Toyota RAV4 SUV 2019 in-depth review

this is the new Toyota rav4 and Twatter

00:03

has renamed what Raph stands for you see

00:06

ravaged to stand for recreational

00:09

activity vehicle makes sense doesn't it

00:11

four is obviously four-wheel drive but

00:12

now they say that it stands for robust

00:16

accurate vehicle because that's one

00:20

keeping with the fact this car is

00:21

tougher actually it's tougher the body

00:23

is 57% stiffer than the old rub force oh

00:27

yeah

00:27

don't worry it's robust remember they

00:29

said so it's fine now this is a kind of

00:32

car you're gonna be looking at if you're

00:33

considering some like a Volkswagen

00:34

Tiguan or a Honda CRV this though is not

00:38

available as a diesel at all its petrol

00:42

only terms of starting price there are

00:45

four range kicked off just under 30,000

00:47

pounds but you can save an average of

00:48

around 1,700 quid off one through car

00:51

wipe now if you're thinking about buying

00:52

a new car click on the pop-out balanced

00:55

up there let's all rank on the screen

00:56

I'll follow the link below the video to

00:57

see how much you can save on a new car

00:59

through car why to make sure you're

01:01

paying the right price this new rav4

01:06

looks way more interesting than the old

01:08

one I don't even mind the huge wheel

01:11

arches a standard you get 17-inch alloys

01:14

these are the upgraded 18 and they've

01:16

got a chrome effect on them but all

01:17

models get privacy glass at the rear you

01:19

get ruthbarz and yet at the front as

01:22

well it's got a very distinctive face I

01:24

like it looks a bit like a stormtrooper

01:26

in this color

01:27

what's it like on the inside there well

01:29

let's have a look it's pretty smart in

01:32

there as well I do like the design it's

01:34

interesting and there's nice soft

01:36

materials here on the dash with the

01:38

stitching the fit there here on the door

01:41

tops as well there are some areas where

01:43

it's not quite so great though for

01:44

instance you've got scratchy plastics

01:45

down here here up here and just hang on

01:49

the handles but then there's some other

01:51

bits that do make up for that

01:52

remember effect here on the inside of

01:54

the door handle this rubbery effect here

01:56

and even up here on the stereo controls

01:58

the lair of everything is fairly logical

02:00

but there are a few Toyota isms in the

02:03

way that the controls for the high beam

02:05

light and the heated steering wheel and

02:06

the real windscreen wiper are here

02:09

rather than with their associated

02:10

controls and I have noticed this look

02:12

you do get

02:13

WOB on the center console if you shake

02:15

it but it still feels pretty robust

02:17

ending at Toyota it shouldn't break well

02:20

I'm not so keen on is this there look

02:21

the lights are old-fashioned filament

02:24

bulbs now though let's talk about the

02:25

rav4 equipment levels the range kicks on

02:27

for the icon and that gets a 8 inch

02:29

touch screen and a 7 inch digital

02:32

drivers display there's also automatic

02:35

cruise control which will slow the car

02:37

to keep your safe distance from the car

02:38

in front it will even work in stop-start

02:40

traffic and the steering will

02:42

automatically steer to keep you in Lane

02:44

and of course is also automation see

02:46

braking if you don't spot that a

02:48

continuity has stopped the icon also has

02:50

dual zone climate control and automatic

02:53

lights and wipers finally you also get a

02:56

reversing camera and the press of a

02:58

button you can go to a wider view and

03:00

also you can change a look at the

03:01

guidelines shown on the screen to help

03:02

your park the next room level up is

03:05

called design and that adds front

03:07

parking sensors you also get keyless

03:09

entry and an electrically operated

03:12

tailgate you also get satellite

03:14

navigation added to the course

03:16

infotainment system which is kind of a

03:18

must because the raffle does not come

03:20

for now with apple carplay nor Android

03:22

auto though they may be added later and

03:25

you might actually be able to retrofit

03:26

them if you've already bought a rough

03:28

four and the design model for me is the

03:30

sweet spot in the range because you've

03:32

got the right man kit and it's a decent

03:34

price however if you want a leather

03:36

interior you need to pay extra for this

03:38

excel version you also get electric

03:41

operation of the driver seat heated

03:43

seats and a heated steering wheel as

03:45

well it also gets blind spot monitoring

03:49

and all LED headlights for a better view

03:52

at night finally there's the dynamic

03:54

model and that adds some sporty touches

03:56

such as two-tone paint black Arlo whirls

03:59

black headlining and some sport seats

04:02

okay let's move on to the entertainment

04:04

system I do like the way that it's

04:05

positioned up here so you don't have to

04:07

take your eyes off the road to see

04:09

what's going on turns the infotainment

04:11

system itself well the screen isn't very

04:13

high resolution but at least it's

04:15

colorful the menus all laid out clearly

04:17

and you get plenty of physical shortcut

04:18

buttons which is nice they're easy to

04:20

hit when you're driving it's all pretty

04:22

logical but the screen isn't very

04:24

responsive the voice commands are okay

04:26

but they only

04:27

work with specific phrases and it's

04:28

quite limited it is easier to import a

04:30

destination into the satellite

04:31

navigation system but it takes ages for

04:33

the system to calculate a route and even

04:35

longer to add a waypoint and overall I

04:37

don't think the system in this cart is

04:39

quite as good as in a Kia Sorento if you

04:41

want to see my phone get video review

04:42

have a Kia Sorento just click up there

04:43

the pop up man in the top right hand

04:44

corner the screen or for the link below

04:46

the video there's a comfort here in the

04:48

front

04:49

well there is plenty of adjustment in

04:50

the steering wheel so that's good the

04:53

driver's seat it moves far enough back

04:55

or forward and you can Jack it quite

04:56

high or low so with your big or small

04:59

you can be fine one thing I have noticed

05:01

though is that while this almost is

05:02

super squishy and soft the one on this

05:04

side is actually quite ow that is not so

05:08

good

05:08

that's a practicality well you can fit a

05:11

1.5 liter bottle in the door bin which

05:13

is impressive you are a couple of cup

05:15

holders there and they can hold a cup of

05:17

coffee in and not too deep and you can't

05:19

fit in a smaller cup without it knocking

05:21

the lid off the space there for your

05:23

mobile phone and charging point a 12

05:25

volt socket there aux-in and a USB

05:28

charging port there as well space under

05:31

the arms with a little tray look room

05:33

underneath for some gloves don't ask why

05:38

I carry those around with me there's

05:40

also some more USB ports under here as

05:43

well and then there's a little space

05:45

here which I wonder what it's for but I

05:47

think I figured it out look it fits an

05:50

emergency tea bag there just in case you

05:51

need to stop and have a have a brew when

05:54

you're on the move and there's some of

05:55

the weird kind of storage areas here

05:57

there's another one just up here where I

05:58

keep my hand sanitizer the glovebox is

06:02

only okay but you get this in a storage

06:06

area up here which i think is just

06:07

perfect for me to keep my car stick of

06:11

truth' there's also a little slot down

06:12

here which is perfect for holding your

06:14

cards that's what I'm keeping my press

06:15

card look but you're surprised to find

06:17

that I am in fact a genuine journalist

06:19

let's move on to the back now one of the

06:21

things about this new rav4 is that

06:23

they've actually lowered the hit point

06:24

which makes it easier to just flop into

06:26

the doors they don't open the widest but

06:29

they're wide enough and yeah it's still

06:31

easy to get in to this car and once

06:33

you're in look at this right so I loaded

06:35

leave room and you can slide your feet

06:36

under the seat in front of stretcher

06:39

Headroom even with the

06:41

optional sunroof is okay for me and

06:43

people over six-foot-tall will be fine

06:45

even with that in place the middle seat

06:47

is a bit raised it feels like a perch if

06:48

you're in the middle but because there's

06:50

not too much of a hump in the floor

06:52

there is plenty of space for everyone's

06:53

feet in fact it's actually quite good

06:56

with three in the back because this is a

06:57

very wide car so even taller people who

06:59

sat on the outer seat won't fill out the

07:01

heads are touching the roof when it

07:03

curves in at the top of the windows so

07:05

that's good what's not so good is this

07:08

look so yes you have an armrest with

07:10

some cupholders but there is no through

07:12

loading at all that is not very good on

07:16

a car which is supposed to be designed

07:18

for people with active lifestyles down

07:22

here though you do have a couple of

07:24

charging ports which is great and

07:25

there's a little pocket there to keep

07:26

your iPad but if you're set beyond the

07:27

driver look you don't have one you do

07:30

have some decent sized door bins like

07:31

fit back in there and I love the fact

07:34

the windows are nice and large in the

07:35

back and it's great that they do go all

07:37

the way down so you can lean out kids

07:39

will really like that speaking of kids

07:41

when it comes to fit in a child see the

07:42

eyes fix anchor points uncover - they're

07:44

really easy to get to because you got a

07:46

lot of space in the back it's dead

07:47

simple to just maneuver the seat and

07:48

lock it into place if you have two child

07:51

seats fitted in the back you haven't got

07:53

much space in between them you might

07:54

have to squeeze a child in there but

07:56

your mother-in-law certainly wouldn't be

07:57

able to fit what a shame now let's move

07:59

on to the boot so in terms of the

08:02

capacity it's about average for this

08:04

size of car for instance it's a little

08:08

bit smaller than a Volkswagen Tiguan in

08:11

fact you could fit 13 extra of these in

08:15

the box on homes boot compared to this

08:17

cars but still look there's gonna be

08:19

enough room for a family's luggage in

08:21

fact underneath a low cover you can fit

08:23

two large suitcases with two smaller

08:25

suitcases on top there's easily enough

08:27

room for a baby buggy a set of golf

08:28

clubs and a load of soft bags as well I

08:31

was like the fact that you've got no low

08:32

lip so you can just slide things out

08:34

dead easy you've got some extra storage

08:37

under here as well there are the

08:39

obligatory tender points there they feel

08:41

quite expensive and tough you've also

08:43

got a 12-month socket there if you need

08:45

to power something like a drinks cooler

08:47

if you want to fall down the rear seats

08:48

a bit of a faff because you have to

08:50

leave in

08:52

there are no releases in the boot here

08:54

or here like you have on some other cars

08:57

but once you do have the seats down

08:59

looking and see you get a completely

09:01

flat floor these slide things to the

09:04

front and with the seats folded this

09:06

caused capacity is slightly bigger than

09:08

a Volkswagen Tiguan so you can fit two

09:10

large boxes across the backseat with a

09:12

smaller one sitting in between and it's

09:13

spaced for 11 more small boxes two large

09:16

suitcases one small suitcase and two

09:19

soft bags and by the way try to

09:21

specifically design this load Bay to be

09:22

long enough to be able to swallow a bike

09:24

with both its wheels attached because

09:26

after all this is a robust accurate

09:29

vehicle now then it's time for the car

09:33

why five annoying things about this car

09:35

this car constantly makes beeps and

09:38

bongs at you whatever you do it always

09:42

seems to just make a right old racket

09:44

[Music]

09:46

get someone else the electric tailgate

09:49

takes ages to close look and their time

09:51

it come on come on

09:55

imagine if it's raining the annoying

09:58

wouldn't it is it there yet come on

10:03

that's it properly shut 12 seconds

10:07

you might expect an edgy looking SUV to

10:10

have a horn that sounds a little bit

10:11

like this but no the actual sound of the

10:16

Raffles horn is this you might think

10:21

that this car passes the carwash Stuka

10:24

truth because look real exhaust pipes

10:26

however the excel model fails on a

10:28

technicality because nope you've got

10:31

these huge chrome surrounds which are

10:33

fake I mean look I can wedge this stick

10:35

in there the brakes make an odd sound

10:38

listen

10:43

then you get that drilling sound

10:51

what's that all about it's not all

10:55

negative though here's five good things

10:57

about this car is here these bumps on

11:00

the roof well they're specifically

11:01

designed to help the air flow across the

11:03

top of the vehicle and that reduces drag

11:05

when you're driving at speed which helps

11:06

improve the economy check this out so

11:09

look the cars a load cover is hidden

11:15

underneath the false floor until you

11:18

need it

11:19

which is absolutely brilliant as is the

11:22

fact that if you want you can reverse

11:25

the floor so that you've got off oops

11:29

wipe down surface perfect if you've got

11:33

a dirty dog that you need to carry in

11:35

your car you don't have to worry about

11:37

the backseat risers getting dirty by

11:40

rubbing against ourselves if the cars

11:41

been driving on a muddy road because

11:43

look they'll always be clean thanks to

11:46

the fact that the doors extend all the

11:50

way over there protected by cladding

11:54

don't worry this mark it'll come off

11:58

four wheel drive versions of the rav4

11:59

has something called trail mode now when

12:01

he selected it alters the change from

12:02

the gearbox and the throttle response so

12:04

it's just a little bit better for

12:06

driving on slippery surfaces also if the

12:09

car detects one of its wheels is losing

12:10

traction and starting to spin sights off

12:12

the ground it will automatically break

12:14

that wheel to send the power to the

12:16

wheels that do have grip to get you

12:18

going again being a traitor the rav4

12:20

gets a five-year warranty that was weird

12:28

the engine lineup for the rav4 is pretty

12:30

simple because there's just one hybrid

12:32

and that's it so that uses a 2.5 liter

12:36

petrol engine and it's mated to an

12:38

electric motor and then you have 215

12:41

horsepower which is good for naught to

12:43

60 in around 8 seconds which is alright

12:46

you can get the rav4 with front-wheel

12:48

drive or all-wheel drive though

12:49

all-wheel drive is not available on the

12:51

entry-level car I'm not sure you need

12:53

either because it does cost an extra

12:55

four thousand pounds now it's important

12:57

for you to make sure that you're paying

12:58

a fair price for a car so what you

13:00

should do is go onto the car

13:02

configurator put the detail

13:03

in sold it for this car the rough for

13:06

front-wheel drive XL and I got an offer

13:08

back for just under 33,000 pounds so if

13:12

you want to check the price of a car

13:13

you're looking at click on the pop-up

13:15

banner in the top right hand corner of

13:16

the screen or follow the link below the

13:17

video to use the car while configurator

13:21

the rav4 is really nice to drive in time

13:23

for two reasons the first is that being

13:26

hybrid at slower speed you just coast

13:29

along silently using the battery power

13:31

and the electric motor and if it needs

13:33

and you put your foot down the petrol

13:35

engine does kick in give you a burst of

13:38

power and the second reason is that

13:40

being an SUV you sit up high to get a

13:42

good view forward also that raised

13:44

driving position and long wheel travel

13:46

means this thing's good over speed humps

13:48

another thing is that this car feels

13:50

pretty settled over bumpy roads it's not

13:52

too bad at all now one of the things

13:55

with hybrid cars is that when you're

13:58

braking the first part of your braking

13:59

engages the cause inverter which then

14:03

charges at the battery and it can make

14:05

the brake pedal feel a little bit

14:06

inconsistent now let's see how easy is

14:09

to park this rav4 big big wing mirrors

14:12

and these pillars as well they're quite

14:15

thin so they don't create much of a

14:18

blind spot also the stims nice and light

14:20

so that's good the reversing camera is

14:23

helping me out quite a bit

14:24

I do wish that the mirror over there

14:26

would tilt down but it doesn't but it's

14:29

quite easy the only real issue in terms

14:31

of visibility is the pillars they're

14:35

quite fact that's it done alright let's

14:38

get on with the final in town driving

14:40

test Ryan let's have maneuverable this

14:43

car is so here's a mini roundabout it

14:46

should be fairly easy to get around

14:48

because this car has quite a tight

14:49

turning so I'll go for an SUV it's

14:51

better than a Volkswagen Tiguan it's

14:53

also better than a Honda CRVs and yeah

14:55

that was an absolute piece of cake

15:00

on the motorway the rav4 is a pretty

15:03

good

15:03

long-distance car the seats are nice and

15:07

comfy and soft but still supportive also

15:11

it's always be quiet you did get a bit

15:13

of tire noise and a little bit of wind

15:14

listen from those big door mirrors it's

15:17

not quite as quiet as a Citroen c5

15:20

aircraft in fact you can see my in-depth

15:22

review of the decision see if I vary

15:23

across just by clicking at them on paper

15:25

and that's all right hand corner the

15:26

screen

15:26

what does spoil the ambience though is

15:28

this on an axial rate from 50 miles an

15:30

hour see how long he gets to 70 yeah if

15:33

she picks it well gotta have added punch

15:35

from an electric motor and that's 70 but

15:38

did he hear that the drone from the

15:40

gearbox what happens is it actually

15:43

holds the engines revs at a fixed point

15:46

where the engine is most efficient which

15:47

is good the bad thing is is that then it

15:50

makes the engine just sound like it's

15:51

going slimy it gets me a nurse now the

15:56

reason to have this kind of gearbox

15:57

known as a CVT is because it does

15:58

improve the economy so let's check out

16:00

the economy on this car so that's what

16:02

I'm averaging it's alright let's see

16:05

what this Toyota rav4 is like when you

16:06

encounter a twisty road so I'm gonna put

16:09

into sports mode which has added some

16:11

weight to the steering and it's made the

16:13

throttle a little bit more responsive

16:15

and I've got some red detailing on the

16:18

speedo

16:21

sporty not really not really at all

16:26

this car goes around corners well enough

16:29

it doesn't lean too much in the bends

16:31

and it grips the road okay

16:35

the right fall is more of a cruiser

16:37

these include now if you'd quite like a

16:44

family SUV but really want a diesel then

16:47

click up there on the pop up button

16:48

that's hot Ryan corner the screen or

16:49

follow the link below the video to watch

16:51

my in-depth review and the Volkswagen

16:52

Tiguan but back to the rav4 now and my

16:55

verdict so should you avoid it should

16:58

you consider it should is shortlist it

17:00

or should you just go right ahead and

17:02

buy it well I reckon you should

17:04

shortlist the Toyota rav4 it's a

17:07

practical good to drive an economical

17:10

family SUV

17:12

do you agree my verdict let me know in

17:15

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