2013 Toyota RAV4 consumer reviews

I waited 7 years for a new vehicle and had my heart set on the Rav-4 or the Honda CRV. We went with the 2013 Rav-4, I loved the look of it. Had I known then what I know now, I would have never bought it. At the test drive, I noticed all of the hard plastic inside, but did not realize how cheap it made the interior. Within 4 weeks we had an issue with the driver's door. We were told the "welds" had all come loose and a new door was ordered from Canada. Then parts of the roof rack came off, we went back to the dealer and had that replaced. A month or so later, the same parts came off the roof rack again! We never used the roof rack. My vehicle was white, my 4th white vehicle, under every door handle, under the gas tank door and under the two mirrors, each time it rained, black drip marks went down the entire vehicle at each of these places. Needless to say, at 4200 miles, I was done. I traded the vehicle in. We have a 2000 Toyota Sienna and the quality of that vehicle is so much better than the 2013 Rav-4. The vehicle I had seemed to be cheaply made, and it was not a cheap vehicle. This was our 4th Toyota, it will probably be our last.

Might be a little soon for this, but since the car is a 2013 model and it's July 2014 it's probably a good time since I'm now the second owner of this car. I purchased the TRav over the 4th of July just before my vacation to the ocean. After a 3 hour drive there, local Ocean City driving, and 3 hours back, I'm puzzled as to why the previous owner didn't keep the vehicle. Fun to drive; carried hubby and three teens around for a week or so and no complaints. Hubby has mostly all positive things to say also. Plenty of rear seat leg room and storage in the rear, and boy did we have it loaded down. Tks Toyota for the large side mirrors. Whoever thought of their size considered people like us that have the rear stuffed to the roof and no rear view mirror visibility. I was able to compensate just fine, and plan to purchase a roof rack. Believe me this isn't a knock to the TRav, but just an idea of what we packed. ENGINE: Performance for a 4-banger is excellent. There's enough engine and transmission options (ECO boost, Sport, and the neat Standard/Auto shifting) to make me feel that I've got enough options for all driving situations, and believe me I've used them so far. It's got some serious pep and delivers quickly. Gas mileage appears to be as advertised, but I'll probably be able to extend that carpooling back and forth from work since it's mostly highway. Soooo much better than my previous vehicle. TECHNOLOGY: Ok, this will be short from me since that wasn't much of a concern during purchase (Yeah, I'm in my early 50s - it shows). Love the back up camera, awesome bluetooth, excellent audio system, and hookups for iPODs, teenager gizmos, etc. Did I mention I love the bluetooth. Never thought I'd hear myself say that. ISSUES: Lack of lumbar support for cloth seats - Hubby has back issues so he's sensitive about this. See light color under scratches in red paint, but I plan to touch up and I'm very good at that sort of thing, so don't expect it to be a big problem. 4 stars for value for the money and reliability since that would depend on how trouble free the Rav will be in the future. Given the history of the Rav I'm hoping it will warrant 5 stars in a couple of years :) Additional PLUSES: Love how Toyota has the bottom of the body covered with the plastic and integrated into the bumpers. Figure I'll need that additional protection if we have another winter full of Polar Vortexes. Thought the dash design (bump out area to the glove box) was a bit odd at first, but after traveling around I've warmed up to it because it makes fiddling with the buttons easier. Lot's of additional hidden storage for tools and space around the spare tire for additional things. I'm a chick that likes her tools. All in all, I'm very happy with this vehicle and would recommend to a friend. Almost seems as though it was made just for me :)

We had a 2007 highlander, great car was a hybrid and got 28mpg consistently. The 2013 Rav 4 has great looks but it stops there. It's noisy, clunky ride and worst of all overstated mileage by toyota. We have coasted, drove flat roads, been very light on the gas and the best we get is 24.1 on highway and 22.4 in town in easy suburban driving. Had 4 toyotas, 2 highlanders, camray and this is the most disappointing mileage. Would not recommend.

I have owned the RAV for about one year. I bought it based on previous experience with Toyota vehicles and a good trade-in offer I got from my dealer for my previous car - my net-out-of-pocket on the RAV was ~$2-3k less than other comparable CUVs. After one year of ownership the best I can rate this car is "average". The only real positive is the amount of cargo and passenger space. In every other area the car falls short, especially comparing to competition. It's noisy, has a very stiff and uncomfortable suspension, safety ratings are mediocre (below key competitors), transmission behavior is strange and disconcerting, mileage is OK but not outstanding. Bottom line - just average. Not a bad car, but easily outclassed by several competitors in its class.

Had an awesome experience purchasing my very first brand new car. I worked with Umesh, who helped me find the car I wanted withing my budget.

I've owned by RAV4 LE for 6 months. We had lots of snow this winter. The RAV always made me feel comfortable that I had good control of the vehicle. The windshield wipers and defrost work well. The gas mileage as calculated by the onboard computer says I've averaged 27.2 miles per gallon over the first 5400 miles. My manual calculation has it at 25.1mpg. I drive around with it in eco mode most of the time. When I'm in a passing or merging situation I reach over and press the sport mode button. The transmission will immediately drop 1 to 2 gears depending on my timing with the gas pedal. I love that button. The paddle shifting option doesn't work as fast. I'm 54, my 22 year old son agrees that the sport button works best when you are mostly operating in eco mode. The low load floor with no lip and lift gate rear make loading and unloading super easy. I'm not a super tech geek, so not having the GPS or blind spot sensors, found on the more expensive models, doesn't cause me any regret. I do like the back up camera. The side mirrors are large and well placed for backing up. My first car was a 1967 Dodge Coronet with shoulders that the RAV4 also tastefully incorporates. Great visibility, very strong cornering ability (this is not a sports car), good options for controlling the acceleration vs mpg, plenty of useful space, all come together to keep me smiling. The one area that I wish it were just a bit better is the left foot rest for the driver. That is a bit small and angled wrong for me.

Outstanding vehicle in every respect. We would highly recommend the Rav 4 to anyone looking for a reliable, comfortable, economical and fun car.

WE bought our 2013 Rav4 Limited in November 2013. We were originally there to replace our tires on our 2010 Corolla and something catches our eye in the dealership. The Rav4 had the most compelling exterior design from the chrome in the headlamps to the "rest-your arm" on the rear-tail light. It was quite a change from the previous generation and it has grown on us. We decided to test drive a gray colored one. The ride wasn't too bad (but we own a rough-riding sports car so we are used to some bumps) but Toyota probably made it a little firm for handling purposes. The road noise was pretty minimal and when you opened the sunroof at 50+ mph, it was a little noisy. What REALLY made up our minds to buy the car were the immense amounts of technological features that it came with. Push button start with easy door-unlocking/locking, auto-dimming rearview mirror (this is great for that annoying headlight glare during the night), the great navigation unit, the blind spot monitor system with back up assist (although we wished the blind spot monitor made a noise when you tried to change lanes into another car), the vast amount of rear cargo space, the heated seats, the high driving position, and the bluetooth connectivity. I know that was a long list, but it was totally worth mentioning because it makes this car 100 times better than base models. The only problem we had since we bought the car was the power lift gate. Here in Florida we have lots of rainstorms. Water managed to get into the power lift mechanism in the gate and caused it to have a terrible squeak aw it went up. Fortunately toyota replaced it for free and it hasn't squeaked since. I use the car daily and gas mileage could be a little better. I know its rated around 26/31 but i feel like I've been getting a little worse, maybe 22/27. The transmission can be pretty smooth but if you been in a rodeo, the chassy seems to heave and ho upon acceleration. Its not the smoothest but its do-able. Rear leg room and head roof is plenty (I'm 6'0 and i fit perfectly fine behind my driving position. The two-toned leatherette seats are comfy but seem to wrinkle a little because the seat bolsters are in the way when getting in the car, so you are rubbing against it all the time. The eco mode has terrible acceleration but that's to save gas; the sport mode is peppy and good for fast-er accelerations and overtaking on highways, however, this accounts for poor gas mileage. I use normal mode for city driving. Overall, the Rav4 is a great deal with all the features it has. A bang for your buck. I would recommend it for families that want to take a nice cross-country road trip or those who use it to commute to work. Toyota truly lives up to their slogan with this car "Let's go places".

I drove a 2009 Rav4 LE for almost 5 years and absolutely loved it. Now that I have the new 2013 Rav4 LE, I find myself wishing at times that I still had my old one... I was given a brand new, 15 miles on the odometer, 2013 Rav4 from the dealership just over 2 months ago. I definitely like the interior more than the 2009 version with the back up camera, touch screen display, bluetooth, etc., but I also miss a couple of the old features too. I feel like there's less storageup front and the extrerior tends to scratch very easily. A lot of plastic additions and kind of silly to see fake plastic parts where lights would go on a higher edition. I don't have a far commute to work, so my gas mileage has been pretty decent, but I've never felt 100% comfortable in the car. I didn't even get off the lot yet, before turning the car around to ask why the brakes were making noise -- I was told they had to be "broken in" because it was sitting on the lot for so long. Brought the car back 4 days later because the bluetooth wasn't working correctly. I was told by 2 different people (including a specialist) that they didn't know how to fix it and I needed to bring it in for service. Fast forward 2 months and the car has less than 2,000 miles on it. Not only does the transmission and acceleration make me nervous -- down shifts very quickly and has "jumped" forward on a couple occassions when putting the car into reverse. The engine has also been making a "squealing/whining" noise since I first got it when driving below 45mph and has a difficult time driving up hill. I've had to put my foot almost to the floor for it to accelerate. I plan on bringing the car in for service in the next couple of weeks and make note of these problems. My 2009 Rav NEVER had a problem in the 4+ years that I had it. No engine noise, comfortable, no leaks, etc. I loved that car...this new one, is not so impressive. I think Toyota is a great car, but I'll think twice about getting another Rav4 once my lease is up in 3 years.

First of all, I traded in my base-model chevy coupe for my next car, so anything I purchased would far surpass it. However, the 2013 Toyota Rav4 Limited was the best vehicle I test drove. Having automatic-everything for the first time worried me a bit. The more electronics in the car, the more expensive it is to fix. Since it's a lease, I'm not too concerned with this issue. I especially like that I get the opportunity to replace my key fabs twice a year if anything happens to them. I love everything about this car, especially the Blind Spot Monitor. I didn't think I would notice the light signals in the mirrors, but the sales guy, Brian Dobbs, convinced me to get it. It proved its worth within the first week of purchasing the Rav4. PROS: Two Power Seat Setting buttons for the driver side so both me and a second person can switch back and forth in the driver side seat with ease. Seat Warmers, All-Wheel Drive. I love how the inside lights turn on when I walk up to the car. I flipped out the first night I witnessed it. I can connect my phone via bluetooth and use the car speakers to make phone calls (super plus!). The sound quality of the phone conversation isn't bad either. It gets good mileage, almost the same as my old coupe. CONS: I thought it was strange that there aren't rear vents for the back passengers. Since I don't drive people around on a frequent basis, I'm not sure how this affects their experience. I also think it's odd that the middle cup holders for the back passengers are inside the center arm rest. If three people sit in the back, the middle person has to hold their drink. Again, this doesn't affect my experience with the car.