u/Broseidon7777

After 1 mo of driving this car running errand and short commutes to work here’s what I like and didn’t like. Got it for mid 55k OTD with taxes and fees included. 3 other dealers had same spec XSE with advanced park but couldn’t beat my original quote.

Cons:

1. Sunglasses holder randomly opens when the car gets hot. It does not latch properly when it’s hot and opens going through bumps. I’m going to wait a little for a fix from Toyota instead of replacing it now at the dealer.
2. Torque steering clock wise in sports mode accelerating. First Toyota coming from Honda, this is annoying.
3. No EV charge mode. I’ve driven dodge hornets and jeeps that have this.
4. Paint swirls right off the dealer lot with 3 miles. The black gets dirty real quick and has tons of orange peel.
5. The HUD is kind of blurry or fuzzy and it’s not very sharp and it doesn’t have proximity notifications like bmw or Hyundais. Would be nice to have those.
6. No folding mirrors and the puddle light is horrible. I can’t even see it at night. Not even sure why it’s there because it does not even light up the ground.
7. Stock tires don’t have the best grip and slips in sports mode accelerating.
8. The side mirrors shake at 60+mph. Never had a car that did this. Seems like it’s not attached to the body well or flexes too move due to high winds.
9. CarPlay does not connect automatically to previous phone. If there’s two phone connected, it keeps connecting to the other phone and not mine even though it’s not set to secondary phone. Might be some bug.
10. No passenger shade built in at this price point.
11. Coming from Honda, no walk away lock is just absurd. I get a message from Toyota app saying it’s unlocked…. Then why not just lock it for me??? And the app is only free for 1 year. Insanity.
12. Self park is cool and nice and I use it when I’m lazy. However you have to be close enough to detect it and the bmw x1 has better self park because it detects spots better. It requires clear lines and many times if the lines are faded, it wants to park sideways in both.

Pros:

1. Super smooth car. Drove bmw, Kia, Hyundais, jeeps, Audi, Mercedes and the acceleration is so smooth you don’t get the sudden gear change jerks and it’s quick.
2. Surprisingly very quiet. The cabin is so isolated I thought the EV hum backing out wasn’t working. I had to have someone go out to make sure my exterior speakers weren’t broken. I also don’t have roof racks so no wristlets.
3. Ventilating seats are nice but it’s not cooled. It’s just air blowing but better than nothing.
4. I actually like the infotainment setup better than the new BMW and Kia/Hyundai’s single curve screen set up. The single screen sharing the dash and info just looks cheap to me. Having two separate screens is better in my opinion.
5. Seats are comfy and everything is pretty soft touch for not being a luxury SUV. I just wish it wasn’t only in black because the car gets real hot in the summer.
6. Mainly bought the PHEV because it had 324 ponies and I can charge for free at work. Makes me just want to drive fast. Haven’t drove another car around this price point or even higher that’s as fast as this in merging on a highway and I rent loads of cars.
7. Toyota sense 4.0 is truly amazing especially the auto break feature. I’m using it to “‘maximize regen”. It’s like one peddle driving but not really because it turns off below 7-8mph and it beeps at you before you hit a car. It works pretty well detecting cars and it lane centers pretty nicely without bouncing but I do notice it turns too much sometimes and sometimes stay more to the right. It works well on narrow lanes but haven’t figured out how to not have speed control turned on when lane centering and self steering is enabled. Honda and Kia/hyundais can just enable steering without setting speed.

Overall there’s more cons but still happy about this purchase. Only wish it still had the good old tax rebates.

Edit: Mine came from Japan and the panel gaps are tight. It’s so tight that on a hot day one day, the passenger front and rear door has interferences and every time you open the front door, the plastic trim at the bottom of the door would scratch on the rear door.

I have a 10th gen civic and after getting the compressor replaced for the second time for free at the dealer, my walk away auto lock feature stopped working and my key fob lock button no longer made the car beep even though all settings were turned on. It does however lock with the switch on the door and with key fob. Around 2 days later, I was opening my windows and only the passenger window wouldn’t roll down using the driver buttons. So I leaned over and used the switch at the passenger door and it worked. Since then my auto door lock feature just fixed itself and the car beeps when I walk away or lock with the fob.

So the issue is the dealer actually scratched my hood trim replacing the compressor and I had to give it back to them to take it to the body shop to get it repainted. After I got my car back, the auto lock feature stopped working once again and I tried to roll down my windows like before and all windows worked fine. I asked if they had disconnected any batteries or good latch switch and they said no. I had to pay the dealer 200$ for diagnostic to figure out that the hood patch sensor was bad. I called my extended warranty insurer and got the claim approved but somehow after 2 days it magically worked again by itself. I tried to open and close the hood multiple times and never fixed itself but magically worked the next morning on its own.

2 week later and still waiting for the dealer to call me to replace the hood latch, the auto lock is still working but I just realized my sun roof doesn’t open and close anymore. I tried the reset by holding down the passenger window by 5 seconds and up by 5 seconds but doesn’t work. I haven’t tried the key fob to open all windows because I am afraid I can’t close it and get rained on.

Anyone have any ideas what’s going on…? I have not disconnected the battery and haven’t pulled any fuses it also.

I have a 10th gen civic and after getting the compressor replaced for the second time for free at the dealer, my walk away auto lock feature stopped working and my key fob lock button no longer made the car beep even though all settings were turned on. It does however lock with the switch on the door and with key fob. Around 2 days later, I was opening my windows and only the passenger window wouldn’t roll down using the driver buttons. So I leaned over and used the switch at the passenger door and it worked. Since then my auto door lock feature just fixed itself and the car beeps when I walk away or lock with the fob.

So the issue is the dealer actually scratched my hood trim replacing the compressor and I had to give it back to them to take it to the body shop to get it repainted. After I got my car back, the auto lock feature stopped working once again and I tried to roll down my windows like before and all windows worked fine. I asked if they had disconnected any batteries or good latch switch and they said no. I had to pay the dealer 200$ for diagnostic to figure out that the hood patch sensor was bad. I called my extended warranty insurer and got the claim approved but somehow after 2 days it magically worked again by itself. I tried to open and close the hood multiple times and never fixed itself but magically worked the next morning on its own.

2 week later and still waiting for the dealer to call me to replace the hood latch, the auto lock is still working but I just realized my sun roof doesn’t open and close anymore. I tried the reset by holding down the passenger window by 5 seconds and up by 5 seconds but doesn’t work. I haven’t tried the key fob to open all windows because I am afraid I can’t close it and get rained on.

Anyone have any ideas what’s going on…? I have not disconnected the battery and haven’t pulled any fuses it also.

In the market for a new SUV. Already placed a deposit for the rav4 phev se with some packages with OTD around 47k with msrp around 44k. My original goal was to get a car with 360 camera and maybe self park/park assist however the PHEV does not have that package until it’s ordered at the XSE trim and I don’t want to pay higher for a Toyota reaching 50k msrp. I want something reliable and cheap to maintain. Initial impression for the PHEV is fast acceleration but really bad interior and old looking infotainment system. I can also charge it at work.

However, I learned that the X1 with technology package with roof delete is 45100 msrp before taxes and fees. The q3 with driver assist package is 46840 msrp before taxes and fees. I know I got a good deal with the rav4 PHEV but the interior for the 2026 feels cheap and cheaper than the previous gen. It’s like a base model but with excellent safety package and good powertrain. The 0-60 are all within 5-6 seconds range for the 3 cars. I’ve test drove Kia and Mazda hybrids and with same price they have ventilated seats and 360 cam as well but the powertrain felt slow. I am paying cash since it’s 4.99 APR Toyota finance. Audi and BMW I believe has around 0.99APR and financially I could be saving money even though the X1 or Q3 costs slightly more at lower rates.

Should I reconsider the 2026 rav4 PHEV? I know cost of ownership will most probably be the cheapest with the Toyota especially when I can charge it at work and has 40mpg+. However, something doesn’t feel right paying high 40s for a Toyota with no 360 cam or park assists. I plan on test driving the X1 and Q3.