Towbar On Used Rav4 D-4d - Should I Be Wary?

[Steve_T]

Hi Everyone!

New member here about to hopefully buy my first RAV4 tomorrow - a 54 plate XT3 D-4D.

The only concern I have is that the last owner fitted it with a towbar. My question is, should I be concerned about the extra wear any towing might have placed on the brakes / clutch, etc? I'm buying from a dealer who is supplying a one year warranty and it's low mileage (32K), but I can't ask the last owner exactly what they towed and how often it was towed - and I've never bought a car with a towbar before.

Thanks for any advice...

Cheers,

Steve

[anchorman]

It wouldn't stop me if the car looked OK. The RAV is designed to tow and I can't see that anything would be unduly stressed as long as it was within the design limits.

You could buy one without a tow bar which has had far more abuse by bad driving/lack of servicing etc.

Welcome to the club Steve.

[Boro Sera]

I wouldn't worry one bit.

[Steve_T]

Appreciate the advice - thanks!

Fingers crossed it's okay when we view it tomorrow...

[Fujisan]

Welcome Steve and good luck

[bothwell_buyer]

Wouldn't worry as said before. Enjoy the car!

A lot of vehicles get a tow bar then are hardly ever used for towing. I'd a trailer for shifting/getting rid of rubbish to the local tip (sorry - Council Re-cycling Centre) and it never affected the RAV 1 bit.

I did attempt to pull my hybrid 2.5 ton-ish caravan earllier this year with the RAV before I had a lot of work done on the RAV and it managed it better than my minibus. And no - that's not why I had a lot of work done!! :) :)

[Steve_T]

Well, I bought the car, so I guess that officially makes me a bona-fide member!

Overall it was in great shape and drove really well. Turns out it had been used occasionally for towing a small caravan. No clutch / 1st or 2nd gear rattles but I checked the warranty would cover the DMF if it goes. It's done 32,000 miles and was last serviced at 30,000 at our local Toyota stealer.

Otherwise, just a couple of stone chips and small scratches that the supplying garage is going to get sorted. I also got them to agree to refurbish all four wheels as they were showing early signs of corrosion - is this a common fault on RAV4 wheels? (I only ask as I saw a slightly younger car advertised on eBay with "four new wheels supplied by Toyota under warranty").

The computer showed the long-term average as 42.8MPG, so I'm hoping that means it's been driven carefully!

Anyway, looking forward to picking it up next week...!!

[anchorman]

Then welcome officially to the club!

Apparently it is not uncommon for wheels to show signs of corrosion. You will find other posts on the subject.

That aside well done, I'm sure you will enjoy it.

[Fujisan]

Well done

Don't forget to put up some photo's, we all love a bit a light-hearted cyber tyre kicking