Help Needed On Model Type And General Question

[Neil16290]

Dear All

I am English but living in France and hope to buy a 2001 RAV4 - however, it was originally imported from America to France and has the marking RAV4 L on the back of the car and 2.0 V V T-i on the engine. I have been unable to track down the model version to enable me to cross reference the price, but my research suggests that it may be the GX version as it has an electric sunroof. Can anybody help me and confirm which model it may be (Additional info is that it is 5 door, Automatic, petrol). The current owner is not aware of what the model type is, and French log books do not give the details that we expect on UK log books. So we are both baffled.

My second question is - The car has 57,000 miles on the clock and I beleive that all cars need a cambelt change at 60,000, Would this be correct for the RAV4? and if so, how much does it usually cost? (Dont worry about saying what it costs for France as the prices are pretty much the same as the U.K)

Many thanks in advance for any replies.

Yours

Neil

[dave.m]

Hi Neil and welcome to TOC. IMHO have a look on Rav 4 world which is the american site. Plenty of info

on your model there. I'm sure the L stands for Limited, as in limited slip diff but I could be wrong. The

american Rav is a whole lot different to the euro one.

Good luck.

[bothwell_buyer]

The USA RAV was introduced there in 1996. It was in effect the RAV 4.1 model introduced to the UK in 1994. Both models were pretty much identical, and both were using the 3SFE engine.

Come 2000, the Toyota VVTi engine was introduced and so this is the model you are looking at - ie after 2000 so it is the 4.2 essentially. The USA differs to a degree in that there were several more options on 2 wheel / 4 wheel drive and at some point a V6 engine!!

However, the 2000 to 2002 model is, as far as I know, again pretty identical to the UK version.

The cam belt should be changed at 60,000 - so you are right. Cost - depends on which type of garage you go to over there - French tend to be more expensive than some of the Turkish etc run garages. I seem to recollect someone here saying that a 60,000 mile service with cambelt change should be about £400.

[anchorman]

No cam belt on a 2.0VVTi - it is a chain and needs no maintenance.

[dave.m]

Neil, here is the link to Rav 4 world -

http://rav4world.com/forums/index.php

edit, heres a little snippet from wikipedia as well (at work this morning and its a bit quiet )

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_RAV4

edit, edit, seems like I might be talking sh^t about the L, this is a later model than yours, but gives spec for the L (limited) model -

http://trucks.about.com/od/2005toyotasuvs/a/05_rav4.htm

[Neil16290]

Hi Neil and welcome to TOC. IMHO have a look on Rav 4 world which is the american site. Plenty of info

on your model there. I'm sure the L stands for Limited, as in limited slip diff but I could be wrong. The

american Rav is a whole lot different to the euro one.

Good luck.

Many thanks for the response - but the reply below says no cam, but chain, so no maint needed, might this be correct?

I will look at Rav 4 world and see what I can dig up.

Great info - once again many thanks

Neil

[Neil16290]

No cam belt on a 2.0VVTi - it is a chain and needs no maintenance.

Very useful, I will have a good read later today.

Many thanks

Neil

[Neil16290]

Dear All

Many, many thanks for your help. I think I have tracked it down to be the 2.0 GX 5 door model equivelant.

Just need to know about it is a cambelt or chain?

regards

Neil

[bothwell_buyer]

sorry - the vvti engine is a chain drive - so no cam belt

[Neil16290]

sorry - the vvti engine is a chain drive - so no cam belt

Super - so no costly maint there then.

I think I will go for the car as all I have read on this site and the reference sites given by everybody here suggests that this could be a good car for me. It gets great reviews and top marks on car sites. I cannot see any major problems for a car this old which has a full service history - unless of course anyone says at 60k miles blah blah needs to be looked at first.

regards

Neil

[Neil16290]

Neil, here is the link to Rav 4 world -

http://rav4world.com/forums/index.php

edit, heres a little snippet from wikipedia as well (at work this morning and its a bit quiet )

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_RAV4

edit, edit, seems like I might be talking sh^t about the L, this is a later model than yours, but gives spec for the L (limited) model -

http://trucks.about.com/od/2005toyotasuvs/a/05_rav4.htm

Super - thank you