Rav4 Hybrid Woodland from a Tacoma

Thinking of trading in my 2015 TRD Off-Road Access Cab Tacoma for a Rav4 Hybrid Woodland. Work commute got longer recently, and I never expected to have a wife and kid when I bought the Tacoma (been wanting the double cab for a long time now).

The fuel efficiency of the Rav4 Hybrid is more than 2x my Tacoma, and I'm okay with the reduced off-road capabilities while still having *some* off-road creds with the Woodland. The lack of the truck bed and lack of towing vs say the Rav4 Adventure or TRD Off-Road will be a bummer, but I can certainly get by with the cargo space of the Rav4 for my purposes and I've never actually needed to tow with my Tacoma yet.

Wife has a 17 Corolla LE Eco, and our plan is for her to eventually buy the Rav4 off me and I maybe switch to the Hybrid Tacoma. Looking at the TRD Off-Road, the price seems too much for not a lot of increased capability, and the neither the Adventure or TRD come close to the efficiency of the Hybrid of course.

In researching, I've found that the Canadian Woodland is a much better vehicle than the US version. The US version is based on the LE trim, but the Canadian version is based on either the XLE or XLE Premium trim. Benefits of the Canadian Woodland are better suspension taken from the TRD Off-Road Rav4, moonroof, heated/cooled seats, leather heated steering wheel, Softex seats, power liftgate, and probably a few other things. AND the MSRP is $3.5k cheaper! If my research is correct, I also wouldn't have to pay 2.5% import tax as it's likely built in Mexico or Canada.

Anyone else make the switch from a Tacoma to any flavor Rav4?

 

They are built in Canada, the old Hybrids were built in Japan.

They have improved immensely over the years, the original 2019 model had loads of issues, but Toyota worked hard to iron them out.

I can tell you they aren't a great choice for hard offroading due to the plastic undercarriage, but they do have good ground clearance.

I would say go for it, with a good set of tires they are very capable. You'll save thousands on fuel in a few years.

 

You're proposing to buy a Canadian car as a US resident?

I'm no expert but it won't be as seamless as you may imagine.

 

From what I've read so far, CA vehicles should typically meet the US import requirements for safety, emissions, etc.. The 2.5% import tax is waived for vehicles manufactured in Canada. The only other thing I've seen is needing to buy a customs bond, and do all the paperwork.

Certainly much more research needed on my end, and I would likely consult or use a customs broker, but nothing I've seen so far seems unreasonable, especially given it's a much better vehicle for smaller MSRP. The final costs associated with import and possible transportation would be worth it to me, depending.

Or Toyota can just come to their senses and release a better optioned Woodland stateside! The alternate route would be buying an XLE Premium to start, and then adding custom suspension and off-road tires, but I think that would end up costing more.

I also really like the idea of my Woodland being better than the rest of the ones in the US!

 

You'll still need to pay 5% GST. I'm not sure if you'd also have to pay PST or not as a non-resident. You'll also need to register and insure it provincially if you're driving it back. Then register, insure, and pay taxes in your home state.

You may also not have a warrenty that's recognized by Toyota in the US.

You may also run into dealers that won't sell or finance to an out-of-country buyer. I had trouble buying my truck out of province. Some dealers didn't even want to do that.

Wouldn't be worth it, to me, for a tarted up RAV4 but if you can come out ahead financially go for it!