Go to a Saint Maries Chevrolet dealership to check out the 2019 Chevrolet Equinox and you'll find it comes in four different trim levels of L, LS, LT and Premier. There are now five versions of the 2019 Toyota RAV4, which are the LE, XLE, XLE Premium, Adventure and Limited. That might sound like the Toyota offers buyers more choice, but it's not really the case, as the Equinox has more engines, more exterior colors and more interior color schemes.

At the entry level, the lowest MSRP for a 2019 Toyota RAV4 is for a front-wheel drive LE at $25,500. That's quite a bit more than the equivalent 2019 Chevrolet Equinox L, which has a starting MSRP of just $23,800. It's a similar story at the top of the ranges with the all-wheel-drive RAV4 Premium coming with an MSRP of $34,900, but the Equinox Premier AWD costs from just $32,900.

Engines

Although there’s a hybrid version of the 2019 Toyota RAV4, the standard range only has a single traditional gasoline engine. It's a pretty decent 2.5-liter inline-four producing 203 horsepower and 184 lb-ft of torque, but it's no match for the more powerful of the two Equinox gas engine options. That one develops 252 hp, and there's also a turbodiesel option for those who want outstanding fuel economy.

Space for passengers is an important attribute of crossovers, even for compacts like these two. The RAV4 has 98.9 cubic feet of passenger volume and there's 37.8 inches of legroom in the rear seats. In the 2019 Chevrolet Equinox passengers have a more generous 103.2 cubic feet and 39.9 inches, and that's going to be noticed.

There's a very good eight-speed automatic transmission found in the 2019 Toyota RAV4 that many drivers will prefer to the CVT some Japanese rivals go with instead. The base engine in the 2019 Chevrolet Equinox comes mated to a six-speed automatic, but the more powerful 2.0-liter gets a gear more than the RAV4 as it comes with a nine-speed automatic.

The best fuel economy ratings the non-hybrid RAV4 can offer are 27 mpg in the city and 34 mpg on the highway. Those numbers are good, but they’re not as good as the 28 mpg in the city and 39 mpg the Equinox diesel can boast in front-drive format.

What looks good is obviously a matter of personal taste, but there's a sportier and more conventional look to the 2019 Chevrolet Equinox. Toyota has improved the exterior styling of the RAV4 in recent years, but it's still not exactly pretty, and it can still be more than a little polarizing for some tastes.

A 2019 Chevrolet Equinox is a more attractive and more affordable compact crossover than the 2019 Toyota RAV4, but it also offers buyers more interior and exterior colors and a wider choice of engines. It's therefore not difficult to understand why the Chevy is our preferred choice of the two.