Needing a new "cheapish" winter run about but could well stay within the family afterwards.

 

Only real wants are ....

 

• Around 3k
• Van, 4x4 or estate (basically would like space to chuck rubbish into lol)
• Fairly reliable (I realise within this price range its all about service history)
• Petrol or diesel doesn't matter

 

Have so far been looking at audi estates, caddy / combo vans and the rav4 keeps popping up and they seem to get good driver reviews.

 

Any options out there that people can suggest and views on the Rav4 great appreciated.

Joel

 

 

I'm going to be boring and suggest a ford mondeo estate. Lots of them about, good loading space, reliable and parts are cheap. Get a 2.0 petrol if you can but if you find a decent 1.8 petrol I wouldn't really hesitate to buy that either. Remember to factor in the cost of tax for whatever you buy now too, because it's non transferable.

You could go for an Octavia 4x4 plenty around.

I paid £900 for mine earlier in the year.

Needing a new "cheapish" winter run about but could well stay within the family afterwards.

 

Only real wants are ....

 

• Around 3k
• Van, 4x4 or estate (basically would like space to chuck rubbish into lol)
• Fairly reliable (I realise within this price range its all about service history)
• Petrol or diesel doesn't matter

Any options out there that people can suggest and views on the Rav4 great appreciated.

Joel

Hi Joel

 

The wife has had 2 Rav 4's in recent years.  Both newer and more expensive than you are looking at I must admit.  

 

Both were Autos, both utterly reliable and held their value well when she fancied a change.

I bought a 55 plate Grand Vitara 2.0 with 29 K on the clock for £2800 a couple of months ago. Great wee run-a-bout. Its only problem is that it had sat about virtually unused for 3 years and the tyres were perished.

Subaru Forester or Outback

Had one through work and really didn't like the ride at all :(

Thanks for the replies, I am reading them

 

Darrell - is that because you are used to the Yeti or ... ?

Maybe had something to do with it, but I do drive all sorts, from Mercs to Hyundias and its the only one I just couldn't find a comfortable driving position in and didn't feel very stable at speed with wooly handeling. It's just an opinion as I'm sure there's a lot who love them, I'm 6ft 3 so maybe the seats not good for taller folk?

Thanks Darrell

Subaru Forester or Outback

First thing that I though of too, also the Legacy. All three are pretty much the same, just different amounts of ground clearance.

Not toooo keen on the scooby engines ..... not overly strong unless in these models they have been beefed up?

Only the 2.5 is pretty weak and that was never fitted to any of these cars in the UK. The engines in them are not particularly stressed, unlike in the WRXs and STIs.

Legacy is a good car until it breaks. Odd things cost a fortune. Dads mate had one. Lovely car, really solid but after 5yr a little hole in the exhaust that couldn't be welded turned into a silly figure. Damage wing mirror was also stupidly expensive to fix.

SWMBO has a Toyota Rav4 (2nd gen or known as the 4.2), these are within your budget. She has a 2005 5dr, 2l vvti permanent fluid 4wheel drive XT5 (model).

 

In the time she's owned it (over 5years now) the only failed part has been the drivers side rear door switch (didn't register the door was open), this was fixed in 5mins by removing, cleaning out with compressed air, then applying some WD40.

 

Despite my taking the wee wee out of it (pretty much all of the time) its the most reliable car we have 'ever' owned, sure, its nothing special and it feels quite cheap inside but its tough and cleans up really easily. The 4wheel drive system has impressed me over the years, we live at the edge of the Peak District & SWMBO keeps her horse in the Peaks and the only time we weren't able to drive there in the snow, no-one else could drive there either (no matter what 4wd they had defenders/land cruisers/octi 4x4 & tractor).

 

If you consider these the 2lvvti engine is quite spritly (when driven above 5,000rpm), on the motorway we usually get around 30-35mpg, around town as low as 21-24mpg (when enjoying its spritlyness)

The diesel is supposed to be very reliable, however, with most diesels the DMF is something that can fail.

 

Petrol  2l vvti - Timing Chain

Diesel 2l d4d - Belt

 

SWMBO has always had her Rav serviced/mot'd by Toyota, they are very reasonably priced (infact, cheaper than a few independant garages we checked).

 

IMO the only downside to SWMBO's Rav4 is the VED bracket for the 2l petrol engine.

 

Any questions feel free to ask, I'm also a member on the Toyota Owners Club, theres a good bunch of people on there and alot of info on there too.

 

Matthew

Thank you for taking the time to reply Matt

Another thing from memory, the smaller engines don't come with the fluid 4wheel drive system and are only fwd.

 

A few pics of the rav4 xt5

 

 

The roads were this bad & 'yes' the Rav4 did drive through it  , this was after a nightshift, I had to dig myself out once on the way home (no winter tyres either, just all year tyres & it still stops brilliantly)

I know that now is a bad time to be looking at one of these but it isn't really my choice.

What does anyone think is a fair price for a 2004 petrol Auto XT3 spec, 80k miles, 5 door RAV4? Sticker Price is £4500. I would be hoping to pay less than £4000.

Different spec but I paid £4100 for my 2005 2.0l XT5 5 door 82k with full service history.

I struggled to find any XT5's much cheaper with the same sort of service and mileage.

 

Not a bad motor but totally different from what I was used too lol. Good fun on the back roads though, especially as I dont have to worry about ride hight

Different spec but I paid £4100 for my 2005 2.0l XT5 5 door 82k with full service history.

I struggled to find any XT5's much cheaper with the same sort of service and mileage.

Not a bad motor but totally different from what I was used too lol. Good fun on the back roads though, especially as I dont have to worry about ride hight

Cheers. £4500 asking price doesn't sound that bad for a slightly older automatic.