Advice On Buying A Rav 4 D-4D Xt3

[Scoop2014]

Hi there,

I was wondering if anyone could offer some advice on buying a second hand Rav 4 2.0 D-4D XT3

Is that a good model, any problems i should look out for, its done 50k so relatively low, fairly good service history.

I guess mpg will be around 40. Many thanks for any advice offered, hoping it will do the trick for a dartmoor winter.

[gjnorthall]

Excellent model with good reliability. The car was face-lifted in 2003 - the later model has round lamps on the front bumper. The DMF (dual mass flywheel) is a known failure component on this model and may have been replaced already (some owners replace with a normal flywheel) - it's an expensive job. This model has a timing belt and based on mileage - it probably hasn't been replaced. However given the likely age of the car - it would be very wise to get the belt replaced before very long - unless of course there's evidence of this having been done already.

[atkiman]

Give it jolly good road test, accelerate from low revs and watch the rev counter, if it heads skywards rapidly then back to normal you'll have a dual mass flywheel change coming up, reckon on 1200 quid, find out if its only done short trips , if it has it'll need an egr valve clean out, drive it on a dual carriageway if you can at around 2500 rpm in 5th, then accelerate and if you have a slight vibration through the gearstick,5th gear will need changing eventually , they can suffer premature wear on 5th gear.

I know this sounds drastic on a 51k car, but I changed my bomb proof 138k mile 2.0 vvti a year ago for a 32k 55 plate xtr d4d and I have got all of the above.if you're not going to do mega miles find a 2.0 petrol with good service history, boomb proof,I do love the d4d xtr, but she can be a cruel mistress.we'll get there though