28th Oct 2019, 20:49

Or you can just rent a car and not worry about making a mess of your own. Saves mileage as well. Enterprise has some good weekend specials. Good luck.

27th Jan 2020, 04:48

ORIGINAL POSTER. I still have the RAV4 and it now sits at 78,105 miles, which equates to 3,714 miles driven this quarter and 31,986 miles driven since I purchased it. The only update is that I will be due for tires soon (at the 75,000 oil change, the tech estimated I had 5,000-6,000 miles left on them) but nothing notable otherwise. I love this car. I really do.

One question, though... the 2014 RAV4 has "regular" lights all the way around on the outside. The 2015+ has LED. Am I able to just screw in an LED bulb on my '14 and have everything work? No one (not even the dealer) seems to know how to answer this question.

29th Apr 2020, 09:56

I wrote the original thread, and the RAV4 has now accumulated 80,651 miles, up 2,546 miles in the last quarter, 13,651 miles this past year, and 34,532 since I purchased it.

A few days after my last update, I went to NTB and had all four tires replaced. One of the old ones had a leak and left me stranded; number two had a slow leak and I had to add air every few days. It was time. I purchased a 60,000 mile tire with road hazard warranty, and the bill came out to about $900.

The weather stripping on the roof has also begun to lift. It began a while ago, but is more noticeable now. The Toyota dealer quoted me $300 to replace or $60 to glue. I think I'm going to try again myself to reapply it and to procure a cheap little step ladder. I simply can't reach it to see it. The dealer said that the weather stripping coming out is likely due to me running the car through the car wash (and I do go once or twice a week on an unlimited pass).

The RAV4 is decent in terms of moving gear. It swallowed a fold-up desk, office chair, and some other miscellaneous garb for me in the last few weeks with the onset of COVID-19 necessitating me having to build a home office. The chair took up most of the available cargo bay with the "60% side" of the 60/40 seat back folded. So, it's not as big as I thought when I purchased it in 2017.

City MPG is a pretty consistent 22.xx MPG. But admittedly, I'll idle a lot of times so one of my devices will charge. I suspect it could easily get 25 (I drive like a grandma) MPG in the city. My commute has been 100% city lately, so I have no highway numbers to report.

I think that's about it... fingers crossed that this RAV4 is around a really long time! It's still running like new!

26th Jul 2020, 22:59

I wrote the original thread, and I drove the RAV4 up to 81,858 miles this quarter. That's an increase of 1,207 miles this quarter, 10,945 miles this year, and 35,739 miles since I drove it off the lot all those moons ago in October 2017.

I've basically been driving it all in the city because of my new work commute (less than 4 miles one way), and I average between 21 and 22 MPG, all things considered.

The new tires are riding smoothly and quietly; I'm very happy with their performance so far. I still need to properly investigate the weather stripping. I was able to tuck it back in but it still pops out occasionally.

The red paint still looks and feels new due to regular washing and waxing. I'm very pleased in that regard.

The dashboard has a hairline stress crack on the passenger side by the windshield wiper clip. The crack is about 1/4" long.

Still happy with my purchase. I actually used my tax return and my COVID-19 stimulus check to buy a 2005 Sienna with cash to help move bigger things since I (eventually) plan to move away.

27th Oct 2020, 01:22

I am the original poster. I still have the RAV4 and it has 83777 miles on it now, a boost of 1,919 miles this quarter, 9,386 miles since this date last year, and 37,658 miles since I took ownership on 10/28/17. No major updates. One of my favorite vehicles, if not my favorite, to date.

31st Jan 2021, 01:54

I wrote the original thread and drove the RAV4 a whopping 733 miles this quarter, bringing the odometer up to 84,510 miles. The mileage dropped this quarter in particular because of having a surgery, and, consequently, being able to work from home. The RAV4 was driven 6,405 miles this year and 38,391 miles since purchase.

A few days after the last update, I did hop up onto the roof to fix the weather stripping. It stayed put for a few days, but I need to address it again.

I also changed the front wipers (but not the back) at 83,901 miles with a set of RAIN-X wipers from Pep Boys, replacing the Bosch wipers I purchased in October 2019.

The crack on the dashboard first mentioned in July 2020 does not appear to have grown.

28th Apr 2021, 21:45

ORIGINAL REVIEWER. I still have the 2014 RAV4, and it is still kicking with 85,859 miles on the clock. I've begun my commute back to and from the office (about 4 miles one way) and fuel economy seems to hover right around 21 MPG just commuting. Volunteer activities and that commute is still largely stifled due to COVID-19, so my mileage is still increasing minimally compared to pre-COVID.

I need to do a deep clean on the RAV4, inside and out. The styling is still current and the red exterior combo with the two-tone black/light gray interior has aged well with weekly washing and occasional interior dressing.

There is a small shudder sometimes when slowing down to a stop. It seems to happen sporadically, but mostly when cold. Otherwise, no news.

I am proud to say that I am **finally** right side up on the RAV4! Hoping to get it paid off a year ahead of time and reap the benefits of no car payments for years to come.

7th Aug 2021, 00:42

ORIGINAL REVIEWER HERE. A little late on the quarterly update, but I am up to 87,819 miles now.

At 85,000 miles, I had the routine service. The dealer recommended I replace the drive belt, complete the transmission flush, do a brake flush, and have a fuel induction service. I didn't do these just yet.

I also had the shudders investigated. The RAV4 needed a torque converter. Thank goodness there was a TSB on that, or that would have cost over $1,000. The repair ended up being free. The car was out of commission for a day to diagnose the issue and a day to replace the part (they needed to order it). This was at approximately 85,320 miles.

I got down underneath the engine and the belt looked fine. If I run into extra money, I'll flush the brakes and transmission.

At 86,420 miles, I replaced the spark plugs (more of "because I can" than "because I should." It was a pretty easy, inexpensive repair. Just a screwdriver in the driveway. I have 10 nubs for fingers and I was able to change the spark plugs. The RAV4 seems to get better mileage now (24 MPG all-around instead of 21) and feels peppier.

At 87,000 miles, the car started to make a single "beep" when hitting the brake hard enough. It turns out that my hatch wasn't closed all the way. 100% operator error, in case anyone experiences similar.

At 87,4xx, I got an alignment and tire rotation from NTB. At least around me, they still have the consistently cheapest prices.

At 87,500, I ran a bottle of injector cleaner through the gas tank as I do every 2500 miles or so (about every 3 months for me).

On the short list:

- All three (3) wipers are due for replacement again before winter comes.

- Still keeping an eye on the weather stripping. I've been debating suspending my unlimited car wash pass and may have the weather stripping re-glued then.

Overall:

- The car feels/sounds as solid as it did when I got it 40,000 miles ago.

- Would like to upgrade the headlights to something brighter.

- Leather on the driver's seat looks worn but actually isn't. None of the other seats look like they've ever been used.

- The car is still aging well overall.