2003 Toyota RAV4 consumer reviews

I was given my 03 RAV4 AWD manual transmission back in 2014 from my father in law only had 82k miles on it. He bought it new in 03 before deciding on buying a Tacoma to pull a large camper. I can definitely say to this day it has never left me stranded ever. It has 140k miles on it and still has the original clutch. It’s my daily driver for work and I have a 2015 Camry I drive now on the weekends. Definitely will never get rid of it

I have escaped the vintage German "car repair poor" lifestyle and bid farewell to a beloved BMW e30 that was one thing after the other.. but it was 35 years old... it had a right.. I bought a 2003 Rav 4 with high miles that was well taken care of - in almost flawless shape.I LOVE IT ... love it's little tank style - it's comfy.. the a/c works great..it handles better than expected and is peppy as all get out for a 20 year old buggy.. I feel relieved - happy and should it meet a premature fallow end- i will seach for another one... LOVE LOVE IT

If my car was to blow up tomorrow I would buy another. I have had very minimal problems and best of all I do not worry if I need to go someplace. I highly recommend Toyota Rava 4.

I've owned the car coming up on a year after strictly owning junkers, and it's about to go over 200,000 miles. It's comfortable, safe, and gets me from point A to point B. Mostly driven on the interstate from home to school, or the occasional drive in the mountains with friends. I've had no problems that have required legitimate maintenance. It's been on road trips with me, and it does phenomenal. It's also been on trails to certain hiking spots and is a TANK. I absolute love it, and it does everything any other teenager could need. Easy to clean, and quite comfortable for it's age. Can haul small loads, and lots of friends. All around solid starter car, as long as you take good care of it!

Found a 17 year old 2003 RAV4 with only 71k miles. Front wheel drive and a manual transmission. Perfect! Fits 4 comfortably. Sits up straight so sight lines are good. Shifts and rides smoothly. I think the mileage is so low because of it being a manual it just didn’t get used but it is a Toyota so we should be able to get a few good years out of it as long as the 16 year old doesn’t wreck it. If she does, it got good safety grades back in it’s day. My daughter has taken to the car quickly and is loving it. She named it Ernie and is learning a lot quickly about maintenance and how to operate a motor vehicle.

I have over 230,000 miles on my car and have experienced very few repairs on this vehicle. It is dependable and has the room I need.

Great car. Great gas mileage. Drove to Ca every year w/ no problem. New computer was put in at 105,000 miles. No problems after that. A truck hit my passenger side doors & they couldnt be repaired so totalled it this year @ 127,000 miles. Very sad!

Jaun was very deceitful if a dealer ever crowds you and promises the moon walk away 3 days after getting a car exactly at 100 miles is when the cars check engine light came on cylinder 4 misfiring catalytic converter needs a replacement and a new gasket seal the only thing they couldn't hide were the back breaks which they had to tell me about and said if I bought them they would put them on for free as long as I left a good review what a crooked place don't believe most of these reviews most of the people probably have never posted a review before being asked to leave a good review for them and the others probably forgot to come back and change it, I personally didn't want the car and when asking to see the keys to other cars I was told it has this and that kind of problem which was a red flag but I couldn't get anyone to listen and leave, kept getting promises of a car that would work and wouldn't fail because I needed it for my kids 🙄 I hope you people are honestly happy and are able to sleep at night knowing I can't afford to fix the thing without sacrificing stuff my children need.

I bought my '03 Rav4 brand new and absolutely LOVED it. Always took it to the dealer for scheduled maintenance. Got 130,000 miles out of it before the ECM failed in 2016. The same dealer that has always maintained it replaced the ECM, most likely with a refurbished one and although at first I thought it was good to go, that lasted all of 9 months and it's been nothing but CHECK ENGINE LIGHTS, sensors and blown spark plugs, since. I wish I had traded it in when I got the Notice in 2010 about the potential ECM problem.

Has over 189,000 miles when in Jan. 2018 began having minor hints of shifting issues, I assumed it needed spark plugs, but by June, shifting was much worse. Replaced Ecm, and had refurbished tranny put in. Shop had it for a month and still has issues. Toyota won't help even though they know of these same problems happen to many other rav4's from 2001-2003 suffer same things. Cost me $5,897.79 , only now, the tranny place is responsible for what further repairs it needs still. NOT HAPPY with them or TOYOTA.