New Rav 4 Service Intervals and AWD questions.

[alan78]

Hey everyone, just about to buy a Rav 4 Hybrid from factory in the UK.

Could someone please confirm the service intervals are every 12 months? i looked online and in Amercia it seems every 6 months, and even though i've been told by dealers its every 12 months i can't find that in writing. can anyone shed some light thanks.

Also with AWD, i've been told there is no need to change all 4 tyres at once unlike some other AWD cars or 4wds, toyota dealers have said its ok to change just one tyre or even 2 tyres on the one axel, no need to change the 4.

 

Much appreciated

I

[philip42h]

Service intervals = 12 months or 10,000 miles whichever comes first.

No, just change the tyre(s) that need(s) changing - it isn't a fixed / inflexible permanent 4WD

[FROSTYBALLS]

Yes as above.

Intermediate service due year 1/10,000 miles, year 3/30,000 miles, etc. Full service year 2/20,000 miles, year 4/40,000 miles, etc.

 

[alan78]

Thanks very much for clearing things up, look forward to ordering this now and posting in here 🙂

 

 

[Catlover]

Always thought RAV4 for the uk market was made in Japan, but just read it is St Petersburg, Russia. Is that right?

[Heidfirst]

4 minutes ago, Catlover said:

Always thought RAV4 for the uk market was made in Japan, but just read it is St Petersburg, Russia. Is that right?

if you read the rest of that thread you will see several people (incl. some with 1 delivered or on order & that can track from factory) saying UK RAVs are built in Japan (at least currently).

[FROSTYBALLS]

I checked with Toyota GB earlier this year, and they confirmed UK market Rav4's come from Japan.

According to Toyota Europe, the plant in Russia builds Rav4's for the Russian, Kazakh and Belarus markets.

[Catlover]

28 minutes ago, Heidfirst said:

if you read the rest of that thread you will see several people (incl. some with 1 delivered or on order & that can track from factory) saying UK RAVs are built in Japan (at least currently).

that thread - what thread??  Reading the first post of this thread the op said he was about to order a Rav from the factory in the uk. Thinking the factory for uk was Japan, not Uk, I did an internet search and asked the question as the where Ravs for the uk market were made and it said St Petersburg. That confused me.  Hence my post.

[Thermal]

Check your VIN number. If it starts with "JT', is built in Japan.

RAVs built in St Petersburg are exclusively for the (huge) Russian etc. market.

[Yugguy1970]

As a general rule in any car I would not advise tyres of different tread depth on the same axle, and definitely wouldn't want tyres of a different make.

[alan78]

3 minutes ago, Yugguy1970 said:

As a general rule in any car I would not advise tyres of different tread depth on the same axle, and definitely wouldn't want tyres of a different make.

 

Even if it comes to it i would change 2 tyres, but just didnt want to change 4 at the same time, but all the toyota dealers i've spoke to says one tyre is fine. 

 

[Heidfirst]

5 hours ago, Catlover said:

that thread - what thread??  Reading the first post of this thread the op said he was about to order a Rav from the factory in the uk. Thinking the factory for uk was Japan, not Uk, I did an internet search and asked the question as the where Ravs for the uk market were made and it said St Petersburg. That confused me.  Hence my post.

my apologies, I thought that you were referring to 

 

[IanML]

17 hours ago, alan78 said:

Could someone please confirm the service intervals are every 12 months? i looked online and in Amercia it seems every 6 months.....

I think this is a feature of American perceptions, where "folk wisdom" states the car must be "lubed" at least every 6 months.  Probably a hangover from the days of poor quality mineral oils and lots of swarf from poor quality machining of the cylinder bores.  The dealers want the business, so Toyota keeps them happy.

[Lawnmowerman]

1 hour ago, IanML said:

I think this is a feature of American perceptions, where "folk wisdom" states the car must be "lubed" at least every 6 months.  Probably a hangover from the days of poor quality mineral oils and lots of swarf from poor quality machining of the cylinder bores.  The dealers want the business, so Toyota keeps them happy.

That is some hangover.

20 years ago they were approaching sealed for life in the USA. The aim was to achieve the status of white goods - buy and forget. When it was done get another one. Some oil & filter changes at 50,000 miles and (rarer) some at 100,000 miles. Technology had advanced to that level but not adopted for the UK as the service revenue was required. Then, it was easier to justify in the States due to their low costs of servicing. Oil was almost as cheap as the dirt it came from. Some vehicles 10,000 mile intervals could easily be stretched to 20,000 miles but for the manufacturer's reluctance to fit extended life filters. 

 

 

[ernieb]

My Skoda diesel Yeti’s were on a 20K schedule using long life oil, no issues.

[alan78]

Hey everyone, i dont want to start another thread and ask loads off questions, but whats the rav 4 2019+ hybrid like for fuel economy on the motorway?

Does it perform worse on the motorwaty? thanks

[philip42h]

10 minutes ago, alan78 said:

Hey everyone, i dont want to start another thread and ask loads off questions, but whats the rav 4 2019+ hybrid like for fuel economy on the motorway?

Does it perform worse on the motorwaty? thanks

It'll do pretty much what the WLTP figures say it will. Really short journeys won't be great - unless the engine never starts. At modest speeds on A and B roads you can easily get over 50 mpg (and more) - the hybrid system works really well under these conditions. Cruising at an indicated 70 mph I expect to get 47 mpg give or take.

[Saxacat]

Yes, same here; I've done a couple of motorways runs, return journeys from Northumberland to Liverpool and Northumberland to Surrey; got 47mpg on both runs with car in normal mode and driving to the speed limit.

[alan78]

Thanks yet again very helpful.

See the posts above that are getting the motorway miles roughly 47 MPG, is that with AWD or FWD? i do know roughly AWD is 10 percent less MPG i believe just so i can calculate.

 

Cheers

 

 

[philip42h]

The rear axle is driven by an electric motor. At motorway speeds the RAV4.5 is pretty much FWD only - the rear motor will harvest some energy on overrun and use to to help get up the hills so may actually improve economy at motorway cruising speeds.

[ernieb]

Although mine is a PHEV version in Hybrid mode it's much like the standard RAV4.  Looking at the energy monitor screen I can confirm the the rear motor does come into play on the motorway under certain conditions and does harvest energy.

[alan78]

Brilliant thanks again, i appreciate the help as before i found this forum, i was spending hours looking through things online.

There is another forum Rav4 owners or something, but its mostly american and confusing, as stated above they have 6 month service intervals, and also they measure MPG differently so 48 MPG here is like 40 MPG in USA, this was confusing till i figured out thry measured differently

 

Good to have UK based answers in our lingo 😉

[alan78]

5 hours ago, philip42h said:

It'll do pretty much what the WLTP figures say it will. Really short journeys won't be great - unless the engine never starts. At modest speeds on A and B roads you can easily get over 50 mpg (and more) - the hybrid system works really well under these conditions. Cruising at an indicated 70 mph I expect to get 47 mpg give or take.

Hey, i actually see you have an Excell AWD, so that is more or less like for like, i would be going for Dynamic trim AWD so its helpful you are reporting these figures.

 

 

[dawagh]

22 hours ago, philip42h said:

It'll do pretty much what the WLTP figures say it will. Really short journeys won't be great - unless the engine never starts. At modest speeds on A and B roads you can easily get over 50 mpg (and more) - the hybrid system works really well under these conditions. Cruising at an indicated 70 mph I expect to get 47 mpg give or take.

Agree, just had mine for 2 weeks, average so far is 46.6 both short and long distances covered, just depends how heavy your right foot is I guess :)

[Thermal]

For what it's worth, my real life test results:

- RAV4.5 2019 AWD
- Several trips over >130 km's (80.78 miles), all in ECO mode and mostly on motor ways.
- Temperature around 20 degrees C.
- Almost flat in NL, and a national speed limit of 100 Km/h (~62 mph)
- Total distance covered was 880 Kms which took 43,42 litres, on cruise control where possible.
- That is 4.93 L/100 Km, which is 57.25 Miles per your gallons.
- Not bad for a 1900 Kg "truck"!

The optimal speed (see link below on thermal efficiency) of the RAV4 is ~104 Km/h, where power is mainly coming from MG2 and "some" from the engine, which is almost idling at that speed.
The engine is at the same time driving MG1, which is charging the HV Battery.
And then there is MG3 on the rear axle which assists on occasion with 'climbing" a viaduct, and helps keeping the HV Battery charged when it has nothing to do.

Outside temperatures between 20 - 25C seem optimal for the RAV. Little to do for the climate control and no need yet for HV Battery cooling or heating. During the winter season fuel consumption will increase. The last year's consumption was 47.16 mpg. Still not bad, and better than my previous Avensis.

For an indepth technical explanation of this remarkable system and to actually see the transaxle componenents disassembled on the bench, see the lecture by professor John Kelly: