Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives RAV4 experience?

My wife just traded a 2010 Rav 4 in on a new one 2 days ago. Hers had 97000 miles on it and never needed a repair of any kind. They are a very solid vehicle. They are a small tall station wagon. I wouldn't take it in a very rough spot. She loves it.

If my wife is happy, I am happy. She loves the RAV4 and her first one was 2001 and had 198,000 miles on it when traded for a 2015. Not a speck of trouble.

Do you know what year the Honda CR-V went to a CVT? My wife's 2008 CR-V has 148k and is still running well. I do 10k oil changes with Mobil 1 5w-20 and add a 1/2 quart somewhere around the 6k mile mark. My major complaint would be the road noise. It has much more road noise than my 2011 Tundra with AT tires.

When it comes time to replace hers, another CR-V will certainly be in the running.

Timely thread. This is one of the vehicles my daughter has on her 'consider' list to replace her current vehicle.

With a lifetime powertrain warranty on a new one it would be hard not to buy it if it fit your needs.

Which has a lifetime powertrain warranty, the CRV or the RAV-4? Either way, I struggle to understand what that means. Does it require a dealer service record?

After seeing what my brother went thru with a CVT on a Nissan Rogue, there is no possible way I would consider any vehicle sporting that transmission.

The way the saleswoman explained it to me, as long as you own the vehicle and provide service meeting the manufactures' standards it has this warranty. She did say to keep receipts if doing your own maintenance.

But that is a salesperson talking, I saw nothing it writing.

My only experience with a CVT in a car was in a rental Nissan Altima in '09. I really cussed that thing. You could punch the pedal and the engine would rev way up but it wouldn't accelerate. All it did was make noise. It was very slow accelerating. We were trying to keep up with our SIL on a freeway and he just ran off and left us. We couldn't possibly keep up.

I have 2 versions of it at home. On is in my Polaris RZR. It works fairly well in that but of course we're not on a highway with it. The big problem is with compression braking. You have to keep the engine revved to a certain point or it will drop out of gear on downhills and you'll be freewheeling when you really don't want to be. You can't keep compression and brake at the same time. Luckily it has good disc brakes on all 4.
The other is the speed control on a 40 year old Shopsmith. The concept has been around a long time.

I don't know when they went to the CVT, but it really doesn't seem to be an issue. Certainly not for my wife anyway. She only knows how to drive one way, gas all the way down or brake all the way down. She has no complaints. Her "all time", city and highway gas mileage is right at 30mpg. It gets several better when I drive it, but I try not to bring that up too often. The new models ride better than the older ones, and there is a clear difference between the 2017 RAV and CRV we have. Honda made quite a bit of improvements in the 2017 models.

"It gets better when I drive it, but I try not to bring that up too often"

Funny chit right there! Our RAV tells us when there's a vehicle in the next lane, when to pull over for rest/coffee, when to gas up, etc.

My wife says she doesn't need 2 driving coaches and intends to drop me off @ the pound.

The wife has had an 05 since new. It has been great as a car, but has been the worst Toyota I've ever dealt with. 4-5 water pumps now, on its 3rd alternator, just a lot of little nickle and dime stuff, and is right at 120K. It is great in snow and ice.

We have an 09 V6 Limited. Love it. Wife would buy another without hesitation.

I'm thinking about one for the wife too. Like most vehicles these days it comes with too much sheit.

It sure was nice when you could hose out the backside after dumping a body and Quincy wouldn't be able to find a hair.

Ouch. I had the wp replaced in my Corolla at 200,000 just for maintenance/prevention. It's pushing 300,000 now.

I'm with Steelhead on all the extra "stuff". Simple is good. I do like cruise control though.

Does she let you drive it? That would explain alot

Our 99 that has had who knows how many owners is going strong (make that weak, it's pretty gutless) with ~220k on it. Putting in the new clutch was a major $$ but other than that I expect it to be easily good for another 100k.

Somebody has to make sure the e-brake works.

Add one to the alternator count as of last week.

I guess I am different, but I do not consider water pumps and alternators to be nickel and dime items.

Are those driven off a serpentine belt?

Is it tightened like a guitar string or something?

There has to be some issue with the design or this vehicle to be going through water pumps and alternators at that rate.

If Chris gets behind the wheel, that might explain the water pump and alternator failures