Hi! looking to buy a new 2008 RAV4.....Anyone out there recently purchace the 2008? I am looking to buy the limited model. It was between this and the honda CRV but i am looking into the RAV more. I see it got a lot of good ratings in consumer report, etc. thanks! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/liebe011.gif)

I4 or V6 ???

i am thinking 4...

Rav4? Excellent choice. I can't speak about the Honda but we just bought a 2008 Rav4 Limited V6 two weeks ago. Although I have a BMW M3 and an Acura TL, we've had 5 Toyota's since we bought a new 1987 MR2. Quite honestly, the Toyotas are far and above the best of any car we've ever owned and among the best of anything we've ever driven.

The Rav4 is my wife's car. Although we've resisted the SUV trend, she test drove both the 4 cylinder Sport and the V6 Limited. She quickly decided on the Limited V6 Rav4 for a couple of reasons. The first was the engine; the V6 is unbelievable; the 4 cylinder, adequate. The second reason was ride. The Sport is firmer and a bit bouncier with the "Sport Tuned Suspension". The Limited is a good compromise for smoothness and handling. Less bounce, more smoothness and she liked. There is a suspension difference that most people don't notice, especially if they drive only the Sport and not compare the two. Also, I think with some options, your only choice might be the Limited. For example, if you want dual climate control, your only choice is the Limited. There are several other options that will put you into a Limited over a Sport. Check carefully and get everything you want. Don't settle for what they have on the lot. You can "Preference" your choice. You might wait 2 weeks or 2 months but you get what you want. We waited 1 month to get a Blizzard Pearl White Limited with Ash leather interior and Option package B.

Last weekend my wife and I went to Monterey, CA for an educational conference (she's a teacher). We reserved a mid-sized SUV because we were going to pick up her ex-principal from a few years ago and take with us with luggage. When we picked up our rent-a-car at San Jose, we were offered a Dodge, Jeep or Toyota Rav4. We chose the Rav4.

The Rav was a 2007 Sport 4 cyl. With our TL and M3, I'm more into performance and handling but this little 4 cylinder Rav4 Sport surprised me and did not disappoint. Although on full throttle acceleration it did not have anywhere near the power that our V6 does, it was very adequate. Normally I find 4 cylinders to be very noisy, busy and underpowered, but this one was just fine. In town, it was great. On the freeway, it kept up with anything on the road. If you find yourself on the German Autobahn or with a leadfoot like my wife, then by all means get the 6 cylinder. Other than the extra MSRP cost for the V6, the mileage difference of 1 or 2 mpg overall, isn't that big of a sacrifice to get the power if you need it. Be honest and you'll make the right choice. Good luck.

Drive them both. Really. See what you think. See which one suits your needs best. That V6 is really awesome. 0 to 60 in 6.5 seconds rivals many early muscle cars and kicks butt on 90% of anything on the road today. Plus, it's smooth and refined.

firehawk - thank you soo much for your reply! i really appreciate it. what did you get for the interior? cloth? leather? i thought i saw that the limited only come in leather interior??

You can get cloth in the Limited, but we got the Ash (light gray) leather. On the other hand, you can't get leather in either the Base or the Sport. My wife wanted leather heated seats. That definately puts you into the Limited. Can't get either in the Base or the Sport.

Again, it really depends on what you MUST have that puts you in one model or another. Go to Toyota's website and you can "Build Your Own" Rav4. Very closely compare option packages. I'll include a link below. For example, on the Limited, they have option package A, B and C. Go line-by-line and compare. If you go to the dealer, make sure you know exactly what you want in a Rav and Preference exactly the options and color that you want. If you want, review the options list and detail everything you want and I'll look into it and help you build yours and guide you the best I can. A word of advice though; never load up a base model with all the options when you can probably get the next model up with the same options for the same or less money AND have better resale.

http://www.toyota.com/rav4/index.html

Just copy this link and paste it in your browser. Go to "Purchase" and the first selection is "Build Your Rav". Check out all possible scenarios and enjoy.

Good luck and feel free to ask.

There have been alot of complaints about the use of cruise control on the 4 cylinder models. Appearently, if your not on a relatively flat road using the cruise, the tranny starts searching for another gear, and your RPMs go sky high and the cars buck. I have read this in other forums, and Im not sure whether or not Toyota has come up with a fix. I have an 07, with a 6 cyl engine, and it has never been a problem for me. You might want to check into this if you think that may be problematic for you. Take a look at www.Rav4world.com

I purchased a 2008 RAV4 Sport V6 w/4WD in mid December and couldn't be more pleased with it. We have almost 3000 miles on the vehicle now, much of them put on, on a (snowy) family Christmas trip to Pennsylvania. Like you, we also considered the Honda CR-V (which I must say is a nice vehicle) but chose the RAV4, mosty because of our positive experience with Toyotas.

My spouse and I still have two '91 Celicas, each with well over 100,00 miles. In the past 16+ years, I changed the timing belts as PM, replaced a broken antenna, replaced brakes, plugs, filters, batteries and tires on both, and replaced an alternator. Other than the foregoing, and routine oil changes, that's the extent of the maintenance and repairs I have had to make on these two non-garaged kept vehicles, which I think is pretty remarkable.

If you do choose a RAV4, please consider opting for the V6. IMO, the gas mileage difference is not that much different than on the 4-cyl model and the 270HP V6 is very powerful in this vehicle. At sixty years old, I'm well passed the age of thrill riding or speeding tickets, but I have to tell you, the V6 has remarkable power and acceleration. Our V6 did not exhibit any issue whatsoever with up/down shifting using cruise control in the Pennsylvania mountains, believe me.

I have not experienced any rattles, fit or other new car dealer service issues whatsoever, thus far. The vehicle runs and shifts very smoothly and has been a blessing here lately in Chicagoland, with all the snow that we've received. Pulling over and driving through/over the compacted two foot (+) snowplow berms on the side streets is a piece of cake.

My spouse wanted the Sport version, though my recommendation would be to consider the Limited over the Sport, the latter being better equipped (standard) and allowing for more options. The interior of the Base and Sport are somewhat spartan (especially upholstery) when compared to the CR-V, which is not the case with the Limited model.

I have two minor gripes about the RAV4. The first is the swing of the rear windshield wiper move from left to right, while the spare tire is mounted on the right. When it snows heavily, the snow collects and builds behind the spare and eventually blocks the full swing of the wiper arm. The engineers at Toyota should probably have designed the blade swing reversed so snow would fall clear of the tire when one initially turns on the wiper. The other gripe is the the deep well on the hood where the front blades park. This is another collection point for ice and snow, which does not get enough hood heat to melt at that location. The Limited comes with heated wipers, which perhaps overcomes this minor nuisance.

Our vehicle has the 6-CD Toyota radio system, but I would probably have opted for the JBL system if I had to do it over again. To me, the sound is adequate, but a bit flat on the Toyota model radio. At first, I thought it was just my "old ears", but have since read some similar comments on the web.

Lastly, my advice is if you don't see what you want at the dealership, then order the one you want, rather than buying off the lot and perhaps being less satisfied in the long run. There are literally boatloads of these vehicles shipping in from Japan, mostly with predetermined option packages. Locally, I had a hard time finding the "right" V6 4WD vehicle in stock in the area, due to the demand here. However, after telling the dealer specifically what I was looking for, and providing some flexibility regarding what I had to have versus what I'd like to have, they put their inventory manager to task and soon located the exact vehicle I wanted, delivering it within three weeks. This is not uncommon. They have computer access to stock due in from Japan and at or enroute to various dealerships. The inventory managers "horse trade" vehicles uncommitted vehicles and can certainly find what you're looking for. Mine was on a ship heading for Portland, along with a handful of other vehicles very similar to what I really wanted. Being due into the Portland port from Japan, a few of the options I wanted could easily be added "at port" by Toyota. (These are identified as PIO options on the Toyota site referenced in a previous post.) Do some homework and you'll easily get what you want in a short period of time.

Hope this helps!

On the build site if you choose the limited you do not have the A, B, C options packages listed.

We bought an 08 2WD Limited V6, will pick it up on Saturday. They had to get it from somewhere else and its coming in on a transport truck.

Buy the V6, you won't be dissappointed. The gas mpg will be better than the 4 in the real world of driving with a loaded vehicle, w/ a/c on at 70mph. Plus, the added safety of having the reserve power of the 6-cylinder to get on the highway and away from bad situations.

V6 Rulz!!

Sure they do. In fact, Toyota actually has Option Packages A, B, C and D for the Limited. Package A is the basic option package with JBL CD player, Bluetooth and moonroof. Package B is Package A with the 3rd row seating added for an extra 700 bucks (lousy, cramped, dangerous, uncomfortable option, but, OUCH)! Package C has Package B with heated leather seats and Package D adds rear seat entertainment to Package C.

Hope you were able to see these and get the options you wanted. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/s12.gif)

Now that I've driven it a bit, my only complaint is that the throttle is too easy. Relax your foot in the slightest and the throttle goes down. All the cars that I've driven so far have enough friction in the throttle that I can relax my foot. This Rav4 takes shin muscles just to hold your foot up and NOT accelerate.

Hello!

I'm from Europe, more exactly from Romania, and I heard only good things about the RAV4, so newrav1203 good choise!

My question is .. why in US the RAV4 is cheaper than in Europe? In my country the starting price for the cheapest RAV4 is like 26000 Euro. In USA is 14000 Euro. The full option is 36000 Euro. I'm thinking upon getting one from US.

Thanks!

I also just purchased a silver 2008 Rav4 Limited V6... about a week ago. I got the option C package with the ash leather interior. I would definately recommend the V6 over the 4 cylinder. You only give up 1 mile per gallon, but get a lot more power. I am totally happy with the new purchase. I recommend getting what you can afford, but you won't be sorry for getting the V6.

The RAV4 has Good fuel economy, smooth, quiet, huge cargo capacity, and most importantly powerful!
but I have heard many negatives like too light. You will feel shaking in the highway and strong wind at high speeds.

I have heard great reviews of the CRV with no compaints unless it with style!

So you pick Style and noise or A nice solid Japaneese Pontiac Aztek

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Reports have stated that CR-Vs get less mpg than V6 RAV4s. And they weigh about the same:
CR-V - 3549 lbs & RAV4 - 3547 lbs

Ordered mine (I mean my wife's) yesterday...V6, 4WD, Limited, Everglade Metallic, + the usual opts. I liked it better than the Cr-V. More room (w rear folded down), better interior appointments, easier seat fold down system (very bad back/leg), side open tail, tow package 3500lbs. and that V6!

Cr-V was nice...big negatives: leather to get a pwr seat, less room, lift-up tail, tow = 1500lbs. I do like the looks.

Rav4 = 2500. off, Honda = no deal.

My ride is a '06 Tacoma, V6 PreRunner

Lee