Tacoma and??? Vehicle for my Wife

My Wife has been driving our 2021 TRD Off Road Tacoma 4 door as her main vehicle for 3 years now and it has been a good vehicle for her. She likes mostly everything about it except the fact that it is difficult, too high, to get into and especially for her Mom who is 94 years old. Also we are both big people and bang elbows in the front seat.
It's now time to add a second vehicle for her and we'll be keeping the Tacoma. My questions are regarding choices between a 4 Runner, a RAV4, or Highlander.
I believe the 4 Runner might be a little more room side to side in the front seat but still too hard to get in and out. The Highlander seems like a all around solution but overkill on size and cost, fuel consumption.
I'm leaning towards the RAV4 Hybrid but not sure.
She doesn't need the off road features of the TRD package, but definitely needs all wheel drive.

What are the reviews showing on the 2024 or 2025 engines?

The 2021 we have, V6 Auto is proven, not perfect, but mostly dependable.

Any input or advice is appreciated.

 

The rav4 hybrid is a gem, very few issues with them and they have a lot more spunk now.

Limited data on the new truck 4 cylinders, but I can tell you I've never changed a 2019-24 rav4 engine yet. Only small leaks so far.

 

The Tacoma is smallish, thought I had an '82 Hilux regular cab, so I grew up in a different time I suppose.
The 4R interior is much roomier, my GF has one. It still may be hard to climb though, her running boards are narrow and nearly useless- I step over them.
The Tacoma TD OR is not AWD, it is 4WD.

I would check the 4th gen section for real world feedback. Through all the poo poo'n, I am willing to bet the 4th gen will be reliable too.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/forums/4th-gen-tacomas-2024.292/

 

I have a 24 RAV4 hybrid and a taco. My Rav is my daily driver and the taco is for the boat and utility. The rav is a slight bit roomier in the front seats and a bit more legroom in the back, but overall similar in interior space to the taco. If you want more space, the Highlander hybrid is nice with the same engine as the Rav, but a bit more electric power.

I can attest to the spunk of the Rav hybrid. It is a very responsive vehicle with immediate power and throttle response. I replaced a manual accord with the Rav, and the Rav throttle response makes me not miss the manual.

 

I am impressed with my wife's 2015 Subaru Forester. Really drives nice and the all-wheel-drive is great.
Plus we can see to the end of the hood in it. I rented a Rav4 for a week to test-drive and neither of us could
see to the end of the hood. Kinda stank.

The 4-Runner is a bit of a beast and may have the same issues as the Tacoma for her.
The Highlander is a bit of a beast too.
Then again the wife and I are on the smaller side of things.

The 2017 Forester has served us well and I expect another 7-10 years out of it.

I am wary of these new hybrid/ electric/ 4-cyl Turbo new-fangled designs. Not against it at all, just want another
decade of tweaking on these things before I make the leap -

But then in another decade I don't expect to be around anyway.

Let us know what ya'll settled on and how you like it.

 

My wife has a CRV and it's no roomier in the front seats. Another relative has a Rav4 hybrid. It's nice but similar to CRV and Taco for room. One of my kids has a Nissan Pathfinder and loves it. It's roomy and still good on fuel economy. Price is good too.

 

Been really happy with my wife’s honda passport. Tons of cargo room! As long as you don’t need a 3rd row, it’s one of my favorite vehicles to drive.

 

How about the Crown Signia. Its awd and hybrid

 

The RAV4 makes the most sense in this situation.

 

The best thing about trying to pick a car out is the ability to go to a dealership and test them out, see how well you fit in them, see whether or not you like the way it drives, and even get a decent idea of how much space there is to pack up for a trip. I suggest giving them a test drive and see what is best for her. I can say from personal experience that out of those three vehicles I see way more RAV4s because of their overwhelming popularity but fix much bigger issues on the other two choices. However, in most cases, they have all proven reliable for the long haul. I tell people all the time that all vehicles are built to fail at some point, better to pick what suits you best than sweat over the "what ifs" over what and when things will fail.

 

What about a Land Cruiser?

https://www.toyota.com/landcruiser/

 

The Toyota synergy drive has been around for over 20 years and eliminates the transmission, alternator, starter, and entire serpentine belt replacing them with a pair of electric motors and a planetary gearset. As shown by the Toyota hybrid vehicles reliability history, this simplification makes the hybrids more reliable then the more complex conventional gas vehicles.

 

I had no idea. So basically an engine running a generator/motor similar to a Diesel/Electric Locomotive?

 

She's talking "more car like".
Personally I would go Land Cruiser or 4Runner but heck, I own a 61 Willys CJ so that tells you more.
She's more city, I'm more country. Ha Ha.!!!

 

Subaru is "all-time 4WD", can get car MPG and (based on test-drive I took on a Forester) is much more car-like than my Tacoma.

 

My wife looked at all those and ended up getting the Corolla Cross XLE AWD, non-hybrid. We’ve been really happy with it so far. And the price tag was better than all the other options.

 

We have a 2020 Highlander (it’s my wife’s car) and I can’t say enough good things about it. Dependable, comfortable, quiet, handles great, surprisingly small turning radius, hauls ass. We’ve taken a few long trips (1000 miles plus) with it and it’s a great highway car (and town car) One time on a trip across Nevada on a lonely desert highway(I know sounds like a song) my wife leaned over and said Do you know you’re going 105mph? I had no idea, it was like driving 60mph on an empty freeway. Anyway check out , your wife and her 94 year old mother will like it. Also I love 4Runners , had one, but the mpg sucks, and they may be a little high for wife and her mom to get into.

 

It's an ingenious setup. It can switch between parallel (engine driving the wheels directly) and series (engine drives a generator like a locomotive) using the planetary gearset to combine the power of both the electric motor and gas engine.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_Synergy_Drive

 

RAV4 is perfect for easy in and out. Ours is a 2016 and we are 100% satisfied

 

Rav4 Prime is amazing.