Does Anyone Have A Rav 4.4 Petrol?

[dwilson]

Does anyone have a RAV 4.4 petrol or driven one?

I am very happy with our petrol RAV but at some point will want/need to upgrade. It will probably be to a 4.4 and I would like an automatic. I have owned 2 automatics before: a Subaru Legacy SpecB which I really liked and a 1.5 Gen2 Prius that I didn't. We do low mileage and I like petrol engines so I thought the 4.4 petrol would be good but I see it has a CVT and I may not like that. So had anyone driven one?

I am wondering whether a diesel automatic would be better, even though I like petrol!

Thanks,

David

[firemac]

Does anyone have a RAV 4.4 petrol or driven one?

I am very happy with our petrol RAV but at some point will want/need to upgrade. It will probably be to a 4.4 and I would like an automatic. I have owned 2 automatics before: a Subaru Legacy SpecB which I really liked and a 1.5 Gen2 Prius that I didn't. We do low mileage and I like petrol engines so I thought the 4.4 petrol would be good but I see it has a CVT and I may not like that. So had anyone driven one?

I am wondering whether a diesel automatic would be better, even though I like petrol!

Thanks,

David

This might not help, David. Before I bought the D-CAT 4.3 auto, I test drove a 4.3 petrol auto (11-reg) although I didn't expect to like it as it has a CVT rather than a trad torque converter auto.

To be honest, I couldn't notice any difference compared to our then 4.2 petrol auto (which of course had one of the nicest TC autoboxes ever).

You would be well-advised to get a test drive (or two) in a petrol auto 4.3 and make up your own mind.

[dwilson]

Does anyone have a RAV 4.4 petrol or driven one?

I am very happy with our petrol RAV but at some point will want/need to upgrade. It will probably be to a 4.4 and I would like an automatic. I have owned 2 automatics before: a Subaru Legacy SpecB which I really liked and a 1.5 Gen2 Prius that I didn't. We do low mileage and I like petrol engines so I thought the 4.4 petrol would be good but I see it has a CVT and I may not like that. So had anyone driven one?

I am wondering whether a diesel automatic would be better, even though I like petrol!

Thanks,

David

This might not help, David. Before I bought the D-CAT 4.3 auto, I test drove a 4.3 petrol auto (11-reg) although I didn't expect to like it as it has a CVT rather than a trad torque converter auto.

To be honest, I couldn't notice any difference compared to our then 4.2 petrol auto (which of course had one of the nicest TC autoboxes ever).

You would be well-advised to get a test drive (or two) in a petrol auto 4.3 and make up your own mind.

Thanks that does help - especially that you didn't notice any difference. I know having a test drive is the sensible thing but I don't think there are many around and I tend to buy after a test drive which I am not ready for yet.

I am hoping that someone might have driven a 4.4 petrol on this forum but if they haven't that is also interesting.

My wife likes the high up driving position of the RAV and I like the overall package including servicing costs of Toyota. I ponder other makes but for me the RAV is a great car.

David

[silly sausage]

Hi David, 4.4 petrols appear to be a rare thing indeed, there are currently circa 190 registered. If a petrol suits your lifestyle then all well and good, my only concern would be the potential depreciation when the masses tend to want diesels.

[dwilson]

Hi David, 4.4 petrols appear to be a rare thing indeed, there are currently circa 190 registered. If a petrol suits your lifestyle then all well and good, my only concern would be the potential depreciation when the masses tend to want diesels.

Only about 190 registered sounds very small; any idea how many 4.4 diesels are registered? I would probably buy one that is a year or two old (in the future) so massive initial depreciation and few people chasing the same car would be to my benefit. I would like the useable and large torque from a diesel but we do so few miles that I think we could have problems running a diesel.

David

[philip42h]

You can look-up this sort of info on How Many Left which suggests that in Diesel (D4D) there are 6 Active, 1,473 Icon and 1,367 Invincible making 2,846 in all.

[And that there are now 670 SR180s left on the road out of a total of 689]

Tripo corrected - sorry BK :)

[Big Kev]

That wee last bit goes under the title of "a bum sum", Philippe.

Witheld...

[dwilson]

You can look-up this sort of info on How Many Left which suggests that in Diesel (D4D) there are 6 Active, 1,473 Icon and 1,367 Invincible making 2,846 in all.

[And that there are now 670 SR180s left on the road out of a total of 689]

Tripo corrected - sorry BK :)

Many thanks, Philip, that's a great link and useful information. David

[CharlieFarlie]

I once bought the wife an Audi A4 3.0 Sline convertible that had a CVT gearbox and if Im honest we did not realise it was a CVT until we were told this by an Audi technician .. There were at that time horror stories about CVT failures on those cars but this was only when they were not oil changed often like the service schedule demanded..

The box on that car was fabulous and like Jim above we could not tell the difference. But if I'm honest I would avoid those CVT type transmissions as 90% of auto gearbox problems are related to the CVT boxes..

[dwilson]

I once bought the wife an Audi A4 3.0 Sline convertible that had a CVT gearbox and if Im honest we did not realise it was a CVT until we were told this by an Audi technician .. There were at that time horror stories about CVT failures on those cars but this was only when they were not oil changed often like the service schedule demanded..

The box on that car was fabulous and like Jim above we could not tell the difference. But if I'm honest I would avoid those CVT type transmissions as 90% of auto gearbox problems are related to the CVT boxes..

Nice looking Audi! I will bear what you say in mind - I don't want trouble with the auto transmission.

David

[ChrisJohn]

To answer the original poster, I have only just spotted this thread but yes, I have a new Petrol RAV 4. It is my second having been made an offer that I couldn't refuse by my Toyota dealer to trade in my previous 2.0 XT-R. As you will be aware the petrol only comes in one spec - 2.0 AWD Icon with CVT.

I am now nearly 70 years of age and converted to automatics whilst still working when I was fortunate enough to have had some very fancy company cars and I realised how more relaxed driving could be in urban areas with a good automatic. Since then I have only bought automatics of one variety or another. I had a brief flirtation with a diesel auto Qashqai before dpf problems made me switch back to petrol.

Don't be put off the petrol version of the RAV 4 because it doesn't sell as many as the diesel variants. The price I got for my previous one belies the poor depreciation suggestion. It is surprisingly quick and very smooth. You can drive it like a manual with the paddle shift or leave it to do its own thing in Eco, Sports or standard settings. In my previous RAV, I averaged 33.1mpg over 20,000 miles. In the new one I haven't made the first thousand yet but cumulative so far is 36.7 (odo and full tank, not computer reading). Unless you do a lot of commuting and drive over 10,000 miles a year I don't think diesels make financial sense any more.

[dwilson]

Thank you Chris - that is exactly what I was hoping to hear!

I think my perfect car would be the Icon with leather seats as an extra but as I will probably be buying used I will be happy enough without the leather. I have recently taken early retirement so I am not sure what my annual mileage will be but it will definitely be low so I am sure a petrol version will be the most likely to be trouble free. Our current RAV still has plenty of life left in it so I probably will have to wait a while! A lot of people are saying they got a very good deal on a new RAV so maybe I should enquire but I think that could be a dangerous move!

Thanks again for replying.

David

[pmb]

Thanks from me also. I'm looking to change to another petrol and the auto put me off. I'm mid 50's and basically retired. I keep thinking about a Tiquan, then a Q3 and more recently a Kia Sportage (in KX-2 trim with the manual box and it comes with a full size spare) I think it could be time for some test drives. That personal 13 plate I bought last december really needs to be on a vehicle. Insurance group seems very high though compared to the others.

[ChrisJohn]

I had a short list of cars to compare but petrol and an automatic, ideally CVT because of the better efficiency was a "must". It eventually came down to a straight choice between a CRV and the RAV4. They are similar in many respects but the RAV won because the deal I got from Toyota was head and shoulders better than the Honda (from whom I had just bought a Jazz for my wife). The Honda dealer insisted that they didn't need to offer a 5 year warranty but they want to charge you £850 to extend to 5 years.

As for insurance, the group can be misleading. I am getting fully comp with legal cover and protected NCD for not much over £200.

If you go for the RAV, watch out as far as the spare is concerned. Some cars are arriving with a spacesaver spare and some (including mine) still with the "can of goo". My dealer did a swap with his demo so I got a spacesaver wheel plus jack and tools instead of the repair kit.

[dwilson]

I had a short list of cars to compare but petrol and an automatic, ideally CVT because of the better efficiency was a "must". It eventually came down to a straight choice between a CRV and the RAV4. They are similar in many respects but the RAV won because the deal I got from Toyota was head and shoulders better than the Honda (from whom I had just bought a Jazz for my wife). The Honda dealer insisted that they didn't need to offer a 5 year warranty but they want to charge you £850 to extend to 5 years.

As for insurance, the group can be misleading. I am getting fully comp with legal cover and protected NCD for not much over £200.

If you go for the RAV, watch out as far as the spare is concerned. Some cars are arriving with a spacesaver spare and some (including mine) still with the "can of goo". My dealer did a swap with his demo so I got a spacesaver wheel plus jack and tools instead of the repair kit.

My sister in law had a petrol Honda CRV and found it underpowered so traded in for a diesel version. My brother in law had a diesel CRV but didn't like it and traded it in quite quickly. An ex-colleague of mine had a diesel CRV and bought it in preference to the 4.3 RAV and was very pleased with it. Personally I just prefer the look of the RAV.

I have found which insurance company is used is the biggest factor for our present RAV although my little Aygo will always be cheaper!

With the CVT gearbox in the 4.4 does the engine speed increase with the revs when accelerating hard, like in a manual or auto with a torque convertor? In the Prius there was a considerable lag but that was not a true CVT.

David

[bothwell_buyer]

Petrol fuelled 5 door RAVs ? Well, I suppose its a good compromise and doesn't suffer from a oil-burner lump.

If you look at the posts on this forum, most of which are asking questions and help about diesel powered RAVs, you will realise that only the fool-hardy buy diesel Diesels suffer from a myriad of faults that only a diesel could have, from what I have read.

Diesel turbo faults; engine going into limp mode; and a host of other faults, then when questionned the owners try very hard to argue their choice of engine was best despite all the faults. How many questions about the petrol engine versions do you see on this forum? Do you read much about a diesel RAV lasting 19 years ? No. Cos they've been scrapped by that time

If you are intelligent enough to have chosen petrol, then go for it.

Gearboxes? I have one which is 19 years old and been thrashed to almost destruction but still working as new. Then another which has just had its 4th box fitted. Auto-boxes? I guess these will be much the same. Just look after them. I had 2 auto Previas and never any problems with the autobox. The engines were a pig richt enuf.

[dwilson]

Petrol fuelled 5 door RAVs ? Well, I suppose its a good compromise and doesn't suffer from a oil-burner lump.

If you look at the posts on this forum, most of which are asking questions and help about diesel powered RAVs, you will realise that only the fool-hardy buy diesel Diesels suffer from a myriad of faults that only a diesel could have, from what I have read.

Diesel turbo faults; engine going into limp mode; and a host of other faults, then when questionned the owners try very hard to argue their choice of engine was best despite all the faults. How many questions about the petrol engine versions do you see on this forum? Do you read much about a diesel RAV lasting 19 years ? No. Cos they've been scrapped by that time

If you are intelligent enough to have chosen petrol, then go for it.

Gearboxes? I have one which is 19 years old and been thrashed to almost destruction but still working as new. Then another which has just had its 4th box fitted. Auto-boxes? I guess these will be much the same. Just look after them. I had 2 auto Previas and never any problems with the autobox. The engines were a pig richt enuf.

Interesting you should mention the Previa. I did have a diesel version and didn't like it that much so traded it in for a Landcruiser that I traded for a RAV: all of them diesels and all manuals. I think if they had been automatics I would have liked them much more but it was only when my brother in law sold his Subaru Legacy Spec B that I experienced a petrol automatic.

Our current petrol RAV is going well and my wife loves it so I haven't an excuse/reason to trade it in yet but when I do I fancy a RAV 4.4 petrol - even if most people are going for the torquey diesel.

David

[ChrisJohn]

If I wanted to use my RAV for towing, say a caravan, then I would have probably have chosen a diesel but it is my experience that the CVT petrol version is more than adequate in terms of torque and acceleration for what I want the car for. My advice would be to test both before jumping to any conclusions.

The argument for and against diesels will go on and on. I believe that one has to look very carefully at how you are going to use the vehicle before deciding. There is an element of fashion as well as some clever marketing. The actual statistics vary dramatically country to country across the world. Fiscal policy also has an effect with some governments using taxation to influence the choice. When I tested the CR-V petrol the sales rep said that their sales were virtually 50/50 petrol to diesel which surprised me. Petrol engines are cheaper to build and buy and potentially require less maintenance. It takes quite a while to recover the premium price on a diesel by fuel consumption savings if your annual mileage, like mine, is quite low. I won't start on the DPF issue, that's another story altogether!

In answer to an earlier post about the way the CVT feels it feels almost as if you were driving a manual but are able to change gear instantly and very smoothly. I am old enough to remember the early DAF automatics that were literally rubber band driven CVT autos. Things have moved on a bit since then. I have had conventional torque convertor auto boxes in Mercedes, Jaguars and Subaru and CVT boxes on our current Jazz as well as on the RAV 4.3 and now 4.4. Given a choice I would choose the CVT for smoothness and flexibility any day as well as for the better economy (less efficiency losses than a conventional auto box). In theory one should never feel the ratio change but I suspect the manufacturers put in some form of stepped pulley positions to make them feel more like a conventional gear box.

[Plutus]

The petrol auto is 2k cheaper than the equivalent diesel.

If you are buying a new or nearly new Rav you have 5 years of warranty, presumably you will keep it at least 5'years.

After 5 years will there be much difference in residual value?

[ChrisJohn]

Forecasting residual value 5 years hence is a black art that I wouldn't attempt hence I don't really consider it when I buy. I tend to consider all the factors about what I need to spend now and how I am going to use the car rather than worry too much about what it might be worth when I come to sell it. If I was a fleet buyer it would be different but in my mind I tend to write the whole lot off when I buy it.