Tony Whalen

Brian got it right. No contest at all. According to every review I read, the Rav4 is superior to the Escape.

Oh...spotted a couple of people mentioning headroom. I don't get it. I'm 6' even, and I've got plenty of room in my Rav. I can even wear a fairly tall hat. I do NOT have a sunroof, if that makes a difference.

Peter_A

Sure the Toyota is great, just make sure the engine doesn't develop the sludging problem that for a while Toyota denied existed. They finally acknowledged a problem which they should have done right away.

http://www.corolland.com/sludge.html

http://www.autosafety.org/article.php?did=416&scid=37

Will Pomeroy

For 25000 get a Volkswagen Jetta Wagon TDI. If you don't go off road, then it won't matter that its not an SUV. The VW probably has more cargo capacity than both of them, and it gets about 55mpg because its a diesel. I drive one (sedan) and its great. I can get about 700miles on a tank. At least go and check it out before you rule it out completely. Diesels have changed substantially in the past few years.

The more expensive and bigger, the better. The investment will shield you from realistic evaluation of any design shortcommings.

Paul O

I recently bought a Honda CRV for 18K +TTL. The base model (non 4wd) - includes pretty much everything except for moonroof and fancy wheels. I test drove the Rav4 and it is very small inside compared to the Honda. Check out the CRV if you havent already.

Tommy Ceez

The RAV4 also has nothing resembeling a rear bumber so rear end collisions can be quite pricey to fix

\"We seem to be getting closer and closer to a situation where nobody is responsible for what they did but we are all responsible for what someone else did.\" - Thomas Sowell

Drew Bethel

What's the towing capacity of the RAV4 vs CRV?

\"The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.\" Muhammed Ali, (Cassius Clay)

Michael Toguchi

I found that the RAV4 was lacking in the backseat leg room. The pressure sales tactics at the Toyota dealer we went to also put us off completely. I test drove the RAV4, Mazda Tribute (same as Ford Escape), Saturn VUE, Honda CRV, GMC Envoy and Chevy Trailblazer. The Tribute/Escape rode quite nice and I was surprised how solid the vehicle felt. The CRV was okay, but lacked 'oomph', and I didn't care for the curious dashboard and shifter placement. The Saturn VUE had _terrible_ fit and finish, and seemed a little cramped in the front seats. I also didn't care for the electronic assisted power steering. The Envoy rode great, but didn't like the dashboard design. We settled on the Chevy Trailblazer, for it had the same ride as the Envoy, but a little more subdued in the dash department. Not the same class as the mini-SUV's you are looking at, but we got it for under 25K out the door (2WD LS).

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I don\'t need no stinkin .sig

Steve Schaffer

As a Toyota dealership technician I can report that we have never seen a single case of sludge on an engine that we could verify had been maintained properly.

Sludge is only an issue for those who did not change their oil PERIOD!!!


We have replaced a number of engines (around 5 or 6) under the sludge policy--in no case did an owner have any verification that the oil had been changed as per factory recommendations. Most of the vehicles were off-lease Siennas purchased used with 30-40k miles on them when the 2nd owner bought them.

One was a 4 cylinder Camry whose owners admitted they'd never changed the oil in 38k miles.

Steve S.
I prefer not to push the subwoofers until they\'re properly run in.