Thinking of adding one of these to the garage. Wife and I prob drive 20k miles a year each, and fuel costs are getting high up here in Canada. I have looked at straight EV and hybrid, and want awd, so this seems to be best choice for the price range/size/awd. I also thought of a bolt/prius, but smaller size/no awd soured that. I'll be honest, I have not followed EV stuff much, so don't know the history on any of them. Any real world thoughts ? Any other small suv I should also be looking at?
2019-20 Rav4 hybrid....any good?
- Thread starter TeamZero
- Start date
We have a 2019 RAV4 Hybrid Limited. One of the best cars I've owned. Going on 2 years of owning it. Zero problems, great fuel economy. Very good, smooth power. The "CVT" is invisible, works as intended. On a drive cycle last year, I was in the 4 liter per 100 km area. Wifey, who drives the car daily, pays zero attention to fuel efficient driving is in the 6s on mixed driving.
I have 2 mods, replaced the standard fog lights with LED OE fog lights, about $180 on eBay. A relatively simple 30 minute swap.
Also changed the "meep meep" horn to dual Hellas. About $26 from Amazon. 15 minute job to change them.
I change my own oil, I get the 1 liter 0W-16 bottles from the dealer, very good price and very good oil. It takes 4.5 liters per change, save half a liter for the next oil change. I use the OE Toyota can filter. Because why not?
Hope this helps.
I have 2 mods, replaced the standard fog lights with LED OE fog lights, about $180 on eBay. A relatively simple 30 minute swap.
Also changed the "meep meep" horn to dual Hellas. About $26 from Amazon. 15 minute job to change them.
I change my own oil, I get the 1 liter 0W-16 bottles from the dealer, very good price and very good oil. It takes 4.5 liters per change, save half a liter for the next oil change. I use the OE Toyota can filter. Because why not?
Hope this helps.
Ya, but thats gonna be a higher price bracket.....
Thanks!! Very helpful. Gotta do some math, and see if this is gonna save any $$$. Nothing wrong with what we are driving, just looking to cut some cost.
We have a 2020 RAV4 Limited Hybrid. It is honestly the best car that we’ve ever owned. Currently averaging 43.6 MPG over the past 25K miles. We are currently on an extended 3 week road trip. We’ve done 1400 miles over the past three days and we feel fine, seats are comfy, audio is excellent, and the adaptive cruise and lane keep assist are phenomenal. Mileage does drop pretty good once you are cruising in the 90-100 MPH range.
My only complaint so far was the cheap soundproofing that Toyota did. I added $65 worth of Noico sound deadening into all five doors and it is very quiet now. It does still have pretty bad wind noise over 100, but most cars do.
My only complaint so far was the cheap soundproofing that Toyota did. I added $65 worth of Noico sound deadening into all five doors and it is very quiet now. It does still have pretty bad wind noise over 100, but most cars do.
There has been some problems with the fuel filler neck, sometimes one cannot fill the tank fully. And I was not impressed with its 4WD capabilities, on TFL channel they put it onto rollers and it was not very good I think. However Alex on Autos (a YouTube channel) rather liked it, and has a couple of videos on it, including one where he compares against the Camry hybrid.
I’ve been tempted to get one myself, seems like a decent all around vehicle.
I’ve been tempted to get one myself, seems like a decent all around vehicle.
A family member has one. I’ve driven it on a long trip from upstate NY to Southern NJ with a mix of highway and rural back roads. Although I was driving easily, it achieved fantastic mpg, I was almost surprised when I actually had to put gas in it. It drove quite well overall, handled well and the throttle response was acceptable. I know what hybrids do, how they sound and so on, the engine runs up in rpm up hills, and it was no exception, but it’s hidden well and completely ignore-able. I will say that did not like the lower end seats. I found them hard and not up to my standards of comfort. After a full day of driving, I was ready to get back into my F150.
The noise level was just a touch on the loud side, acceptable, but not in the same category as a luxury vehicle. I'm finding this to be common among modern Toyota cars/SUV's.
I generally do not like SUV’s, especially small ones. The Rav-4 hybrid is the only modern one I have ever liked, and that is because it is simply "good at everything" while still returning excellent MPG.
The noise level was just a touch on the loud side, acceptable, but not in the same category as a luxury vehicle. I'm finding this to be common among modern Toyota cars/SUV's.
I generally do not like SUV’s, especially small ones. The Rav-4 hybrid is the only modern one I have ever liked, and that is because it is simply "good at everything" while still returning excellent MPG.
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The Prius can be had with awd but loses the spare tire. I like the RAV4 hybrid the price isn’t bad and the new ones have gone back to Nimh batteries according to their website. I don’t think a full EV would work well in a cold winter climate driving those miles.
If you are talking about the RAV4 Prime that is a different story. The battery will go pretty fast and require daily charging, but it will definitely boost the mpg if you can charge often. The electricity cost if not free makes up for gas cost though. If there is a plug in at work that’s where people make out well.
If you are talking about the RAV4 Prime that is a different story. The battery will go pretty fast and require daily charging, but it will definitely boost the mpg if you can charge often. The electricity cost if not free makes up for gas cost though. If there is a plug in at work that’s where people make out well.
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Ya was going to go that way, but no awd unfortunately
Thanks, but No kia/Hyundai for this guy....waaaaay to many engine issues. I have a couple of buddies that are dealer techs, and all they do is sling engines.
Wait, what? What year and models come with awd?? I was not aware of this. Unfortunately I have not followed any ev/hybrid vehicles much at all.
What year did the prime start? Looks like just 2021?
Just completed a straight shot from Sioux Falls, SD to Rapid City, SD (about 350 miles) with my 2020 RAV4 Hybrid. I had the cruise set to 95 MPH and I averaged 26.9 MPG. Not to shabby considering the strong headwinds from the West. I did a couple of power pulls up to 112 MPH just to see how she’d perform; the car is very stable over 100 and had plenty of power even up at its top end. If it weren’t governed, it would easily go beyond 112.
I guess it's in it's first year. It looks like the 2021. I have a plug in and since I drive pretty much in it's range I buy nearly no gas. I spend time getting free charging too, usually every other day. I drive very little though. Actually I feel better not bothering with all that and would be happy with an efficient gas regular hybrid, or even all gas. One thng I really like is being able to move the car around in the driveway etc or a short trip and not have an engine running through a warm up cycle then shutting it off cold. I don't save enough money to bother with it, people who drive more get more of the benefits. The silent driving around town and very easy acceleration are nice too.
Current model, not sure when it started.
Picked up 2021 Prius Technology/Advanced/AWD-e today
