Buying a 17yo/100kmiles Toyota RAV4 : petrol VS diesel

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Superflan

Superflan

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Reunion Island
Hi,

Following our issues with Mitsubishi, we're in a market for a used offroader/softroader, on a budget of €6000, excl. registration fees. To say, if we need good AT tires to be fitted after buying, the car needs to be actually cheaper.

In the process of looking at some 4wd and auto trans used cars fitting in that budget, basically there was this 115kmiles Freelander TD4, a bunch of 80kmiles Hyundai Tucson (mostly petrol V6), and a neat Jeep Cherokee KJ but the vendor went AWOL.

Days are counting and wife (who will mainly drive the car) stumbled upon these 2 3-door RAV4, manual transmission, 100kmiles, same gen, one petrol, the other diesel. She actually loves the shape of that car and wanted to own one 3 cars earlier. So now is the chance to.

RAV4 4WD 2 litre 1AZ-FE, MY2000, €3800

RAV4 4WD 2 litre D4D 1CD-FTV, MY2002, €4000

I'm leaning toward the petrol version, for reliability reasons, but I'm afraid of the fuel mileage it would get in this severe duty. And I'm afraid the 1st gear of the manual gearbox to be too "long" to actually take off without playing that much with clutch for leaving home (a 40 degrees, 50 meters slope that I struggle to climb with most sub-2 liters FWD cars, burning clutch or rubber, or loading 100% the engine).

The D4D engine should be more economical in the long run (talking of nothing lower than 20kmiles a year), and most modern diesel cars are well capable of taking off the slope easily, but I'm afraid those high tech Diesel engines could fail anytime and cost a fortune (turbo, injectors, bottom end). Those cars have no real maintenance records on-hand, as usual with those aged used cars.

What's your take on it?
 
F150 supercrew 4x4? Or better yet, a Ford Raptor, as mama won't be able to break it easily)

(Just a joke,I know he lives on a small island)
 
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Originally Posted by Superflan
Hi,

RAV4 4WD 2 litre 1AZ-FE, MY2000, €3800

RAV4 4WD 2 litre D4D 1CD-FTV, MY2002, €4000

I'm leaning toward the petrol version, for reliability reasons, but I'm afraid of the fuel mileage it would get in this severe duty. And I'm afraid the 1st gear of the manual gearbox to be too "long" to actually take off without playing that much with clutch for leaving home (a 40 degrees, 50 meters slope that I struggle to climb with most sub-2 liters FWD cars, burning clutch or rubber, or loading 100% the engine).
The D4D engine should be more economical in the long run (talking of nothing lower than 20kmiles a year), and most modern diesel cars are well capable of taking off the slope easily, but I'm afraid those high tech Diesel engines could fail anytime and cost a fortune (turbo, injectors, bottom end). Those cars have no real maintenance records on-hand, as usual with those aged used cars. What's your take on it?


If properly maintained the diesel will give you a longer life albeit at a slightly higher maintenance cost, it will also give you higher torque for that hill that you mention. I don't know f the higher maintenance cost will be offset by the price of diesel vs Gas. Don't worry about the high tech diesel it's s much of a mess as a high tech gas, perhaps slightly less high tech
 
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On a serious note, there is something to be said for robust simplicity. The Toyota Camry vs. the Camry hybrid comes to mind. Both perform well, one is a whole lot more complex, and big ticket items can be expensive to repair.

As much as I'd like a high tech car or truck, I tend to pick something very conventional, even if efficiency suffers. My personal truck is the F150 with the V8.
 
Originally Posted by andyd
Are parts readily available along with mechanics for the diesel?

I'll be the mechanic. Parts are available, but an injector costs a lot compared to the petrol counterpart, and that diesel is a high-pressure common-rail direct injection. So, all parts related to the fuel line is really expensive. So goes the turbo (the petrol is atmo).

Originally Posted by hpb
2002 model wouldn't exactly be a "high tech" diesel, would it?

I consider all high-pressure common-rail « high-tech ». In europe, they became mainstream in year 2001.

Originally Posted by Pelican
If properly maintained the diesel will give you a longer life albeit at a slightly higher maintenance cost, it will also give you higher torque for that hill that you mention. I don't know f the higher maintenance cost will be offset by the price of diesel vs Gas. Don't worry about the high tech diesel it's s much of a mess as a high tech gas, perhaps slightly less high tech


Those are used cars with countless previous owners, thats why Im afraid of buying diesels.

Unleaded : €1.56/liter but decreasing slightly
Gasoil : €1.28/liter but increasing more

Thats a 20% difference. Generally those small atmo engines drinks more fuel that their diesel counterparts in real use, so lets include another 15%. Lets say 7 litres per 100km for the diesel engine, 30000km in one year. €2700.
Add 35% for petrol version: €3600. Still I think the petrol version puts less strain on drivetrain, tires, and 900/year could be the price of some peace of mind. But sure I can hear (and understand) that I could be wrong.
 
But on the other side, there's a Hyundai Tucson V6, 75000 miles, €5500, automatic transmission. I think it's a more reasonable choice if the car is in mint condition and timing belts have been replaced. Else I'll negotiate the price
 
Well I've seen the Tucson. It needs a good service, probably an ignition coil and leads, geometry, rear brakes set, 4 wheels, and a good interior cleaning. And airbag light is on.

I'm going to see the mint RAV4
 
Well the mint RAV4 vendor pretends to be flooded by calls and is slow to answer any inquiries. Going to see the blue one but the listing is false, it's 210000km and MY2000
 
Which one did you get - diesel or gas?

IMO, even though D4-D is more complex, Toyota's diesels are also used in the 3rd world with "dirty" high-sulfur diesel and lower quality oils. The biggest problem I can see is DPF loading, I dunno if Reunion gets their fuel shipped in from France or a country in mainland Africa supplies it.
 
Run away from D-4D 2.0 liters and ESPECIALLY 2.2 liter diesels.
2.0 liter will not bankrupt you (but brace yourself), but 2.2 liter has reliability of infamous Chrysler 2.7 V6 engines. If makes 100,000km it is achievement.
That is why Toyota now just gave BMW hands open what to send them their way when it comes to small diesels.
 
Originally Posted by nthach
Which one did you get - diesel or gas?

IMO, even though D4-D is more complex, Toyota's diesels are also used in the 3rd world with "dirty" high-sulfur diesel and lower quality oils. The biggest problem I can see is DPF loading, I dunno if Reunion gets their fuel shipped in from France or a country in mainland Africa supplies it.

Got the petrol one.

Fuel comes from Singapore, is low sulfur (<10ppm) and low benzin
 
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