RAV4 Owners & Aficionados

Though I'd chime in... Wife has a 2020 Rav4 XSE white/black combo. It's a great little car apart from I hate the transmission. Deleted the chrome window trim, added black door handles and put some black side repeaters in to make it special for the wife. Looks great up against the taco

 

Link for window chrome delete... makes a huge difference to the appearance IMO, especially with the black roof. (I installed matte black)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/184333674665

 

I hope so

 

I did end up buying that rav4.

 

So I've been eyeing RAV4 Hybrids for a while, but I have a paid off 2015 TRDOR Tacoma. I would only really buy one if the finances made sense as things are a little tight these days. I drive 200mi/week commiting in North FL. Are there any savings other than gas if I were to buy one such as maintenance or anything? Anything else that might make it make sense? I imagine it's quite the long shot.

 

They usually take awhile to recoup costs in regards to the gas vs hybrid model.

The last gen we used to discourage people that drive highway primarily because there was less margin of savings.

The current gen is usually 30% better than gas with mixed driving. Thats huge. Plus its more peppy to drive.

As far as maintenance, hybrids simply have a rear power unit that has its own oil (if you go 4WD), the hybrid system has its own coolant, so you change it with engine coolant. Thats it.

Batteries rarely fail, even in the hot states. We change one (hybrid toyota battery) a year at my dealer and we are the largest in the region.

I'd say go hybrid unless its 10k over the equivalent gas model. (there's crazy backlogs for them and prices are jumping)

 

The only saving would realistically be gas.

 

So my brother just got the 2024 Rav4 XSE hybrid and he loves it so far. My wife and I have been talking about a new family car and are considering a RAV4 or possibly a subaru ascent. Any one have any opinions? They are around the same price but you get 3 more seats in the ascent. 3rd row isnt necessary but just nice to have if you need it. LMK what you guys think.

 

Boxer engines leak oil and are under powered. Subaru CVTs are awful.

 

I’ve heard a lot of horror stories on the ascent. It’s a little bit of a parts bin car so it can happen. If you don’t need a 3rd row, you realistically won’t need it ever.

 

Now would you do a new rav4 or an older 4runner (like only 2018 or newer)? Considering price, I dont think a new 4runner would be in the realm of possibilities.

 

I’d say stick with new. 4Runners are great, but not necessarily a great value at the moment. A base AWD rav4 sits around $30,000 which is still a fairly decent deal. A newer 4Runner in the $30,000 range would probably have a fair amount of miles.

 

Will it be a daily or and a weekend adventurer?

 

We have a 2 year old, with another on the way so we are considering if we need the 3rd row or not. For us, it's between the RAV4 or the Highlander. Both come with hybrid engines that get way better gas mileage than the Subaru Ascent.

 

I have found if your over 3 feet tall, that 3rd row is useless. Not really a 3rd row, they just call it that to get sells.

 

Yeah, it’s a poor excuse for a 3rd row. It’s the type of 3rd row that was added just to make it more marketable with other similar sized suvs

 

Wife’s 2019 Adventure.

My 2020 Hybrid XSE (traded)

2021 Prime. Also traded.

Those last two were my daily drivers and my wife still has her 2019 but works 100% at home. The Prime was SOOOOOO awesome but it made me love EV’s so much I traded it on a Tesla. The RAV4’s are awesome little commuter cars and as you can see from the Adventure model make a decent softroading vehicle. We used it as a bridge after I sold my Tacoma/ Alu Cab Khaya, for about 14 months waiting for my new Overlanding rig to come in. Took it all the way to Newfoundland, Wyoming, Montana, it was a great, and efficient little adventure vehicle.

 

Stumbled across this thread, read through a few pages and figured I would post up as well. Wife's 2019 Rav4 LE AWD. After I owned a 07 rav4 v6 AWD that I sold to buy my Tacoma we agreed when her lease was up on her at the time car we would get her into a newer rav. We love this thing so far, its now our trip car and its been through blizzards and back. Only thing that I don't care for is when coming to a rolling stop and letting off the brake and initiating the gas it lurches as the system gets ready to go.
20% tint
Sparco Terra 17x7.5
245/65r17 Wildpeak A/T3W
Just added roof bars and a roof cargo box for trips
This was the day we had the wheels/tires put on at discount tire.

 

My comments are based on two separate experiences.

Our 2019 RAV Limited is the only vehicle my wife has bought off lease because she loves it so much. Otherwise she’s 3-36 and out. Great trouble-free vehicle that is actually amazingly capable off-road within its limits of ground clearance and tires.

My Daughter’s 2010 Prius has had a total of zero issues since we bought it 10 years ago with the exception of starting battery (2x) brakes (2x) and cv boots (just this year). Not one powertrain issue. At 200k it drives and looks almost exactly how it did when we got it. I’m sold on Toyota hybrids.

 

Went to our local Toyota dealership this past weekend and looked at the RAV4 and the Highlander. The 3rd row of the Highlander was pretty pointless for our use. If it's up, there's no cargo room in the back, so we'd essentially leave it down all the time, and then at that point it's just a bit bigger inside than the RAV4 is. We decided we can deal with the slightly smaller interior for 5+ years until our kids are older, have friends we need to shuttle back and forth, etc. Maybe we'll get a minivan at that point.

Looked at a few new RAV4s, but my wife really likes the Lunar Rock color which isn't an option for 2024 (dumb.) They ended up having a 2021 RAV4 Hybrid XLE certified pre-owned that was a lease-trade in with 19k miles in Lunar Rock. It's got the convenience and weather package (sunroof, power liftgate, rain sensing wipers, etc..) They're asking $32k for it, about $35.5k out the door after all taxes and fees. The 2024 RAV4s we were looking at were lookin at were around $38k before taxes and fees, so probably would have came close to 42k when all was said and done. For about $7k less, I think i'm happy with a certified pre-owned in the specific color we want. Going to go back Tuesday to get our trade appraised. As long as they don't lowball us on that and knock some fees off I think we will probably move forward.