I suggest staying away from DCT cars.

 

I have a 2016 Hyundai Tucson with the 2.0 liter engine and 6 speed auto. It works perfectly well, zero problems. Not a single squeak or rattle. But the car's acceleration is leisurely. If you are a conservative driver this shouldn't pose a problem. The CRV is a much quicker vehicle.

 

We purchased a 2017 Tucson 1.6T In late October. In our search we drove: Honda CRV, Ford Escape, Toyota Rav4, Mazda CX3, Mazda CX5, Hyundai Tucson. We were replacing a 2012 Subaru Outback 4cyl. with a CVT transmission (major complaint was no passing ability from 50-70mph) otherwise the SUbaru was great. We live at 9,500ft, serious snow country, so need AWD

Here are our impressions:

Honda CRV: nice features and build quality. Great utility. Turbo engine was decent but did not like CVT transmission.
Good horsepower but no torque.
Ford Escape: Most fun to drive with ecoboost engine. Certainly the fastest of the group - squealed the tires out of the
dealership!. Cheap interior and build.
Toyota Rav4: Slowest of the bunch. Outdated technology and design and more expensive!
Mazda CX3: Too small for us. Decent to drive, good build quality
Mazda CX5: Nice interior finish, sporty looks, traditional automatic transmission. Expensive
Hyundai Tucson 1.6T: Sporty looks, Fun to drive with 1.6T engine, good passing ability from 50-70mph, nice interior quality equal to Honda, better than Toyota and Ford, slightly less than Mazda. Good torque.

Our scorecard:

1st - Tucson
2nd - Honda CRV
3rd - Mazda CX5
4th - Ford Escape
5th - Toyota Rav4

We almost went with the Honda. Drove them both in the same hour and determined that we just did not want another CVT transmission car as the pick up and shifting for passing just is not as quick and reassuring when you need to get around someone. Also felt the Hyundai was much sportier looking.

While there are certainly many comments on this site indicating that they don't like the DCT transmission, we have not experienced any issues with it. If you are wanting to burn rubber from a dead stop... yes there is a slight hesitation. But stomping on the accelerator at 50mph - the the car shifts and turbo kicks in almost immediately and away you go.

Bottom line is that you need to drive as many different cars in the same "group" and then decide. I know this is a time killer dealing with the dealership BS...... but well worth it for a long term purchase.

I'm sure there are plenty of folks that would have scored the cars differently as everyone has unique needs in a car.

Good Luck!

 

I like our Tucson's .. but my family has also owned at least 6+ Hyundai's .. I guess I can say we like the brand. For me personally, a Tucson vs a CRV, I think the Tucson 'looks' slightly more sporty, so I like it over the CRV, but the new CRVs don't look terrible. I'm all about looks...........

If you look at a Tucson, for me personally I would stay away from any of the DCT trim levels, just to save yourself from any potential problems. You might never have an issue but if you do you'll hate it for the whole time you own the car and you'll regret buying it, and then lose money when you trade it.

 

I went from a 2014 CR-V LX to a 2017 Tucson SE Plus. I like the Tucson so much more than the CR-V. To be fair, the CR-V I had was the base trim, so pretty bare-bones. My SE Plus has the standard 2.0L non-turbo engine coupled with the luxury features of the Limited (leather, bigger infotainment screen, Apple CarPlay, etc.). The ride is much smoother than the CR-V, and the car feels more substantial than the CR-V. I really don't feel deprived of power with the base engine. In fact, I find when putting it into Sport mode, it's quite peppy. Interior cargo space is a little less than the CR-V, but not a deal breaker for me. I have had the car since August and have hauled a coffee table one time and another two chairs with room to spare. The CR-V's EX trim offers a sunroof, where you have to go with the Limited package on the Tucson to get that (and that comes with the DCT turbo that many drivers dislike). I think the 2017 CR-V introduced a few extra driver assist safety features in the EX trim and above -- specifically pedestrian alert and maybe (though I'm not sure) automatic braking ... maybe adaptive cruise control too?? I believe the new CR-V EX also comes with remote start, but I find Hyundai's BlueLink superior to other cars' typical remote start. BlueLink is app-based, so you can start your car from inside a building, which is a pretty cool feature. You can also check to see if the car is locked/unlocked and change that as well. I have to pay for it, but I think I read that 2018 models include this feature at no cost.

In my case, I lease instead of buying, and Honda simply did not provide enough incentive to lease the CR-V last year. Monthly payments would have been about $100 more than what I'm paying on my Tucson. So the lack of a sunroof (something I've rarely used on cars with them) and a few other driver assist features wasn't worth the extra money. I personally think the Tucson is a more attractive vehicle than the CR-V.