2023 Chevy Equinox vs 2023 Toyota RAV4

• 2023 Chevy Equinox

  

  Starting at

  $26,600^[a]

  2023 Toyota RAV4

  

  Starting at

  $27,975

  203	Torque (lb-ft)	184
  Chevy Safety Assist	Safety	Toyota Safety Sense 2.5
  39.9	2nd-Row Legroom (in)	37.8

  When the time comes to choose your next vehicle, there are a lot of things to consider. How much does it cost? Does it have enough space for your needs? Which brand is going to offer the best overall value? It can be hard to choose, especially when looking at vehicles like the 2023 Chevy Equinox vs 2023 Toyota RAV4. Chevrolet and Toyota are two of the most celebrated automotive manufacturers, and it’s been this way for decades. The choice between a Chevy and Toyota vehicle isn’t easy, and while the Equinox and RAV4 may have some similarities at first glance, there are a lot of differences that become important once you start to take a closer look.

  Chevy and Toyota are both known for their vehicles, whether it’s sedans, pickup trucks, or SUVs, but Chevy’s selection includes some of the top-selling vehicles in the market today, like the Silverado 1500. The Equinox is one of Chevy’s most beloved vehicles, and Chevy puts attentive care into each iteration, and the 2023 model is the best one. The 2023 RAV4 does much the same for Toyota, but there are some crucial ways in which Chevy’s offering is the go-to choice for anyone in the market for an SUV. While the RAV4 has some good things going for it, it has a higher price tag than the Equinox without giving you more to go along with that price hike. The Equinox is a consistently reliable option with a price tag that is budget-friendly.

• Trims

  

  The Equinox Offers More in a Cheaper Package

  Sometimes less is more, and that’s the mentality behind the selection of 2023 Chevy Equinox trims. Chevy manages to employ most, if not all, of what Toyota’s RAV4 offers for its titular SUV, but there are two exceptions: pricing and trim availability. The most important aspect of any vehicle is its pricing. After all, why pay more for something if the cheaper option is just as good or even better in some cases? Just because the Equinox has a lower starting price and fewer trim options does not mean that is a bad thing. You can get more for less, and you have more room to customize the features you want most within the different trims.

  The base level Equinox, the LS, starts at an MSRP of $26,600.^[a] Comparatively, the base Toyota RAV4, the LE, has a starting price of $27,975. If you’re staying with the base models, purchasing an Equinox will save you nearly a thousand dollars, but what if you were to opt for a higher-tier trim? The 2023 Equinox has four trim levels, and whether you purchase the LS, LT, RS, or the high-end Premier trim, you’ll be paying less than the RAV4’s equivalent. The 2023 Toyota RAV4 has five trim levels, including the LE, XLE, XLE Premium, Adventure, and TRD Off-Road, but the latter costs over five thousand dollars more than the 2023 Equinox’s best available trim.

  Both the 2023 Equinox and 2023 RAV4 come with a singular engine option, so no matter how much money you spend on a trim level, whether it be the base Equinox LS and RAV4 LE, or the Equinox Premier and RAV4 TRD Off-Road, you’ll get the same performance. For example, every Equinox trim comes with a turbocharged 1.5L I-4 engine that produces 203 lb-ft of torque, and every RAV4 model utilizes a 2.5L I-4 engine that puts out 184 lb-ft of torque. You can get either model with front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive on any trim. Since most of the flexibility in what you get in your vehicle comes from additional features, it's easy to pick one of the Equinox's four trims at a lower price than the RAV4 and add on a package.

• Interior

  

  Which SUV Has the Right Amount of Space for You?

  The 2023 Chevy Equinox and Toyota RAV4 may share many qualities, but there’s no doubt that people are more likely to fit more comfortably in the Equinox’s interior instead of Toyota’s SUV. SUVs are family-friendly, so a manufacturer must lend equal amounts of care to the back row of seats as they do the front row, and Chevy’s SUV certainly does that. The 2023 Equinox has a passenger volume of 103.5 cu.ft., which is about 4.6% more than the RAV4’s passenger volume of 98.9 cu.ft.

  The Toyota RAV4 does have the benefit of a little more cargo space as it has a maximum of 69.8 cu.ft. of space against the 63.9 cu.ft. in the Equinox, but the difference isn’t large, especially in real-world usage. Many drivers may prefer to save money and have more room for passenger comfort by purchasing an Equinox at the expense of a slight amount of cargo space. The Equinox also still has an ample 29.9 cu.ft. of cargo space available at all times, which is still in line with other compact SUVs.

  Of course, headroom and legroom are two important aspects of an SUV, but so are hip and shoulder room, so how do the two SUVs compare? As the driver of the SUV, you’ll have 40 inches of headroom in the Equinox vs the 37.7 inches in the RAV4. The 2023 RAV4 has 41 inches of legroom in the front row against 40.9 inches on the Equinox. However, that’s unnoticeable compared to the 37.8 inches of second-row legroom of the RAV4 compared to the 39.9 inches in the Equinox.

  Similarly, the RAV4 has a minuscule advantage in the front-row hip room, but the Equinox has far more hip room for back-row occupants, making it a better fit for adult passengers. With the 2023 Equinox, you’ll have 54.2 inches of front-row hip room instead of the 54.3 inches in the RAV4, but second-row hip room for the Equinox measures out at 51.7 inches for Chevy’s SUV instead of 47.7 inches in the RAV4. While some of those measurements may seem minuscule in comparison, they can make a big difference when you are spending an hour or more in the car.

• Safety

  

  Both SUVs Offer a Lot in Terms of Safety and Driver-Assistance

  The 2023 Equinox and RAV4 are safe SUVs, any way you slice it. Awarded accolades and safety features combine to make each SUV an appealing offer for any driver who has even the slightest interest in on-road safety. Both SUVs have their advantages and have been recognized by various publications. Both vehicles received a five-star overall safety rating from the NHTSA. However, when you break that rating down, you'll see that the Equinox had five stars for "frontal crash," while the RAV4 was only given four stars in that category.

  Both SUVs come with pretty comprehensive safety suites. The 2023 Equinox has Chevy Safety Assist standard, while the RAV4 gets Toyota Safety Sense 2.5. Both safety suites provide exceptional coverage in a variety of automotive situations, and both manufacturers deserve praise for the advancements made in on-road safety over the years. Chevy Safety Assist and Toyota Safety Sense 2.5 have plenty of similar features, but the main benefit for the Equinox comes down to its lower price, and if safety is a concern of yours, then you can get a nearly identical set of safety features on the Equinox and save thousands of dollars against the RAV4.

  Some of the features given to owners of the Equinox and RAV4 include preventive-collision features like the Pre-Collision System with Pedestrian Detection for the RAV4 and Forward Collision Alert with Automatic Emergency Braking for the Equinox. The Equinox also matches the RAV4’s Pedestrian Detection with a Front Pedestrian Braking feature. Chevy’s safety suite also comes standard with Lane Departure Warning and Lane Keep Assist, which the RAV4 matches with its Lane Departure Alert with Steering Assist. Both vehicles also offer distance indicators between yourself and other drivers on the road, and the Equinox has IntelliBeam automatic headlights, matched by Automatic High Beams on the RAV4. Again, pricing matters here, and you’ll get many of the same functions with the 2023 Chevy Equinox and save money too.

Come Check Out the 2023 Equinox for Yourself