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this post was submitted on 25 Jun 2026
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I was standing in front of a parked SUV the other day and I swear its grille was chest-high. I'm 5'4", I'd definitely not survive if one hit me.
Some years back, a couple of my friends drove Toyota Rav 4s. They were cute little all-wheel drive cars with three doors. This article tracks how the Rav 4 "evolved" into the ugly, massively bloated vehicle it is today. https://www.carwow.co.uk/toyota/rav4/news/8854/toyota-rav4-generations-evolution
And that giant truck has never hauled anything beyond kids to games and groceries.
The modern Rav4 has exactly the same length and width as the modern Camry. Cars have gotten bigger, for sure, but by no means is it huge.
I stood next to a new Rav in the showroom, it seemed overly big to me. I want a small vehicle with a high wheelbase so I can drive on farm tracks.
A modern Camry is actually a whole foot longer than a Rav4, but the Rav4 is 1 inch wider and quite a bit taller. Definitely not the exact same size.
Oh God the old RAV4s were so terrible. I used to sell cars and we had a RAV4 on our Toyota lot that was used and the thing was so terrible it got returned twice. I own a current RAV4 and it is a wonderful vehicle and it is not huge not massive and not bloated at all.
Compared to the original it's bloated. My friends very much enjoyed theirs and didn't have any more issues than with any other cars. One of them drives a modern Mini Clubman now.
Yeah… idk how old you’re talking but I’ve got a 3rd gen with the v6. It’s pretty much the best car I’ve owned. Ugly, but awesome. Oh and only 1 mpg less than the i4 at the time.
Yeah the one he's talking about is like the first and second gen typically the first end. 3 doors tiny not much power.
There's thousands of Rav4 owners that love their older vehicles to death. The 3 "tire on the back" generations. Your single bad vehicle is anecdotal. Trade in? One of the most resellable vehicles in the market? I bet you the prior owner knew it was bad.
The current Rav4 is bloated. It started as a lifted Corolla with a taller roof and 4WD. Its been bloating rapidly for 10 years and is now closer to the Camry, going so far as to jump platforms. It's now within 1" of the height and length of a 94 Explorer while being 3" wider. Just because it's smaller than a current Explorer doesn't mean it's not bloated. You have a comfortable commuter car that Toyota reports is an offroad truck.
Well considering my vehicle was the rental for the dealership and so I got an amazing deal on it because I was doing work at the dealership on the computer systems and they gave me a massive discount as an employee. I'm pretty damn happy with it. I also have taken it off-road and it does actually perform pretty well off-road as well. My Tacoma does much better of course because the Tacoma is a purpose-built vehicle. But that doesn't mean that my RAV4 is anything short of that. Also with it being a commuter car I don't mind that because the purpose of that is to take the load off of my truck that I use daily for work. There's no way in hell that I could or whatever own one of the old RAV4s. Just because there are thousands of people that own the RAV4s and like them. Doesn't mean that there aren't thousands more that absolutely love their current RAV4s. So pretty much your argument is null and void when it comes to that. I personally have driven in and driven those older RAV4s and I think their pieces of shit and I would never personally own one. And yes that's my antidote to levidence. But I'm also the one that would be looking at them as well. So it doesn't matter what your opinion is in this case for me. Those older RAV4s also aren't super great off-roaders as well. They had way underpowered engines they couldn't really go many places because their tires were too small to make much of a clearance. Those were essentially old Corollas that were lifted as well. If you've ever ridden in an older curl as well. So you're antidote to evidence about the new RAV4 simply being a lifted Corolla doesn't make much sense either.
Tire size has little to do with actual clearance. You should really go check the stats some time. Comparing the 2000 to the 2025, the 2025 gains ~1" of ground clearance and less than 1" of tire diameter. 701mm vs 724mm. You're seeing bigger rims, not bigger tires. So the 2025 pits the body just 1/2" higher from the axle than the 2000.
You're comparing a new vehicle's modern features and design elements, features and elements found across the Toyota and national market, and thinking the new vehicle is simply better than the old one.
Yes, I literally said the old ones were essentially lifted corollas. The part you skimmed over was that the current RAV is now closer to the Camry, including bumping up to the Camry platform.
This entire thread is about the bloat of vehicles. You have touched upo so many unrelated tangents. They bloated an economy trucklet into a an offroad cosplayer to skirt government regulations. That is the whole point. The 8.1" minimum ground clearance and steep approach/departure angles and AWD get it to class as an offroad vehicle while increasing risk of pedestrian death due to blunt frontal shape.
Nobody said the new RAV is a bad car.
There is a whole planet of cars outside your dealership.
I think ur definition of "off roading" and mine differ. Rav 4 cannot off road, hell the taco can barely do mild wheeling outside of a fire road LOL. IFS = I fucking suck at off road XD don't talk about wheeling when u have 2 open diffs and independent suspension, ur going down a dirt road.
Dude you're a fucking idiot My taco will do harder shit than that. Come on down to Moab come down to Southern Utah Go out to the Mojave desert fuck go anywhere besides through a little mud puddle. And I never said that my RAV4 will do any hardcore off-roading now did I jackass. I said my RAV4 will do a decent amount of off-roading. It'll do better than any standard car out there so you know what fuck off I really don't give a shit what the fuck you think.
Hey buddy I'm just breaking balls on the internet I did not mean to get u so wound up! Yea ur taco can 100p do that mud puddle that's just an old photo I had handy, I don't get out and take pics when I'm articulating in a creek bed lmfao. I will say the desert stuff doesn't impress me, come to the slick, greasy muddy rocky mountain sides and creeks over here and you'll find the limits of those open diffs quick! I have lifted a handful of tacos and my co worker owns one, they do impress for an IFS rig just like my Xterra on 32s got me places i didn't think it could, but neither are going to articulate like a solid axle rig there's no arguing that. Now if you SAS that taco well really be talking 😏 what mods u got to make the taco a wheeler? What gen?