2006 Toyota RAV4 consumer reviews

I bought a used Toyota Rav4, 3.5. Loved the pickup on the 3.5. I read they discontinued because of no interest in the 3.5. Can't imagine that. As time went on, I had to replace a spark plug and that Rav4 has a complicated spark plug set up. Camry and something else has the same one. You can't do it by yourself. You need a mechanic and they know how to get around all the crap to replace it. You need to know which cylinder is not firing before you want to get into this. That will cost you a 69.00 or 100.00 scan. That car shook like crazy when that plug went out. I thought it was going to shake to death. That is a terrible setup. It doesn't tow much. I did tow a u-haul 5x8. a 5x8 weighs 1,000 pounds empty. There's no room in the back to put the seats down and lay down and it's hard as cement. There was no alarm system on it, but it was old model. It's a real easy car to get into when it is locked. It really was kind of ugly, but I loved the 3.5. The back door opened to the side. It made me think of a refrigerator. The newer ones all open on top. The other nasty nasty issue was the steering. I didn't feel it on the test drive and I read another woman didn't either. There's a pop in the intermediate steering column. I replaced that part and it stopped and then it comes right back. that's just a thing inherent to the vehicle. There's a website I made a complaint to about that and there are tons of other people in there made the same complaint. Unless they get enough people to complain, Toyota won't do a recall. The dealership quoted me 300 or 600 to "balance" the intermediate steering columns. There is no balancing it. All you can do is have your mechanic put some grease into it. That fills up the pocket and over time, it disintegrates and then you have to put more in. It's an ongoing problem. It really is a defect. The dealership is making money off their faulty vehicle. I would NEVER recommend Rav4. I love my mechanic. He loves toyotas and he lives eats breathes cars. He said every manufacturer has its crap models and the Rav4 is Toyota's. I believe it. I was so glad to trade that xxx in. I traded in a real nice well maintained celica for that xxx. I got ripped, but it's done and over with. Also, the dealer, K Toyota turned off the dash lights off. They came on after I drove off the lot. The scanner said it was an 800 evaporator canister issue. Unless you live in California, you don't need to be worried about it, but for the whole 2 or 3 years i owned that piece of crap, those dash lights were on. K denies doing that and their response to it was pretty lame. I DID call them and they said no, they were not going to do anything about that. It's not a safety issue. They claim they didn't do it. They did it.

The only dislike I have is the storage in the back, pretty cheap looking and not much you can put in the so called cubby holes

I like the power that it has (it?s a v6). I would like it if the backseat was roomier (I have a car seat in the back and it?s always a tight squeeze when I buckle and unbuckle my daughter.

I drive this vehicle daily back and forth to work, about 70 miles round trip. We take it on vacation as well. It is the 4X4 Sport package. It has lots of room and is very comfortable. I would have preferred the 6 cyl. over the 4 cyl. for power but it does OK. It has about 130,000 on it so far and runs great. It does use about a quart of oil in between changes but that is a characteristic of these vehicles, no big deal. Overall I love the RAV4. It gets about 24 combined mpg's.

This car is the perfect size for someone new on the road and exceeds the level of safety. Not only is this car comfortable and reliable, but it is very good on gas mileage as well.

This car is used but feels like new super confortable most of its parts are like new perfect price and had legroom for me and my family , perfect purchase.

Small but most efficient 4x4 SUV. Reliable, fuel economy is great. Enough power for daily needs and handles snow well

I owned this car for 11 years, before trading her in for a new model. She was an awesome car and very reliable. I never had any trouble with her, of course I kept on the service plan.

can be going forever , good speace, save gas, cheap to change oil. A/c is working great, any thing is cheap to fix it.

AWESOME !!! Rides like it is brand new. I had been researching for months on the Rav4, wanted White, sunroof too. I got it all. The one owner of this vehicle took such good care of it.