And now for something more boring…
Discussion
Toyota RAV4. US spec, XLE premium. In Blue flame, or what the rest of the world calls Cyan Splash. It’s really, really, really blue.
Not much in the way of pic as, well, it’s a Toyota. Not that interesting.
This appears to be equivalent to the UK Excel model…but it’s not a hybrid. It’s the 2.5l petrol with AWD. Largely because while the use case would actually be great for a hybrid, annual miles will be LOW, and it would take an eternity to offset the extra expense in fuel savings. And also because Bertie Wooster, also resident in the snowy state of Colorado had the Toyota Highlander hybrid with the rear wheels driven by the electric motor only and thought it was crap. I’ve seen similar comments elsewhere, so figured I’d use that as an opportunity to save the ~$3k for the equivalent hybrid. That, and the wife only wanted the really, really blue colour…which I have to admit to liking a lot, too - makes finding it in the parking lot easy – and you don’t seem to be able to get it in the comparable spec hybrid.
The interior is the genuine nauga hide light/dark grey combo. I like this a lot, looks much nicer than the similar interior in the Mazda 6 it replaced. The interior of that was why we didn’t go for a CX-5 which is highly recommended, as I couldn’t face another Mazda attempt at a low rent interior.
That works out at ~$32k, as opposed to a similar price in pounds in the UK (if you could get the non-hybrid).
It’s got the ‘XLE Premium Grade Cold weather package’ which is heated seats and steering wheel (I cannot stress enough the importance of this in Colorado), variable rain sensing wipers and memory seats. Not that interested in the seats or wipers, but I’ll re-iterate the importance of the heated steering wheel – I transferred the contents of the Mazda 6 that I was trading in, in 35 Fahrenheit weather, and could barely feel my hands after until the wheel warmed them up. This is a god send.
No other options seemed worth it (upgraded stereo didn’t offer much, tech package adds homelink[just use the regular remotes] and a digital rearview mirror[gets mixed reviews], wireless charging…as you have to plug the phone in for android auto, it’s pointless), and they start getting pretty pricey. Most reviews seem to say that the XLE premium seems to offer the best value, and I can’t argue, you get a lot for your money.
The dealer included the all-weather liner package and roof bars, I’ve added the door edge strips (wife had knocked the s
t out of the paint on every door edge on the mazda on various things, I was fking glad it was dark when they looked at it to get a appraisal value), door side moldings (school run, other wives will knock the st out of their doors on them instead of ours), and mudguards (stops rocks being thrown up on the school run and agro between wives over who is responsible to replace the windshield).
All genuine Toyota parts ordered online for about 40% off the retail and well worth adding. I’ll get the clear bra fitted at some point, and will likely tint the front windows to match the rear (lots of sunshine here, makes it surprisingly hot inside – and LOTS of glare). Door side molding instructions appeared to have been translated from Japanese to English via Croatian and some other intermediate step; managed to find a simpler way of doing the install once I'd worked out the reference points for the measurements).
Plus points. It’s actually really quite agile. Great visibility, nice to maneuver, a decent steer, and actually quite fun for what is the SUV equivalent of a corolla grocery getter.
Lots of cool features – the lane departure warning and corrective steering is surprisingly effective and not too intrusive. Pick the right bend and it’ll steer round it for you…
Android Auto!
Speed limit sign detector. It repeats the last speed limit sign (among others) in the display. Quite useful in the US where the limit is often pretty random compared to the class of the road (I’ve driven on 30 mph roads here that could be considered dual carriageways in the UK).
Quite a lot of other neat features, that all add up to making it a really easy car to drive. I don’t like test drives normally, but I settled into this thing really easily – hardly surprising as it’s a SUV Corolla, I suppose. I also thought I’d hate it on the test drive, but as said above, it’s surprisingly fun. Too big for the UK, but in the US it’s very much a compact SUV, and fits in well. Much less body roll that expected.
Minus point. The engine is st. I mean, quite astonishingly so. It’s got 203hp, but it’s the slowest thing off the line I’ve driven in years. I assume it’s geared for hill climbing in the first couple of gears, as it takes an eternity to get to 15mph, which is probably why the 0-60 is as high as it is (8.something?). After that, it’s actually quite rapid, and builds speed nicely. What really grates though about the engine is the engine noise – it’s noisy. At least, when accelerating, it sounds like a truck. A 4 cylinder truck. And one that’s complaining about being asked to do some work. At speed, it’s surprisingly quiet, given the complaints made getting to speed, and is quite refined. I drove it back from the dealer telling google to text my wife, while doing 80 and it was a very pleasant place to be.
I’m starting to get used to the noise more, and the need to push it hard to pull away briskly, so it’s far from unbearable and I don’t think it’ll be a problem in the long term.
I’m really impressed at what’s included in this car. It might be the automotive equivalent of white goods, but it appears to be fantastic at what it does.
Not much in the way of pic as, well, it’s a Toyota. Not that interesting.
This appears to be equivalent to the UK Excel model…but it’s not a hybrid. It’s the 2.5l petrol with AWD. Largely because while the use case would actually be great for a hybrid, annual miles will be LOW, and it would take an eternity to offset the extra expense in fuel savings. And also because Bertie Wooster, also resident in the snowy state of Colorado had the Toyota Highlander hybrid with the rear wheels driven by the electric motor only and thought it was crap. I’ve seen similar comments elsewhere, so figured I’d use that as an opportunity to save the ~$3k for the equivalent hybrid. That, and the wife only wanted the really, really blue colour…which I have to admit to liking a lot, too - makes finding it in the parking lot easy – and you don’t seem to be able to get it in the comparable spec hybrid.
The interior is the genuine nauga hide light/dark grey combo. I like this a lot, looks much nicer than the similar interior in the Mazda 6 it replaced. The interior of that was why we didn’t go for a CX-5 which is highly recommended, as I couldn’t face another Mazda attempt at a low rent interior.
That works out at ~$32k, as opposed to a similar price in pounds in the UK (if you could get the non-hybrid).
It’s got the ‘XLE Premium Grade Cold weather package’ which is heated seats and steering wheel (I cannot stress enough the importance of this in Colorado), variable rain sensing wipers and memory seats. Not that interested in the seats or wipers, but I’ll re-iterate the importance of the heated steering wheel – I transferred the contents of the Mazda 6 that I was trading in, in 35 Fahrenheit weather, and could barely feel my hands after until the wheel warmed them up. This is a god send.
No other options seemed worth it (upgraded stereo didn’t offer much, tech package adds homelink[just use the regular remotes] and a digital rearview mirror[gets mixed reviews], wireless charging…as you have to plug the phone in for android auto, it’s pointless), and they start getting pretty pricey. Most reviews seem to say that the XLE premium seems to offer the best value, and I can’t argue, you get a lot for your money.
The dealer included the all-weather liner package and roof bars, I’ve added the door edge strips (wife had knocked the s
t out of the paint on every door edge on the mazda on various things, I was fking glad it was dark when they looked at it to get a appraisal value), door side moldings (school run, other wives will knock the st out of their doors on them instead of ours), and mudguards (stops rocks being thrown up on the school run and agro between wives over who is responsible to replace the windshield).All genuine Toyota parts ordered online for about 40% off the retail and well worth adding. I’ll get the clear bra fitted at some point, and will likely tint the front windows to match the rear (lots of sunshine here, makes it surprisingly hot inside – and LOTS of glare). Door side molding instructions appeared to have been translated from Japanese to English via Croatian and some other intermediate step; managed to find a simpler way of doing the install once I'd worked out the reference points for the measurements).
Plus points. It’s actually really quite agile. Great visibility, nice to maneuver, a decent steer, and actually quite fun for what is the SUV equivalent of a corolla grocery getter.
Lots of cool features – the lane departure warning and corrective steering is surprisingly effective and not too intrusive. Pick the right bend and it’ll steer round it for you…
Android Auto!
Speed limit sign detector. It repeats the last speed limit sign (among others) in the display. Quite useful in the US where the limit is often pretty random compared to the class of the road (I’ve driven on 30 mph roads here that could be considered dual carriageways in the UK).
Quite a lot of other neat features, that all add up to making it a really easy car to drive. I don’t like test drives normally, but I settled into this thing really easily – hardly surprising as it’s a SUV Corolla, I suppose. I also thought I’d hate it on the test drive, but as said above, it’s surprisingly fun. Too big for the UK, but in the US it’s very much a compact SUV, and fits in well. Much less body roll that expected.
Minus point. The engine is s
t. I mean, quite astonishingly so. It’s got 203hp, but it’s the slowest thing off the line I’ve driven in years. I assume it’s geared for hill climbing in the first couple of gears, as it takes an eternity to get to 15mph, which is probably why the 0-60 is as high as it is (8.something?). After that, it’s actually quite rapid, and builds speed nicely. What really grates though about the engine is the engine noise – it’s noisy. At least, when accelerating, it sounds like a truck. A 4 cylinder truck. And one that’s complaining about being asked to do some work. At speed, it’s surprisingly quiet, given the complaints made getting to speed, and is quite refined. I drove it back from the dealer telling google to text my wife, while doing 80 and it was a very pleasant place to be.I’m starting to get used to the noise more, and the need to push it hard to pull away briskly, so it’s far from unbearable and I don’t think it’ll be a problem in the long term.
I’m really impressed at what’s included in this car. It might be the automotive equivalent of white goods, but it appears to be fantastic at what it does.
It's quite a nice looking vehicle, for what it is. The Lexus version differs a bit in the rear window and front trim, and that's about it. Hopefully we'll keep this one until the kids out grow it.
Decent load lugger though; I went and bought a dishwasher the week after we got the Toyota, went in the back no fuss.
Decent load lugger though; I went and bought a dishwasher the week after we got the Toyota, went in the back no fuss.
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