29th Jul 2024, 00:37

I still have the 2014 RAV4 in the original review. I am now up to 140,404 miles. The battery has corrosion on it, and I am preparing to replace it before winter. Otherwise, the RAV4 still takes me to work every day, takes me on dates, and gets driven virtually daily. I think there has only been one day in the last calendar year that I didn't take it somewhere.

28th Oct 2024, 15:32

ORIGINAL AUTHOR.

I have reached 144,344 miles on this 2014 RAV4, an increase of 3,904 miles this quarter. I have driven it 16,560 miles in the last year and 98,115 since I have owned it.

At 140,340, I purchased a new battery from NTB. The old battery had corrosion on every side and looked like a cube of grass in the engine bay despite functioning without issue. I just wanted to be safe going into winter.

I also replaced the batteries in both key fobs.

With the cold fall weather coming in PA, the power hatch has begun having its seasonal intermittent issues with raising and lowering.

Regarding the suspension work mentioned last year, I took the RAV4 to one of my independent mechanics. They said everything looked fine. So I am holding off for now. However, they did recommend a brake flush, which I plan to do when I have the money.

I have a new girlfriend and she drove the RAV4 for the first time. Compared to her 2015 Mitsubishi Mirage with 105K mi, my RAV4 drives better, has better fuel economy (23 MPG in my car versus 20 in hers), and has been more reliable. She wants me to get a new car so she can replace her car with my older RAV4 that has more miles on it.

28th Jan 2025, 13:48

ORIGINAL REVIEWER HERE.

I have reached 149,925 miles on the RAV4. This translates to 5,581 miles this quarter, 17,273 miles this year, and 103,806 miles since I've owned it.

A trip from Pittsburgh to New Jersey and New York to propose to my girlfriend netted 973 miles. Three of us went, and of our three cars, the RAV4 was the oldest car with the most miles. We chose it because we knew it was the only one that would bring us back.

I don't think it's been above 40 degrees since my last update, and one of the RAV4's newest quirks is that, when it gets below about 18 degrees, the steering column makes a loud squeaking noise. It happens intermittently but is more frequent in the first few minutes of driving. The power steering fluid is full, the belts all look good, and I even sprayed some silicone spray in the steering column. There has been no drop in steering performance, so I think it's just old and cold.

In December, I opened the hatch and the left strut finally broke. I ended up having to pull it off (it was 10 PM and snowing so I couldn't immediately fix it) to get the trunk to close. I haven't opened it since. I ordered the parts off Amazon but it's been too cold to fix it. When the weather breaks, I will be replacing both sides. Fortunately, the trunk is empty and I haven't had to open it.

Another quirk that started in the last quarter is that the gas cap release began working temperamentally. I don't know if this is due to age or due to the cold. I think it's due to the cold. I had been having problems with the fuel door aligning for the last few months or so. I might take a can of WD-40 to the fuel door release as a precaution as well.

I noticed that the light in the trunk has finally burned out, and at least one of the dome lights (the ones by the rear-view mirror) take a little longer to respond than they used to when I hit the "on" button. So, I'm going to replace the interior bulbs all around when the weather breaks as well.

The battery has already begun to corrode, and I'm disappointed in that. That isn't the RAV4's fault.

I will probably get new headlights soon. I don't think I've done them since 2021.

I'm still hoping to get to 200K+. I don't have any reason to believe it this car won't take me there. Last week, when it was -9 degrees in Pittsburgh, the RAV4 started on the first go.

28th Apr 2025, 00:28

ORIGINAL REVIEWER.

I am still driving the 2014 RAV4, and I have reached 155,037 miles. This is an increase of 108,918 miles overall since buying the car, 17,687 miles this year, and 5,112 miles this quarter.

I had the oil changed at 150,055 and I noticed the RAV4 starting to feel more labored and running louder within a day. The CEL and AWD lights came on at 150,230. I took the car to O'Reilly's to pull the code and got a P0420 code for catalytic converter Bank 1 running lean. In an effort to troubleshoot from the cheapest to the most expensive, I ran a can of Cataclean through the gas tank (followed the instructions exactly) and the CEL and AWD lights resolved themselves within 100 miles. The O'Reilly's guy recommended running 3-4 cans of Catalclean through the engine annually, so I will probably do that as cheap maintenance since a CEL will fail a PA inspection. The RAV4 didn't feel as labored and wasn't running as loudly as it had been when the CEL illuminated, but it still wasn't as quiet as it was. At 151,179, the CEL returned when I washed the car (with the gas tank open to clean inside), so I replaced the gas cap and ran a can of HEET through the tank.

Despite the CEL resolving itself, my friend and I jacked the front of the car up and discovered that a flange between two of the pipes under the engine cradle fell out. We replaced the flange with a $6 part from O'Reilly's and the RAV4 runs like new again

I also changed out the left trunk strut at 150,303 (the one that originally failed in December 2024) but did not change the right one (the original one from the factory). I was originally intending to change out both at the same time, but inclement weather changed the plans. The trunk worked, but only in manual mode. When I close the trunk, the "power" will kick in to "finalize" the closing as it had in the past. I always wanted a manual liftgate, so I can lived with this. I know there is a kill switch in the glove box, but mine never seemed to work (and I don't see that written anywhere in my previous comments). At 153,397 we replaced the other hinge and the power liftgate functions properly again.

I also replaced the brake pads all around at 153,397 (the rotors were still good).

The serpentine belt is still in excellent shape and I am holding off on the spark plugs for now.