Subaru Outback Vs. Toyota RAV4 at 250,000 Miles: Closer Than You ThinkAutoblogAdam LyntonWed, September 23, 2026 at 4:00 PM UTCAdd us on GoogleAutoblog and Yahoo may earn commission from links in this article.Toyota and Subaru both sell on a reputation for vehicles that keep going long after the payments stop, yet on the odds of reaching 250,000 miles, the two brands aren't in the same league. When iSeeCars ranked every brand on that measure, Toyota came first and Subaru finished 14th, with Toyota's figure roughly seven times higher.Narrow the comparison to two SUVs that actually compete for the same buyers, though, and most of that gap disappears. When the same researchers broke their data down by individual model, the Toyota RAV4 finished only narrowly ahead of the Subaru Outback, and the Outback beat the RAV4 Hybrid outright.The RAV4 Leads, But Only JustRankModelChance Of Reaching 250,000+ MilesVs. SUV Average15Toyota RAV47.9%1.7x18Subaru Outback6.8%1.4x21Toyota RAV4 Hybrid5.9%1.2xSUV Average4.8%The front of the 2025 Subaru Outback Touring XTKristen BrownThree places and about one percentage point separate the gas RAV4 from the Outback in the model-by-model rankings, and both sit comfortably above the segment average. That is a far narrower margin than the brand results would suggest.AdvertisementAdvertisementThe RAV4 Hybrid finishes behind the Outback, three places back at 21st, and also falls short of the 8.2% average for hybrids and EVs. These are modeled odds, based on how quickly each nameplate piles up mileage as it ages, and every version gets one number covering all of its years on sale, so the hybrid's result cannot speak for the RAV4 now at dealers.Kristen BrownWhy The Brand Gap Doesn't Carry OverBrand scores in the study are weighted averages. "The odds of reaching the 250,000-mile milestone for each specific model and generation were calculated and then averaged across each brand's entire lineup, weighing the results by how common each model is on the road," iSeeCars said of the brand results published days earlier.That means a single model can land well above or below its brand's number. Toyota's lineup includes several of the highest-ranked trucks and SUVs in the study, while the Outback is the only Subaru to appear in any of the published model tables. Neither the Forester nor the Crosstrek, which both outsold the Outback last year, made the list.Subaru makes a longevity claim of its own for the model. Its website states that 96% of Outbacks sold in the last 10 years are still on the road, "more than the Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V, Hyundai Santa Fe, or Toyota 4Runner." That counts cars still in use over a decade rather than the miles they have covered, which is the question the rankings ask.SubaruWhat It MeansFor new-car shoppers, the comparison has changed since these figures were gathered. Toyota has moved the RAV4 to a fully electrified lineup, hybrid or plug-in hybrid, while the redesigned 2026 Outback offers only gas engines, a 180-hp 2.5-liter flat-four or a 260-hp turbocharged 2.4-liter. Neither redesign gets a separate figure in the study.AdvertisementAdvertisementPopularity doesn't track the longevity result either. Toyota moved 479,288 RAV4s in the U.S. in 2025 against 157,716 Outbacks, a ratio of roughly three to one for two models whose odds of reaching 250,000 miles sit a single percentage point apart.Maintenance costs favor the RAV4 as well. CarEdge puts a RAV4's maintenance and repair bill at roughly $6,004 over its first 10 years, against about $8,633 for an Outback, and estimates the chance of a major repair in that window at 16.6% for the Toyota and 24.8% for the Subaru.For anyone shopping used with high mileage in mind, the data puts an Outback on close to equal footing with a gas RAV4 and ahead of a RAV4 Hybrid.2026 Toyota RAV4ToyotaThis story was originally published by Autoblog on Sep 23, 2026, where it first appeared in the Features section. Add Autoblog as a Preferred Source by clicking here.