Newbie Would Like Another Rav

[Stubod]

Hi anybody,

Last year we bought an "old" (1998) rav 4 to use of winter. (typically not much snow), this year however it has come into its own, and is generally a great car to drive, although being 2 litre, old, petrol, and automatic, the mpg is not much to write home about. Originally I was going to change our main car (Octavia) for another Octavia, but have been so impressed with the RAV thought I may "upgrade" to a newer one (can't afford new).

Does anybody have an opinion on which model I should look for?. sorry if its a bit of an open ended question, but would not want much over 40k miles, and under 5 years old, petrol (with LPG?....is this possible / worthwhile), or just go for a diesel?

Also best place to buy? We live in Wales, and there does not seem to be much of a choice....

Any input welcome....

Thanks

[grasshopper]

My Rav4 3 2.0 petrol does 31 mpg so not that economical tbh, and it's underpowered. It's suits my needs as it's my wife's car and she only pootles around North Wales anyway. If it was a daily driver needing to do a lot of miles then defo the diesel for the torque and remapping ability. But...the justification has to be that you do a lot of miles for the DPF to regen - otherwise waste of time going the diesel route, plus the added fuel costs.

And AFAIK the Rav4 3 petrol engine is the same engine as the Rav4 2 so looks as if Toyota were really lazy in that area.

But otherwise it's great - drives really nice, and dare I say it - holds the road better than a Ford Puma as I found out last month - it wallowed all over the shop and made me feel sick driving it.

[Merseyshark]

run out models of the 4.2 generation (2005 ??) would be my choice.

You get a good looking car, proper spare wheel, good looks and pre-problem diesels available.

[Stubod]

Hi both and thanks for the replies......any info on "pre-problem diesels...??....should I be worried...?..I thought toyopta diesels were OK, but to be fair I have only just started looking for one....mind you we probably only do 12k miles a year now..

[anchorman]

Welcome to the club Stu........

.......somebody tell him.

[CharlieFarlie]

Hi both and thanks for the replies......any info on "pre-problem diesels...??....should I be worried...?..I thought toyopta diesels were OK, but to be fair I have only just started looking for one....mind you we probably only do 12k miles a year now..

You may find a read through this thread informative... Or not as the case may be..

http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=132178#entry1175067

[grasshopper]

Diesel for 12k a year nah, not worth the investment to pay extra for a diesel. One thing I want to add is the petrol version warms up in minutes and I mean minutes - say 3-4, whereas my daily driver 9-3 diesel takes at least 10-15 minutes to get warm inside!

[Stubod]

...££"!"££$%^(**%^......gutted.....another myth destroyed....another car of my wish list........Saab / Skoda / now RAV diesel...think I will go back to a Subaru..!

..however many thanks for the heads up.....is the "post 2008" diesel any better?

[anchorman]

The later they get the better they get and by 2008 the problems were invariably sorted. Many of the early ones have had new engines. The post 2009 models with the 150 engines are superb. That doesn't mean that you can't find earlier models which are very good buys.

[CharlieFarlie]

The later they get the better they get and by 2008 the problems were invariably sorted. Many of the early ones have had new engines. The post 2009 models with the 150 engines are superb. That doesn't mean that you can't find earlier models which are very good buys.

Ditto............