Overview & Reviews

New fabric debuts on the two-door RAV, and a sunroof is finally available on the four-door. Improvements have also been made by using sound-deadening material in the dash area, reducing engine noise in the passenger compartment.

User Reviews:

Showing 1 through 10 of 37.00

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  problems...problems - 1997 Toyota RAV4
  By jacobmarley - October 14 - 10:00 am

  overall this has been a great little around town car, though is the past 6 months we have had to re-build the automatic transmission, (very expensive) and replace the front struts (also expensive and hard to find). we have had the car back to the shop 3 times to stop leaks or turn off engine dash light, after the re-build. would not buy another automatic, but would consider a stick shift.

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  UNDER POWERED BIG TIME - 1997 Toyota RAV4
  By stargazer32 - April 7 - 2:00 am

  This SUV has been reliable the gas milage varies 21-25 avg. It is very noisy when the engines revs high going up hills the trans works hard with many down shifts as the engine comes within a 100 RPMs of redline, very under powered.

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  Rav4 - 1997 Toyota RAV4
  By ndrav - June 13 - 10:00 am

  The rav tends to be a ok car for what you pay for. Very loud on the road and has developed a lot of sqeakes and rattles. Underpowered and anemic when trying to pass. Gas mileage varys between 18 to 25. Car has a tendency to eat windshilds 1 per 15k miles avg. Mechanical reliablility has not been particularly good averageing between 1500 and 2k dollars a year in maint. Car currently has 170k miles on it and it will not be makeing 200k without a major engine overhaul. Decent offroad capability and hard to beat on snow and ice.

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  1997 Toyota Rav4 (auto 2.0l 4dr) - 1997 Toyota RAV4
  By panowak2 - August 28 - 8:22 pm

  I owned this 6yr. old / 57000mi. Rav4 for 5 years, used it for USPS duty for 2 years. It had decent engine performance, but got worse in higher gears. Overall seating package was not very good, with awkward rear access coupled with poor thigh support made it uncomfortable for taller peoples. Gas mileage was fairly poor at about 22 mpg. overall; never got above 24 mpg. Traction on ice and snow was bad as can be for 4wd. Rear trunk room was good, as was overall reliability and materials quality. Engine and transmission usually were flawless. Almost no body rust at 11 yrs. old. Tire wear was a bit excessive over time, and getting tires for it was very expensive.