[color="#3333FF"]I'm rather miffed and disappointed in TOYOTA for dropping the 3 door Rav4, lets face it, without the 3 door back in 1994 (which was a step into the unknown for TOYOTA) we would not have the upmarket 5 door we have today.
Toyota seems to have forgotten its roots, the 3 door Rav4 was ment as a cheeky ,chunky ,fun vehicle that filled a gap in the market, and as i look around the market today, there is still a need for such a vehicle.
What really rattles me is the only competition for the 3 door Rav4 now come in the form of the Suzuki Vatara, and going by the amount i see around the south east of London , they are having the market all to themselves.
The only downside to the 3 door Vatara is it only comes as a 1.6 and no automatic option is offered, but if the public are buying on looks alone, its as good as a 3 door RAV4 replacment.
Everytime i see a new 3 door Vatara on the streets, i see it as a sale TOYOTA have lost .

....Your thoughts gents [/color]

[quote name='Bob King' post='549480' date='Jun 13 2006, 07:28 AM']
[color="#3333FF"]I'm rather miffed and disappointed in TOYOTA for dropping the 3 door Rav4, lets face it, without the 3 door back in 1994 (which was a step into the unknown for TOYOTA) we would not have the upmarket 5 door we have today.
Toyota seems to have forgotten its roots, the 3 door Rav4 was ment as a cheeky ,chunky ,fun vehicle that filled a gap in the market, and as i look around the market today, there is still a need for such a vehicle.
What really rattles me is the only competition for the 3 door Rav4 now come in the form of the Suzuki Vatara, and going by the amount i see around the south east of London , they are having the market all to themselves.
The only downside to the 3 door Vatara is it only comes as a 1.6 and no automatic option is offered, but if the public are buying on looks alone, its as good as a 3 door RAV4 replacment.
Everytime i see a new 3 door Vatara on the streets, i see it as a sale TOYOTA have lost .

....Your thoughts gents [/color]
[/quote]

Bob I believe the new Terrios 4x4 would fit into this gap left (it is part owned by Toyota) by the 3dr and looks almost identical to the current RAV.....

It has a weeezy engine but the the 4 wheel drive system is from toyota... and even though it has 5 doors it's size is not far off the old RAV4 3dr....

[img]http://www.whatcar.com/Car/Daihatsu/Terios/3566350490.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.japanesecarfans.com/news/2060123.001/2060123.001.1M.jpg[/img]

RAV4 replacment....i don't think so ! .

This is the vehicle Toyota share with Daihatsu, in Japan is called a Toyota Rush but sold along with the RAV4.
But it doesn't have the looks of the 3 door rav4 or Vatara, so i still feed Suzuki have the market all to themselves.

[quote name='Bob King' post='549849' date='Jun 14 2006, 10:55 AM']
[img]http://www.whatcar.com/Car/Daihatsu/Terios/3566350490.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.japanesecarfans.com/news/2060123.001/2060123.001.1M.jpg[/img]

RAV4 replacment....i don't think so ! .

This is the vehicle Toyota share with Daihatsu, in Japan is called a Toyota Rush but sold along with the RAV4.
But it doesn't have the looks of the 3 door rav4 or Vatara, so i still feed Suzuki have the market all to themselves.
[/quote]

Never said replacement.. Fit into gap left... Agree the Suzuki has the 3 door market all to it's self.. no real contenders.

All other manufactures seem to be bringing out 7 seat versions.... Again Toyota have but sadly not in this country and no V6 either another missed op..... Seen a few of the new Santa Fe's on the road and say they look nice Seems to be bigger is better... New Freelander out end of year... should make all Chelsea mums look better downsizing a bit just for school runs...Looked at 3 door RAV before I got my 5 door... Ok for 2 people but not too good on the boot size for family....Love the shape though and mine is great (apart from some small gliches) my daughter loves lounging in the back and the dog licking the back window

Dont know what the market was like in the UK for the 3 door RAV4, maybe the number crunchers said not enough being sold.....Honda have trouble selling the 3 door HRV as well...

What other 3 door 4x4 are there (dont include the new Fiat/Suzuki thingy)

Suzuki Vitara
Honda HRV
Mitsubushi Panini
Freelander Soft Back (do they still do this one)

I also feel ,as you say "the number crunchers said not enough being sold", Toyota see things in black or white, if it doesn't sell sufficient numbers they just give it the chop , the 3 door RAV4 can join the list of axed past Toyota vehicles...... Paseo, Camry, 4-Runner etc !.
Of your list of other vehicles, my money would be spent on the Vitara, the Freelander would breakdown before it left the forcourt , the Mitsubishi Pinin is to small ,and the less said about the Honda HRV the better .

Very surprised there will be no more 3-doorers

We love ours...and don't care if the boot is only 4 inches deep, with the back seats pushed back...and the door opens the wrong way for our drive....it's great to drive, easy to park and handles very well all-round. Very pleased with it.

BTW: 2 weeks after we bought it, a retired couple came to our door. They said they had been admiring it since we got it and they promptly offered to buy it off me, since they were told they were no longer being produced.