Thinking about the Toyota Rav4 Hybrid

[OWC Jamie]

Surmounting and conquering off-road obstacles requires 4wd , proper manly gear, finesse and attention.

[Grateful11]

GuyGene wrote:
:agree: about Honda making a hybrid Pilot. A niece has a Pilot, and my F150 4WD gets better mpg than the Pilot! So many of those mid size SUVs just aren't very fuel efficient.

I know people with mid size SUV's that are only getting around 20 mpg. We went to Florida this May and
decided to drive the 2002 Z71 Tahoe, it's a beast, got 18.7 mpg down and back. Glad we drove it, the roads
in SC are absolutely falling apart, even I-95, the Scion tC would have beat us to death on I-26 and I-95.

[Forrest]

billb,
Nice video :wink:

The Rav4 Hybrid has 7 inches of ground clearance, about 3/4 inch more than the gas Rav4 AWD. The Hybrid also beeps if the vehicle is close to bottoming out. This is demoed in a video review.

I want the AWD to navigate in snow - nothing more.

[NewtonMP2100]

.....in your dreams....????

[davemchine]

My daughter has the 2015 gas RAV4. I like it very much but I do notice a lot of road noise at freeway speeds. It's a perfect car for her with AWD, good visibility, backup camera and lots of storage space. It has much better clearance than my Solara. I did test it in the snow and it seemed to perform very well. I haven't driven the hybrid but given Toyota's long history with the Prius I would think their tech would be good.

[Forrest]

Everyone, thanks for the helpful advice - it's appreciated. The Rav4 hybrid seems like a good deal, and only about $3000 more than a Primus 3. I will test drive it tomorrow.

[SteveO]

I'd do the math on the mpg savings vs the additional 700 expense...doesn't seem like it would take long to pay for itself, but a good place to start.

[Forrest]

At $2/gal for gas, I would spend about $50 per week or $2600 per year for gas. Assuming 33 mpg, which is 20% better than the gas Rav4. Payback period is 16 months over 54,000 miles. If gas price goes up, the payback period is shorter.

[space-time]

Shouldn't you buy a Forrester?

[Forrest]

I took a 30 mile test drive at speeds from 25 to 78 mph. The hybrid Rav4 drove nearly identical to the gas engined SUV. The braking felt slightly different - but quickly got used to in 5 minutes. I liked it so much I bought the hybrid Rav4!