Wait for 2012?

[JuneBug]

This reviewer is under the mistaken impression that the 2012 RAV4 will have exterior design changes:

Car Review: Get the 2011 Toyota RAV4 before it changes | Washington Times Communities

[NittanyRAV]

A couple weeks ago I sent the author, Rita Cook, the pressroom link from November 15th with 2012 exterior specs identical to the 2011 model, and asked what evidence she had that 2012 would have any significant changes. She never replied.

[AWDios]

Something to note. It looks like the Entune system will not have JBL. This is what they did on the 4Runners too. Kinda frustrating.

[flafson]

So what kind of speakers do they have in the 2012 Limited now in Canada?
I'm about to replace my 2008 V6 Limited and the speakers it came with were a nightmare. Pretty much a speaker made out of paper.

If those are the speakers that come with the V6 Limited now i'm going to be upset...

[Neilk]

I'm one of those who waited. And in the end, I got a left-over 2011 base model with the normal Southern California package instead of the 2012. The package includes everything that is now standard on the 2012 plus a couple of items at a lower price, (roof rack, carpet kit, moon roof, 6 disk 6 speaker radio, privacy glass, upgraded upholstery) The 2011 came with Sirius XM, the 2012 without satellite and with Blue-tooth instead. I do not use a smart phone, prefer a stupid cell phone that doesn't cost an arm and a leg to fund. It's a cellular phone, not a computer to me. That was about the only difference between the two years, they look exactly the same otherwise. I also wear hearing aids, and use a neck loop Blue-tooth connection that gives me stereo phone calls directly into my hearing aids ... almost an advantage to the years of noise abuse in aerospace industry. So I have my personal Blue-tooth which is even better.

The major difference in the two years, which I found more interesting, was saving almost $3,000 on financing as the 2011 offered 0% financing. That and the almost $3,000 mark down being "last year's model" saved me around US$5,500+ for starters ... a pretty sum for a vehicle I plan to keep long-term. If I was planning on trading it in anytime soon, I would have considered the newer model for it's year less trade-in, though both were just as new. My 2011 had all of 28 test miles on it when I was given the key ... a few of those my own. So far, 1 week into being a RAV4 owner, and being an 11 year Toyota fan-boy with my 2001 Solara ... I am VERY HAPPY with my RAV4 ... and starting to prefer driving it to my Solara.