Overview & Reviews

Originating in the latter half of the 1990s, the Toyota RAV4 was one of the first entries in the small crossover SUV market. Almost two decades later, today's RAV4 is considerably larger than that pint-sized original, but the core appeal of versatility, good fuel economy and favorable on-road manners are firmly intact.

The RAV4 has been very popular with consumers through the years, so there are going to be plenty to choose from if you're searching for a used model. The newest third- and fourth-generation RAV4s are the most family-friendly and come with the most features, but an older RAV4 should still appeal to young families and urban singles in search of a reliable compact crossover SUV.

Current Toyota RAV4
The Toyota RAV4 is offered in LE, XLE and Limited trim levels. All have a 2.5-liter four-cylinder that produces 176 horsepower and 172 pound-feet of torque. A six-speed automatic is standard and buyers can choose either front- or all-wheel drive. With an EPA-estimated 26 mpg in combined driving, the RAV4 is as fuel-efficient as its competitors.

Base LE standard feature highlights include air-conditioning, reclining second-row seats, a rearview camera, Bluetooth, a touchscreen interface and iPod/USB integration. The XLE adds alloy wheels, heated mirrors, a sunroof, dual-zone automatic climate control and sport front seats. The Limited features bigger wheels, a power liftgate, keyless ignition/entry, a power driver seat, heated front seats and faux leather upholstery.
Major options, depending on the trim level, include automatic high beams, blind-spot/lane-departure warning, Toyota's Entune smartphone integration system, a navigation system and premium audio.

In reviews, we've found that this RAV4 gets just about everything right. Its roomy cabin boasts more cargo room than most rivals and provides ample seating space for adults both front and rear. The overall interior design is modern looking, and the Entune system provides useful smartphone app integration, although the touchscreen's virtual buttons can sometimes be finicky to use. There's no engine upgrade available, but the RAV4's 2.5-liter four is refined and adequately powerful. Handling is secure, and the all-wheel-drive system adds further athleticism on curvy and slippery road surfaces. In the interest of comfort, we recommend the smaller wheel options, as the 18-inch wheels tend to have a rougher ride quality.

Used Toyota RAV4 Models
The current, fourth-generation RAV4 debuted for 2013. It maintained the typical RAV4 strengths of carlike driving manners, versatile cargo and passenger configurations and all-around comfort. It's about the same size as the previous generation, but has bolder styling, a more modern interior and some new features. It also has an easier-to-use, top-hinged liftgate instead of the previous swing-out gate, though the previously available third-row seat was discontinued. There have been no notable changes since its debut.

The previous Toyota RAV4 represented the third generation, which Toyota produced from 2006-'12. Compared to earlier models, these RAV4s were bigger and offered an available V6 engine and third-row seat.

In its inaugural third-generation year, two engine choices were offered. A 2.4-liter, four-cylinder engine delivered 166 hp and 165 lb-ft of torque, while a 3.5-liter V6 produced 269 hp and 246 lb-ft of torque. Automatic transmissions were standard, with the four-cylinder paired with a four-speed, while the V6 received a five-speed unit.

Three trim levels were also offered: base, Sport and Limited. Base feature highlights included air-conditioning, cruise control, a height-adjustable driver seat and full power accessories. The Sport added 18-inch alloy wheels, a sport-tuned suspension and a roof rack, while the Limited topped it off with 17-inch wheels, dual-zone automatic climate control, a power driver seat and an upgraded audio system. A third-row seat, a moonroof, leather upholstery and a DVD-based rear entertainment system were options on upper level trims.

We praised these models for their pleasant driving manners and convenient cargo space, but deducted points for the side-hinged rear gate and noticeable road noise. We also preferred the powerful V6 over the base four-cylinder engine that suffered with its outdated transmission and mediocre fuel economy.

Changes since its debut were minimal but included additional standard airbags in 2007, a slight styling update in 2009 (with an external spare-tire delete option) and a power increase for the four-cylinder engine (from 166 hp to 179 hp). A newly available touchscreen audio interface and Toyota's Entune smartphone apps were introduced for 2012.

The second-generation Toyota RAV4 (2001-'05) was larger than the original RAV4, with more expressive styling and innovative removable second-row seats that gave it truly impressive cargo-carrying capabilities. Early models had a 148-hp, 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine that came up short versus the larger four- and six-cylinder engines offered by competitors. Toyota addressed this to some extent in 2004 by replacing the 2.0-liter with a larger 2.4-liter four-cylinder good for 160 hp. Acceleration was markedly improved, and buyers could still choose a manual or automatic transmission. Overall, we found this RAV4 to be a fun-to-drive urban runabout thanks to its precise suspension tuning and high fuel economy ratings.

The first-generation Toyota RAV4 (1996-2000) was offered in two-door and four-door body styles, with a convertible version for a brief period. The first-gen RAV4 was appealing to young singles, but due to its narrow width and tight rear legroom, this cute ute was ultimately no substitute for a traditional family vehicle. Advantages included carlike handling, a low cargo floor and a large rear door that made loading cargo a breeze.

User Reviews:

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  A big NO to Toyota again - 2002 Toyota RAV4
  By Phyllis - December 27 - 12:50 pm

  The car is ok apart from the check engine light that keeps coming on. Had the ECM reprogrammed but so far nothing has changed. I wonder if Toyota still stands by their product if they cant take the responsibility of acknowledging their mistakes. I will never buy a Toyota car again.

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  RAVE 4 2007 TOO MANY RECALLS BURNS OIL LIKE CRAZY - 2007 Toyota RAV4
  By MARIA GARCIA - November 29 - 5:53 pm

  Don’t buy paid 35,000 for the limited 2007 . I dont even have 100 thousand miles and I have to add oil every month and it’s not leaking.

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  Cant go places with our new 2016 RAV4 - 2016 Toyota RAV4
  By Peter - August 26 - 10:47 am

  What had happen to Toyota? The quality is not there any longer... We own the car only for a month and had the whole headliner replaced as it was not correctly installed in the factory. Now the car makes whining sound and Toyota service is not very helpful to resolve the issue.

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  TOYOTA WARRANTY INFORMATION!! - 2016 Toyota RAV4
  By ConcernedConsumer - January 25 - 12:15 am

  Before you purchase a car, check to see if the company stands behind their product. Some companies do and some companies do not. According to my recent experience with Toyota, they definitely do not stand behind their product. Paint was chipping off immediately after purchase and it was determined to be a defective paint job by the factory. Google "Toyota paint peeling" and youll get tons of results. I called into their corporate customer service and they were immediately trying to deny that a warranty applied even without hearing which model car and year I had. (Person helping me was Angelina; case number 1606203521)

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  Rough Ride - 2009 Toyota RAV4
  By kim - November 22 - 5:23 am

  I hate this vehicle. The ride is so rough and the road noise is very loud. Toyota should be ashamed of this. I regret not buying a Chevy equinox. I will never buy Toyota again.

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  Beware before you buy - 2015 Toyota RAV4
  By Frank Cobb - February 20 - 7:42 am

  Bad paint, chips on hood, paint off door jam. No power. Big loss of money on resale value.

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  Worst 2015 Vehicle - 2016 Toyota RAV4
  By Frank Skelly - March 7 - 5:17 am

  My 2015 RAV4 is the 20th new car I have purchased and the worst one by far. The navigation screen is slanted so that for many hours in the morning, afternoon, and evening, it reflects sunlight directly into the drivers eyes blinding them. The center console arm rest moves forward when you brake and moves backward when you accelerate - I took it back to the dealer and they said it is working correctly - but I have never seen one move as freely as this one and I have probably driven over 100 autos with moveable console armrests. Also the armrest was leaking white grease down into the storage are below it and the dealer did nothing about it. I believe it was built with one or more of the stops that are supposed to be in the armrest to keep it from moving freely were left out during manufacture but the dealer - Fort Worth Toyota took no action to try to discover why it moves so freely. Also the speedometer reads about 4 mph high and when I took it back to Fort Worth Toyota, they overlaid a photo of a GPS speed over a laptop computer video of the speedometer and said it was accurate at 70 mph, but that is a bold faced lie. I have since talked to a number of other owners of RAV4s and they also have the inaccurate speedometers going all the way back to the 2008 RAV4. If the speedometer is reading high, it is probably also recording mileage driven as 4 miles high which probably helps them advertise that their vehicles get better gas mileage than the really do. The US justice department should look into this as this is another example of what Volkswagen did with their diesel engines. The width of the windshield supports on each side of the car and the way they are angled create very large blind spots making it hard to see coming vehicles when you are turning either right or left. The clock is angled up and is partially shielded from view by the navigation screen and is really small so it cant be seen most of the time. Also the display in the instrument panel where they show the temperature is extremely small and almost unusuable. To make a long story short, I will never buy another Toyota as this is the worst vehicle I have ever owned and I would encourage others to not buy Toyotas either as their maintenance department is terrible and will not attempt to try to fix problems with their cars.

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  Beware Im done with all Toyota products - 2002 Toyota RAV4
  By 2002Rav4Sucks - October 25 - 5:40 pm

  Dont buy Toyota. Read the reviews here. All of them. Some people even posted a good review before the on- board computer fried and then burn the transmission. Or before the engine burnt from the known oil sludge problem. Then wrote another bad review. I paid $14,000 used. Good deal private party with 40k miles. At 88k miles the engine blew-up from oil sludge. I didnt know about the "oil sludge recall" until after I had it rebuilt for $4,500. Then at about 97k miles the jerking shifting started. This is my daughters car so I took it in to my mechanic. He said on board computer $1300 and the transmission is cooked because of the computer problem. $5,600 for rebuild and new computer (contd

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  Great Disappointment - 2005 Toyota RAV4
  By Greyhater - February 27 - 9:00 am

  I used to think Toyota was a quality organization that was reponsive to customers. Unfortunately I could not have been more wrong. Buying this car was one of the worst mistakes of my life.

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  The smallest SUV in America - 2003 Toyota RAV4
  By Eddie Newlson - December 17 - 2:00 am

  I like the styling, I hate the performance, I like the small size (easy to park in tight spots), I hate the little towing power. The interior feels very small after sitting in my fathers LX470