Toyota RAV4 Forums banner
Cancel
Create thread New Garage Forums

Rav Hybrid v Gas v New Camry?

Jump to Latest
41 - 44 of 44 Posts
#41 ·
andyboots said:
Yes had looked at both the CX5 and CRV. Ive been kind of scared off of subarus by my mechanic friend and other things ive read about the boxer engines..plus that new infotainment screen...woof! But crosstrek has been getting mostly good owner reviews and I know several work colleagues who have them and no big issues.

Wife found the ride of the CX5 bumpy which is a known detraction of it. It hits almost every other criteria like a naturally aspirated non turbo engine, made in Japan, no cvt, great consumer reports and car complaints/NHTSA reliability rankings as well. I have a good friend currently leasing a '23 CX5 looking to go fully electric so there may be an opportunity to take over his lease, provided the 2nd test drive of it isnt as "bumpy" for her lol To be fair I found it bumpy as well and even experienced a transmission lurch/chirp on one drive.

I had put the CRV at the top of my list originally as we have been really happy with wifes civic. As I did more digging, the oil dilution in the 1.5l turbo on short trips in cold climates sounded like somethin that could impact her driving style, also found the steering "sticky" which is actually a main complaint I have seen on car complaints/NHTSA. Over past two years CRV new design is having more issues on avg than the RAV which is why I started shifting towards toyota!
Click to expand...
Lots of subarus around here and generally I haven't been hearing about engine issues. They've been using very similar designs forever. There were some issues with certain years of the CVT so if I had a concern it would probably be that but no idea if those have been resolved.

so if short trips are part of your concern looking at a plug in hybrid (not necessarily a rav4 since you are concerned about the HV cable issue) might make sense. my wife has to do a lot of short trips picking the kids up and dropping them off for stuff and she is able to do all of that using just the EV miles on our prime so no short cycling of the ICE. then if we are driving a more substantial distance I'll either run in hybrid or charge mode (charge mode gets the ICE warmed up quicker since the ICE is constantly running) to make sure I fully warm things up every once in a while. The only catch here is in the dead of winter if you park outside you might not be able to run in EV mode because you'll likely be needing to run the defroster. I park mine in the garage so most of the time I can get away without needing to turn the defrost on for a short trip. If I do I just put it into the charge mode for the whole trip to get things warmed up faster. doing this every once in a while isn't a big deal.
 
#42 ·
One more thing - by the rumours Rav 4 2025 and up will be hybrid only. I don't think you will manage to get 2024 model - long wait times still exists in Canada. So choice will be limited to Rav 4 Hybrid vs Camry Hybrid.
 
#43 ·
My family has a rav4 hybrid and a Avalon Hybrid which is basically a Camry hybrid platform.

The SUV for utility, the Sedan for ride. Both very functional. Wife prefers the sedan entry height. I the SUV.

See if you can test both back to back. Make a list of likes and dislikes. Then let the primary driver pick. What I did when my wife was ready for her update. We drove 4 and she picked.

While oil is predicted to be in very good supply over the next few years, after that who knows what prices will be.

How long do you keep cars? How close is the dealer? What will a pure ICE car be worth then?
 
Discussion starter · #44 ·
Driven both b2b, Camry drive was great, Rav felt decent but difference with the gas model was not drastic. Drove it enough times that I was like this rav is probably what I will need but wasnt a love at first drive like camry..10-15 years is my plan to keep it, dealer is a 2min drive from home. Great point on worth down the road..though if all these rav 4s are known to have a 5k cable conk out what will they be worth?
 
41 - 44 of 44 Posts
About this Discussion
43 Replies
13 Participants
Last post:
andyboots
Toyota RAV4 Forums
posts
1.1M
members
174K
Since
2004
Rav 4 World is the internet's largest Toyota Rav4 SUV and EV online forum community. Discuss towing, modifications, and more.
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
4.3 General 4.3 Mechanical 4.5 RAV4 Hybrid (except Prime) 4.5 RAV4 Prime 4.3 Exterior