I'm interested in following your decisions - the reason being that we went in to buy a 2015 and rejected it for a used 2012 instead. Our reasons for rejecting the new Rav4 were that while the level of technological "features" has gone up, the base vehicle seems to be severely degraded.
It's not that I disliked the '12, I actually found it to be a great vehicle. If money were no object, I would have kept it as a spare. I find the core '15 vehicle to certainly be consistent with or better than the core of the '12. Subjectively, the ride is better, it's quieter, and I like the looks. I'll like having a hatch vs. a gate, and I won't miss the spare tire placement. I'd also choose the 6sp over the dated 4sp. The seats seem more supportive and visibility also seems better. As I noted in the original post tho, I haven't had the 2015 long enough to write a critical review, but so far so good.
While I like having a new car, I hate paying for a new car! So...I was trying to keep costs down and thought I'd end up with the LE, but just couldn't tolerate not having the alloy wheels. This was one thing that really bothered me about my '12 base. With the incentives offered at this time of year, the XLE's cost wasn't painful. There seemed to be a lot more "bang for the buck" when compared with the LE.