TOYOTA RAV 4 2.0 GX 5dr (2000)

A sound purchase, ten years on, still going strong

I've had this for just over ten years now and its still going strong, I'm really pleased with it.

I'll take each of the star ratings in turn: build quality: I'd say this is fairly flawless, its Japanese so everything is screwed together well and nothing has fallen off in ten years. Having said this, some of the interior materials do appear a little 'cheap', hence only four stars but having said that, they all work and function perfectly.

Overall, the car is a very comfortable place to be, I use the car for many long journeys and all passengers are in reasonable comfort. The rear is a little tight on leg space but this only really affects really tall people. If you have to use the middle seat, this can also be a bit cramped with a full load but overall, a comfortable car. The boot is absolutely huge, plenty of space for most things you could throw at it and the back seats can come out completely.

Performance is a little slow, the engine is now beginning to struggle to pull its load and it makes quite a lot of noise in the process. At the end of the day though, it isn't a performance car so performance isn't of massive importance, similarly with handling. But compared to some cars I've driven, it deserves two sets of three stars.

I have only ever had one problem with the Rav and it is ongoing. The brakes started squeaking about a year ago and after a number of visits to Toyota and changes of discs, they cannot find, let alone resolve the problem, it looks like it will be something I'll just have to live with. The reason I give it five stars is because this is literally the only problem I have ever had with it.

Its quite cheap to run, insurance and tax are reasonable and the average mpg is usually acceptable.

Overall, a really great car, its still going strong after ten years and I have no intention of changing it anytime soon.