Ford Edge vs Honda CR-V anyone?

I currently drive a 2005 Honda Odyssey EX-L that I love, but would really like to have a 4WD/AWD vehicle. DH has a Toyota Tacoma, so I don't need a super big vehicle anymore, but I do need room in the back for a large dog crate (see avatar). I am also considering the CR-V. I don't like the current RAV4 tailgate, so its off the list. We live in a rainforest, so the liftgate must lift UP, not swing out, so that I can stand underneath it to load groceries, etc.

We have also test driven a Forester, but its a bit small for me, plus the cargo area slopes and doggy wouldn't like that.

DD#1 is in a Monterey, DD#2 is in a Frontier.
TIA

I can not compare the two but just wanted to say that I have a Ford Edge and absolutely LOVE it!!! My SIL and a good friend of mine own one also and they love theirs too

I can't compare them either. But I did just debate and debate over a Honda Pilot and Ford Flex...basically the bigger versions of what you're looking at. I wound up buying the Ford. I found that at the entry level trim it had a lot more creature comforts. The Ford Sync is really neat. The tech stuff doesn't usually matter to me, but I love Sync. It's a $300 option on the Flex. It basically turns your car into a blue tooth for your phone or ipod or media stick. You can talk to the car to make calls or tell it to play specif songs or types of music. There is no monthly fee ever.

The entry level of the Pilot was very plasticy and didn't come with hardly anything standard. The higher level Pilots do have all the nice things-but come with a big price tag. It was really hard for me to chose the Ford over the Honda from the reliability standpoint. The general gist of what I've read seems to be that Ford quality has improved a lot in recent years and that Honda quality has declined a bit. I hope that's true considering what's sitting in my driveway.

If you are buying new, go to the ford website and request a brochure. The Flex brochure came with a $750 coupon. I was able to use it in addition to all the factory rebates.

My sister has a CRV and hates it for rfing car seats. It doesn't look like that would be an issue for you, but I imagine that your monterey and Frontier would really cram up the back seat. She thought it would be more versatile than her full-sized sedan, but they find that they are more comfortable and can load more gear in the sedan. She has either a 4WD or an AWD (not sure what options there are on that car) and it was just in the shop at 40,000 miles for maintenance that should have been at 60K or 80K miles.

As far as reliability goes, up until we bought our Odyssey, we strictly bought Fords and have found them to be very reliable (our Windstar was an '02 with no problems, and our Taurus is a '03 with no problems). We wanted a minivan or similar with our recent car purchase, and if Ford still made them we would have gone straight there and not even looked at the Ody.

As a general rule, you can often avoid major car issues by researching used cars by their specific year and avoiding any brand new vehicle that is the first in a redesign or model year. This is across the board for all makes and models.

Just a guess, but I think you would possibly hate the CRV if you are used to a minivan. I know my sister regrets getting it over the Ody, but at the time they thought it was fine for her small family.