What to buy? RAV4, Highlander, or other

Lol Jesus, it’s a “abnormal noise” it’s not like the car is going to explode, also it’s been fixed (read the link to the TSB I posted above). I’m not defending Rav’s but my god trust me it makes a lot less noise than my 17 Tacoma. Lol

 

Is that maybe your dealer? My dealer gave my wife a FULL set of brakes FREE while they were trying to figure it out, before they knew what the cause was. My dealer bends over backwards for us always.

 

I don’t know why one experience would matter but if it does my sister has a brand new CX9 and she hates it. Wanted her old Honda Pilot back. That’s just a single case though of course.

 

What year model is your wifes? Is this issue still going on today? What do you think the value of those vehicles will be if enough people find out the problems? Is it really fixed? Only time will tell and I'm not waiting.

 

After participating in the Rav4 forum, wasn't just my dealer.

 

Just bought my wife a 2021 Rav4 xle. We looked at the Highlanders , but they looked too mini vanish to us. We haven't experienced any problems , but we are both retired and don't drive very much. It has plenty of room for just the two of us and seems to pick up speed pretty quick without a lot of engine noise.

 

Had an '04 Highlander we loved. Kept till '19. Kid I sold it to still doing fine, and he can barely open the hood. Looked at newer Highlanders and decided they were too bulky.

Went with a '14 RAV Limited (5yo, 45k) because it was quite clean. Dont give a flip for 80% of the Limited 'features', but the size is nice in the city. Not as comfy on road trips as Highlander was, but not horrid either.

 

My wife’s is a 2019 Adventure it has not yet been fixed, we were waiting for winter to end. It’s going in shortly, we’ll be leaving it for a week or so while we’re away. When we get back and pick up the car I promise to update the thread. FWIW she LOVES her Rav, first car she wants to keep literally forever. She’s coming out of an AWD BMW X1 that I loved, she likes the Rav much better. As mentioned above it’s all about keeping the MRS. happy. Looking at the sheer number of new body style Rav’s on the road I’m thinking Toyota is doing ok with them.

 

The Rav 4 has come a long way and is an awesome vehicle, my daughter loves hers.

 

Owned a civic years ago before we lived in our current house. Great little car, but can’t do a car in the winter with our steep driveway. She’d never make it up the hilly driveway with the lower ground clearance and 2wd.

 

It’s definitely my wife’s vote that counts and her decision. She doesn’t tell me what truck to buy and I won’t tell her what vehicle to buy. She’s pretty thorough researching her purchases. I’m just helping her gather info to make a decision.

 

That's' the part I don't understand. Can't disagree that the Rav4 is one of the best selling cars. It's a good car. Not really great when compared to the fit and finish of other cars in it's class. I think that Toyota has a lot of people fooled with their spotless reputation. I haven't kept up with the issues after abandoning the Adventure. So I don't know if any other Toyota vehicles are involved. Any vehicle that uses their proprietary AWD system could be susceptible to the issue I assume. Wife and I just wanted out of that bad situation. So we pick a traditional FWD car. One thing is for sure - We have a totally different opinion of Toyota now after such a bad experience with the Adventure. Also, I'm not the only person that had this experience. The post that I linked is very long with people going through the same problem. And I only linked 1 of the threads pretaining to the issue. There were several at the time with different titles. I just don't understand how Toyota managed to keep this issue swept under the carpet as well as they have. I don't believe that the issue is totally resolved because "I" (and many others) could still detect the issue after the TSB. I believe that this problem could cause related issue down the road. After the treatment I received from Toyota, I feel quite certain that they will not assist you in any way if you have trouble with this system after the normal warranty period is expired. I'm not willing to take that chance.

 

After reading recent reviews my wife has discovered Mazda has worked out most of the issues we experienced with her CX5. The last few years it has reviewed really well. She has decided to add it to the list to consider purchasing.

 

If we were financially possible, my wife would trade for a CX5 today.

 

Mini vanish?

 

I have a 2020 RAV4 Limited AWD, purchased in November 2019. Presently it has 30K miles it. I am very happy with it.
To be honest I would have bought the Highlander if it was not the first year of the re-design.

 

My wife went with the RAV4 Hybrid Limited. After owning for over a week she seems very pleased with her decision and has no regrets. Hopefully it’s a good vehicle for her for years to come as she tends to hang on to them for a long time.

Thanks everyone!

 

My wife has a '19 Rav4 Hybrid and she loves it. She gets around 48 mpg. The only thing I don't like is the passenger seat lumbar. I have back issues and it really gets to me on longer rides. Easy solution is for me to drive. The driver seat is just fine. Too bad they cheaped out on the passenger seat.

 

The Highlander we looked at was a strong contender and overall a better deal for the money. I guess they started putting the same hybrid engine in it as the RAV4 a few years ago so we were worried about it possibly being a little underpowered and working harder.

 

Wow... 48 mpg! I would be ecstatic with the 41 mpg on the window sticker.

For the price of it, I would have thought both front seats would have been power in my wife’s Limited.