2009 Toyota RAV4 User Reviews

Pros

Great performance, decent economy for a V6 SUV, easy handling, great use of space.

Cons

Standard stereo not the best, side opening rear door without lift up glass

Purchased As New

I have been surprised when I read some of these reviews. I'm not sure if some of these people have actually been in one of these cars. My 2009 RAV4 now has about 10,000 miles on it. I have found the RAV4 to be one the best cars I have ever owned. I like some of the changes to the 2009, especially moving the antenna to the top rear of the car. The old antenna looked kind of dated. The seats adjust upward as well as backward and forward. I am 6 feet tall and have plenty of room. I am not sure what type of seats some of these reviewers have gotten used to, but I found these seats to be plenty comfortable for longer trips. I travel a lot and have rented many cars with seats vastly inferior to these. The car rides and handles fine, not a sports car, but pretty good for an SUV. It is amoung the quietest cars I have ever owned. Surprising power in the V6 makes it very fun to drive, yet it gets similar or better gas mileage compared to its competition. I have been averaging around 24mpg around town. Very practical use of space with plenty of room. Four regular sized adults will have plenty of room when traveling. If you put the rear seats down you have a large amount of room for hauling. I am not a big fan of the side opening rear door and I did like the upward opening rear doors on the competition. I can also see the advantage to having the rear door open the opposite way when parking on the side of the street. One thing I do like about having the door open from the side it does currently is that it is a little more easily accessable to the driver when parked in a parking lot or driveway. You don't have to walk to the far corner of the car to open the door. My wife who is more vertically challenged then I am finds it easier to close. The competitors rear doors required her to sometimes have to jump up to pull the door closed. I also found the standard stereo to be nothing special and somewhat biased towards heavy base, although I do love the iPod connecter. I did my research on the competitors and test drove all of them. My second choice would have been the CRV, I actually liked the interior a little more, but it was pretty underpowered compared to the RAV4 and the gas mileage was about the same. Throw in the fact that the CRV was higher in price. The V6 sold me on the RAV4 and I haven't been dissappointed.