Previous owner did 25k miles in one year

[Rav4Eng]

Hi all,

Im due to take delivery of a new to me 2019 Rav4 this Friday from a Toyota dealer, it currently has 51k miles, 2 owners in total. 2nd owner bought it in Sep 2023 kept it for a year and covered 25k miles! 7k miles in the last 2 months!! (Sales rep or taxi comes to mind?)

The dealer has done a major service (60k mile service) and fitted 4 new tyres. The new tyres are great news but I can't help wonder about the 25k miles in one year! It's putting me off slightly should I be concerned?

The car has always been serviced at the same Toyota dealer from New. I've done a vehicle report (V C) and all seems ok, 

Im a bit cautious because my previous car turned out to be a lemon - the previous owner didn't look after it, I found out the hard way and lost a lot of money on it

Your thoughts would be helpful and reassuring 

[Nick72]

Depends on the type of mileage. If it was short trip mileage as a taxi driver or motorway sales rep kind of mileage. 

But it's still low mileage for a RAV.

[Auris James]

So long as it's been serviced based on mileage I see no problem.

A relative of mine runs his own business and used to do his own sales etc. Drove all over the UK and Europe in his early days in a Volvo V70 TDI and used to do 40k miles a year plus.

[Rav4Eng]

Thanks both, Im tempted to get the car inspected by RAC/AA beforehand. It'll give me a bit more peace of mind but probably annoy the dealership. 

The dealer said it'll go through the workshop anyway beforehand but I might as well get in inspected too?

[Rav4Eng]

49 minutes ago, Nick72 said:

Depends on the type of mileage. If it was short trip mileage as a taxi driver or motorway sales rep kind of mileage. 

But it's still low mileage for a RAV. 

Unfortunately I've got no way of knowing what kind of miles they were

[Rav Rob]

I once worked for a company (Service engineers) the boss liked to buy 1 year old cars as the main depreciation hit had been taken by someone else, run them a year and sell on. Cheaper than leasing. Check the boot for heavy wear signs.

The good side is they were maintained and vast part the time just a lone driver so the rest of the interior got no wear. 25K easily clocks up if used daily across a wide area.

[philip42h]

You don't say what model you are proposing to buy. A 2019 registered car could be a late 4.4 or an early 4.5. Which engine and grade?

The mileage isn't an issue. As others have said, as long as it has been looked after and serviced in accordance with the manufacturer's schedule, all is fine. The car should be covered by Toyota's Relax warranty for 10 years or 100,000 miles so you'd be only halfway there.

[Rav4Eng]

6 minutes ago, Rav Rob said:

I once worked for a company (Service engineers) the boss liked to buy 1 year old cars as the main depreciation hit had been taken by someone else, run them a year and sell on. Cheaper than leasing. Check the boot for heavy wear signs.

The good side is they were maintained and vast part the time just a lone driver so the rest of the interior got no wear. 25K easily clocks up if used daily across a wide area.

The boot appears fine with no signs of heavy wear, was told by the sales guy the previous owner liked to go camping but I took that with a pinch of salt.

I think I remember noticing the passenger seat has some wear on the base - a little bit like faded leather

[Rav4Eng]

6 minutes ago, philip42h said:

You don't say what model you are proposing to buy. A 2019 registered car could be a late 4.4 or an early 4.5. Which engine and grade?

The mileage isn't an issue. As others have said, as long as it has been looked after and serviced in accordance with the manufacturer's schedule, all is fine. The car should be covered by Toyota's Relax warranty for 10 years or 100,000 miles so you'd be only halfway there.

Its the 2.5l dynamic all wheel drive version. I think all 2019 models were petrol hybrids? The phevs came later.

Im curious now what does 4.4 & 4.5 refer to?

[FROSTYBALLS]

A Rav4.4 is 4th generation (2013 - 2019), and 4.5 5th generation (2019 onwards).

4.4:

4.5:

[philip42h]

16 minutes ago, Rav4Eng said:

Its the 2.5l dynamic all wheel drive version

If it's a 2019 Dynamic it will be a 4.5 hybrid ...

You give you location as Greater London. Where do you intend to keep the car? Does it have the protection plates and tracker fitted? Are you planning on using a steering lock?

See the "RAV4 Stolen" thread ...

[Rav4Eng]

8 minutes ago, philip42h said:

If it's a 2019 Dynamic it will be a 4.5 hybrid ...

You give you location as Greater London. Where do you intend to keep the car? Does it have the protection plates and tracker fitted? Are you planning on using a steering lock?

See the "RAV4 Stolen" thread ...

Oh boy, need to read the stolen post!

When you say protection plates do you mean the type of fitted fitted on vans and commercial vehicles?
Are Rav4s targeted or is the above post an opportunistic theft?

[philip42h]

See:

and: https://mag.toyota.co.uk/toyota-gb-statement-on-vehicle-theft/

and get a quote for insurance if you haven't already ...

[Rav4Eng]

41 minutes ago, philip42h said:

See:

and: https://mag.toyota.co.uk/toyota-gb-statement-on-vehicle-theft/

and get a quote for insurance if you haven't already ...

This might be drastic but I will probably not buy the car anymore 🤔
The whole reason of buying a Toyota was stress free motoring. But in a matter of hours I’ve gone from worrying about the mileage to worrying about theft!

You’ve done me a huge favour by mentioning this so thank you ever so much! I hadn’t even bothered to get a quote from my insurers because I assumed it’ll be fine and cheap!!

I’ll look into the RAV4 phev as they’re not affected by the thefts but they are more costly to insure!

Back to square 1 in my car search!

[Flatcoat]

If this has stressed you then you might need to buy new. To be honest for me the mileage is a non-issue. The car appears to have been serviced correctly so what is the problem? The theft aspect can be dealt with and not every one is having their RAV’s stolen. I have a PHEV and it is great but theft was never a consideration in my purchase decision. I love my cars and had countless cars in my life, but at the end of the day it is a lump of metal, plastic and 4 wheels. What is there to stress about! 

[philip42h]

9 hours ago, Rav4Eng said:

This might be drastic but I will probably not buy the car

It wasn't my intention to put you off buying the car, but just to make sure that you understood the associated risk. Up until last week I had a 2020 RAV4.5 that was vulnerable to such an attack, but I live in a low crime area, kept the car in my garage and otherwise took no additional precautions - because I didn't need to.

There's [probably] nothing wrong with the car - it just has a higher mileage than some. And I guess that makes it affordable and is the reason you were considering it in the first place?  If you want to go ahead, just be aware of, consider and mitigate the associated risk.

A RAV4 PHEV or HEV built since October 2022 will NOT be vulnerable to the CANbus attack and associated theft. But it will be newer and thus more expensive to buy and, while it won't get stolen, there's no guaranteeing that they won't try - so keep it out of sight or fit a conspicuous steering lock.

Best of luck ...

[APS]

As others have said, the mileage is not much to worry about. 25k in a year is by no means extreme. I personally did more than that just commuting to work, you know, back in the days when we all still worked in offices 🙂

From a wear perspective, doing 25k in a year is better than doing it over, say five years. 

 

[Rav4Eng]

21 minutes ago, philip42h said:

It wasn't my intention to put you off buying the car, but just to make sure that you understood the associated risk. Up until last week I had a 2020 RAV4.5 that was vulnerable to such an attack, but I live in a low crime area, kept the car in my garage and otherwise took no additional precautions - because I didn't need to.

There's [probably] nothing wrong with the car - it just has a higher mileage than some. And I guess that makes it affordable and is the reason you were considering it in the first place?  If you want to go ahead, just be aware of, consider and mitigate the associated risk.

A RAV4 PHEV or HEV built since October 2022 will NOT be vulnerable to the CANbus attack and associated theft. But it will be newer and thus more expensive to buy and, while it won't get stolen, there's no guaranteeing that they won't try - so keep it out of sight or fit a conspicuous steering lock.

Best of luck ...

You didn’t put me off, you simply made me aware of a situation I had no knowledge of. 
Besides, deep down I really wanted the phev version anyway, so it could work out well. 
 

Buying a disk lock and tracker seems part of the deal now though

[lookoutthewindow]

25K is nothing. Some of us manage to get into that range without commuting or work related driving.

 

 

[NASY]

I used to commute 36000 miles a year, easy going journeys with just me in the car - did it good. The worst cars to buy are really low mileage over long periods. 

[Heidfirst]

I used to work for an international blue-chip company which changed their fleet at 3 years or 60,000 miles, whichever came first. The Scottish cars all got changed at ~18-20 months ... They were scrupulously looked after though.

 

[Willss]

11 hours ago, Rav4Eng said:

You didn’t put me off, you simply made me aware of a situation I had no knowledge of. 
Besides, deep down I really wanted the phev version anyway, so it could work out well. 
 

Buying a disk lock and tracker seems part of the deal now though

If you want the plug in version have a look at the Suzuki Across. Essentially the same car made in same factory but much much higher depreciation from new. New costs similar but about £7-10k cheaper at 2yrs old.

 

But different warranty (up to 7 yrs) and specification.

Obviously PHEV Rav4 is not as susceptible to theft as HEV but not all thieves will be aware of this before trying (and hopefully failing). I doubt the Suzuki is as prone to attack despite being essentially the same car - due to the Suzuki Badge being on it!

[Mead]

I agree with Willss - its worth considering the Suzuki Across - it really is essentially the same car as the Toyota Rav 4 PHEV with only minor differences and considerably cheaper as a second hand car. I have got a 2023 model and at the time I bought it the price was certainly around £7-10000 cheaper than the Toyota version. The Across is the same car apart from Suzuki badges ,a different front grill and no Sat Nav, but Google maps, Apple maps and Waze all work well with a mobile phone connected, and yes the extended warranty with  Suzuki servicing is 7 years rather than 10 years. The Toyota App for remote use does not work on it either. Because of the major saving I did not consider these factors a problem. On pre- 2023 models the charging rate is also limited to around 3 Kw but from 2023  it is upto 6kW.  Apart from colour, age and mileage and of course, overall condition of car, in your choice of purchase they all come with the same  pretty comprehensive options. These fixed "options" probably place it between the Toyota Design and Dynamic models maybe closer to the Dynamic. I am not sure what your budget is but if you can afford a 2023 model it does have the better infotainment and driver information screens like the post 2023 Toyotas. My experience so far after covering nearly 6000 miles since purchase last Spring is that it is a brilliant car and regularly records 55-60 miles electric range on a full charge, though of course it depends how you drive it. Hybrid consumption has varied between 50-58mpg when not using it as an EV.  Because I often do lots of short journeys and the occasional long journey overall consumption is usually nearer 90mpg when topping up the tank after maybe 5-6 weeks. Anyway its worth looking at the list of fixed extras on the Suzuki and keeping an eye on offers on Autotrader etc as occasionally there are some real bargains. Good luck with your search and let us know how you get on.

[Strangely Brown]

Bear in mind that you cannot take advantage of the Toyota Relax Warranty in a Suzuki.

[Willss]

Suzuki equivalent of Relax takes you to 7 yrs instead of Toyota's 10. Both stop at 100k miles.

A 23 plate Suzuki PHEV with sensible mileage is about £26k (vs Rav4s £34k). A 2022 can be had for about £21.5k - crazy money vs the Rav4 of similar age and hopefully less worry about theft.

I suspect Toyota ownership may be easier than Suzuki in terms of warranty, knowledge of car,  availability of spares etc but an £8k saving is probably worth some inconvenience!!!