{"id":2109,"date":"2024-11-12T11:39:44","date_gmt":"2024-11-12T08:39:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.magaripoa.com\/?p=2109"},"modified":"2024-11-12T11:39:44","modified_gmt":"2024-11-12T08:39:44","slug":"rav4-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.magaripoa.com\/gari\/rav4-review\/","title":{"rendered":"RAV4 Review"},"content":{"rendered":"
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PROS:<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
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Reliable, generous equipment, upmarket cabin<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
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CONS:<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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Uninspiring drive, drab styling, thirsty petrol engines<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The 2007-2013 used Japanese imports makes majority of Toyota<\/a>\u00a0RAV4 models on Kenyan roads. It has a tough battle in the compact SUV market. Alongside rivals like the\u00a0Land Rover Freelander<\/a>,\u00a0Honda CR-V<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Nissan X-Trail<\/a>\u00a0it all but fades into the background. It is by no means a bad car \u2013 it is competent, if uninspiring to drive, and the styling is universally inoffensive \u2013 but it struggles to tick as many boxes as its rivals. Practicality is down on the Freelander, it isn\u2019t as car-like to drive as the X-Trail and it doesn\u2019t look as radical as a CR-V. But if you want a thoroughly dependable, midsize-SUV then the RAV4 represents a sensible choice.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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RAV4 2.2 D-4D XT-R<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Engines, performance and drive<\/span><\/h3>\n
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The RAV4 is capable rather than exciting. It feels safe and secure on the road and remains comfortable and composed through the bends. The clever four-wheel-drive system works well, constantly assessing traction and sending power to the wheels that need it most. The steering is light but accurate, which inspires confidence and comes in handy when parking. The soft suspension does a good job, too, managing not to wallow or roll too much when the RAV4 is pushed. There is a 2.0-litre petrol motor, but it\u2019s best avoided as it is both thirstier and slower than the 2.2-litre D-4D diesel powerplant \u2013 which manages 0-100kph in a respectable 10.2 seconds.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Interior, design and technology<\/span><\/h3>\n
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The original Toyota RAV4 was a trendsetter back in the mid-nineties, but with time the innovative styling has sobered up. The current model lacks the sportiness of the car it replaces. Alongside the curvaceous Honda CR-V it looks uninspiring, and next to the chunky Nissan X-Trail it appears soft and unexciting. The side-hinged tailgate feels dated and impractical \u2013 even Land Rover has now ditched it in favour of a roof-hinged door. However, the inside fares much better, with a quality dash and upmarket materials. The layout is good, with contrasting plastics surrounding the central display \u2013 what the Toyota lacks on the outside, it makes up for behind the wheel.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Practicality, comfort and boot space<\/span><\/h3>\n
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Space in the back of the Toyota RAV4 is good, and the 60:40 split seats slide back and forth, meaning the layout can be altered in favour of legroom or boot space. When folded, the seats totally disappear, revealing a usefully flat load area \u2013 only hindered by the side-hinged door which limits practicality in tight spaces \u2013 Toyota would be better off using a roof-hinged design. Parking sensors, cruise control and Bluetooth come as standard on most trim levels, meaning you can realistically buy a RAV4 without adding lots of expensive extras \u2013 something that can\u2019t be said of the Land Rover Freelander.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Reliability and Safety<\/span><\/h3>\n
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The RAV4 comes with a host of airbags; some models even get protection for the driver and passenger\u2019s knees. The steering is sharp and direct, meaning the car feels stable unless properly pushed which inspires confidence for those behind the wheel. In terms of safety, the ageing Toyota only manages four stars in the Euro NCAP crash tests \u2013 where the accomplished Land Rover Freelander scores top marks. Toyota performs consistently well in terms of reliability, and placed fifth in the 2012 Driver Power survey \u2013 with the MkII RAV4 coming 28th in model classifications \u2013 proving owners are a satisfied bunch.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PROS: Reliable, generous equipment, upmarket cabin CONS: Uninspiring drive, drab styling, thirsty petrol engines The 2007-2013 used Japanese imports makes majority of Toyota\u00a0RAV4 models on Kenyan roads. It has a tough battle in the compact SUV market. Alongside rivals like the\u00a0Land Rover Freelander,\u00a0Honda CR-V\u00a0and\u00a0Nissan X-Trail\u00a0it all but fades into the background. It is by no…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2110,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-carmakers"],"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pej6K6-y1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.magaripoa.com\/gari\/wp-content\/uploads\/rav4-magaripoa.jpg?fit=1013%2C675&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.magaripoa.com\/gari\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.magaripoa.com\/gari\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.magaripoa.com\/gari\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.magaripoa.com\/gari\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.magaripoa.com\/gari\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.magaripoa.com\/gari\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2109\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.magaripoa.com\/gari\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.magaripoa.com\/gari\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.magaripoa.com\/gari\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.magaripoa.com\/gari\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}