New RAV Decision Questions

[Fitzroy]

Hello everybody,

First post of a soon to be new owner.  First a little background;

Retiring very soon and with this colossal change to our lives I need a reliable SUV sized motor so I've after testing lots of the SUVs around I've chosen this Toyota. We're coming from a 17 year old BMW3 which we imported way back when the Euro against the Pound was nearly 2:1 (crazy but true) - importing back then was a kickback against the inflated Sterling price hikes manufacturers were undertaking and we had forums back then dedicated to guiding you through the process. Anyway this BMW has been brilliant, can't knock it at all, broken down only twice in all them years and has just passed it's MOT with no adviseries!

Anyway the X3 is way too much money and doesn't for me have the driving appeal of the RAV so we're shifting to Toyota.

Problem is I don't know which model to pick.  Like the 3 series we're going to keep this new car for a very long time and I don't know if I should go for the facelift 2016 or the 2015 model, the salesman at the local dealer said along with the externals there were big changes suspension wise and also under the bonnet.  I can't find any information on these changes and I'm wondering if he's telling porkys.  He couldn't elaborate so I'm smelling a rat.  There's also a 2017 new model with painted skirts and a few tweaks.

Also as we bike a lot - only the two of us - any of you know if two bikes will comfortably fit in the back without any dismantling?

Depreciation over the length we'll have this doesn't worry me too much so a new model might be the way to go - are there any tips on haggling - does anyone haggle these days?  Do people play dealers against each other?  No finance involved - a straight outright purchase.

Thanks for any of your thoughts.

Rob.

[Heidfirst]

Hi Rob, welcome to the forum. 

Buying new gets you  a full 5 year warranty & you will know the car's history from brand new. Personally. I tend to buy at 1-2 years old to let somebody else take the big initial depreciation, some of which I put to extending the warranty. But its your money & your choice.

If you are buying new you might want to look at what the brokers (DrivetheDeal etc.) can offer & use that to haggle with your local dealer.

[Fitzroy]

Thanks for the reply.

I'll take a look at the online brokers see if their quotes might alter the local dealers mind.  Had a look at CarWow and I'll try a few others - (DrivetheDeal though don't have Toyota in their 'Select Make' list - you'd think they'd have the lot).

Another spanner flew in the works this morning in the shape of the wife starting to panic that diesel cars will be banned from major cities from 2020 - made me stop and think but not too much.

 

Thanks again.  

[Mike169]

Hi Rob and welcome to Toyota. My best advise is if you will only be doing short runs all the time then get a petrol engine but if you will be doing long runs and in excess of 16,000 miles a year then get a diesel. It is still ok to get a diesel if you take it for a long run at least a week to blow all the muck out of the exhaust. Owning a diesel and never doing a decent regular run equates to problems. Mike.

[Heidfirst]

5 hours ago, Fitzroy said:

Another spanner flew in the works this morning in the shape of the wife starting to panic that diesel cars will be banned from major cities from 2020 - made me stop and think but not too much.

There is a hybrid RAV4 these days.

[IanML]

20 hours ago, Mike169 said:

Hi Rob and welcome to Toyota. My best advise is if you will only be doing short runs all the time then get a petrol engine but if you will be doing long runs and in excess of 16,000 miles a year then get a diesel. It is still ok to get a diesel if you take it for a long run at least a week to blow all the muck out of the exhaust. Owning a diesel and never doing a decent regular run equates to problems. Mike.

Moreover, the main advantage of diesel (lower fuel costs) only outweighs the higher purchase price if you do a high mileage (say 15-20k a year).  AND, in general, diesels give more trouble (Don't know about Toyota specifically - but there seems to be general agreement that the petrol engines are bulletproof).

Personal view - diesels - touch - bargepole.  In the good old days - before they were loaded up with all the anti-pollution gubbins, they were even more reliable than petrol, but no longer.

[Fitzroy]

Thanks for these replies guys - appreciate it.

...but along with that petrol engine comes an auto box, never had one and have always been manual.  Not saying that there's anything bad about having one it's just that I've never seriously contemplated one.  Price wise too Autotrader has 1 and 2 year old petrol/auto Rav4 vehicles quite more expensive than the diesel machines.  The petrol/auto version seems to appear only in the more expensive Icon and Invincible/Excel range in used cars and there's less of them than the diesel variant.

Mileage wise we'll only be in the 8-12k range.   Still confused and probably more so now as I've always had petrol and been happy with them and this'll be my first diesel.

We'll probably get a 1 year old Rav4 like Heidfirst.  There's a couple of mahogany ones which weirdly I like a lot, just wish that Barcelona Red they do was a lot more like what you see on the Discovery Sport.