Advice On Rav4

[Sophstewart]

Hi - I've posted a message on the new members forum but that perhaps wasn't the best place to post. I was wondering if I could pick the brains of experience RAV4 owners/admirers! I'm thinking of buying a 2003 diesel Rav4 (for £4,500). It seems like a really nice car but it has done 98,400 miles. I have never owned a car like this before and have no idea what the costs might be. Does anyone know, if it has been well maintained, if such high mileage would mean it will begin to need expensive part repairs/tyre repairs or if in general Rav4s can continue to be reliable for some time longer? I am not looking for a short term car - I need one that will last me five years and won't be too expensive to maintain. Sorry if this sounds obvious to everyone - it's just that my previous car was a very reliable, cheap to run Micra and I'm moving out of my financial and mechanical comfort zone a bit here!

I'd really appreciate it if anyone had any advice.

[igormus]

hi matey

welcome to our board

it is around 160k kms -- it is good age to think whether or not it has been good cared before?

usually the owner composes the selling cost either basing on real condition of the car or just compose basing on ages (????)

Does anyone know, if it has been well maintained ---- are you asking us about or you definitely know it was?

, if such high mileage would mean it will begin to need expensive part repairs/tyre repairs -- a good test drive is highly required to heel it well. besides --- check with visual condition of the steel heart. if any leaks disclosed -- you must to think "why"; besides --- a service book must be learnt by you, if it is available. if not -- itt is your 2nd question. Check with condition of turbo even visually. Start it in cold day hours / and hot and what do you feel??? Is it started well? Any vibration? Noise? Inspect an expansion tank (coolant's)--what is the color of coolant itself? Any oil traces /films?

In case you heart will advice you to purchase it then the first rule is to change all liquids/filters; inspect EGR; clean MAF sensor and have the car taken over.

Wait for others

regards / igor

[igormus]

besides -- you can fly belong to a tips pinned on the top of our dept where you will fins more interresting and replies to your most of questions.

regards / Igor

[Davrav]

Welcome to the club Sophie

In general RAVs are pretty reliable and things don't go wrong very often.

However, the model you are buying has a DMF [Dual Mass Flywheel] and these are recognised as a weak area. IF they fail you can be looking at a bill of circa £1800 - £2000 at a main dealer or something like £900 - £1200 an a good independent.

You would do well to investigate the history of the car to see if this has been done previously and at what mileage.

Some RAVs of that vintage may well never have a problem but forwarned etc. etc.

I'm not au fait [that's French Kev] with current prices but 4.5K seems a lot for a 9 year old car approaching 100,000 miles.

[NMaria]

DMF is definitely the biggest potential issue. Also check brake discs (in my experience they were not terribly good on that vintage; if they have been changed in the last couple of years they are probably OK) and rear diff for noise: garages tend to forget to change that oil as the interval is short. Does it have FSH, does it smell clean and fresh inside, is it clean under the bonnet? In short, as Igor says, does it give the appearance of having been cared for?

These cars are generally very reliable but if it does need work at any time in the future, you will be probably find that original Toyota parts are quite reasonably priced.

Have you had a rummage on Autotrader to see what similar cars are being sold for?

[Sophstewart]

Thanks everyone - this is very helpful. I will go and investigate!

[BeechCustom]

If you are doing less than average miles per annum you might want to consider a lower mileage petrol Rav4 if you can find one. They are awesome but they are thirsty. I'm struggling to get much above 28mpg BUT I think that cost is ofset against the fact that there is no DMF issue to worry about! Just a thought and welcome to the forum :-)

[Joylove]

Remember it's not 1974 any more, cars don't explode when they hit 100k like they did in your parent's days. ;) Most well designed modern stuff will clock up 200-300k with appropriate maintenance.

Around hte 80-100k miles certain things might be aging, front suspension, auto gearbox oil (if fitted), DMF (if fitted) cambelts (if fitted); then at 140-160k again auto gearbox oils and front suspension, brake calipers, diff oil, turbos.

These are all things that fall under the bracket of routine maintenance and cannot be avoided on any used car.

However you would want to make sure you keep a chunk of your purchase price (say 10%) back to rectify any immediate issues you find with the car, and also to make sure all routine maintenance is up to date and there isn't a gearbox or turbo bill immanent.

As for the RAV4.2 diesel, I think the DMF, grimy EGR valve, ARB droplinks and the auto gearbox software (if fitted) are things to be aware of particularly on that vehicle.

[flyboyprowler]

Hi Sophie, I am fairly new to the forum, but have a 2003 petrol RAV, auto, with 119000 km's as its a Spanish car. So my two penneth is-- I agree that you need to check the general condition of the car, you will see if it's been looked after. How many owners, full history, and maybe some bills to prove the mileage. My front discs were changed last year, and not too expensive, and apart from that, nothing really to report. It has been superbly comfortable, totally reliable, and I intend to keep it for many years yet. I agree with Bob, 30 mpg not fantastic, but I am not too sure that the older diesels are really frugal! Also I think that the price for your car is a little high. Maybe worth checking the value if you have the reg no. there are several sites that will value the car for free. Best of luck anyway, and I know that if you buy a RAV you will be very welcome on the forum, and will get all the help you need.

[Big Kev]

Hi Sophie and welcome to the Club,

Sorry to dampen your spirits on what might be a smashing wee car, but if you don't know its history and service history, I would be having it properly inspected at that mileage by someone well qualified to do so. More importantly, as has been suggested, if you are not doing a decent annual mileage (10k +), look at the many variations even on eBay of the petrol Ravs.

I would honestly expect the DMF has been done at this mileage, but as I was educated on here, it could easily go again, and especially at that mileage.

Good luck with this or any other Rav you go for, and if any of them are in Scotlandshire, just shout if you need it looked at by someone clueless...!!!!!

Big Kev

[Paulus17]

Hello Soph and welcome to the forum,you will get all the info you need from the folk on here

My wife has got a 2004 petrol Rav with just over 40,000 on the clock now and she just absolutely loves it,so do i.

Our first Rav was high-ish mileage which we only owned for a few months but when we saw this one for sale at a local Toyota dealer we could see straight away that it had been well looked after,with full service history.Plus we got 12 month warranty with it ;)

We decided to get this one as it will have to last us a good few years so with the low mileage we had it and haven't regretted it for one moment.Touch wood.

There are good low mileage Ravs out there its just a case of waiting and biding your time if you can wait of course :P

Good luck with what you get.

[Sophstewart]

Hi everyone - thank you so much for all your helpful advice. I am dithering, which perhaps means I should wait to find something a bit cheaper and with a bit less mileage, but I really LIKE this car! Also, it has only had one owner, which I think is a good sign. But perhaps I'm trying to convince myself ....Anyway, I have to make a decision soon, so I'll let you know if I can become a genuine Rav4 owner-member of this forum!

[Big Kev]

Hi everyone - thank you so much for all your helpful advice. I am dithering, which perhaps means I should wait to find something a bit cheaper and with a bit less mileage, but I really LIKE this car! Also, it has only had one owner, which I think is a good sign. But perhaps I'm trying to convince myself ....Anyway, I have to make a decision soon, so I'll let you know if I can become a genuine Rav4 owner-member of this forum!

One owner is a big bonus, Sophie....ask two simple questions.....does it have a full or decent provable service history, and has the DMF BEEN DONE BEFORE....?

Big Kev

[firemac]

Hi Sophie & welcome to TOC.

Joylove makes a good point (amongst many) about mileage & general build quality. Each car is different and its condition will depend upon who owned it & how it was looked after. A car that has done 100K on reasonably long commutes or m-way journies will be in better nick than a 25K car that has done nothing but a 5 mile daily school run and some local shopping.

One owner cars with service history will be worth more than those without any provenance. Last May I bought a 54-reg 3-dr VVTi with 27K on the clock, one owner, FSH, from a Toyota dealer & it came with 12 month's warranty, Club Toyota, etc. I know that I paid over the odds for it but it was rather unique given the mileage, ownership, etc. (not to mention that good 3-dr's are becoming as rare is hen's teeth) so I expected that. In the event it has turned out to be brilliant & worth every penny. To be honest though, if the mileage had been double, I probably still would have gone for it given Toyota's reputation for quality, particularly with regard to the 4.2's.

We also have an 02-reg VVTi 5-dr that we bought new & is now approaching 80K miles. Apart from the usual occasional MIL sensors (& a replacement cat necessitated by the utter incompetence of the one crap Toyota dealer I've ever used), the car has been utterly reliable - I reckon the best car that I've ever owned in 40 years of driving. Both cars are automatics so their mpg isn't brillaint but bearing in mind the very low repair/maintenance costs, I reckon that diesel wouldn't have been any significant saving in comparison. My point is that at 10 years old, it's still performing faultlessly and is a better proposition for us than anything on the market at the moment; in fact we are currently considering what we can do to make sure that we don't have to change it any time soon!!

So, if your proposed purchase has been looked after, has a FSH and looks the part (you can ususally get a vibe off a car once you've driven it) then why not go for it? If necessary ask the dealer if he will give you the tele no. of the previous owner then phone them up and ask some searching questions. I've done that before. Even if the dealer won't tell you the contact details (Data Protection & all that), ask to see the V5 reg doc which will name the previous owner & give their address, then you just need a phone book or yell.com.

Don't give up just because of the mileage, look at the whole vehicle & it's background.

Good luck.

[igormus]

Hi everyone - thank you so much for all your helpful advice. I am dithering, which perhaps means I should wait to find something a bit cheaper and with a bit less mileage, but I really LIKE this car! Also, it has only had one owner, which I think is a good sign. But perhaps I'm trying to convince myself ....Anyway, I have to make a decision soon, so I'll let you know if I can become a genuine Rav4 owner-member of this forum!

Sophie

No offends -- I would recommend a petrol powered rav for you ---- it is problemless subject to good baby feeding

cheers / igor

[atkiman]

hi

I'm with the others, if you dont do the mileage, go for a good petrol one. i've a 52 plate 132000 miler, had it from 12 months and 4000 miles old, utterly reliable, just had all the sensors done and got 33.75 mpg last week. i've looked hard at other motors, and even at 10 years old there's nothing out there to touch a good 4.2 /4.3 RAV.

But if as you say it's a 1 owner job , and got a good service history, and you really are set on it, have it , you wont regret it.

tony

[crofter]

Hi Sophie & welcome to TOC.

Joylove makes a good point (amongst many) about mileage & general build quality. Each car is different and its condition will depend upon who owned it & how it was looked after. A car that has done 100K on reasonably long commutes or m-way journies will be in better nick than a 25K car that has done nothing but a 5 mile daily school run and some local shopping.

One owner cars with service history will be worth more than those without any provenance. Last May I bought a 54-reg 3-dr VVTi with 27K on the clock, one owner, FSH, from a Toyota dealer & it came with 12 month's warranty, Club Toyota, etc. I know that I paid over the odds for it but it was rather unique given the mileage, ownership, etc. (not to mention that good 3-dr's are becoming as rare is hen's teeth) so I expected that. In the event it has turned out to be brilliant & worth every penny. To be honest though, if the mileage had been double, I probably still would have gone for it given Toyota's reputation for quality, particularly with regard to the 4.2's.

We also have an 02-reg VVTi 5-dr that we bought new & is now approaching 80K miles. Apart from the usual occasional MIL sensors (& a replacement cat necessitated by the utter incompetence of the one crap Toyota dealer I've ever used), the car has been utterly reliable - I reckon the best car that I've ever owned in 40 years of driving. Both cars are automatics so their mpg isn't brillaint but bearing in mind the very low repair/maintenance costs, I reckon that diesel wouldn't have been any significant saving in comparison. My point is that at 10 years old, it's still performing faultlessly and is a better proposition for us than anything on the market at the moment; in fact we are currently considering what we can do to make sure that we don't have to change it any time soon!!

So, if your proposed purchase has been looked after, has a FSH and looks the part (you can ususally get a vibe off a car once you've driven it) then why not go for it? If necessary ask the dealer if he will give you the tele no. of the previous owner then phone them up and ask some searching questions. I've done that before. Even if the dealer won't tell you the contact details (Data Protection & all that), ask to see the V5 reg doc which will name the previous owner & give their address, then you just need a phone book or yell.com.

Don't give up just because of the mileage, look at the whole vehicle & it's background.

Good luck.

I am in complete agreement with Jim's post,as you can see I also have a similar motor to his

Dont know if you have noticed but there are not so many posts about petrols giving problems.

Also some people look after their cars and for their own reasons do not like to pass on any details of monies they have spent.

As suggested have it checked over by someone qualified.

Del