Toyota RAV4 (2019) Discussion Thread

Just wondering if anyone else is looking forward to the new 2019 - RAV4?

Looks to be a very solid release and easily the best iteration of the RAV4 to date - especially the hybrid options.

With the impending release / availability later this month? thought there may be others in the same boat or at the very least interested.

I am aware that there is not much information of the Australian variants (model names / badges, pricing etc.) as of yet - but I really do hope we get an equivalent of the XSE (North America).

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Comments

    • Considered hunting around, like interstate? I saw a 2WD Cruiser Hybrid in stock in Brisbane ready to sell a few days ago when I was having my car serviced. Not sure how hard it is to buy interstate.

      edit: Looks like its been sold since, at least going by the website. But could be worth scoping out dealers more broadly. Or use a car buying service to find one for you.

  • Recently saw a cruiser hybrid in silver with a black roof I didn’t rav4 in Australia came with the two tone roof also which colours are supposed to have silver grill in gxl and cruiser?

    • They would've resprayed it or vinyl wrapped it

      • What colours are the grills in gxl and cruiser hybrid supposed to be because in the brochure the grill is silver and same with someone’s comment above because all the grills I have seen are black.

      • Who might "they" be? Toyota?

        • The person who had a silver sky cruiser hybrid with a black roof. So it was like the US two tone.

        • There are lots of shops that can wrap your roof. I asked our dealer about getting two tone like the US models and they suggested a few shops for a wrap.

  • Update on my car. Hybrid, cruiser, AWD.
    Ordered in August. Now built Jan 13th. Expected delivery mid Feb. Looking forward to it.

    • Enjoy it, reviews looking pretty good. Just can't deal with the piss weak engine personally, deal killer. Maybe they'll shove in a V6 in the future…

      • I doubt it'll see a V6. The plug in Prime model coming later this year/next year might be up your alley. Or the inevitable Hybrid Kluger which probably would have a V6 model.

        • Nope, hybrid Kluger in the states gets the same 2.5

          • @spackbace: How's it go? Similar to the RAV just bigger, bit slower, bit thirstier?

      • First person I've heard say they weren't happy with the power.

        It won't get a bigger engine. It doesn't need it and it's economy is 1 of its main fortes

        • Apparently new landcruiser will get a v6 hybrid

        • -1

          I really despise that the industry has gone 90% economical weak powered soulless 4-pot engines and 10% thirsty V8s. I really don't understand how people are happy with 120-170hp SUVs unless it's city only driving in which case do you really need an SUV…

          What about something in between for the rest of us? A decent 250-300hp V6 petrol without spooling turbos. Jeep's 3.6L seems to be the last bastion.. :(

          The upcoming 302hp RAV4 Prime polk mentioned seems interesting though. Would defo give it a test.

          I mean the Prado, widely regarded as one of the best all-rounders and extremely capable offroad, only comes in a weak 2.8L diesel engine with 174hp and they have the audacity to call it "Modern muscle" on the official website. The old model with the 1GR-FE made 270-280hp. WTF Toyota.

          • @Hybroid: It's supply and demand. 0.1% might want a fuel guzzling powerful SUV (a la SRT8), but building cars to the 0.1% is obviously a bad idea.

            RAV4 AWD hybrid does 0-100 in around 8secs. For the size of the car it's sufficient. I dunno about you but I don't feel the demand to chuck an SUV around a racetrack or down the 1/4. It's sufficient acceleration for the traffic light grand prix.

            And I'd drive the RAV4 Hybrid any day of the week over the Prado, unless I was going 4wding

            • @spackbace: I know, I know, I'm in the deep minority here and it's uneconomical in the grand scheme of things, just a shame. Love my offroading FJ Cruiser (4L 260hp) but it's ageing, has no modern luxuries whatsoever but there isn't really much out there to upgrade to unless go V8 Landcruiser which has the same power but diesel and too big. I just can't see me going to something with 100hp less power and turbocharged at that…

              I guess it's going to have to be a tussle between the GLB 35 (300hp) or the Gladiator (285hp) in the second half of the year.

              • +2

                @Hybroid: I hope they make another FJ Cruiser. I love that car.

                Toyota has really looked at the market buying the RAV4 and gone with the vast majority of it. It's become more of a city SUV because that's the market buying it. For that market, the new model and in particular the hybrid, is a markedly better car. My wife is getting one and it should be the perfect soccer mum car. Big enough for the family, but not too big to be difficult to use in a city. Powerful enough for Brisbane hills, but not unnecessarily powerful which would ruin the fuel economy. They at least still make the Edge model for those who do want a proper offroader, and for them the engine should still be sufficient for a car of that size.

                I'll be very interested to see how Toyotas hybrid offroaders fair. The hybrid system in the new Subarus seem to make them worse offroad.

            • @spackbace: how fast is RAV4 2WD hybrid for 0-100 ??

    • WOW ordered my 2WD August and planned production is FEB. Wonder why i have to wait longer
      **Sigh

  • 2WD GXL Hybrid in stock in Werribee, VIC: https://werribeetoyota.dealer.toyota.com.au/inventory/rav4/g…

  • What are people's thoughts on the rav 4 edge models over the cruiser?

  • FWIW, GX Hybrid 2WD that was ordered on 7th Dec, will be in Feb production run, meaning mid-late March arrival. 3.5 months wait
    Cruiser (that was ordered right before it) hasn't gone into next month, will be longer.

    Has been the case since launch basically, shorter waits for GX and GXL hybrids than Cruiser hybrids.

    So if you're on the fence about hybrid but looking at the lower-end, don't worry about 6-8 month wait times, you'll see it sooner than that (but as always, YMMV)

  • Has Anyone had any experice with the online order portal and the dates being correct
    There is a latest pick up date now on mine but im wondering whether that is accurate or is it normally a week or so before ect.

    I ordered end of August so end of march would then be 7 months end to end

    Latest Estimated Pick Up Date:  29/03/2020
    
  • It is an estimation but from the comments on the Rav4 facebook page it's been accurate for most people.

  • -1

    Hi Guys, Just ordered a red colour cruiser hybrid. Still thinking i should change the colour of it.. would red cosidered as a girl car colour..? Would it have better resale market if i get dark blue instead of red..?

    • Maybe pearl white ( better resale , lower insurance cost as well ) . I ordered electrical blue , which is so easy to find in the carpark .

      • *Eclectic Blue

        It's actually one of the harder colours to sell in the range. But it's also a brand new car, so as I say to everyone, get what you want! Colour choice would only really have a $500 difference or so in resale between wanted colours and unwanted colours

        • Was referring SATURN BLUE..Is that on demand than red one..? Colour is bit of a concern as i am planning to sell it in 2 years..

          • @AshB:

            Was referring SATURN BLUE

            Yes I know you were, but I wasn't replying to your comment, was I…?

            Buy the colour that you want. It's a Cruiser hybrid which has been selling like hotcakes, it'll be in demand no matter what

          • @AshB: https://toyota.jp/rav4/grade/grade3/?padid=from_rav4_grade_g…

            Interestingly, only red and crystal pearl have a premium paint charge in Japan. All other colours are standard.

      • How much of an insurance cost difference is that..?

        • can't remember , no that much …

          you can do a dummy quote on that to compare .

  • Do they remove aux input from 2020 ?? My RAV4 is made in Dec 2019 , and no more AUX next to USB .

  • Curious on people's thoughts comparing the Cruizer 2wd hybrid vs the awd hybrid?
    E.g. other than the general awd functionality, is there any other reasons why you would go for the awd vs petrol given the $3.3k price difference?
    Maybe I'm just overthinking this… but also keen to get your views on this particularly for those that actually made the decision! Thanks!!!

    • In my case it was the towing capacity, 1500 kg vs 480 kg.

    • Handling, towing, slight extra power/torque

      • Did not even think of towing… that's a big difference! Thanks for the info!

  • I have GX petrol 2wd. From where can i get seat covers?

    • ebay . Do you have aux in ?

      • No i don't. I can't find it.

  • @Spackbace - Is there a reason why most people are preferring Cruiser model? I, for instance, would normally prefer a high-end model for additional safety features. In RAV4's case, even the basic GX model comes with all the safety features as a Cruiser model. So, I thought the demand would be more for GX model than the Cruiser Hybrid model but it's not the case. In the "Australian RAV4 delivery spreadsheet" created by one of our Ozbargainer, out of 84 RAV4's booked, 70+ are for Cruiser and just 7 bookings for GX and GXL combined. So, a very high 90% of the people are booking Cruiser model over GX/GXL models.

    I'm in the market now for RAV4 Hybrid and confused between GX and Cruiser models, especially from a resale perspective. What is your views or take on this? Thanks.

    • +1

      Ever since the car came out, Cruiser has been most popular, and took us by surprise too

      It's generally a rule that the entry level is the key seller due to low price points. Personally, I think it's due to the small increments in price. Roughly $7-8k to go from a GX to a Cruiser is a small jump in price compared to other cars (GX Kluger to GXL for instance is normally around $10k, and that's only 1 level upgrade).

      As to resale, that's going to be hard to predict. I reckon the price difference will follow through, and they'll decrease at a similar rate.

      One thing with upper models is you only have private cars to compete with at time of resale. The GX's will also be hire/fleet cars, even in hybrid.

      If you can afford the Cruiser, get it. It's very easy to justify the 'nice' things it has. Just bear in mind it'll have a 6 month wait or so

      • Thanks, I have made up mind for Cruiser now :).

        I went to a Melbourne dealer yesterday and he offered me two options. Price is 45k with a wait time of 6 months. Else, full price (47k) but car can be delivered in March. That sounded interesting. Since it was my first visit to the dealer, I didn't commit to the offer but will certainly go back in another few days.

        • Obviously they had one fallover on finance. That's a fair offer

  • I just came across the below link in a USA forum. The report says that 2019 and 2020 RAV4 Hybrid owners have said their vehicles 14.5-gallon gas tanks would stop accepting fuel after nine or 10 gallons. Has anyone in Australia has noticed/reported this issue?

    https://www.fox4news.com/news/toyota-offers-interim-fix-for-…

    • +1

      Has been mentioned in this thread somewhere. Haven't heard of that situation, or seen it on our demos.

      Different manufacturing plant too, theirs is made in the US, ours in Japan

  • FWIW I've been quoted a price of $44k on a Cruiser Hybrid AWD (Pearl Gray), excluding rego/stamp duty (approx = $46.3k DA). Works out to be a $3.7k discount off the RRP of $50k.. happy to share dealership details via PM if anyone is interested.

    • theUnderdog 0 sec agonew
      Hi, you mind if I ask for the name of the dealership please? And the name of the salesman. TiA

  • Removed duplicated post

  • Anyone got discount on a GXL hybrid that was currently in production, as a dealer order, for demo stock?
    Apparently no one is queuing for GXL hybrid like the Cruiser (now out to Sept).

    • Rare for such a thing to exist, and I doubt they'd sell it

      GXL hybrid still has a wait time here

      • Dealer said two GXL dealer orders in March production, one will be held for demo, one will be for sale. Don't know if both were meant to be demo, but is willing to sell one. Seems a good opportunity for early delivery.

  • Hi
    whats the wait time on Hybrid Cruiser 2WD if ordered now? and how much has anyone paid (On Road) for the same with metallic paint?

    • Up to 6 months. Read through the thread here and also on WP for pricing indications.

    • It's 6 months and some dealers indicating even 6 to 8 months.

      The lowest drive away price that I'm aware of is $45k in VIC.

  • Thank you! @PinzVidz

    Can someone tell me when do you get the UserCode and Password to track Rav4? Straight away or once its in production?

  • With the ongoing delay with RAV4 Hybrid, I have been looking at alternate options (as plan B) and then came across Lexus NX300H, the only other Hybrid SUV brand in the market. The new one is $65k which is outside of my budget but 3 to 4 years model may seem to be available for ~45k range in Carsales. Did anyone compare these two models and do you have any feedback to share? Also, is NX300 a worthy alternate to RAV4? Of course, I do understand that Lexus is a luxury brand and its exterior and interior are superior to RAV4. Its car boot is small and middle seat in the rear seems to be bad. Other than that, are there any reasons why I should avoid Lexus?

    I'm not really comfortable with buying Luxury cars considering its high maintenance costs. However, I heard that Lexus's maintenance and spares are comparatively cheaper and not so expensive. Is that correct? Does anyone have feedback on the annual service price and the spares price for Lexus?

    • Spending more, for less room… Doesn't seem like the wisest way to spend your money, but you do you!

      • I assume space is not the only requirement for everyone in a car, at least in my case. The legroom of NX300 seemed ok for my family, except for the boot space. If I am ok to compromise on boot space (like the thousands of CX5 users), does it make sense to consider NX300?

    • I also considered the Lexus NX300H and have been told by Lexus dealers that RAV4 buyers cancelled their order for the NX300H.

      When i contacted Toyota, I was told I should get my car on 20/03. I hope this is true, letting me know that the car is coming on 20/03 and finding out later that it's pushed back another month is a d1ck move. I do prefer the RAV4 over the NX300H though, I need the space. Cost of service, maintenance and fuel efficiency is why I pre-ordered the RAV4.

      • +1

        Lol of course a Lexus dealer would say that. I'd cheekily ask them why I can pick up the Lexus tomorrow if I paid in full today, whereas I'd need to wait 6 months for the RAV4 ;)

        I test drove them both and while the Lexus feels better inside (as one would expect), it's missing a heap of features yet costs about 20% more. The navigation system is also a pain to use, think of using a laptop touchpad.

        The NX is also quite a dated design based on the old RAV4, whereas the RAV4 recently got a major facelift.

        Personally if I was spending the amount Lexus is charging I'd look at the BMW X3 or a Merc, although there are obvious negatives as well.

        • +2

          Merc GLC250 was the car I was after but changed my mind and wanted fuel efficiency instead.

          Toyota called me today and I'm picking up the RAV4 Cruiser next week! Happy days!! Waited 8 months for it :)

  • Need a second opinion on price:
    GX Hybrid 2WD without the sat nav, 5-months old dealer demo with about 7k on the clock, so only 7 months rego and 4.5 years of warranty, the bonus - can drive away next week for 34.5k. Does it sound like a fair deal?

    • +1

      Cheap car, depends on what you want

      Side note, GX hybrid has keyless start, but not keyless entry. That bugs me (personally) lol

      • yep, took it for a longish test drive, and was relatively happy. know the feeling with keyless entry - even the bare-bone x-trail has one!
        In your opinion is the discount sufficient to compensate for the 7k on the clock? that's our biggest gripe. if it had like 2k to 3k we'd already have paid for it :-\

        • +1

          7k is nothing really, especially if it's a car that you'd own for 5+ years

          Good thing is yearly servicing, so won't be due for that for a while.

          If you get it, make sure Carplay/Android Auto is installed. And double check the rego expiry just to be sure

          • @spackbace: 7 months rego roughly, and carplay works fine incl apple/google maps, but no built-in sat nav.
            no need for a sat nav really provided there's phone reception!

            • +1

              @powerhead: It's basically a $3,363 discount off a new car ($3,975 if it's a colour). If you got $1500 off the new car, then you're looking at a roughly $2,500 discount, and you don't have to wait 4-5 months, though it is 'a year old'.

              Up to you to do the sums!

  • Backspace do you think a 7.5% discount off the Cruiser Hybrid AWD (Red) is considered a good discount? Just about to pull the trigger.

  • any shipments into Sydney soon (don't have access to tracking).

    • Shipments arrive every month but each dealer has a separate order. To find out how long your wait is, ask your dealer three questions:
      - how many of my model and trim do you have on order?
      - where am I in your (ie the dealer’s) queue for that combination?
      - how many of that combination are you being allocated per month?
      For more info join the “Australians waiting for 2020 RAV4s” Facebook group:
      https://www.facebook.com/groups/AustraliansWaitingforToyota2…

      • +1

        Dealer/Sales will be not interested to sell you a Rav4 if you ask that many of questions.

        • Yup!

          • @spackbace: rumor saying large numbers of RAV4 hybrid arrived at port? Correct?

            • @jjj123: You're in SA, you have a different port 😂 and it's probably just order catch up. Our tracking hasn't shown any huge supply of cars, and we find out the month before it's going into build, let alone shipped.

              March was a good delivery month for RAV4

              Still seeing 6 month waits for Cruiser

            • @jjj123: Our's is delivered this week.Shipment was for orders with March build/production, transported in April. Arrived NSW 7 April, then Melbourne (Adelaide?).

  • Hi, I have heard there may be a small update to August production, potentially auto folding mirrors. Has anyone heard similar?

  • What are these like to tow a boat?
    We would love to get one of the AWD hybird models but have concerns on their ability to tow our ~700kg unbraked trailer (soon to be converted to mechanical braking)

  • Hey does anyone know if the RAV 4 hybrid uses an ECVT or a belt driven one?

    Cheers

      • Thanks. :)

        • +2

          The CVT in the linked video is NOT the unit used in the hybrid, this is used in the non hybrid Corolla and RAV4.

          The hybrid uses the ECVT, which is a completely different design that is comprised of a continuously meshed planetary gearset (Power Split Device) coupled with 2x 3 phase motor/generators sitting in an oil bath. No physical gear shifting, no friction materials, the output ratio is changed by varying the motor speeds relative to each other and the petrol engine.

          Slightly boring but informative video for reference:

          https://youtu.be/dLNDGUISTYM

          This design is far superior to any belt/chain driven design. They require no service and they essentially never wear out.

          Seriously, Toyota hybrids are popular as taxis in many countries, and countless examples have racked up close to 1 million kms before the engine finally blows. The transmission - never.

          I have a 3rd Gen Prius with over 300000 km and it's perfect.

          Hope this helps

  • Has anyone replaced their fog lights to LED?

    • Why would you? How often do you have your fog lights on?

      • -1

        Just for a complete look. Do you know where I can get them from?

  • So I went to line up a test drive today and the CSR was trying to tell me to buy before the 30th cos …'price hikes'. True or not?

    • 100% accurate

      If your name is against a car, you avoid the price hike.

      $1300 plus the additional stamp duty on RAV4 Hybrid

      • Arg, thanks. Might have shot myself in the foot though as I don't want to take delivery until November so I went in there anticipating a 6 month wait. I'll ask if I can put my name down now at that price for delivery in November. She can only say no I guess. :)

        • Won't happen, your name has to be against the car to avoid the price rise, and with the spec change on August production cars, you're further SOOL.

          • @spackbace: So if you signed a contract of sale prior to 30 June you definitely won't be hit by the price hike?

            • @Mucchan: Unless it's a factory order

              • @spackbace: Wouldn't that pretty much rule out all hybrid order then? Lol

                Is it still a 6-8 months wait for a hybrid cruiser?

                • @Mucchan: No, our local mob has some coming in August which is about 3 months too early for my financials to set up.

                • @Mucchan: Nope, I can get one in about 2 months

          • +1

            @spackbace: Whats the spec change gonna be?

  • Has anyone replaced their interior lights with LED?

    • I did. Today :-) I can't tell you how much better it is without those weak, insipid halogen lamps. Talk about penny-pinching to save a couple of dollars on the bill of materials!

      What would you like to know?

      I bought a kit from Amazon (delivered in under a week!) and used some trim tools I had to do the installation.

      Boot area = 2mins (EASY!)

      Vanity/visor mirrors = 5mins each (Straight-forward)

      Main cabin above passengers = 10mins (Not as easy to remove as I thought due to the weird clip design)

      Map lights = 2hours total (HORROR! No amount of YouTube videos could prepare me for the shitfight I entered into…as I think the clip points have changed and the risk of cracking/scratching/bruising the plastics is high. But patience paid off).

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