motioncars.com Specials

As for the madness (or at least maddening) part: no glovebox light, utterly cheap vanity mirror covers (no light also) that can get caught open when you fold the sunvisors, no variable intermittent for the wipers, only one switch for both front map lights (the driver will be blinded if the passenger needs to look at something).

The worst defect by far is a persistent groaning noise from the rear suspension, still unsolved after our last two checkups. The rear parcel shelf also tends to thunk irritatingly. Each is enough to drive you nuts, but both at the same time is too much!

Apart from those unusual noises, the RAV drives exceptionally well on tarmac and on gravel roads. You’re aware of the tall ride height, but only if you look down. The sharp steering response and unwavering chassis can fool you into thinking you’re driving a hot hatch. Toyota warns not to corner the RAV as you would a car, but its road manners indeed suggest GTi.

It will also pull through light mud with not much complaint. It’s not for heavy off-roading, though. One look at the low-hanging exhaust and rear suspension components will confirm this. We even scraped the rear muffler while parking on a temporary lot. Stay away from logs and boulders! Where this car is really at home is on the pavement, where its torquey engine, responsive handling and commanding view of the road make you feel that this compact offroader may indeed be a credible alternative to a midsize sedan.

So where does the RAV sit in the car food chain? Its interior is narrower than a midsize sedan’s, but four (or five small persons) will feel comfortable because of the high ceiling. It handles and accelerates well, and you’ll pay no penalties in fuel economy. So is it worth it? At PHP1,350,000 it’s PHP350,000 too expensive for our tastes. If you can afford it, though, it’s an excellent car to drive every day and almost anywhere that you’d care to go. Not many SUVs or pretend-SUVs can claim that. The only groans you’ll hear in this car are from the suspension—and we hope that will be fixed at the next checkup.

Total Distance Traveled 8,686 kms.
Distance Covered Since Last Update 7,317 kms.
Engine 2.0 DOHC VVTi 16-valve inline-4
Transmission 4-speed AT
Performance 148 bhp / 6000 and 192 Nm / 4000
Average Fuel Consumption 7.4 kms. / liter
Pros Torquey engine, tall driving position, sharp handling
Cons Dubious build quality (see below), some cheap interior bits, awful sound system
Problems Encountered Squeaky suspension, rattling interior panels and rear parcel shelf.

Interior is nice to look at, but is actually cheap (i.e. hard plastics and no glove box light). Good layout and controls though.

Creaking its way to 8,686 kilometers is the RAV4's rear suspension. Lubrication during its 5,000-kilometer PMS temporarily solved the problem, but came back after a few hundred kilometers on the odometer. Same goes for the rear parcel shelf.

Load rules: the Toyora RAV4 has voluminous cargo room, but proper arrangement must be used to fit stuff. In this case, an entire computer system including a 17-inch monitor and other peripherals was no cinch. Nonetheless, everything fit.