Which One

[toylexus]

Hello all

Im thinking about getting a rav 4, which year do you recommend? Which was bullet proof in every way. In currently driving a carina e petrol with 354000 on the clock and its 1993 so something like that is appreciated :P Any advice greatly appreciated

[Conrod]

A totally reliable RAV4 would be a petrol model with manual gearbox 2003-2005 model , in a XT-4, XT-5 or XT-R spec.

[firemac]

I'd second Conrod's advice. The vvt-i petrol engine is bulletproof; the only issues are the ones that you get with any modern car running an ECU, i.e. sensors in the exhaust, etc. fail occasionally. But if you use good quality, branded fuel, i.e. avoiding supermarket piddle, you can minimise that potential problem. There are more economical cars out there but what little you spend extra on fuel is more than made up for in reliability and low maintenance cost.

We've had 3 RAV 4.2s of this vintage and they have been brilliant although we've always gone for automatics. They are thirstier than the manuals but the engine/box combo is simply sublime - the best I've ever come across for reliability, performance & smoothness. If you're interested in an auto then just make sure that you go for the facelift (4.2.5), i.e. the one with round front foglamps and the front indicators incorporated in the top of the headlamp units. The earlier autos could suffer from an ECU problem which although simple to fix, is easier avoided if possible.

Overall the 4.2 has excellent build quality and, to my mind having owned 4.2s and a 4.3, is the nicest looking and most distinctive RAV that Toyota made.

[toylexus]

Thank you both for your replies. Advice taken and will start looking