2007 TOYOTA RAV4

Big Fat Disappointment

Comfort Rating: 3 Performance Rating: 4 Interior Rating: 5 Reliability Rating: 2 Safety Rating: 3 Technology Rating: 1 Value Rating: 1

So this review spans over about 10 years and three different Rav4's. I'll start with the 2006 Base V6 4WD. We bought this new 2006 and it served us very for a good number of years. When the miles got closer to 100,000 miles we started developing some problems. The first thing that happened was the intermediate shaft starting clunking. This is a very normal thing for most Toyota's of this generation. My 2005 Avalon did it and all three of the Rav4's did it. Toyota will not offer any help replacing the defective part once your out of warranty and its about 500 bucks to have it done. Toyota has ever come up with a new part that doesn't have this problem. There is a TSB that says to lube it and the problem will go away for a few months but ultimately it needed replaced. The next problem came at about 80,000 miles and keep in mind I'm very particular about the maintenance on my vehicles. While driving on the highway we started to develop a roaring noise from the rear end. I put a set of tires on it thinking that we had a bad tire or even a wheel bearing. After a new seat of cooper tires we found that the noise was still there and that the rear differential was going out. Again another common problem for the Rav4 with 4wd. Toyota in their great wisdom came up with a repair kit to rebuild these rear ends as it was a common problem. At about 110,000 miles on our home from picking up a motorcycle in Arkansas we starting noticing a strange noise from the engine. The bearing on the water pump was going out. Just the water pump ended up being about 500 bucks and its not an easy repair. I think the total came out to be around 1100 bucks to replace the water pump due to the amount of labor there was to replace it. The final straw on this rav4 was the alternator, the cam seal, and the front shocks. These all came at once and we where looking at around 3000 grand to have this vehicle fixed correctly. I'll start with the alternator. The alternator is very hard to get too and requires remove the passenger front wheel, and the radiator to remove it. I found out that his yet another $500 dollar part and $200 with of labor. During this repair we found out that the cam seal was leaking. This is not an easy job and Toyota does not have a real good fix for it. In fact the TSB says to remove the cam seal cover and apply more sealant. To replace this cam seal you have to drop the entire motor out of the bottom of the car. I've seen prices from 1800 to 2800 depending on where you take it. Since you have the entire front of the car on the ground we were going to go ahead and have the front struts replaced because they started popping and making noises while driving. We ended up driving this turd to the nearest car lot and traded it for a Lexus so we didn't have to put 3000 grand into a 5000 dollar car. Now the other 2006 and the 2007 were 2WD 4 cylinders. All of them had the same issues with the exception of the cam seal. The 4 cylinder on both of these vehicles had a significant problem as well. They both started consuming oil that was acceptable by Toyota. We were adding about half a court every 2000 miles. Toyota did extend the warranty to cover this problem but according to the forums most of the them did not consume enough oil to be covered under the warranty which would require and engine replacement. Both of our Rav4's did not consume enough oil to be covered under warranty. My 2007 actually ended up messing up a vacation I took it on. Up until this trip it would never consume more than half a court of oil every 2000 miles. I checked the oil on the 2007 before I left and the next day I found my dip stick to be dry after 400 miles. This is was very disappointing and didn't feel comfortable driving it home. To be covered under the warranty toyota charges you to change the oil and then bring it back after 1000 miles to check the oil and change it again. Standard oil consumption test but I have seen reports of this process taking a few months and I didn't have time to deal with that. So i traded my 2007 while on vacation. Other than these major mechanical problems we actually enjoyed the cars. They drove good, the V6 had lots of power and the 4WD was epic in one of our foot deep snow storms. Being a huge toyota fan I think my 2016 Rav4 is my last ditch effort to give Toyota once more chance. Nothing is cheap to repair on these cars. Even replacing the front suspension the 2007 cost my 500 bucks. On most vehicles when you replace suspension components you can buy a quick strut kit which has the spring already around the strut. You can't find those for this generation so be ready to pay big money you have to replace your front struts. I don't think I would buy this generation of Rav4 without an extensive service history.