Rav4 Exhaust Sound?!

[Gilbobaggins]

Hi everyone,

Wondering if anyone can help me?

The other half and I have been saving hard all year and decided to treat ourselves to a Rav4. So we've been trawling the web for a few weeks and have found what we thought was the perfect car. The model is the VVTI-XT3 2006.

We've both taken the day off work today and travelled to meet the dealer with the motor. The guy was really nice and left us to check it over really thoroughly, we were very impressed. It was described as immaculate and it certainly was, it looked brand new and we both thought the build quality was excellent. In our minds the car was sold, just take it for a spin and then where do we sign?

But then we started the engine, and my initial thought was, whooah that's a bit raspy! Pulled off the forecourt and I thought I was back on my 125cc bike. The exhaust sounded terrible. Once up to speed it wasn't noticeable, but pulling away from junctions it was really loud.

Got back to the garage and the dealer admitted it didn't sound right but couldn't find anything amiss with the exhaust. I said straight up we loved the car but not sounding like that!! I had a quick look underneath and it was clear the mid section of the exhaust was new but the rear pipe was a little rusty.

Can anyone shed any light on what part of the exhaust may be causing this? Its a really loud tinny sound when pulling away. I've had a quick look through the forum and it appears the exhaust can be an issue on the Rav4.

Thanks in advance.

[pgp001]

Might be something very simple like a heat-shield rattling, a lot do it. Mine did till it eventually fell off

Phil

[ALake]

I've always thought my exhaust on my 2008 vvti rav seemed loud - especially when starting from cold. However 12 months later and it still sound the same!

It also gets a bit 'boomy' at about 3000rpm, but I think thats more a characteristic of the car.

[Madasafish]

The sound deadening can be blown out of the rear box.Or the baffles may have loosened.Or moved. Or rusted away.

It's most likely to be the rear box that causes the sound...

If the dealer can't find it - no obvious holes - I suggest that one of the above may be the cause.

Time to negotiate.. if you want the car. A dealer can replace it with an OE part cheaper than you can.

[Seth1]

Ours is the same....they are all like this, you get used to it!

[Gilbobaggins]

Cheers for the reply's.

You guys have said the same as the dealer, in that they can sound a bit like that. But then he did eventually say that it wasn't right and sounded like the exhaust was blowing.

Its frustrating, the car was mint apart from that issue and it seemed frustrating to walk away from a car for the sake of a new exhaust. But he made no moves to rectify the situation which surprised me and if I'm spending £7k I want it to be spot on.

[Worried2]

The heat shield sits above the mid section exhaust. Its held up by 4 nuts to bottom of car. Mine had rotted at fastening points and was sitting on exhaust making rattling noises. It was 4 nuts and 4 large penny washer job to fix myself, good as new. Need a good look underneath to see. Mine is a D-4d mind you could be different.

[gjnorthall]

The clue is that the car has a new centre box - there isn't a rear silencer worth talking about on this model. Few owners are fitting OE centre sections at around £1000 and are going for aftermarket units at less than 10% of the cost of OE. Some are better than others but all tend to be a bit throaty. Similarly depending on the set-up, stainless aftermarket units can sound sporty. It's easy to spot an aftermarket centre box - it will have a spigot joint just downstream of the cat - just glance under the car.

Apart from checking the mounts and heat shield - there probably isn't much you can do other than changing the centre box for another brand.

[Gilbobaggins]

Cheers for everyone's responses. Dealer rang a couple of days later to say they'd changed the mid box, so we went back up to have another look. Unfortunately it still just didn't sound right.

Luckily we managed to find another Rav just down the road at a main dealer. Took it for a drive and it was spot on, bought it there and then. Tidy.

[redlew]

Well done -the world is awash with used cars and it's never a good idea to buy something you aren't totally happy with.