2025 Toyota RAV4 assessment | CarExpert

The Toyota RAV4 has been hybrid-only for a while now, and it was virtually Australia’s favorite automotive in 2024.

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Notice: That is an up to date model of a assessment first revealed in August. Spare some minor specification tweaks, there haven’t been any modifications to the pricing.

We’ve got up to date key particulars such because the specs with essentially the most up-to-date data out there. Learn the unique model of this assessment right here.

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WATCH: Paul’s video assessment of the 2024 Toyota RAV4 XSE Hybrid

The Japanese model is doubling down on its fuel-saving hybrid tech, and has now dropped petrol engines throughout its core passenger and crossover lineups that had present hybrid choices.

Whereas this may occasionally appear to be a giant deal, a whopping 94.2 per cent of RAV4s offered within the first half of final yr had been geared up with the two.5-litre four-cylinder hybrid powertrain. That is an excellent increased break up than the bigger Kluger (76.9 per cent) and smaller Corolla Cross (85.8 per cent).

In comparison with the previous couple of years, Toyota now claims to have a way more plentiful provide of RAV4s which has resulted in wait instances nearer to 4 months. It’s a far cry from the greater than 24-month await top-spec hybrid examples within the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Due to this, the RAV4 was the second best-selling automobile general in 2024, behind solely the Ford Ranger. It even outsold the Toyota HiLux.

When the present RAV4 debuted domestically in 2019 it was effectively forward of the pack, but it surely hasn’t actually modified since its newest replace in 2022.

There are additionally significantly extra hybrid choices within the hot-selling mid-size SUV section in 2024 – is the RAV4 nonetheless the section benchmark? Learn alongside to search out out.

How a lot does the Toyota RAV4 price?

On take a look at is the flagship RAV4 Edge Hybrid which solely is available in all-wheel drive – priced from $58,360 plus on-road prices.

To see how the Toyota RAV4 strains up towards the competitors, try our comparability instrument

What’s the Toyota RAV4 like on the within?

Very similar to it has been for just a few years now – blocky and user-friendly.

The RAV4 is a straightforward automotive to get out and in of due to its high-riding SUV profile. That is useful for these with restricted mobility and might’t step too far up or down right into a automobile.

When you’re in you’re introduced with some reasonably inoffensive-looking fake leather-based seats that Toyota dubs SofTex. They’re delicate to the contact however I’m not sure how they’ll final in long term as our tester had solely 6000km and we seen some creasing on the bolsters.

The motive force’s seat has 10 methods of electrical adjustment which is a lot discover the proper seating place for most individuals. I personally like how a lot thigh help you’ll be able to dial in, because it helps these with longer legs sit comfortably.

I additionally like how a lot lumbar help you’ll be able to both pump up or deflate. I injured my again just lately and I by no means obtained uncomfortable behind the wheel like I’ve in among the RAV4’s rivals. The entrance seats are heated however even of their highest seating they don’t get very popular. There’s additionally air flow which is useful throughout summer season.

A useful function concerning the RAV4 is it remembers what you had the seating heating/cooling set as if you final drove the automotive. This implies you don’t have to smoosh the button to show it on once more.

Forward of the driving force is the acquainted Toyota steering wheel that feels good within the hand, although after holding it for some time made my fingers get a bit clammy on the leather-based rim. It will be good if there have been some perforations to assist regulate hand warmth.

The steering wheel doesn’t supply heating which is a bit weird given the Edge is the flagship variant within the vary. A lot of its rivals supply this function, which is nice if you first hop in on a chilly morning. All of the buttons on the steering wheel are logically positioned and have a clicky motion when pressed – this makes it satisfying to work together with.

Behind the steering wheel is a full-width 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster that appears nice and presents high-resolution. The format is simplistic however you’ll be able to customise just a few completely different widgets to show varied driving data, in addition to themes.

The digital instrument cluster is nowhere close to as configurable as Volkswagen Group automobiles nonetheless, and a majority of the customisation choices are locked when you begin driving, which is a traditional Japanese automotive trait.

What do look good are the transitions that happen if you change drive modes. They take over your complete display screen and have animations that present the RAV4 driving.

Shifting throughout, the centrepiece of the dashboard is the ten.5-inch touchscreen infotainment system. It’s a implausible unit that’s a far cry from what Toyota used to supply.

It seems to have loads of processing energy, which implies it boots up shortly on startup, and new pages load snappily. It’s additionally very responsive to the touch inputs which ought to appease iPad customers.

The menu construction within the touchscreen is easy and clear, which means it’s onerous to get misplaced in. In contrast to the older touchscreen nonetheless, there are not any bodily shortcut buttons on both aspect.

As a substitute there’s solely a singular quantity knob which is annoyingly on the driving force’s aspect and doesn’t present any ratcheting suggestions when turned. That is significantly better than press buttons nonetheless.

By way of smartphone mirroring, the RAV4 presents wired and wi-fi variations of each Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. With my iPhone 15 Professional Max linked wirelessly I didn’t expertise any dropouts throughout my week of testing, which is fairly stunning as I drive via identified interference factors on my approach to the workplace which catch a variety of programs out commonly.

Satellite tv for pc navigation is constructed into the infotainment and is very easy to make use of. It’s additionally linked to the web which implies there’s reside visitors and routing.

There’s additionally a wi-fi telephone charger tucked subtly in entrance of the centre console. It charged my plus-sized telephone fairly effectively, although nothing secured it in place which precipitated it to slip round and off the charging pad at instances.

Wanting across the cabin the RAV4 Edge stands out with its orange highlights. It’s an acquired style that I perceive is not going to be for everybody. It undoubtedly differentiates this flagship variant from the remainder of the vary.

I’m a giant fan of the chunky, but funky local weather management setup that has cartoonishly massive rubber temperature knobs. It’s additionally good to have clearly labelled bodily buttons for each different HVAC-related perform, as so many carmakers at the moment are integrating these into touchscreens.

One unusual inclusion in higher-spec RAV4s is a digital rear-view mirror. This doesn’t actually make sense on this automotive, until you have got the boot loaded up, as all-round visibility is great due to the massive quantities of glass.

The vast majority of the principle contact factors together with the armrests and dashboard are delicate, although understandably there are tougher plastics down decrease. I do want there have been softer finishes the place my legs rested on the centre console.

One thing I’ve by no means seen in different RAV4s I’ve sampled is the quantity of flex among the inside components have. Pushing the centre console backward and forward causes it to maneuver considerably, in addition to the local weather management pod.

Regardless of this, there have been no loud creaks or rattles within the cabin all through my testing, which leads me to wonder if the quantity of flex is meant.

Shifting to the second row there’s a substantial quantity of house for a mid-size SUV. It’s a reasonably good place to be as you’ll be able to stretch out and calm down for lengthy journeys – a equally sized sedan presents extra space, nonetheless.

At a leggy 182cm I had a number of leg-, head-, shoulder- and head house within the second row of the RAV4. Due to the massive aspect home windows there’s additionally loads of outward visibility.

It will be very straightforward to have two adults within the second row, and pushing it to a few is doable for essentially the most half. Having three massive adults sat throughout the bench would get a tad squishy, nonetheless.

By way of second-row facilities, there are air vents mounted on the again of the centre console, USB-C ports, and a fold-down armrest with cupholders. There’s just one map pocket on the entrance passenger seatback, in addition to small door pockets.

On the again there’s an influence tailgate but it surely takes without end to open and beeps incessantly all through the method. It’s a ache in case you’ve parked in a busy carpark.

As soon as the tailgate is open nonetheless, the RAV4 Hybrid has a reasonably massive boot. At 542-580 litres with the rear seats upright, it’s a very usable house that’s each broad and deep.

There’s a retractable cargo cowl that’s nice at hiding issues you have got stowed away within the boot, although it does really feel a bit low cost and flimsy. I virtually count on one thing a bit nicer in a automotive that prices $60,000.

Lastly, underneath the boot ground there’s a brief space-saver spare wheel. It is a good inclusion as as rising quantity of rivals aren’t coming with a spare wheel in any respect.

To see how the Toyota RAV4 strains up towards the competitors, try our comparability instrument

What’s underneath the bonnet?

The RAV4 Edge is solely supplied with the two.5-litre hybrid system and AWD as customary. Different RAV4 Hybrid fashions in Australia additionally supply a extra inexpensive front-wheel drive choice.

All through my testing it was freezing in Melbourne, which meant the heater was cranking and the heated seats had been on their highest setting. It additionally meant the petrol engine wasn’t keen to be switched off for very lengthy.

Throughout one explicit five-minute journey up the street to seize a espresso the petrol engine didn’t swap off in any respect, leading to a mean gas consumption of 13L/100km. On the flip aspect, whereas travelling into the workplace for roughly 45 minutes in heavy peak-hour visitors I achieved 4.4L/100km, which is implausible for a automobile this measurement.

To see how the Toyota RAV4 strains up towards the competitors, try our comparability instrument

How does the Toyota RAV4 drive?

Once you begin up the RAV4 Hybrid with the push-button starter, there’s a singular beep that allows you to know the automotive is able to be pushed. A ‘prepared’ icon additionally shows on the digital instrument cluster.

The rationale for the beginning beep sound is as a result of the automotive begins silently with out the petrol engine. It usually fires to life quietly a second or two nonetheless to heat up the engine fluids.

The petrol engine will keep on for a good whereas, particularly if it’s bone chilly, to make sure it’s at working temperature and to cost up the battery a tad. Realistically this solely takes a few minutes.

Preliminary acceleration within the RAV4 Hybrid is often underneath electrical energy, particularly in case you’re mild on the throttle. On a hill or with tougher acceleration the petrol engine will kick on virtually instantly, although.

In all honesty I anticipated the RAV4 Hybrid to supply extra electrical oomph, particularly as this mannequin has an electrical motor-generator on the rear axle. As a substitute it very readily calls upon the petrol engine to help with acceleration.

That is doubtless all the way down to how Toyota nonetheless equips the RAV4 with a nickel-metal hydride battery pack, reasonably than a extra subtle and energy-dense lithium-ion unit. Different Toyota hybrids with the model’s newer tech lean heavier on the electrified elements for even higher effectivity.

Fortunately the RAV4 Hybrid’s petrol engine does fireplace reasonably seamlessly. When you weren’t paying full consideration you doubtless wouldn’t comprehend it has come to life till it begins revving.

There’s a ‘Sport’ mode that may be chosen which makes acceleration really feel snappier, although it feels prefer it’s towards this automotive’s fuel-saving ethos. With this in thoughts, the ‘Eco’ drive mode is healthier suited.

Regardless of quoting a complete system energy output of 163kW, the RAV4 Hybrid AWD doesn’t really feel overly quick from behind the wheel. As a substitute it looks like you should coax it to get to hurry, and if you push it tougher the engine revs flare.

It doesn’t take lengthy for petrol engine’s be aware to get previous. Given the RAV4 is provided with an digital repeatedly variable transmission (e-CVT) it has an annoying drone that simply hovers on the identical revs. This isn’t unusual for this transmission sort because it usually prioritises effectivity over efficiency or engagement.

When you attain cruising speeds round city, the engine often switches off relying on the battery cost and outdoors ambient temperature, amongst different components. One of many few instances the engine would refuse to change off nonetheless, was once I had the heater and heated seat cranking in virtually freezing Melbourne climate.

EV cruising within the RAV4 Hybrid could be very quiet and serene as there’s solely the odd electrical motor hum. It’s virtually like a recreation to eke out as a lot electrical driving as attainable to maximise effectivity and in addition minimise the droning of the petrol engine.

There’s a devoted ‘EV’ drive mode however it should swap off as quickly as you press the accelerator that bit too onerous, or when battery cost is simply too low.

Each electrical motors assist with preliminary acceleration, however as quickly as you get above 40km/h solely the entrance electrical motor drives the automotive. It reactivates round sure corners for added safety, however finally it makes the rear electrical motor a bit redundant.

Regenerative braking on this automobile solely has one setting, but it surely strikes a pleasant stability between being too weak or too sturdy. Underneath mild deceleration solely the entrance electrical motor regenerates vitality, however letting off the accelerator utterly lets the rear electrical motor assist out.

The regenerative braking additionally negates that annoying CVT pace creeping you generally get when travelling downhill.

There’s a diploma of added regenerative braking constructed into the brake pedal, although the transition to the bodily brakes when coming to an entire cease is usually a little jarring. It doesn’t take lengthy for the battery pack to cost up, which is good as a result of this equals extra EV driving.

Round city and within the metropolis, the RAV4’s experience could be very compliant regardless of driving on bigger 19-inch alloy wheels. Even sharp potholes and pace bumps don’t unsettle this automotive like they do in another mid-size SUVs.

You do hear what the suspension is doing nonetheless as a result of the automotive is already so silent. This doesn’t break the driving expertise but it surely’s extra pronounced.

The steering has a pleasant weight to it when tossing the automotive round on low-speed streets, whereas not being too unwieldy to twirl in tight carparks.

As customary, the RAV4 Edge comes with entrance and rear parking sensors, in addition to a surround-view digital camera with implausible high quality and a number of views which is reasonably useful in tight purchasing centre carparks.

Getting out on the open street, the two.5-litre petrol engine stays on just about on a regular basis, although the electrical motors do assist cut back the load and minimize gas consumption. It’s additionally when the engine drone is most obvious.

At instances the engine does swap off at increased speeds, particularly when travelling downhill.

The very best pace I used to be in a position to drive on electrical energy alone was round 80km/h. These moments had been solely fleeting because the engine fired again to life very quickly as soon as the electrical motors had been out of their depth.

The RAV4 is a really comfy automotive to cruise the freeway in with poised and compliant steering. It’s additionally considerably dynamic, despite the fact that the added heft of the electrified elements is noticeable on sweeping high-speed corners.

On the security entrance, the adaptive cruise management system is nice. It does default to the furthest distance each time it’s activated for the primary time although, which is a bit irritating.

The lane-keep help is essentially good at holding you within the lane in case you begin drifting out, although it may well generally intervene incorrectly; whereas the lane centring perform is usually a little too hands-on for my liking. Fortunately it’s in a position to be switched off for smoother freeway and freeway cruising.

Lastly, the RAV4 Edge Hybrid has fantastically vibrant LED headlights. That is nice in case you reside in a rural or regional space and wish to have the ability to see far into the space.

There’s additionally an auto high-beam setting that appears nice on paper however in actuality it’s a bit tentative. There have been moments the place it will flip off high-beam in a short time, even when it detected a vibrant road signal, whereas there have been others the place there can be an oncoming automotive and I’d must manually dip the lights.

To see how the Toyota RAV4 strains up towards the competitors, try our comparability instrument

What do you get?

The RAV4 is obtainable in 5 completely different trim ranges – on take a look at is the flagship Edge variant.

RAV4 GX highlights:

• 17-inch alloy wheels (mild gray)
• Area-saver spare
• Computerized projector LED headlights
• Computerized high-beam
• LED entrance fog lights
• Rain-sensing wipers
• Rear mud flaps
• ‘Premium’ steering wheel
• Tilt and telescopic steering wheel adjustment
• 7.0-inch instrument cluster display screen
• 8.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system
• Wi-fi Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
• Digital radio
• Fabric upholstery
• Push-button begin
• Twin-zone local weather management
• Rear centre armrest

RAV4 GXL provides:

• 18-inch alloy wheels (darkish silver)
• Rear privateness glass
• Entrance mudflaps
• Roof rails
• ‘Premium’ gear lever
• Proximity entry
• Auto-dimming rear-view mirror
• Wi-fi telephone charger

RAV4 XSE provides:

• 18-inch alloy wheels (gloss black)
• Energy tailgate
• SofTex upholstery
• Heated entrance seats
• 10-way energy driver’s seat
• 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster
• 10.5-inch touchscreen infotainment system

RAV4 Cruiser provides:

• Sunroof
• Energy-folding exterior mirrors
• 9-speaker JBL sound system
• Leather-based upholstery
• Heated and ventilated entrance seats
• 8-way energy passenger seat
• Driver’s seat reminiscence
• Ambient lighting
• Digital rear-view mirror

RAV4 Edge provides:

• 19-inch alloy wheels (matte gray)
• SofTex upholstery
• 4-way manually adjustable passenger seat
• Removes driver reminiscence perform
• Removes energy passenger seat

Is the Toyota RAV4 secure?

The RAV4 has a five-star security ranking from ANCAP, based mostly on exams carried out by Euro NCAP in 2019.

Normal security gear consists of:

• Adaptive cruise management
• Autonomous emergency braking
• Pedestrian detection
• Daytime bicycle owner detection
• Intersection help
• Blind-spot monitoring
• Lane-keep help
• Lane Hint Help (lane centring)
• Rear cross-traffic alert
• Emergency Steering Help
• Velocity signal recognition
• Entrance, front-side and curtain airbags
• Driver’s knee airbag
• Reversing digital camera
• Entrance and rear parking sensors

Cruiser and above obtain a surround-view digital camera.

How a lot does the Toyota RAV4 price to run?

The RAV4 is backed by a five-year, unlimited-kilometre guarantee. Toyota doesn’t supply complementary roadside help like many different manufacturers.

To see how the Toyota RAV4 strains up towards the competitors, try our comparability instrument

CarExpert’s Tackle the Toyota RAV4

For a very long time now, the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid has been the default choice for individuals who need a cost-effective mid-size SUV.

Nevertheless, the competitors is now effectively and really sizzling, with new hybrid rivals arriving seemingly each month or so.

The RAV4 Hybrid does stay because the benchmark within the section in lots of regards, however you shouldn’t get complacent and never think about different equally sized and priced automobiles.

The Honda CR-V e:HEV, for instance, mightn’t be as environment friendly however its petrol engine fires to life extra seamlessly than the RAV4 Hybrid’s whereas additionally providing a extra participating drive.

Moreover, the Hyundai Tucson Hybrid and Kia Sportage Hybrid twins additionally type as eager rivals which might be price a glance.

Wanting solely on the RAV4 vary, the flagship Edge variant on take a look at right here now not has any main differentiating issue because it’s now not out there with the non-hybrid 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol and eight-speed auto.

As a substitute, it solely appears powerful on the skin and has a variety of orange inside highlights which mightn’t be to everybody’s tastes. It additionally misses out on sure gear supplied within the penultimate Cruiser variant.

With this in thoughts, both the RAV4 Cruiser or XSE type because the decide of the vary, particularly with the lighter and extra environment friendly front-wheel drive hybrid powertrain.

Thinking about shopping for a Toyota RAV4? Get in contact with one in every of CarExpert’s trusted sellers right here

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