2008 Toyota RAV4 CV 2.4 from Australia and New Zealand
Summary:
A very capable SUV that would suit mosts people's needs
Faults:
So far nothing has gone wrong with the car. But this is expected being a Toyota. Over the years, I've had too many Toyotas to mention. Superb car for reliability!
General Comments:
One of the larger compact SUV's on the market, with spirited performance.
So far the car has taken me from city traffic to the beaches (got bogged once) to the sand dunes. Overall it is a fun and versatile car.
The 2.4 engine definitely needs to be revved for any performance to take place. Especially on the highway when over taking. If you spend most of your travels on longer trip, maybe the V6 might be a better option.
But be warned, that when revved hard, the fuel economy suffers greatly. This probably one of my only complaints I have on the car. To get decent economy in the city, you just need to tap the accelerator pedal ever so slightly.
Otherwise the built quality is pretty good. They do seem to use cheap plastic for the power window button and parts of the interior door handle. Other than this, the rest of the material seems to be high grade.
I keep my tire pressures at 35 psi in order to help me with the fuel economy. I have also found that I get the best fuel economy and slightly better performance using 98 RON at the pump. But then again, I've always used 98 in all my cars. I just feel it is a better fuel and a cleaner fuel.
The steering is pretty nimble and accurate. If you are doing a lot of long distance driving around windy roads, it tends to get pretty tiring as you have to focus quite a bit as there tends to be a bit of an understeer issue.
I find the RAV4 being more than capable for most people's needs, and it has the backing of the Toyota badge. I highly recommend it if you are in the market for a compact SUV.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 22nd April, 2009
29th Apr 2009, 03:24
That sounds about right. I can get almost 10km per litre, driving in and around town, but this means driving very slow and especially taking off very slow. The best I have gotten is 460km around the city from 50 litres of fuel, which is 9.2 km per litre. Hope this helps.
23rd Oct 2010, 02:30
Well just an update on my Rav4. Now it's a little over 2 years, and I have done about 45,000km. Over the 2 years, I have had the opportunity to drive the Rav in 5 different states and Territory in Australia, and not one thing has gone wrong.
The fuel economy is great. It took at least 15,000km to return some decent numbers, but it got there. After about 40,000km, I could get about 560KM from around 50 litres of petrol (I've run the Rav on premium fuel since new).
The only thing now is that in the next 10,000km. I'll probably need to change the factory fitted Bridgestone tyres.
The capped price servicing that Toyota offers is also been very helpful, and this runs out at 60,000km. I might consider trading my Rav in after that, and getting another Toyota just for the fixed price servicing.
24th Apr 2009, 04:23
What sort of fuel economy are you getting? My neighbour has an 06 Rav4 with the 2.4 auto, and gets 11-12L/100km in the suburbs.