I recently was deciding between these three cars.
Here is what my wife and I decided:
CR-V: probably the nicest interior, with a variety of nice-looking and feeling materials. Nicely laid out, too. Plenty of features. Did not like tumble-forward instead of fold flat seats, as this limits the length of items that fit into the cargo area. Decent handling but still felt the most floaty of the three. Slow. Pricing is good on paper but dealerships were not giving much (if any) discount. During my wife's portion of the test drive, she felt like the car was shaking when she stepped on it to get on the freeway. Somewhat noisy on the freeway.
RAV4: more plasticky interior than the CR-V. Gee-whiz features like Bluetooth available. Options are expensive, though. Seemed like the roomiest of the three overall with the most flexible cargo area. Also seemed like the quietest overall. The 4-cyl felt faster than the CR-V. V6 is very fast and efficient but they start to get spendy, and dealerships were much less willing to deal than the V6 than the 4-banger. It can tow the most when properly equipped. Don't bother with the 3rd row seat. Did not care for the side-swinging rear door that opens from the "wrong" side.
Forester: older design which is both good and bad in some ways. Very agile and carlike (since it's effectively an Impreza underneath), probably the best handling of the three. 4-cyl not particularly fast but still felt faster than the CR-V. Turbo 4 is very fast, close to the V6 RAV4 but with a totally different feel (requires premium fuel, though). Interior OK, functional with decent materials. Lots of standard features on most trim levels, love the monster sunroof. AWD system is excellent. Lowest seating position of the three but by far the best visibility due to airy greenhouse. Tightest rear seat. Smallish cargo area but boxiness/height is a plus. Best pricing by far considering relatively slow sales - dealerships will bargain.
It's hard to go wrong with these three. All of them are very reliable, very safe, and very practical. Consumer Reports has them ranked as their top 3 small SUVs.
If price was no object I probably would have gotten the V6 RAV4. It was the most refined of the three and there are really no major downsides other than the rear door. However, I could barely get the dealerships to budge from MSRP when I was looking. The CR-V was a little better, but not much. They are selling both of those vehicles like hotcakes. What I ended up getting was a Forester Sports XT. I got the last '07 Sports on the lot for $4500 under MSRP, which made the car WAY cheaper than a similarly-equipped Toyota or Honda. Plus, it fits in my garage.
I love the Forester so far.
Here's a pic, need to get some better ones though.
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