Advice needed which car?

[steelman]

Howdy all, after some help please. Looking to buy vehicle that will double as family transport and tow camper trailer. Weighed trailer it at the tip , weighs close to 700kg.Have looked at lots of options and am considering a Rav 4 petrol auto. Camper trailer is on road only, family 4 people, just caravan parks. Anybody had Rav 4 experience towing? Its a different car altogether, I get the chalk/cheese thing but maybe a 4 year old Mits Pajero diesel and be done with worrying about if the car can handle it etc. Any thoughts/experience greatly appreciated. Thanks

[Vitara_JaycoSwift_Outback]

I had a 2003 Suzuki Grand Vitara for 3 years and towed my 1000kg ish camper around very well. Never let me down with nearly 300 000 k's on the clock. So if you're looking for a smaller 4wd my vote is for a Suzuki

[scarpsD40]

Never heard any bad reports on any of the RAV4's and several of my distant family have owned and driven, plus what you're towing isn't overly heavy.
How old are family members? If 2A & 2K, then should be ok. If 4A's or close too, then you're probably maxing out load carrying capacity and a Paj might be better

[steelman]

Thanks for quick replies. Two adults,two kids 13 and 11, very tall however and getting bigger!. A big concern other than grunt, is going from a dualcab to Rav 4 is the reduction in storage space. Everyone says Rav 4 good to tow, but can't really recall too many at the caravan parks towing trailers and vans.

[Swannie]

Have you considered a kluger? A bit bigger with bigger motor?
Swannie

[Beefa Toyota]

Hi Steelman
My missus has a Rav 4 of which we tow our camper trailer, does it no worries, I would recommend the 2.5 litre petrol as it has a tow rating of 1500 kg
Cheers Beefa

[JusyApples]

Something like a forester an option?

[steelman]

Thanks fellas,
Considered everything, liked the Klugers and also Ford Territory, haven't heard a bad thing about either really.

[steelman]

Yep liked Forrester too. Really our issue is picking that sized car, Rav/ Forrester/ xtrail with Kluger/Outlander and Paj because I happened across one of them. Everyone seems happy towing with a Rav just not sure if we will fit all of us and our stuff.

[Vitara_JaycoSwift_Outback]

Yep liked Forrester too. Really our issue is picking that sized car, Rav/ Forrester/ xtrail with Kluger/Outlander and Paj because I happened across one of them. Everyone seems happy towing with a Rav just not sure if we will fit all of us and our stuff.

I traded my Suzi for a Kluger, love it!! heaps of leg room in the back for growing kids. My 6 foot 4 Dad has enough room to sit in the back. Very comfortable for long touring but a little petrol thirsty around town.

[scblack]

In the Forester/Xtrail sized suv for towing I would suggest considering the TurboDiesel engine options. I have a Forester TurboDiesel and it comfortably tows my Jayco Swan Outback. The extra torque low down in the rev range gives loads of grunt towing.

[steelman]

Thanks fellas for taking time to reply, appreciate it.

[dazzler]

We had a 2007 Rav4 auto and it was just at its limit towing a Jayco Swan on road model.  Maybe a manual would have been better as it hunted between gears.

Usual fantastic Toyota quality and reliability.

The AWD system is nowhere near as good as the Subaru's asymmetrical layout.

I would go Forester or Liberty just for the 4wd system. (youtube has some interesting stuff on the benefits)

[steelman]

Thanks Dazzler will do.

[Big Damo]

Had a 2003 model Xtrail 2.5 manual and towed 1.7 tonne caravan with no issues even ok when needing to over take slower moving traffic

[prodigyrf]

I'd go for an X-Trail (2007-2013) auto with the 2.5L petrol QR25DE motor after having sourced one recently as replacement for a crunched Subaru Impreza wagon for the lad's fiance-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_X-Trail
very roomy for the 4 of you and would eat the load you're towing (we tow an 1182kg rated Jayco with a 1200kg rated Suzy SX4 with a 2L motor as the missus doesn't like large cars in town) The X-Trails are popular model and consequently plenty of aftermarket stuff and spares on ebay you'll note and they carry a lot in the back. 
I managed to pick up a schmick 2008 auto with 63000k on the clock in Jan for $12k and to be honest I wanted to keep it driving it home but at least I'm a big hit with the future DIL. She liked mum's SX4 and we looked at one for her but a drive of the X-Trail killed that idea as she's thinking of more than the two of them in future 

[Trailer Bloke]

G'day mate I can recommend the Kluger had mine for 5 years heaps of room my is a 7 seater plenty of guts took it to ultra tune for a service the mechanic said in my opinion there one of the best cars on the road rarely have major problems.

[Peter The Greek]

What about the Challenger?

My in-laws have a v6? Rav 4. Its terrible to drive IMO.

If I was not going off road I'd check out the Outback - running costs are higher than a 4wd Rav 4 as you can't turn off the AWD, but its a much better car to live with as a daily drive

[steelman]

Thanks fellas,
Lots of xtrail fans around. My mum and dad have one, think its great too. I thought the awd on Rav 4s meant if it needed to be in awd or for when it was locked on. I thought it was a 2wd most of the time, would like to know the answer there.

[feisty]

Lots of territories(?) at work. I really hate the Crappy plastic interior that marks as soon as you look at it. All the work cars look like crap after 5k.  Turbo diesels do drive well though!

[Beefa Toyota]

Hi Steelman
Here is a rundown on the Rav 4 system! The best AWD systems leverage software and wheel sensors to detect wheel slip as fast as possible. They then react by activating traction control to reduce or eliminate wheel slip while re-routing engine torque to the wheel with the best grip on the road. AWD with dynamic torque control are a riff on this theme and utilize an electro-magnetic coupler or (ECU). During normal driving, the RAV4 defaults to front-wheel-drive for improved fuel economy while still sending power to rear wheels during turns for improved cornering and driving performance (up to a maximum of 45% rear and 55% front torque distribution.)

Lock mode, on the other hand, essentially acts like Full-Time AWD on the RAV4 at speeds below 25 MPH by directing 50% of engine power to the rear wheels. Sport Mode provides smoother torque transfers between the front and rear wheels to improve steering by maximizing the traction of each wheel. Braking in a straight line is also enhanced in this mode by stopping torque to the rear wheels, allowing ABS and vehicle stability control to work unmolested. Hope this answers a few questions for you
Cheers again
Beefa

[prodigyrf]

Thanks fellas,
Lots of xtrail fans around. My mum and dad have one, think its great too. I thought the awd on Rav 4s meant if it needed to be in awd or for when it was locked on. I thought it was a 2wd most of the time, would like to know the answer there.

Hmmm...looks like they're a permanent AWD with stability and traction control which is fine unless there's a hiccup with the ECU registering a fault as described here-
http://www.rav4world.com/forums/99-4-3-mechanical/85765-check-engine-light-vsc-4wd-lights-explained.html
and that sort of problem is not a rare occurrence when you ask Google mechanic-
https://www.google.com.au/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=&oq=toyota+rav4+4wd&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4NOOH_enAU615AU615&q=toyota+rav4+4wd+light+stays+on&gs_l=hp..2.0l5.0.0.0.25565...........0.yvCpH0nSKw8
Let me say here having experienced the AWD setup on the Suzuki Sx4 auto I'm a complete convert for automatic AWD for the general use you describe ie most of our driving is urban and the offroad is largely towing on reasonable dirt roads and tracks with some more adventurous solo tracks. In that regard the Suzuki is brilliant with 2WD for the tar, flick the switch to middle AWD auto and third position is AWD lock but to be honest with you the 'lock' is completely superfluous punting it through sand and gravel creek beds up the Alice.
It's a lot like cameras. Yes the purists want to piss around with all the manual settings but most of us just want to point and shoot on auto and enjoy the view when we get there.

[steelman]

Thanks Beefa for the info. Its great getting such great help here but still struggling to make a decision. I've had quite a few people say the rav is fine for towing what we have, I think well just have to reduce the amount of stuff we don't need to take camping. Its easy with the old dualcab to basically just fill it up with stuff.

[prodigyrf]

My post crossed with Beefas and sounds like the Rav4 operates much like the Suzy although the Suzy lets you select 2WD manually and yes the lock is low speed only. If the Rav4 is rated to tow your rig then it will be fine but just check the particular model (you haven't said new or used?) because I recall one particular model was rated very low tow wise. Also the 2013 diesels were reported to have oil consumption problems in more than the odd case so be wary of a disgruntled owner trying to offload one-
https://www.google.com.au/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=hts&oq=&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4NOOH_enAU615AU615&q=2013+Rav+4+oil+consumption

[jeeps]

We'd been looking at Pajeros, Pathfinders and Challengers and such the last few months and after careful consideration we purchased a Subaru Forester last month. We don't regret it at all. I wanted more of a '4wd' but after a few test drives and owning it for a while a while, it feels much more solid and confident than the other vehicles we tested and it's very comfortable.

cheers