I'd definitely like to have the confidence a vehicle can make it there. Gives a little more reassurance if we're getting something closer to the 100k mark off the bat.

 

My memory is slipping, but today I think the CR-V we had was a 2013, and 2014 was the year Honda went to a CVT. Anyway, I advise careful checking before buying.

 

On a quick wiki search it looks like you're rightish - 2015 MY which went on sale Oct 2014 was the introduction to the CVT.

The local Honda dealership has a 2014 CR-V with around 100k on the clock that is in our budget, and a local used dealership we have worked with in the past has a 2011 with around 65k miles, both are going for about the same price.

The wife also test drove an Acura RDX this weekend which she loved, so I guess that's something else to add to the considerations.

 

Figured I'd put out an update. Wife test drove a 2014 Rav4 and didn't like it. Test drove a 2011 Rav4 and loved it, so guess what we ended up with!


Driveway is looking pretty good if I do say so myself. 2011 v6 limited.