Used 2016 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid Consumer Reviews
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Over a year and 16,000 miles later, all is good!
stevefromtheburbs, 03/20/2016
updated 04/07/2017
2016 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid XLE 4dr SUV AWD (2.5L 4cyl gas/electric hybrid CVT)
24 of 24 people found this review helpful
UPDATE: Over a year of ownership, 16,000 miles, and no regrets. Average 30 mpg around suburbs, 37 mpg on a steady 65mph highway trip. I can drive this car for hours with no discomfort. And no service problems, just a new windshield from a crack - added bug/stone deflector afterwards, no more issues. No paint chips. No windshield cracks. It does hold alot of stuff, and is great in the snow too! This is my favorite vehicle ever. So, would I buy again? In a heartbeat. I just upgraded from a 2015 Limited Rav4 AWD, to this hybrid AWD in the XLE package. I've only logged a few hundred miles, but so far, I could not be happier. The trade off from the Limited with the tech package, to this, is minimal as the one I got has the tech package in it. So, I'm missing heated seats, an auto dimming rear view mirror, faux leather seats, and I think that is about it. But what I gain is what I feel is a better ride, the 17" wheels on the XLE ride much better than the 18" wheels on the Limited. So, I'd say the reviews that mention that, are correct. I also gain a better tech package than I had, which is auto braking, auto correction on steering, and adaptive radar controlled cruise control with automatic braking. I also have front parking sensors and pedestrian accident avoidance too. These are great features I now would never want to live without. Oh yes, this one has blind spot monitoring too, which I cannot say enough positive things about. And cross traffic detection when in reverse and something is crossing behind me. The car is 500 pounds heavier (give or take) but I don't notice much of a difference in the driving. I know the steering wheel isn't as stiff, making turning easier. But I also know that they say the mechanical AWD is replaced with an electric rear wheel using intelligence vs. a physical driveshaft and such. I won't know how much better one is than the other, but I do know during our last blizzard, the AWD on the 2015 was amazingly great. I hope for that with this one, but if not, it will be okay because we don't get too many blizzards. There is a bit of torque steer on heavy acceleration, which I don't like, but is a tradeoff going to a non-mechanical awd vs. this which is more electronic and electric motors on the rear wheels. I sometimes feel it pulling upon braking but have figured out this is the road not the car. This may have to be with the slightly more narrow tires of this vs. the wider Limited tires that didn't get stuck in the road rutts as much. With the hybrid, you will lose a small amount of cargo space, but it is more frustrating than losing the actual space. The 2015 has rear fold flat seats, and I suppose the 2016 gas model does too, but the hybrid uses space under the rear seat for battery/batteries. Plus in the cargo area is a small area that sits higher than the rest of the cargo area, which is where your tire changing tool, and battery related stuff, exists. The rear seats don't fold completely flat, like many SUV's they sit up a bit, and then there is that small raised area in the cargo hold. All that said you lose a small amount of space, no biggie. It is the sloping that is frustrating. This proved more frustrating with some longer boxes I recently had to take to storage. Everything goes up uphill and slides out the rear hatch if not careful. If you are curious about this vs. the non-hybrid, consider the $700 more for the hybrid is really worth it, also because you get more equipment in the hybrid vs. the non-hybrid (best kept secret) plus you can save some money at the gas pumps and help the environment by using less gas. I loved my 2015 non-hybrid RAV4 Limited......alot. Never liked any car as much as that one. And after 18000 miles, it was still like new. And I never had anything go wrong with it. So I trust Toyota quality, and I know they will make things right if something of concern is uncovered in the future. Lastly, I will tell you that my new hybrid version is made in Japan. What I am hoping is that the quality of the car stays with the previous quality build of other Toyotas I've owned that were made in Japan. The only thing I didn't like on my 2015 was the paint nicked easily from highway drives. And I know my 2013 prius had a much better coat of paint on it; I can only hope the same paint quality carries over to the RAV4 hybrid. Also, the seats are comfortable for bigger people. I'm 5' 11" and weigh about 270lbs. I have no issues getting comfortable.
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Best compact SUV money can buy!
Tigran, 05/17/2016
2016 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid XLE 4dr SUV AWD (2.5L 4cyl gas/electric hybrid CVT)
37 of 38 people found this review helpful
The best compact SUV available! The trim of my car is Toyota RAV4 2016 Limited Technology Pack. Exterior color - Electric Blue, interior color - Cinnamon. Quite frankly, I won't even exchange it with BMW X3, which is way more expensive. Although I own the car for less than two months, I drove it enough to get a good idea. I am just back from a 4500km / 2800ml trip from Toronto to Florida and back. Here are my overall impressions: 1. Exterior and interior appearance are eye-catching and modern. Lots of people are complimenting and asking questions about the car. 2. The ride is very comfortable, cabin noise level is very low unless you are driving on a road with a coarse surface. 3. Mileage is awesome, I am getting 33.5 mpg in the city and 32 mpg on highway 4. Technologies are superb. 360 bird's view camera makes parking and reversal an easy task. Line-departure helps you to steer the car into the line. I used it on my Florida trip as I was really tired at some points and it was giving me timely alerts and even helped with steering on few occasions. You will also get alerts if you are approaching the car in front of you too quickly (the car even automatically stopped once - I guess I wasn't breaking hard enough so the system panicked a little bit). There are many more cool technologies available and all of them are useful at different degrees. 5. Illumination is awesome - you can see much clearer during night driving. 6. The car is powerful and has impressive acceleration. 7. Built quality appears to be great, will have a much better idea after few years of usage. And here are few minor things that I don't like much: 1. JBL audio is not of a premium quality. An acceptable sound quality is only achieved when using high-quality source (FM or satellite radio doesn't sound good) 2. Some light-pinging sounds can be heard in the background when brake is applied (this is probably the same for all hybrids) 3. No wireless phone charging is available in any of the trims 4. Infotainment system is not up to modern standards (no folder play, etc)
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2016 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid for sale near you
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- Limited 4dr SUVMSRP: $19,770266 mi away
- Limited 4dr SUVMSRP: $14,900499 mi away
- XLE 4dr SUVMSRP: $24,27892 mi away
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Great compromise on SUV and fuel economy
Jeremy Chapman, 02/29/2016
2016 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid XLE 4dr SUV AWD (2.5L 4cyl gas/electric hybrid CVT)
22 of 22 people found this review helpful
Finally a decent SUV hybrid option. The RAV4 hybrid gets the gas mileage of a small sedan (e.g. Civic, Corolla) but it's high up, has space for car seats, and good handling in the snow. The XLE model has most of what you'd want, but there are a few things that annoy me. The Bluetooth has a big delay (~sec) in playback from the phone. The headlights are not automatic so I have to turn them on/off at night (got used to auto headlights in my Civic, the RAV4 Limited has them). The computer is ok, but doesn't have apps like the Limited does... Found myself missing a lot of what's in the Limited.. Also, you can't put 3 in the back. The middle seat belt latch overlaps with the side seat, so you can't buckle all three. Not cool, Toyota. Otherwise, I love the size, and fuel economy, and the price actually makes it worthwhile. You more than make up for the cost of the hybrid with the money saved on gas.
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Not my first Hybrid and this one may be the best
Brett Murphy, 12/23/2015
2016 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid Limited 4dr SUV AWD (2.5L 4cyl gas/electric hybrid CVT)
92 of 97 people found this review helpful
I have owned 3 Toyota Hybrids prior to purchasing this '16 RAV4 Limited Hybrid for my daughter this past weekend; an '07 Prius I drove for 240k miles. An '08 Camry which my wife drove primarily and now my '14 Avalon. I buy Toyota's and Hybrids for 3 reasons: Reliability, resale value and fuel economy. Looks and features are secondary to this. That said, my daughter has been the exception to what we buy in the family. She didn't want a Toyota in her early years because of "looks". She ended up with new '11 Nissan Juke SL and a '13 Nissan Juke SV. I can officially declare they should be called Nissan Junk and thankfully now that she works along with having a commute she values my 3 "Reasons". Yes, she even spoke to her brother about the benefits of having a hybrid over a gas only vehicle (implied "inferior" engine due to the lower fuel economy :) ). The safety features in the RAV4 are amazing. Greater than my Avalon Limited, even greater than my wife's Highlander Limited Platinum. She uses the birds eye view for not only physical presence around her car but also to ensure she is centered in a parking spot. She likes the lane departure, rear cross traffic and the alert it gives on all 4 corners if something is close or you may hit it (say backing out of the garage) but I don't remember what feature this is part of. She used the navigation all of the time in her Juke and I've heard of no complaints so far with the RAV4 - and trust me, I would hear about it! She likes the performance...actually now with the hybrid she drives more conservatively. This is something I first noticed in my Prius. The Hybrid display that feeds back into to the driver becomes like a game system challenging the driver to get better fuel economy. Your behavior changes because of the instant feedback. Instead of racing to the red light you coast ... of course the engine turns off, captures energy to charge the batteries and you improve your fuel economy. Besides the 3 hour drive home from the dealership ( I go to the best Toyota dealer and not the closest which happens to be Uebelhor in Jasper Indiana) when we bought it, she has driven her 80 mile round trip to work 3 times averaging over 35 mpg. It is a 30/70 mix of hwy to local roads. My last comment on performance is that when I read reviews or comments from people on other vehicles over the years who complain about performance I get the impression they are either driving the hybrid like it is a gas-only vehicle or expect that it should drive like that. Most non-luxury/non-performance hybrids (like Tesla) focus on fuel economy & range. This doesn't mean acceleration, passing, etc are not important but I contend you buy a Hybrid first for fuel economy / range before performance. Thankfully the RAV4 and Highlander are examples of a Hybrid that has more HP/Torque than there gas counterparts which helps when comparing to its gas sibling as well as the competition. Also, if person doing the review isn't sensitive to know how to get quickness and using the electric torque to aid in passing they may always end up relying on the gas engine essentially bypassing the "hybrid" benefit. The RAV4 and my Avalon in Sport mode are very quick and fun - but the mpg will suffer a bit. We both drive in ECO mode and I'm trying to get her to think about switching to EV mode when leaving her neighborhood, driving around malls, etc. Yes, the SUV will do it on its own but its kinda cool to make it act like a large golf cart knowing you are driving for "free". With the car being less than 1 week old I can't comment on Toyota support for this specific vehicle nor its long term reliability, etc. This is why I selected Ok/NA for each question asked except dealership support. This is why I buy Toyota's to begin with and since Toyota has been producing Hybrids for the US market since roughly 1999 and in Japan before that, I have 100% confidence in the Hybrid Synergy Drive used in this new RAV4 Hybrid as it should be essentially like the one used in my '14 Avalon Hybrid. Many of the SUV's in this segment look alike and just like puppies they all look cute in the showroom. However, what matters (to most, imho) is how the vehicle looks and runs at 50K, 100K, 250K miles. There are many examples of non-Toyota's running just great up to these miles and I'm happy for those people. However, I also believe i can say with confidence that virtually all Toyota's if properly maintained will be running great many years after driven off the dealers lot providing years of low cost service and when ready for sale or trade-in they will get the most in return. FJ Cruisers, Tacoma's, 4Runners and RAV4's are examples of vehicles with the highest resale/residual value....up their with Subaru's. These are my experiences and hope it helps someone who is reviewing the current pack of small SUV's.
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7,000 miles and I still like!
Liz, 05/07/2016
2016 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid XLE 4dr SUV AWD (2.5L 4cyl gas/electric hybrid CVT)
21 of 21 people found this review helpful
This is my 4th Toyota (Camry, matrix AWD , Prius ) the matrix and Prius are still on the road (my adult children drive them) so I have confidence in Toyota products. My Prius had great gas mileage and low maintenance costs but was terrible in the Minnesota snow (low ground clearance and poor traction) plus I had to sorta slink down into the drivers seat. I realty wanted a taller vehicle and certainly wanted the AWD! I test drove Subaru but the great luck I'd had with Toyota brought me back - I did not know about the RAV4 hybrid arrival - they were fresh on the lot of my dealership and the sales guy handed me the keys and told me to take the vehicle for the afternoon- I came back at 5: and bought the car. We drove it 1600 miles in a few days, the 2nd month we owned the vehicle and loved the ride! Pros: better ground clearance, gas mileage around 32mpg up to 35mpg (better mpg when it's not cold outside), easy in/out, blind spot mirror, good passing acceleration , sounds like my Prius , smart key push button start, tested in snow and felt the 4 wheel drive take over , handled snow well and felt safe. Cons: trunk space in back restricted due to battery packs, i purchased the more basic model and the sound system is inferior - wish I would have upgraded that. Not sure I'm crazy about the automatic trunk lift.
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