Both CRV and RAV-4 are reliable.
Personal experience: RAV-4 is a little quieter than CRV.
RAV-4 has an option of 6 cylinders which consumes more gas. I would not choose the 6-cylinder one as I feel the 4 cylinder CRV gets enough power.
Comparing with RAV-4, CRV is the winner of the safety according to US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration:
http://www.safercar.gov/Vehicle+Sho...earchtype=comparemultiple&compcars=6624,6567,
Subaru outback is a little bigger, and Subaru forest is a little too small. Subaru outback used to be my favorite because of its size. I gave it up last year because of the steering wheel shaking issue. I feel Subaru was not able to completely resolve it and tried to “quench” it (personal opinion). Subaru's attitude is my concern.
I know lots of people like the inside design of Subaru. I hate it.