Future Sr/t180 Owner Needs Advice

[richwafta]

Hi everyone, went to register and found I was already a member ;) But treat me as a newbie for now.

I have decided I want either a SR or a T180 and i've been spending the Christmas break looking for a "bargain". I also started going through this forum for helpful tips, starting to wish I'd kept myself ignorant!! The run flat issue is starting to put me off my dream car and I'm hoping other owners will give me some guidance - please?

If I go for one of these models, just how difficult is it to: a. Get tyres changed and b. Change the run flats for a more conventional setup? I know the XTR doesn't have it so what is different on these wheels and can the SR or T be converted?

Just in case Mr T is watching, my backup choice would be a BMW X3 They don't appear to have these issues, but I love the look of the RAV and I want the bells as well as the whistles

Rich

[dave.m]

Hi mate, XT-R has conventional tyres and a repair kit. Some owners like myself, have bought a spare and chucked

it in the boot. A lot has been said about the runflats, I myself have said some negative stuff about them. But of late

I've changed my mind and reckon yes its a pain in the a^se, but it would not put me off what is otherwise a great

car. IMHO go for the SR/T180, and as for the X3 ? .................................... no thanks :shutit:

[Mk1 Ravman]

Hi there, I've been working for a Toyota dealer for three years and have just left to pursue another career but maybe I can help you with your enquiry. The T180 was Toyotas high performance Rav but never sold in huge numbers as it was very expensive. As they had many new models left unsold they re badged them SR180s and made them cheaper but did take off a little standard kit such as leather interior. The run flats to be fair are pretty good and only affect the handling when you corner at high speeds but do make the car a bit harder on motorways.

If I were you, I would look at an XTR. This car runs on normal tyres although does not have a spare on the back to allow the back door to open fully. More recent specs have bluetooth, cruise, extra trim and parking sensors as standard which the SR180 does not have. A little known fact is that while the XTR only has 140 BHP, 40 less than the SR, for about 300 quid you can buy a performance chip from your dealer which will not only add about 20% more horsepower, taking it to around 170ish but it also produces better economy meaning you should easily be able to keep your rav consumption in the late 40's/early 50's mpg. The XTR will cost you a lot less too.

XTR's are quite plentiful too so haggle hard. A lot of dealers have a few of them so its a buyers market at the mo. Many come with the style pack too which adds side steps. Looks pretty good. Don't get black though. Its a non metallic colour and does show up every mark.

Good luck

[richwafta]

Thanks for the comments, especially concerning the XTR. I'm interested in your comment Ravman about the performance chip. If available through the dealer, I assume it will not invalidate the warranty?

My local dealer has asked me to wait a few days as he thinks he can source a T180 through a Toyota auction? It also gives me a few more days to get more advice (hopefully)

Rich

[Hoovie]

Welcome to the RAV4 forum :)

I can't add any more advice or opinion that is not posted generally here, other to say good that you're doing the research and going into the deals & options and looking at the Pros & Cons with your eyes open

[vivianM]

Thanks for the comments, especially concerning the XTR. I'm interested in your comment Ravman about the performance chip. If available through the dealer, I assume it will not invalidate the warranty?

My local dealer has asked me to wait a few days as he thinks he can source a T180 through a Toyota auction? It also gives me a few more days to get more advice (hopefully)

Rich

My T180 bought Sept 2008 is superb, getting better each day! Had a slight problem with a hesitation/missfire at about 1200 RPM but dealer has checked it out and it seems that I have been changing up at too low revs before the turbo comes in in on fifth and sixth gears!

Tyres might be a worry but how many punctures do people get nowadays?

Whatever model RAV you get I am sure that you will be very pleased with it.

Best wishes

Guy

[Mk1 Ravman]

No probs. The chip is pretty good. Worth every penny if you ask me mainly due to the decrease in fuel consumption. The best guy to speak to about the chip is Parts King who is a regular contributor to this site and I used to work with him. He is a top guy. Its about 400 quid give or take a pound and only takes about 20 mins to fit. The dealer I worked at would cover any warranty issues with the chip on so dont be concerned abut that.

Toyota Auctions are a great way of sourcing cars. However, if I were you, don't pay a deposit before you have physically seen the car. Some T180s were thrashed (especially demonstartors) and can start to look and feel a bit tired. Plenty of T180's around too though so do some searching yourself on somewhere like autotrader too if its the 180 you definitly want. The T180 has more standard kit than the SR180 such as the full colour sat nav and leather. Then if you chip that you are gonna take the horsepower over 200 which is alot of fun!

[richwafta]

If the warranty is unaffected, then the XTR may be the way to go for me. I am going to wait for the 180 auction and see what price they can get. There is 2 being sold with low miles, so should be ok on condition. If they can't get one for the right money though I will rethink the model and possibility of chipping a lower BHP engine.

[sywy]

Regarding the merits of runflats ...

My wife had a flat tyre on Monday in her VW Touran, which also does not have a spare. Something sliced through the sidewall, and her tyre deflated immediately. She had to limp to the nearest tyre dealer, which only happened to be a few hundred metres down the road to get the tyre replaced, at a cost of £121 (She wanted Michelins, the same as she currently has). They recommended replacing another tyre but we declined, as we knew we could get the same tyre cheaper from Costco. Next day, we went Costco to get the other tyre replaced. The cost? £72!! For exactly the same tyre. I know this doesn't really help us T180 owners, as we have to go to a main dealer anyway (despite what Goodyear say!!), but if she had runflats (conventional stiff wall ones!!) then she may have been able to get to Costco in the first place, and save herself a lot of money!!

[James..]

If the warranty is unaffected, then the XTR may be the way to go for me. I am going to wait for the 180 auction and see what price they can get. There is 2 being sold with low miles, so should be ok on condition. If they can't get one for the right money though I will rethink the model and possibility of chipping a lower BHP engine.

Other thing to bear in mind is that the 180 does have a slightly more bling exterior than the standard RAV - it has wheel arches and bigger wheels and a big chrome grille and blacked out headlights. These aren't all retrofittable easily on an XTR. So, if it is the look you are after then those things may sway it. On the other hand if you are loaded and it is the real pusher/pimp look you are after I would buy a BMW X5 in black with super dark privacy glass. Nice 2003 one on Autotrader with sat nav, 4.4 engine, 26k miles and leather at £12k. ;)

Personally I think the wheel is worth having. I had a puncture a couple of years back in France on holiday and although I used a space saver spare with the hired Mercedes I was driving at the time it was a royal pain being limited to 50kph or whatever for half my holiday. (Monsieur le local tyre man didn't have the correct tyres for the Merc to hand so that was that.) You'll have the exact same speed problem if you puncture - both with the runflats and the XTR foam kit if you can't get to a handy Costco/Toyota Main dealer. Something worth considering if you take your car abroad or on holiday.

Even if you buy an XT3, you can easily fit better aftermarket sat nav and stereo systems, privacy glass and bling, and chip it up. The included Toyota bluetooth is not necessarily all that its cracked up to be from what I've heard on this forum. Both Kenwood and Pioneer make cracking DVD/CD/bluetooth phone/Sat Nav/MP3/Reversing camera kit that will integrate with the RAV car controls for about £650+.

[To-yo-ta]

Just thought I'd add another angle on the T180 or not debate. Now whilst I've never owner a Rav T180, my last car was an Avensis T180 (dull looks, but a great car that's better built than the RAV), but I had to get rid of it after just 11 months because I could no longer tolerate (or rather my knee could't) the clutch. The problem for me was not so much that it had a heavy clutch but an extremely 'springy' (technical term that) return action. Now in normal traffic conditions this was not a problem, but it soon became unbearable if stuck in stop/start traffic. Whilst I admit I do have a slightly weak left knee, I have never had any problems with any previous cars I've owned or driven. Before I decided to get rid of the car I spoke to several Toyota dealers and they told me that this can be an issue for some people and that it affects all the T180's (Auris, Avensis and RAV) and is due to the fact that MR T has had to increase the spring rates on the clutch pressure plate ( to cope with the great 400 Nm of torque) but did not alter any of the parts in the linkage to compensate. So the moral of the story is, if you are going to use the RAV for a lot of town/heavy traffic conditions, make sure you spend at least half an hour test driving the car in stop/start conditions (or failing that sit in one in the showroom and keep depressing and letting the clutch out real slow to try and simulate such conditions). If you think this may be a problem for you then you might be best with the standard 2.2 diesel.

But I see some people suggest that you could just 'chip' a standard 2.2, now if Mr T thinks that the standard clutch can't cope with 400 Nm, would you not be liable to burn the clutch out earlier than normal?

Anyway a bit long winded, but I've not seen any issues on here about the 'springy' T180 clutch.

Happy New Year fellow RAV'ers.

[aliy]

HI Everybody,

I am a newbie from Switzerland who has been a member for a while, but just recently started viewing the site.

A little bit about myself. The only car make I have ever owned has been Toyota. Landcruiser V8, Landcruiser V8 ( both in Dubai - petrol being cheaper than water! ), Rav 4 in Norway and now the T180 Rav 4 in Switzerland.

I was very interested to hear about chipping the T180 to take the BHP over 200. I was led to believe that it was not possible to chip the T180. Could anyone confirm one way or the other what the truth of the matter is?

Cheers, and happy new year to everybody.

[richwafta]

Thanks for the comments so far, they are helping me with my choice (I think). James, I hadn't really thought of it as a "Bling" thing. I was after a good performance more than anything, but after reading your comments I guess the extra goodies on the T180 would sway me against the SR. The heavy clutch is something that I hadn't noticed when test driving, I guess I'm going to be heading back to the dealer to check this out!

[vivianM]

Thanks for the comments so far, they are helping me with my choice (I think). James, I hadn't really thought of it as a "Bling" thing. I was after a good performance more than anything, but after reading your comments I guess the extra goodies on the T180 would sway me against the SR. The heavy clutch is something that I hadn't noticed when test driving, I guess I'm going to be heading back to the dealer to check this out!

I do not think the clutch on my T180 is 'heavy' - have done quite a lot of town driving recently and every traffic light seemed against me on wednesday last so the clutch had a lot of use. I am quite old!

Guy

[local hero]

HI Everybody,

I am a newbie from Switzerland who has been a member for a while, but just recently started viewing the site.

A little bit about myself. The only car make I have ever owned has been Toyota. Landcruiser V8, Landcruiser V8 ( both in Dubai - petrol being cheaper than water! ), Rav 4 in Norway and now the T180 Rav 4 in Switzerland.

I was very interested to hear about chipping the T180 to take the BHP over 200. I was led to believe that it was not possible to chip the T180. Could anyone confirm one way or the other what the truth of the matter is?

Cheers, and happy new year to everybody.

There are companies who can provide chips for the T180 HERE IS ONE OF THEM Note they show figures for torque in ft lbs although the figure for the 177bhp rav equates to 440nm after being chipped, this company is known to be very conservative with its figures, To the best of my knowledge our friendly Partsman Kingo has a chip for the T180 on trial which may be a better buy when available..

[OldSkoO1]

Not sure if you have made up your mind yet.

The t180 ravs were around about 2 years ago on demo sometimes in a green colour with leather and plenty of kit but VERY expensive, way overpriced but maybe you could pick them up cheap now and would be a nice buy.

Anyway, the sr180 is also a v.nice car we had one a couple of times for a weekend each time. Certainly is a very nice drive. To be very honest i didn't even know it had runflats, i didnt even notice a difference and that is coming from someone who has had rav's for a long time now.

We have a 2.2 XTR and we both love it. Its got very surprising economy for a part time 4x4 heavy spacious SUV. It will do 44mpg on a commute and suprisingly a solid 38-39 on the wifes short journeys around town.

I have an auris t180 and miss the xtr and want one myself. My t180 is rapid and i will miss that if i change but the same engine in the heavier SUV rav4 isn't really the same experience.

From experience, the sr180 does have more grunt and overtaking power and it will surprise some drivers but because its heavier it can never be considered a performance engine in the rav. Simply put, the 2.2 140 pulls really really well in standard form, it gives great economy considering what its housed in. The 2.2 140 engine is very easily chipped without problems (see parts king) which will give you pretty much sr180 power but with about 10mpg better consumption... and it will be cheaper to buy.

The sr180 was heavy on fuel when we had it, around 36mpg maybe 37mpg on the journeys we did. The same journey will get 44mpg in the 2.2 140 xtr and that will do 50 on the m-way. I love it!

p.s. you can't really chip the t180 engine without problems. Its why mine isn't chipped. parts king trialled a chip back in spring 08 and the t180 doesn't response well to overfuelling. It can't cause the engine to go into limp mode to protect itself. It can also cause excessive smoking and turn on the engine warning lights. That said some chips appear to work, maybe tunit, dragon chips. Spider chips have worked for some and some report bad experiences.

I would only buy from parts king though, authorised toyota dealer and i believe he and the staff do give them thorough tests.

Those are my experiences, whichever RAV4 you go for you will love it, i think its excellent for the money.

[MarsKy]

57 Plate/ Jan 2008 T180, 8000 miles at £15499:

http://www.allapprovedcars.com/Used-Toyota...CarDetails.aspx

[Davrav]

Is insurance affected by chipping? Presumably this is classed as a modification.

[local hero]

Is insurance affected by chipping? Presumably this is classed as a modification.

Off to work shortly so not much time for a full reply, but my premium with a chipped rav is about £80 extra. but i can answer more fully later if you require info

[Davrav]

Is insurance affected by chipping? Presumably this is classed as a modification.

Off to work shortly so not much time for a full reply, but my premium with a chipped rav is about £80 extra. but i can answer more fully later if you require info

Thanks,

I would be interested to know who you insure with and also what the situation is with regard to Toyota warranty and how chipping affects it - or not.

[OldSkoO1]

I read up on warranties

I believe it within your rights to mod your cars and the manufacturers are only allowed to refuse a fix under warrenty if they can prove it was the chip that caused the fault. Check up on this yourself though. Even my service manager said just removed the chip when i enquired as there are no official chips at my branch.

Everyone recommends you remove the chip for servicing anyway.

With regards to insurance. £50-80 increase sounds about right depending on where you live and how much the power is increased. Sometimes its best to say the main benefit and you mainly bought it for the fuel consumption imrpovement and then state its up to 20% power increase. Some insurers can bias that way and it is less and still the truth.

Because you chip its often just slightly more expensive than insuring a t180. Because its works on % and power a chipped rav is nearly 180bhp but its more expensive because it means the car is slightly more at risk of needing repaid or claims - because of the potential extra wear on parts.

[local hero]

Is insurance affected by chipping? Presumably this is classed as a modification.

Off to work shortly so not much time for a full reply, but my premium with a chipped rav is about £80 extra. but i can answer more fully later if you require info

Thanks,

I would be interested to know who you insure with and also what the situation is with regard to Toyota warranty and how chipping affects it - or not.

The thing is with these chips, i really cannot see where either Toyota or your insurance assesor would know you had one fitted, so a lot of people don,t tell anyone..I Bought + had my chip fitted by Lindop Toyota at Queensferry and that is where i have my car seviced They have them fitted to their Demo cars "I Believe". so why would i need to remove it before servicing? When i bought my car, NOT from Lindop unfortunately, i asked the sevice manager about chipping it + it turns out he had one fitted to his Hi Lux + several members of staff had them fitted to their company cars. these would later be removed and the car sold on. Now if you go on one of the insurance comparison sites + fill in the on line form you get to the part where it asks is the car modified click yes and it will give you a range of options eg mod ecu, mod exhaust system, mod air filter ETC click the appropriate one + you will get an additional premium, NOTE some companies will not even quote for modified cars. Toyotas own insurance seem to adopt the stance that if it is a Toyota part

installed at a Toyota dealer their is no extra premium. however they were a fair bit dearer than any other insurer anyway Sorry Mr T I am covered including my chip, Ncb protect etc for £370 with E sure + I am on the edge of Manchester Not the cheapest area for car insurance..Hope this helps

[Davrav]

Thanks for info. I will give this some serious consideration after first service in a couple of months.

[richwafta]

Been reading the posts about chipping with great interest :bookworm: And weighing up the pros and cons of the T and SR 180's.

Well; finally made my mind up on the model to spend my hard earned cash on. And the winner is.................

An '08 plate XT5 :D

No run flats to worry about (No spare wheel either but never mind) All the bells and most of the whistles I wanted and always the option of speaking nicely to Parts King about the chip if needed.

I got a really good deal (I think) and pick it up next weekend. Now trying to get insurance and other bits sorted. My current insurance company quoted an extra £100.00 to change from a Hyundai Tucson to the RAV and thats for 10 months!! Tried one of the comparison sites and got quotes of £245.00 which is 20 less than I paid for the Tucson. Guess what I'll be doing ;)

Just got to get through the next week now, I know it's going to drag

Rich