1996 Toyota RAV4 Reviews, Pricing & Specs

I love the look of this car. Looks small from the outside but once you are in its there is plenty of space. Its handy with the cup holders near by, Its comfortable to drive. My son loves the car as its easy for him to view the other cars and scenery outside. I have only had it in the garage a few times cambelt was one job, but nothing major. I do feel safe in this car and its really fun to drive. It does seem to go through the petrol.May 22, 2014

This car is pretty fun to drive around town, especially on snowy roads. It's noisy at higher speeds so that takes alot of the fun out of highway and freeway driving. I put Michelin LXT's on it to cut down on the road noise but it didn't help much. It's kind of unique in appearance, it seems to be the last 2-door Rav4 left on earth. It has over 100,000 miles on it and burns a little oil, gas mileage is a bit more than 20 mpg. Recently the check engine light came on and tests indicated the vacuum switch valve that controls the egr valve had failed. It is hidden behind and under the intake manifold and is very difficult to replace. It handles pretty much like a car but it sits a little higher for a nice view of the road. It's just the right size for me. Apr 04, 2010

The onroad performnce is nothing special. Goes between 160 - 170 km/h. Keeps up with most 1.4 hatchbacks in terms of accelaration. The brakes are not good and lock up easilly, although it may have something to do with the All Terrain tires that are fitted. The handling is satisfying, although it is worse than a normal sedan or hatchback's handling will be. The ride, espescially in the back, is quite hard. But I gave it a good rating due to it's off-road abillity and performance witch is amazing for a soft-roader. It's comfortable on even bad gravel roads, although it has a tendency to flick out its back when you decelerate aroud bends. The trick is to decelerate before the bend and then lightly accelarte through it. Very few 4WD pick-ups can keep up with it in sand (it is a pleasure to drive in the dunes) and still copes when the big 4X4 engage low-range, which it lacks and rarely need. I used it a few times to drive up the large mountains surrounding Windhoek ( on farm tracsk). I lock the 4WD (with a button) and stay in 1st gear and stay away from the cluth, and I can forget about it breaking traction. On road would have liked it to have more torque, but driving up mountains on rocky and uneven paths it copes with almost anything at just above idle speed in first gear. The engine gets a little ruff at higher revs. My Rav has 106 000km (About 65 000 miles). I had to replace the bracket for the rear differentail at about 90 000km, which is a common ailment for first generation Ravs. I had a custom, better quality bracket made, which will hopefully last the life of the car. That is the only real "repair" I had to make. The lids of the interior storage compartments next to the rear seats rattle at about 4000r/min And the plastic caps infront of the front seat rail.s tend to come off. Further on everything is stil fine and show littlie sign of wear. The engine used to consume a small amount of oil, but this was rectified by switching to Castrol Edge motoroil. People tend to think it's slightly cute with its mighty mouse appearance. But its not overtly so and suits drivers of all genders. The interior plastics are very hard but durable en easy to maintain. All switches are easy to reach due to their high positioning.It has one of the best air-conditioners I have ever experienced and Namibia (my country) is a hot desert. It can easilly accomadate four adults and a little luggage (like the average hatchback) or two adults and an amazing amount of luggage. The car is very cheap to maintain. Servicing is about as cheap as it gets and if something goes wrong (which it almost never does) spares are also on the cheap side. I get 10liters/100kilometers. On the tar roads it is fun, and almost nothing beats the pleasure of taking your nimblie everyday car off-road on almost any terrain without second thought.Feb 04, 2010

*Performance - acceleration - terrible, braking - pretty good, handling - don't go around a curve too fast * Build Quality - has it needed repairs? no - other than an 02 sensor; squeaks/rattles - well it is 10 years old but it is not to bad * Appearance - both interior - solid and functional and exterior styling - looks like a dune buggy * Cost of Ownership - gas mileage - good, maintenance - low * Fun Factor - is this car fun to drive? wouldn't say fun. just a daily commuter to keep miles off my other car and something to haul things in Aug 06, 2009