Yesterday we replaced the Wife's 2014 Corolla S with a 2017 RAV4 Hybrid Limited. I love it because, like the 2 PRII we also own, the RAV4 "Hybrids" are made in Japan. While we never had one problem with the Corolla, she has driven Minivans and SUV for many years and prefers having lots of space and sitting up high. Now before anyone gets their panties in a wad because it doesn't get 50 mpg, we did look at the KIA Niro. Compared to a RAV4 or CRV neither of us liked it, and if we had to settle for a Niro Touring Model, the mpg dropped back to the low to mid 40s. Plus it's not time tested. Anyway...she's got a new Toyota, proven vehicle design, proven hybrid tech, proven CVT, AWD (on demand), has all the newest safety crap, has all the toys she likes and still gets mid 30s mpg without being tethered to a charge cord...and she loves it too. Will update my impressions when she let's me drive it.
Good to see another hybrid in the family. We took a similar path back in early July, only we started at the Rav4 hybrid, but ended up with something different: Out with the old..... Hope your wife enjoys the upgrade as much as my wife has.
Thanks. She did mention the Highlander HV and a Lexus HVs, but the RAV4 HV (as we equipped it) had everything she wanted or would need already.
The one feature I liked about the RAV4 hybrid was the complete view around the vehicle when parking. Which that was standard on all models.
This year they called it "Birds Eye View" and it's part of the "Advanced Technology" add on. Rumor has it it will be standard on all but the Yaris and other low end base models soon. Overall, I shopped for a package and this vehicle won.
Congratulation on your (or your wife's) new purchase. RAV4 hybrid is what I am looking at for our replacement of 2005 Sienna minivan. My wife is the same way as yours, liking higher seat with a lot of cargo. We may go back to another minivan, but the mileage is not good. What was the biggest reason you went with RAV4 instead of CRV? If Honda get their act together and produce hybrid CRV, I may have to give it a serious look.
If you are looking for similar cargo room, the HiHy would be almost the same as the Sienna. It gets respectable mpg. When we replaced the 4runner, this was one of the deciding factors. The wife felt the cargo capacity was too small in the RAV4.
Thanks. My wife would probably be perfectly happy with RAV4 cargo space. We have 4 kids, so my wife was very typical soccer Mom when kids were young. But now all the kids are grownup, we rarely need rear seats in Sienna. In fact, the second row seats have been sitting in our garage last 5-6 years. I now use Sienna mainly as a cargo van. It takes full size 8x4 plywood flat on the cargo when all the rear seats are removed. I often carry 12+ bales of straws and 500+lbs of chicken feeds. We had Gen3 Prius before I traded in for Prime recently. She was OK with Gen3 Prius cargo space, but not happy with Prime's. My plan is to replace Sienna with a cheap pick-up truck for my backyard chickens, and get a new better fuel efficient AWD SUV or crossover for my wife. But just replacing Sienna with another minivan maybe more economical.
Congrats! The RAV4 Hybrid is definitely in a sweet spot - good mpg, great passenger and cargo space, reasonably priced (not much more expensive than a regular RAV4) and AWD.
For our needs/wants...it's nuts on perfect. Ordering tow package (with controller) from eTrailer this week.
