An All-Time Great: Toyota RAV4 SUV Review – Features, Specs & Used Car Pricing
Toyota has always considered itself a pioneer and innovator on the automobile scene. Before the turn of the millennium, it issued the first batch of the RAV4 to meet a certain demand.
During this time, the younger generation was yearning for a car that would act as a transition from the mundane sedan to the exciting SUV. Enter the compact SUV.
Toyota
RAV4
Toyota did this to perfection with the RAV4, a cheap compact sports utility that offered decent mileage in urban areas but was also up to the task when faced with the rough terrain away from the city. Let’s take a look at what makes the Toyota RAV4 such a practical vehicle and worth the purchase.
RAV4 Interior and Comfort
As with many of the offerings from Toyota, the interior does not disappoint. The Japanese car maker focuses on the occupants of the car having as much comfort as possible. The seating is also geared to achieve this same goal, as you will see below.
In the hot African sun, being stuck in traffic is akin to baking slowly in the oven. The Toyota RAV4 has a dual zone climate control air conditioning system. This cools you down, ensuring that you avoid those embarrassing moments when your shirt gets stuck to your sweaty back while climbing out of the car.
Back seating area
The rear seats of this compact SUV are covered in plush cloth. The more advanced trims get leather upholstery, marrying comfort with elegance. There is enough space to avoid discomfort and cramping on long journeys.
Toyota incorporated 1,008mm of headroom and 973mm of legroom at the rear. Add this to the fact that the seat reclines for better posture and you are in for an excellent ride.
The rear row seat can also be folded along a 60/40 split to increase the 1,015 liters of cargo space to 2,074 liters.
Driver’s seating area
There’s enough space in the front. The RAV4 provides 1,037mm of headroom and 1,062mm of legroom.
The front seats are crafted to ensure that comfort is a given, especially to the driver. The driver’s seat also has power control to ensure precise adjustments to its position. Not only does this offer sitting comfort but it also adjusts the driver’s reach to the steering wheel.
The driver faces a well-designed dashboard and hub. The latter is aligned centrally, making it easy to reach all the vital buttons and knobs. It is also furnished with various metallic accents that add an elegant aesthetic to the cabin of the RAV4.
Toyota RAV4 Features and Drivability
The Toyota RAV4 offers a number of features that make it quite a success in its class.
Toyota offers only one kind of engine for the RAV4; a 2.4 liter engine with 4 cylinders attached to a direct overhead camshaft. The engine has proved reliable, offering plenty of power and torque for the environments it is driven in.
You can opt for the engine mated to a 5 speed manual transmission or a 4 speed automatic.
Practicality
A number of features on the RAV4 provide that user experience that a customer didn’t know they even needed.
For example, when traveling on the murram roads in Africa, the rear window always ends up covered in dust or mud. In order to see what’s behind you via the rear view mirror, the RAV4 has a rear intermittent wiper to clean up this window.
Toyota goes a step further to add mud guards behind each wheel so that this spray of mud doesn’t muck up the entire bodywork and other road users.
The 17 inch wheels are also handy in navigating this kind of terrain. Coupled with the car’s decent ground clearance, you can go off-road without worrying about causing so much damage to the undercarriage.
Drivability
The RAV4 has mastered the art of driving over both the bound and loose surface and any combination between.
Originally, this compact SUV was merely a front wheel drive car. However, it is now all wheel drive, sending power to whichever wheel needs it the most in any given driving situation.
The suspension of the wheels – both the front and back – is independent of each other, making this small SUV able to go over even the most uneven of terrain.
Toyota also offers an excellent cruise control system that comes in handy on especially long trips.
Safety and Pricing
Given the ubiquity of its products, Toyota takes the safety attributes of its offerings very seriously.
Safety
In the event of a head-on collision, the RAV4 is equipped with airbags in the front to protect both the driver and the individual riding shotgun. Safety is further added by the three point seat belts. These are found both in the front and rear row.
The RAV4 is also well equipped to stop in time. It has anti-lock brakes that impede skidding. This braking system is bolstered by electronic brake force distribution to ensure that each wheel gets the right amount of braking force required to bring the car to a standstill.
RAV4 Used Car Price
There are plenty of great deals if you are looking for used Toyota RAV4. For model years running from 2000 to 2008, you can browse through the BE FORWARD catalog. Prices range from $1,400 to $10,000.
Overall Opinion
The Toyota RAV4 is an excellent example of merging the meekness of a 90s sedan with the outgoing qualities of an SUV. The result is a compact SUV that is the total package.
The RAV4 offers plenty of space in the cabin. This ensures that the driver and passengers are ensconced in comfort. The cargo hold also has plenty of space for luggage.
Performance-wise, the RAV4 does well in the city and urban limits. This, more often than not, belies its abilities when it is taken off the bound surface and thrown into the rough tumble of the African upcountry road.
The Japanese manufacturer also provides the safety features needed to ensure that the occupants of the car are alive and well in case of an accident.
All in all, the RAV4 is a very handy and capable car to have in your possessions.
