Category: Small 4x4s 
Price Range: £19,095 to £27,395
Excellent quality, great diesel, car-like driving dynamics, Toyota reliability.
Petrol engine not powerful enough, some versions expensive, now five-door only, no joie de vivre.
The RAV4 has become all sensible and grown-up. It's a great car, but where's the fun gone?
Toyota's RAV4 - Recreational Activity Vehicle 4WD - has been a firm favourite across Europe, with over 650,000 finding homes in the twelve years since launch in 1994. This third-generation version is bigger in all ways than the model it replaces, and is a marked step-up with improved engines, better cabin quality and enhanced overall refinement. It's still not an all-out off-roader, but it was never designed to be.
A choice of two diesel engines, a petrol unit and four trim levels is on offer. The higher-powered diesel engine (175bhp) is reserved for the top-spec T180 version; Toyota is looking to steal some sales from the likes of the BMW X3 with this top-end model. Pitching into the higher-spending end of the market now, Toyota has dropped the entry-level three-door models and this RAV4 is offered in five-door form only.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Toyota RAV4
wrote on 18 03 2008
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wrote on 10 12 2006