Rav4 specs.

[Avalon]

This is probably one of those situations where after market kits may become available in time for illuminated switches or if they’re a common part that fits the CHR/RAV, you end up grabbing them via breakers as they come up used for a fraction of the cost. Unfortunately many of the after market trim/switch pieces that are produced aren’t suitable for our cars as we’re RHD and the larger domestic markets where they are produced tend to be LHD.

For example one is on eBay right now for £49.99 delivered and it’s a 5 min job to fit.

 

[Catlover]

So all these “little extra” we may like to see on “our” car add up to a lot of extra money ie heated steering wheel, lit up switches, spare wheel, etc etc. Anyone willing to pay £5000 extra?  If Toyota fitted them as standard would you be so keen to buy a Toyota or may you go to another brand. The choice what to include and what not to include must be a bit of an headache for those Toyota staff that have to do the choosing.

[Avalon]

Admittedly Toyota have to walk a fine line, it has to maintain Lexus as the premium brand and Toyota as the sub brand in the UK and pricing things a certain way allows them to be competitive in the market relative to other brands with similar models. However walking that line is slightly different to making something that can be purchased on the open market for £35 and is certified to the same QI standard/sold at a profit vs the Toyota part that costs over 17x as much.

Would I choose to pay £5K more for a RAV? Ideally not, but I would very much appreciate the option of specifying extras at point of order and ideally after with realistic pricing to retrofit on a pets only basis.

alloys are slightly different in this case, Toyota claimed it’s an emissions/weight limit issue on the panoramic roof option, then it just became standard. Most brands allow you to specify a full size spare for a nominal cost at the initial order stage, but I suspect it will become less common across the market.

The 2019+ RAV has a heated steering wheel options in some trim levels, then again the one in our family seemed to have had most of the options packs ticked when new, so perhaps that’s why it does, I haven’t really looked. Illuminated switches obviously don’t cost £500 and seemingly already exist for the CHR, if they’re compatible, then Toyota could simplify its parts inventory and upgrade the spec for peanuts at the same time.

[ernieb]

I certainly agree that adding some of these items would not cost them a great deal of money or time during the build after all the parts already exist. They don’t add to the inventory as they are procured just in time and adding them at the factory if not the issue as they are installed on other parts of the range. I can except that RH/LH can be a potential issue but as they supply things like window switches why can they not add illuminated, such a pain at night. 

I think one of the reasons it that once a build design is type approved and tested, fuel economy, performance figures, adding anything extra that might comprise that is a no go.  I bought a Kia Cee’d many years ago and agreed to a change in the wheel size it looked better in the wheel arch and surprisingly found that the emission figures had changed from what I expected and had been published when I got the V5.

[Rav Rob]

13 hours ago, Avalon said:

It’s not like the 5 minutes and £35 it takes to swap over a 3rd party tray kit is a massive issue in that particular example, but yes, trivial omissions like that which are rapidly becoming standard features on lower end cars for other brands often get overlooked by Toyota GB for no obvious reason. It’s not like QI charging is new thing, apple launched handsets supporting it in 2017 and Samsung etc. a good year or two before that. Toyota being the forward thinking brand they are want £600+ for the part *if* they let you order it (most parts desks offer very little flexibility on parts not specific to your model, unlike John).

It is a big issue if its a company car on a 2 year lease and they expect it back almost pristine, I wouldn't risk damaging trim by changing anything as it could end up very costly, even if put back as it was, the assessors love to find something to charge for. Its always going to be a compromise on specification, I personally don't like the dimming mirror and usually switch it off, so would happily trade that for a more useful charging pad, but some may feel the opposite.

[Avalon]

Unless you use a chainsaw rather than a pry tool, it’s almost impossible to damage this particular bit of trim. Also any lease company worth using will have signed upto BVRLA, as such the charges should be reasonable and fair, rather than ’pick a number’ in the days of old.

https://www.bvrla.co.uk/guidance/fair-wear-tear.html

Here’s a free copy of the standard charges/criteria.

https://www.alphabet.com/en-gb/bvrla

[Sealiedog]

On 5/21/2021 at 6:27 PM, Trackpad said:

I noticed in the attachment Ernie sent that the PHEV has acoustic window glass and additional sound proofing in the wings. 

When I test drove the rav I never noticed any abnormal amounts of noise in the hour drive, does it need it? 

I came from a Ford with their white noise sound deadening technology to my Rav4. I find there is quite a lot of tyre noise compared to some cars I've had, particularly the Ford, and especially on some road surfaces. The tyres might not be helping, mines on Toyo Proxes.