2.0 Giant 3-door
Lisa
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My previous carwas a top-of-range Corolla 1.6 Exec hatchback (fully loaded with goodies). My RAV4 is a manual 3-dr Giant edition - one of the last of the old model and fully loaded with everything you could possibly want (well worth getting if you can find one). It's a fantastic car. In terms of safety, it gives a feeling of invincibility and the safety features (check what options the previous owner went for) are superb. The ride is fantastic if you like to feel like you are the one driving (rather than the car being the one in control). I personally like to "drive" my car and to have a sense of the road surface, without being buffetted around and feeling every little imperfection in the road surface. Visibility is great (although watch out if you have the back three windows tinted, you'll need a parking sensor for night-time). The well-designed interior offers comfort and enough adjustments to make driving equally comfortable for a 5 foot lady and a 6 ft 4 inch fella. It goes exactly where you point it. There is far less sense of "rock n roll" when cornering or in windy conditions than most soft to medium suspension cars (which makes it great for a 4x4). Don't be complacent, though, the manual does warn about the higher centre of gravity making you less stable in certain conditions - I've not had a problem, even at 70 on the motorway in high winds. Mine is a three-door (sick of being a taxi to friends and relatives) with plently of space for shopping and most of the things a small family would want to transport. Roof rack is a good addition if you travel "heavy". Stereo system isn't much to get excited about (I'm a bit of an audiophile, so I'm biased towards contempt when it comes to factory-supplied in-car hi-fi). Worth getting the lights re-wired on your first service so that you have the "skirt" lights available on "dip" as well as on "high beam", especially if you suffer with night-blindness. My husband adores this car, my 70 year old Mum loves this car. All my passengers are wowed by the comfort of the ride. You won't get the luxurious floaty (or, in my case, slightly sick) feeling you'd get in soft-suspension cars. Paintwork is high-gloss so be careful if you are a car-wash fan... that's a fairly big no-no unless you like to see your shiny car look scratched and dull. Road and wind noise is more than you'd get in a car but far less than other 4x4s. You can hold a conversation easily, without raising your voice, at 60 mph (if you remove the spare wheel "trim", the noise level decreases even more). Fuel economy is good for the engine size and car type. The same can be said for service charges. Insurance is surprisingly cheap. This car fells incredibly "cool" to drive, you just can't help enjoying it (I thought it was just me until my husband made a similar comment). In the real world it's rare that you find something that is so well made, is so "cool" and you actually don't lose out at all in terms of performance, quality and ease of use.
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2.0 GX Auto Hatchback 96 reg
Mike A
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This is an extremely lovely car. I sold my 2000 reg astra and bought a 96 reg rav 4..and the difference is clear!!! A very solid well built car, very reliable, good leg room. Also the seating position is excellent especially if you suffer from back ache. Also has a very unique size..its actually the same size with a golf only its slightly higher. this is a brillant car: servicing is cheap, same for insurance and runiing cost. The best point is that perhaps Nothing ever seems to go wrong!!!..just keeps on going. you will only need to change brake pads and do normal servicing beacause the parts are well built. In terms of speed it comes pretty close to a hatch back, if fact you will regularly forget you are driving a 4x4...and whats more its probably the most economical 4x4 i have come across. My friend owns a 3dr Suzuki Vitara, But its no way close to this RAV4 .Some say its made for ladies/has a headresser image BUT who cares about image: if you need a reliable car you can affrod to maintain then throw 'image' out of da window!!!...An amazing car to drive. You will not understand, until you own one!!!
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