Is the Toyota RAV4 Really That Bad?

For detailed opinion of the RAV4, you can read my expert review here.

If you line up the RAV4 with a bunch of other small SUVs that have been redesigned more recently, the Toyota will suffer because it looks frumpy. It hasn’t been significantly updated in several years. But when you live with the car for several days, you start to notice attributes that are more important than a pretty dashboard or stylish exterior.

For starters, there’s the mileage.

The bulk of my driving was on the highway to a triathlon in Wisconsin, for a total of 398 miles. My average fuel economy was 30.8 mpg, and that’s not bad in the days of high gas prices, especially considering the RAV4 is rated at 22 mpg in the city and 28 mpg on the highway.

Then there’s the issue of family testing. I’m glad we test our cars using grocery bags, child seats and generally skew our coverage toward real-world families and the issues they’d face trying to cram child-safety seats into some of the cars that are on the road today. The Shootout is a reflection of that.

This is not to say the RAV4 is perfect. It is frumpy, it does need a refresh and, c’mon Toyota, it wouldn’t kill you to spruce up the interior just a little bit. I also am not a fan of the swing-out tailgate, a point on which I agree with my co-workers.

It wouldn’t win the Shootout if I were the sole judge, but after living with the car for a bit, I feel like it was invited to a keg party when it was expecting to spend the night studying for finals.