3 door Rav 4

[Jan Trzcinski]

Help and guidance please.

I have had in the past , and want again a 3dr Rav 4. Whilst I appreciate that any car 17 - 20 years old may have "problems" but can anyone give me a "heads up" on what to look out for in terms of "issues"? "Buyer beware" is fair enough but a little help is good too.

Matters of condition , mileage etc will of course affect any "selling" price , but I have seen 2002/2004 , Manual and Automatic , selling at between  £1,250 and £ 8,995, a big difference , which begs the question , what is a reasonable price to pay ? Is it a case of "Trusting" the dealership ?

Just as a bye the bye , I am a none mechanic in the first flush of old age , looking for a friendly helping hand.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Moved to the Rav4 club.

[bonjo]

I can pass on some of my experiences with my petrol manual 2003. Check these areas:

front brake calipers can become sticky, wear out the pads, discs and seriously affecting the mpg

brake discs rust very quickly, a car regularly used is better

handbrake lining & condition never get checked by toyota during any service as it involves taing the wheels and brake casing off!

engine idle can dip to near stalling coming to a halt can be caused by lambda sensors on their way out and dirty MAV sensor/ throttle body

engine bay splash guard fixings rust away and can do with replacing

rust not generally an issue the trunck door lower edge is succeptible to road muck & winter salt

mpg average should be between 31~34+ depending on season. Worse if you only do town driving

rear suspension parts can seize and difficult if not impossible to make any geometry adjustments

service record is important

this should give you a head start