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2009 RAV4 Reliability Question

tivangamora

New Member
Hi guys, I'm a new member. I want to buy a 2009 Toyota RAV4 but I´m a bit worried about that, just if they are reliable. Is there someone who knows them, or bought a car from them? What do you think about that? Thanks for answers.
 

toyotafan

Toyota Truck Club Founder
Staff member
1000 Posts
Buying a 10-year old vehicle all comes down to the previous owner and how it was treated. You can get a glimpse of this by seeing how the maintenance logs look. That is, do they have oil change receipts. Did they do the maintenance by the book ... that is, the 60,000 mile service, the 100,000 mile service, etc.
 

tibadoe

Moderator
Staff member
1000 Posts
Community Leader
For me, if I could not get access to the prior maintenance records -- I would proceed with caution. A 2009 would be a 3rd generation model. We have a 4th gen 2014 RAV4 model that we purchased new. It now has 55k and has been trouble free 100%. We did replace the 4 tires back at 50k mark. Still has original battery which I am going to replace since it just passed the 5 year mark. We follow the maintenance with the exception of 5k oil & filter changes instead of 10k.

How many miles does this car have? AWD? Automatic or manual?
 

Charlie2640

New Member
Since you don't have maintenance records, you really need to have a mechanic go over it. Also, I would recommend going out to carcomplaints.com. Looking up the car there, you can get a very interesting statistical history of model versions and their reliability. It's why I bought my 2018 RAV4 - it's the last year before the next model version, and all the kinks have been worked out.

FWIW, my daughter is driving a 2005 Camry with 230K miles on it. Goes up and down the street just fine. Needs engine mounts, but what car doesn't at 230K. Got a great deal from her brother on it, invested $500 in fluid changes, tires, etc.

I saw a great trick on youtube the other day - take a code scanner with you. The #1 scam in used car sales is to reset the check engine light before a potential buyer gets there. Search for it on youtube, really opened my eyes. Otherwise, you can do your own common sense sniff test -

- is the original owner selling the car or a used car lot? Frankly I'd avoid the used car lot.
- is it clean?
- when you drive it - how cold is the a/c? Vibrations at highway speeds? Vibrations when you brake?

keep us posted :)
 

toyotafan

Toyota Truck Club Founder
Staff member
1000 Posts
Since you don't have maintenance records, you really need to have a mechanic go over it. Also, I would recommend going out to carcomplaints.com. Looking up the car there, you can get a very interesting statistical history of model versions and their reliability. It's why I bought my 2018 RAV4 - it's the last year before the next model version, and all the kinks have been worked out.

FWIW, my daughter is driving a 2005 Camry with 230K miles on it. Goes up and down the street just fine. Needs engine mounts, but what car doesn't at 230K. Got a great deal from her brother on it, invested $500 in fluid changes, tires, etc.

I saw a great trick on youtube the other day - take a code scanner with you. The #1 scam in used car sales is to reset the check engine light before a potential buyer gets there. Search for it on youtube, really opened my eyes. Otherwise, you can do your own common sense sniff test -

- is the original owner selling the car or a used car lot? Frankly I'd avoid the used car lot.
- is it clean?
- when you drive it - how cold is the a/c? Vibrations at highway speeds? Vibrations when you brake?

keep us posted :)
Good insights @Charlie2640
 

DanHoffman

New Member
I will share my experience with you. Once I bought a car, it was Rav 1 generation but already at the age of 12 years. It looked good and the service history was perfect. 70 thousand miles. The condition inside indicated that it was practically not ridden with passengers, except for one driver. In general, the car was worth the money. But . A year later, the bottom just rotted. I was horrified. As it turned out, the owner drove a different car most of the time and Rav only used it in the winter.... Be sure to inspect the car from below and you can even tap with a small hammer to find possible weaknesses or holes
 

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