Used, newer used, or new?

I posted semi recently about my car needing an upgrade and the consensus was no it’s not worth fixing a 1995 accord that has a ton of deferred maintenance. So now I’m looking for a new car.

I think I’d like a midsized car, doesn’t need to have great gas mileage (will just swap with wife who has a hybrid Corolla). We backpack, ski/snowboard, I surf, so I think AWD and high clearance are important. Maybe something we could car camp in.

I’m between either a RAV4 or any of the Crosstrek/Outback/Forester models. I’m just not sure what makes sense. I think the absolute max budget is like $30k. Is it worth buying something at $15k where the car has almost 100k miles and is 2014-2019? It’s also easier to find used Subarus on the market. Or is going certified pre owned from the dealerships better vs totally new. Or is a place like CarMax or a used car dealership make sense. I have no experience buying a new car so I just need help lol.