r/rav4prime

Hey everyone,

I just officially paid off my 2024 Toyota RAV4 Prime XSE and want to make it a fun project vehicle. I already have all-terrain tires installed, but now I am looking to do some proper modifications and technology upgrades.

I am completely comfortable taking panels off, doing wiring, or taking parts of the vehicle apart to get the job done right. I would love to hear what projects you have done on your own Prime that were actually worth the time and effort.

Here are a few specific areas I have done, but looking for more!

• Sound deadening and quietness: Adding sound-dampening material inside the doors, floorboards, and rear trunk area to cut down on road and tire noise. (DONE)
• Audio and interior electronics: Upgrading the factory speakers, adding an amplifier, or installing integrated front and rear dash cameras. (DONE)
• Utility lighting: Adding brighter internal light. (I Added LED lights but not much else)
• Skid and protection: Replaced the plastic with an aluminum skid plate. (DONE)

If you have done any of these (or other fun DIY projects), what made the biggest difference for you? What should I avoid?

Thanks for any suggestions and advice!

Any Prime owners who drive a lot?

I presently have the Hybrid and drive 300-500km a day for 5-6 months of the year and I often see plug-ins at places I stop at. I might stop for an hour, which is sufficient to charge the PHEV XSE with tech package.

For a couple of trips, I might drive 1000km-1200km. Stop in a city where I could probably utilize charging stations for 4-7 days 100% of the time before driving back home, another 1000-1200km.

For the rest of the year I could use chargers at home and at my office all the time.

i.e. Tuesday I was at a spot with a charger for 2-3 hours. I drove about 250km and ended up at another spot with a charger Wednesday (probably slow since its a free charger). Wednesday, I drove 400km to come home.

If you are in a similar situation, do you regret switching to a plug-in or?

For the Prime, the battery range is maybe 80km. For people who can live off just being on battery, their fuel economy is very impressive. But there is still something to be said for not just utilizing the charging function 100% of the time...tho at certain periods I would be able to use the charging aspect 100% of the time.

I'm looking at getting a prime with a level 3 charger for faster charging.

Hi guys. So I placed an order for RAV4 Hybrid XLE from Toyota Regency Vancouver in Apr’26. I was told by a person there that it can take anywhere from 6-12 months. Is this the norm now? Is everyone seeing this long wait times? I contacted the person again recently for an update and they said that it still isn’t ready and they can’t specifically say when to expect it by.

I am considering picking up a 2026 Rav4 PHEV tomorrow however with it being late in the year, is there much of a chance that the 2027 Rav4 PHEV will have a further range? If so, I don't mind waiting.

I've been hitting the dealerships lately. Right now I am getting about a $5k price difference between the 2026 RAV 4 PHEV XSE fully loaded and the 2026 NX 450h+.

Is the NX v RAV4 worth it considering the improved RAV4 powertrain?

I’m considering getting a 2026 phev. On a couple videos I’ve seen recently they mentioned having to change the driving mode if you need to accelerate quickly. I was under the impression that you could drive it with the battery only, and then the engine will turn on when it needs to or the battery is depleted. Can someone explain this for me?

I left a deposit for a 26 Woodland PHEV with blackout overlays, mudguards, lit door sills, door edge guards, screen protector for $46,250. How did I do???

I’m in Australia and thinking about getting a RAV4 PHEV as our only family car. It’s me, my wife and our 6 year old.

We have solar and a home battery, so charging would be almost free most of the year. I drive around 50 to 60 km a day, so I’m hoping to do most of my daily driving in EV mode.

We also do about 4 long road trips a year, usually 1,200 km or more. I’m coming from a 2017 Toyota Corolla Sedan.

I know a full EV could work for those trips with some planning, but I honestly don’t want to plan our family road trips around chargers. That’s the main reason I’m looking at the RAV4 PHEV. I could use solar charging for daily driving, then use petrol on longer trips without worrying about where to charge.

Whenever I ask for advice about PHEVs, a lot of EV owners tell me to just get a full EV because PHEVs are the "worst of both worlds". You have the extra weight and complexity of both an EV system and a petrol engine.

So I’d really like some advice from actual RAV4 PHEV owners.

Do you agree with the "worst of both worlds" argument? Any regrets after buying yours? Based on my situation, would you choose the RAV4 PHEV again or go with a full EV? Any advice?

PS: I usually keep a car for 8-10 years.

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 2020 Rav Hybrid. All the USB ports stopped working. (The two in the center console and the cigarette one in the main console) I have tried different cords and chargers to no avail.

Could this be a fuse? If so where is the box located?
How to find the bad fuse?

When this car is fully charged, you get 324hp. How does this car feel after depleted the 22kw battery? Is this mean this car will fall back to the non-plugin version at ~236hp?

When I go on the Toyota build site, there are none within 500 miles of my zip that have a moonroof. I am in the Denver area. Can a dealer order one? I want meteor color with moonroof and that includes a weather package. Mountain states Toyota is near me and no doc fee. Is that my best option?

2026 RAV4 SE

This may be a weird one, but I find my lift gate handle difficult and awkward to use.

Can anyone imagine a way to do an aftermarket handle?

Partially because of a couple of bad finger joints, but also I'm driving on dirt roads everyday.

This means lifting it open is difficult, because there's not much handle and it's up high without much leverage. And closing the gate just means grabbing a really dirty, and slightly floppy piece of aluminum, i.e. the bottom of the gate. Which you have to let go of at some point on the way down.

I got an aftermarket set of mats which came with little plates/slip pads at the bottom of the doorways. Something like that just stuck to the bottom might help a little.

HI. I HAVE A NEW 2026 RAV4 PHEV WITH A CSS1 CONNECTOR WHICH HAS A J1772 ON TOP. A NACS TO J1772 ADAPTER IS NOT AVAILABLE. DOES ANYONE UNDERSTAND WHY? ALSO I READ THE RESPONSE ON THE TESLATAP ADAPTER AND THEY SPECIFICALLY REFER TO A RAV4 AND MENTION AN OVERSIZE GROUND. I WAS THINKING OF BUYING THE RECOMMENDED LECTRON ADAPTER BUT DON'T KNOW IF THE OVERSIZE GROUND IS A CONCERN. ANYONE HAVE ANY INPUT? I DON'T WANT A PROBLEM AND VOID THE RAV4 WARRANTY.

Hi all,

Just got my 26 woodland and I’m super stoked. Currently getting used to the charging process and ways to improve. Currently in a 120V 15 amp circuit it shows 11hrs to go from 37-full. This seems long? Any ways to improve beyond getting LVL2?

2021 RAV4 prime SE: I've developed a clunking rattle somewhere in the rear. Sounds exactly like the tire changing equipment is loose, but I have emptied the spare tire well and completely rubberized everything in there. Nothing moves, nothing clunks. Yet the noise remains. It's not the body panels, not the license plate, not the rear seat latches. Nothing is loose in the door bins or any of that.

I have not removed the battery cowls or jacked up the car. Before I get into that, thought I might check with all y'all to see if somebody else has had this issue.