Rav4 or Highlander?

[atalarico]

Hey all,

My g/f is thinking of getting rid of her 2010-ish Camry LE in favor of something with AWD and a little higher clearance. I naturally said "4RUNNER!" and she said that might be a bit more than she needs to just get up simple dirt roads to trail heads and what not.

She's thinking she wants to keep it a Toyota, so naturally we're thinking Rav4 or Highlander, or maybe even a Lexus RX. She has about a $10k budget.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[atalarico]

bump for input.

 

[nevada]

what year? I think the newer HL's are a bit less dirt road friendly. the rav4's might not be too bad.

I got my woman an 02 highlander a while back. its been great. gets decent mileage, and just plain works. ive taken it on some very questionable roads, lol. and other than the lack of low range, it worked very well.

ive offered to get her into another/newer rig or even a 4runner, but she says nope. she loves her car.

 

[atalarico]

what year? I think the newer HL's are a bit less dirt road friendly. the rav4's might not be too bad.

I got my woman an 02 highlander a while back. its been great. gets decent mileage, and just plain works. ive taken it on some very questionable roads, lol. and other than the lack of low range, it worked very well.

ive offered to get her into another/newer rig or even a 4runner, but she says nope. she loves her car.

Yeah, her budget is $10-13k which is putting her in a 70-80k mileage Rav4 here in Denver. She's ruling out the Highlander since at that price point she gets something with more mileage, etc.

Any weird gotchas to look out for with these cars? I know the 3rd and 4th gen 4Runner buyer guides better than the back of my hand, but haven't a clue with these ones. I just don't want to get her into a "surprise, this year had bad headgaskets" kind of situation.

 

[nevada]

Yeah, her budget is $10-13k which is putting her in a 70-80k mileage Rav4 here in Denver. She's ruling out the Highlander since at that price point she gets something with more mileage, etc.

Any weird gotchas to look out for with these cars? I know the 3rd and 4th gen 4Runner buyer guides better than the back of my hand, but haven't a clue with these ones. I just don't want to get her into a "surprise, this year had bad headgaskets" kind of situation.

sorry, I cant help you with that. my only experience with the newer stuff is brake jobs. to which I have done very few. my old boss got a 14 rav4 a few years ago. no issues as far as I know.

 

[oldschoolpl510]

Lifted Rav4's with larger all terrain tires look pretty good. Readylift just posted a pic of their upcoming kit on instagram. Also the new Rav4 coming out looks good too.

 

[LawmanIdaho208]

I think the RAV4 looks good, but not a fan after driving one. Handled like a car. My advice would be drive one to see what you think before researching too much.

 

[atalarico]

She found a steal of one and went for it. Limited, around 75k miles, and in pretty spotless shape. I test drove it too and it's nice for what it is, but that V6 has some get up for sure.

We've already discussed she won't let me lift it, but will let me pick out the biggest A/T tires possible she can get on there without a lift.

Thanks all!

 

[BearBio]

You don't say if she got the RAV or the Highlander (?).

Got my wife the RAV and didn't even look at the Highlander.

 

[atalarico]

You don't say if she got the RAV or the Highlander (?).

Got my wife the RAV and didn't even look at the Highlander.

Well, she's my ex now, but she got the RAV4. I hope it strands her, but it's a Toyota so it probably won't. :lol:

 

[QuintupleTurbo]

I thought this was a matter of days, then noticed that it had been three years lol

:washing: