[mountbranch]

I’m looking to buy a rav4 and have found what I think is quite a good offer, but I’d like some feedback from the community regarding some topics.

The car is a 2015 2.2 executive edition with 47.000 km on it. Previous owners are: rental company for a year or two and then a retired lady. The dealer wants 15.999 euros for it. It has a full service history from Toyota and the dealer seems pretty legitimate, although this is the first time I’mbuying a car at all...

Mostly, it looks pretty good, but there’s one main thing which worries me, the gear shift stick looks very worn:

Is this normal for the rav4s? I haven’t seen anything like it anywhere else. What would be the assumption if you saw this? That drivers were shifting gears A LOT or that the odometer was manipulated? Here are some more pictures attached:

thanks for any advice or help, also with respect to other things I should look out for!

 

[cgilley]

lol, just buy the damn car!

no really, setting this aside, the wear on the stick could be from UV. It's not an issue. You have the maintenance record, the mileage is actually quite low (from US standards), and damn it's a six speed. If this is your first car, you are leaning toward a good model. I just checked carcomplaints.com - low issues for the 2015. I drive a 2018 XLE.

If you're paranoid (you should be), take the car to an independent mechanic, but really, you have all the records. If the maintenance has been done, go for it (and change the gear shift knob).

cg

ps

Since this is your first car, you should know I'm an old guy. Bought bunches of cars for me, the wife, children, etc. The deal is you minimize your risk, but no car is perfect. You minimize your risk by asking the questions that you are doing. Even so, you might have issues. Frankly, I'd kill for a 6 speed manual, which raises a thought. Take it out for a test drive. Get it up to speed - running in 6th gear. Accelerate hard while watching your tac. If the tac jumps without the car accelerating, the clutch is slipping. This may or may not be a problem. I love manual transmissions and can make a worn clutch last forever, but it's something you should watch for.

Let us know how it goes....

 

[bini]

The problem is mostly from wedding rings. I scratched my steering wheel with my wedding ring, and it started to peel off when my car was only 6 months old. It looks very similar type of damage. Now, after 52k km, this was the only problem with my 2018 RAV4. Not a big deal. I had similar problems on my old VW Passat, but that one had more quality and looked better over the years.

 

[cgilley]

Okay Bini, what hand has your wedding rings? Usually it's the left

 

[bini]

Okay Bini, what hand has your wedding rings? Usually it's the left

This might be interesting: Cultural Differences: Wearing Wedding Rings on the Left or the Right Hand
"Couples in Germany and Netherlands often do the opposite: sporting engagement rings on the left hand and wedding rings on the right."

Previous owners are: rental company for a year or two and then a retired lady.

Women wear all kind of rings on both hands, sometimes huge ones.
And also these guys: men with rings - Google Search

This is my steering wheel. All started from scratches from my wedding ring.

 

[Chief Pontiac]

If it originally belong to a car rental company… I would stay away from it! In the United States at least, rental car companies are not known for maintaining their fleet as they should.

 

[cgilley]

oh jeeze, get a grip and for goodness sake don't over think it! I actually checked the posted pictures - driver on the left.

Even so, buy the damn car if that is the level of your worry.

Yes I'm sure there are cultural differences all over the world. You're on the internet. so with all respect, please reach down and remove your waddied panties and relax.

 

[RTexasF]

If it checks out mechanically then buy it. Keep in mind there are no diesels or manual gear shift RAVS in North America. Well, some of the older (very old) ones had a stick shift available.