Edmunds long term review

nice write up.

my son just bought a rav4h. i prefer the prius, but i'm just glad he got out of the gasser, and moved to the hybrid.
eventually, as the family gets older, he'll poly downsize, or move to a plug in.

surisingly, i didn't feel like the rav4h was any bigger inside than our hycam.

 

No - most SUVs or CUVs don't seem to be. I was astounded by the tiny boots and back seats of the Mazda CX3 and TOYOTA C-HR - expecting them to be super practical. Then when I looked at PRIUS, there was a 2015 RAVE4 beside it and, while higher, didn't seem to have as much advantage as I expected as far as room inside.

Pity TOYOTA dropped the Camry Wagon, one of the best cars they've ever made.

The only reason I'd be going for a RAV or similar is the driving position, more upright. I loved my VW Microbuses, you sat upright and your arms were lower than your upper body, so comfortable. I recently drove a friend's MX5/Miata - and while it gave me a buzz, the low driving position, with hands up in to the steering wheel left me thinking - "I'm too old for this" with it stressing my shoulders and neck particularly.

A hybrid (or EV) conversion on one of these would be good - but ... they're worth a fortune now - this is my 1974 microbus, but the older split screens, while terrible to drive with swing-axle rear are up to $¼ million ($235k for a Samba at auction):

 

i've seen them go for big bucks at auction here. my bil had several before children and still bemoans selling them.

 

Yep - that was a '74 with 4sp Manual, 1800cc 8 seater - I sold it with less than 70,000km, near perfect condition. Today, in that condition would be over $100,000. 2nd one was a '77 2 litre, had a lovely ZF 3 speed auto, one of the sweetest shifting autos I've known - and an A/C!! - with a big YORK compressor which you could feel switch in and out - sold with about 185,000km.

 

they didn't make a hybrid until now. they are just filtering out. you can't test drive, there are none on the lot.

you have to put down $500. and when it comes in you can test drive it. if you don't want it, you get your money back and they'll sell it to someone else.

 

They did indeed make a Rav4 hybrid in the previous generation, beginning with the mid-cycle refresh. MPG, especially highway, was disappointing. This new gen Hybrid is indeed turning out to be very popular and not only for the improved fuel efficiency. It's more powerful, quieter and drives better. I think demand is beating Toyota's expectations.

 

The engine noise complaint is with the gas version. Front seat issue is with the passenger seat which doesn't have a height adjustment and is not powered even in the top of the line. Fortunately we both fit OK.

After 2000 miles, we are averaging about 40 mpg and that's with it being my wife's daily driver and her not focusing on mpg. I can easily get 42 with careful driving.

Here is a link to my review and subsequent discussion: 2019 Rav4 Hybrid review with periodic updates | PriusChat

 

thanks guys, i had no idea.

new version is very quiet and smooth.

 

We call our Highlander "the beast" and my Prius the "go-cart". Good compromise would be the RAV 4 Hybrid.
Seats for the driver are better in the Prius and the Highlander gives me a pain in the butt on long trips.
However, on death row " interstate 4 ", the Highlander makes you feel 1000% safer as well as a nice vehicle to drive on the interstate.
Prius has more advanced safety features at slow speeds which I need.
Power button on the Highlander is dangerous if you drive several Toyota platforms. Pushing it gives you a false sense of security that the car is off. Cannot believe the power buttons on all Toyota products are not the same in functionality or that the slow speed Prius safety features are not on all Toyota products. Auto stop backing up has been around since at least the early 90s.

BTW/everyone that drives my Highlander makes the same mistake with the power button if they have driven any car like a Prius.​

 

How do you find the RAV4 driver's seat compared with PRIUS? Are his cloth, leather or SOFTEX?