To Buy Or Not To Buy

[Dannyboychopper]

Hi All,

Some advice please. I am about to trade my 2008 Lexus is220d for a new car. Dog and ropey DPF forces sale. I am considering a 2014 RAV4 (invincible) and a Volvo XC60. My question really is about whether I should get the 2.2 or 2.0 engine. I commute across the West Midlands daily and the dog goes in the back at the weekend (I don't tow). I know an estate car would be a more appropriate option but I like the practically of the RAV and I have had a good reliability experience with my Lexus. I looked at a Qashqai (too small and not quite butch enough), CX-5 (recent facelift makes it unaffordable), CRV - didn't like it and Q3 too small, X3 too expensive. Basically I am going to fork out 20k + on a car and need reassurance that the RAV 4 will be a reliable bed fellow. My current car returns between 32-34 mpg so anything better is a bonus.

[the fox]

have you looked at a Mitsubishi outlander special offer £1.500 off at present till september and if you play hard you may get a GX3 for about £23,000 brand spanking new the Mrs bought a PHEV she is very impressed, her best mate liked it so much after having a couple of Rav4's herself, she bought the GX3 model and yep she bargained and got it for £23,000 she tried something like uk cars direct on-line and took the offer to local agent who matched it....

[firemac]

I've had the D4D in a 4.2 and the 2.2 D-CAT in a 4.3. The D4D is probably more robust since it is a simpler design whereas the D-CAT is a much more sophisticated engine from an engineering perspective and consequently could be seen as being potentially riskier. However there are a hell of a lot of 2.2s worldwide and they seem to be fine (following the problems with the earlier version, pre-2009, which Toyota seem to have resolved).

My D4D was a manual and did circa 40 MPG, mostly commuting from S.Cheshire to Manchester centre daily. The D-CAT was an automatic used for a longer commute (S.Chesire to S.Yorks several times a week) and delivered 31.5 MPG which increased to 35.5 MPG after I fitted the Lindop chip. Both cars were excellent and highly recommended.

[philip42h]

Previously I had an SR180 (2.2 D-CAT) manual that returned ~37mpg. My current car has the 150bhp (2.2 D-CAT) auto that returns ~38mpg. Neither have given me a moment's concern; both provide adequate (or more than adequate) performance for normal use.

I haven't driven a 2.0 but would suggest that if you are looking for an AWD version, then the 2.2 is probably a better bet, but if your interest is in a 2WD RAV (effectively a RAV shaped estate car) then I suspect that the 2.0 will be perfectly adequate and provide better economy.