Off To Look At This In The Morning. Advice Please ...

[Jpjsavage]

Hi Everyone,

I've had a couple of Toyotas in the past, including a celica and an iQ. Also had two Lexus LS400s. However, off to see this tomorrow for the Mrs:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201505253749481/sort/atcustom/model/rav4/seller-type/private_adverts/usedcars/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/maximum-mileage/up_to_25000_miles/radius/1500/postcode/cw113zb/page/1/channel/cars/make/toyota?logcode=p

Any comments please? Things to look out for? What is it worth?

Thanks in advance and I will let you know how I get on.

Cheers,

Jonathan

[FROSTYBALLS]

Saturday evenings can be a bit quiet on the forums, so you may not get many comments in time for the morning.

[Jpjsavage]

No worries. Any comments appreciated from those who are around. Thank you!

[ALake]

With that mileage, and that spec and in that colour and condition I think thats a nice find! Still worth trying to knock a few hundred quid off but it looks like a really nice cared for example!

[Jpjsavage]

The previous owner has sadly died. She had the car for most of the last 10 years and her daughter assures me it has been well looked after. I will do all the normal checks but is there anything specific with these that I need to be aware of?

[ALake]

There are others one here who know more about the autos but the usual checks to see it changes smoothly without any jerks etc. make sure it starts easily and no dodgy coloured smoke from the exhaust. Might be worth checking the age of the tyres as they might be originals and worth replacing even with plenty of tread left on them!

Check the oil and see if it's a nice golden colour, make sure it brakes straight and true without any pulling and maybe get a cheap online finance check done. I'm no expert. It they're the basic things I'd check.

[firemac]

This looks like it could be a genuine "find". We've had 3 of these vvt-i autos, an 02-reg 5-dr that we owned for 11 years and 90K miles, a 54-reg 3-dr that we ran for a couple of years and 30K miles and another 54-reg that we bought last Nov with 48K on the clock with one owner & FTSH.

The vvt-i engine & autobox combo is about the nicest drivetrain you'll find. It is a torque converter box and should be uber-smooth with seamless changes, no jolts or noises from the box or from the diffs. There are no real issues with this model; the only problem with the original 4.2 was a gearbox ECU glitch that could lead to a destroyed autobox but which was easily fixable with a £300 re-flash of the software. However this is a 4.2.5 facelift model and Toyota fixed the software in this one so that won't be a problem. Check that the overdrive works OK - the switch is on the driver's side of the gearlever and you'll feel it kicking in and out as you activate the switch plus the OD light on the dash should go on & off as you engage/disengage it. If it isn't working you will effectively have a 3-speed box rather than a 4-speed - the o/d is effectively top gear and there is no point in disengaging it (except when off-roading). The 4WD system on this car is one of the very best and will comfortably out-perform many of the so-called "best" 4x4's.

The 4WD system is very robust. It is permanent 4WD (as opposed to the "intelligent" system in the later 4.3 which is FWD until it detects the need for drive to the rear). The beauty of the older system is that it is very reliable and has no clever electronics that could go wrong (not that they do in my experience).

Check the serpentine belt (the very long fan belt) which drives the alternator, water pump, air con, etc. and requires the car to be recovered if it breaks - you won't find one in Halfords but will need to get it from Mr.T. They cost about £70, as far as I recall, and we only had one break on our 02 car - at about 9yrs old and 80K miles, so they're pretty robust. Nevertheless, as a result of that breakage, I've had the belt renewed on any RAV since as a matter of course. You can see the belt if you look down at the pulleys on the OS of the engine bay. If you can feel or see ridges running lengthways on it then that is an indication of wear and a reasonable warning to replace it. When replacing it, replace the water pump as well; it's not terribly expensive and it's more economical to do it now even though the pump itself isn't a particular problem. However if it should, in time, fail then replacement involves removing & refitting the belt hence the recommendation to renew the pump with a new belt.

Regarding the water pump itself, they are known to weep slightly after a few years (ours have nearly all been noted at evry service by Mr.T as needing potential replacement) but they go on forever like that and it isn't significant enough to require any top-ups of coolant, it just seems to be a "soggy" bearing/seal.

The Battery on the petrol car is on the small side and some owners have replaced it with the larger diesel's Battery. Nevertheless, as long as the standard Battery is a good brand - Toyota's own or Yuasa, say - it should be fine. Our 02 car's original battery lasted 9.5 years and I only changed it out of a fear that it might not do another Arctic-style winter. They may be small but I've not come across one failing outright due to size.

The bodywork should be totally rust-free - the RAV does not suffer from tin worm unless it's been badly repaired following an accident or has been used over a period of time near salt water, e.g. launching/recovering boats or jet skis. Check the alloy wheels though as the Japanese alloys tend to corrode with the consequent risk of porosity and deflation. They aren't all like that but many are. We've had to have the wheels on our first two refurbed at a cost of about £50-£60 each but those on our current 4.2 are fine.

Of course you should check all the usual things like oil levels (engine, g/box, diffs, etc), brake fluid, coolant. The g/box dipstick is in the NS front corner of the engine bay with a clipped-on cap; it should be checked warm but especially note that the oil doesn't smell burnt. The g/box oil is not a routine service item so it's pretty robust stuff. Some owners have had it drained/replaced whilst others warn against draining due to the risk of dislodging sediment that could cause blockages in oilways. We've never had it changed on any of ours, including the original car which we ran for 11 years. When checking under the car for any leaks etc. be aware that there will be an apparent leak from the centreline of the car just behind the engine - this isn't a "leak" but the normal discharge of water from the air-con condenser after you switch the engine off. Re the air-con, it should be perfect; turn it down to max cold and it should blow cold air in the cabin very quickly. If it doesn't then it may need to be re-charged. Our 11-yr old car's air-con was as good when we sold it as the day it was new.

If it has a service history, that's a bonus, moreso if it is a Toyota history. The XT5 has some additional toys like climate control (as opposed to normal air-con), sat nav, cruise control, elec sunroof and you should check that these all work OK - they should be perfect in a car of this mileage especially as Toyota's build quality is first-class.

The car should drive really smoothly and be reasonably quiet although the 4.2 isn't the most long-legged cruiser, but it's still very good.Check the condition and age of the tyres (the date of manufacture is on the sidewall). It's possible, given the mileage of this car, that it is still on the original tyres and, if so, they could be beyond their safe best. Even if they are relatively new beware that they could be flat-spotted or out-of-round due to lack of use and, if so, they could upset the ride. We had to renew the tyres on our first 3-dr for that reason - changing the tyres transformed the car! Take careful note on your test drive.

The one fly in the ointment with the petrol auto is fuel consumption. They are not the most economical cars. Our 02 auto averaged between 20 & 25 mpg depending upon whether My wife or me respectivley was driving. Having said that, most of it's mileage was incurred on relatively short urban runs (shopping, school run, etc) with the occasional holiday thrash across country. Our previous 3-dr auto on the other hand did a consistent 33 mpg, mostly on commutes. Our current 3-dr is averaging 23-24 mpg, again just jogging about town and not trying to be economical. Note that the OBC (on board computer) mpg read-out can be woefully inaccurate so it's a good idea to do a few actual brim-to-brim calcs to check its accuracy. Then you can use it by allowing for any difference you find. Our 02 car was about 10% optimistic whilst our previous 3-dr was almost bang-on. I haven't bothered to check the current one as we don't do that much mileage in it as it is my wife's runabout. However we've always felt that any extra cost of fuel is more than compensated for by the reliability and cheapness of the other running costs, not to mention the fact that they are a hoot to drive - they almost have hot-hatch levels of handling, esp the 3-dr.

The 4.2 is reckoned by many owners (including me) to be the best RAV in terms of design and ruggedness, i.e the newer 4.3 and 4.4 are more cross-over-like rather than SUV-like - they are fine cars, just not as funky as the 4.2. We had a 4.3 diesel auto which was a fine car but we haven't missed it since we sold it - but we went looking for another 4.2 after we let our previous one go. They are brilliant cars and well-kept examples hold their value. Perhaps even a future classic?

Good luck. I hope it turns out to be as good as it seems in the ad. Let us know how you get on. (I've just noticed that this car is fairly local - Crewe post code - I'm interested to hear how it goes).

[Jpjsavage]

Thanks Jim for such a comprehensive reply. Much appreciated and plenty of things to look out for this morning. I note that you are in Cheshire. We are just in Sandbach and the car is south of Nantwich. I'll update the forum on our return re. the car and what the outcome was. Thanks again for taking the time to reply at length and with such detail.

[Jpjsavage]

Car was great and offer was accepted! Looking forward to picking it up later this week and will post some photos then. Thanks for your support on this everyone. I will look forward to joining the club and contributing online in the future. And perhaps a meet or two? Cheers.