Toyota RAV4
The most recommended of 7 compact SUVs
Recommended for strong sales, excellent resale value, a simple car without subscription features, and good fuel economy; critics call the driving experience dull and flag security and software flaws.
Recommended for strong sales, excellent resale value, a simple car without subscription features, and good fuel economy; critics call the driving experience dull and flag security and software flaws.
35 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 19
- criticize it
- 16
- approval share
- 54%
Recommended in 9 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Owned for 5 years
Median of the 3 owners who said how long they have had it.
Each square is one year.
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 19 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 1.1 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 9 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Sells in huge numbers
“the Toyota RAV4 hybrid is selling so fast in the USA that customers can barely find one at a dealership”
Comment from 2 Aug 2026 in “German carmakers flood jobs market with managers after wielding axe” “The top of the charts is made up of cars like the RAV4, Model Y, and CR-V.”
Comment from 25 Jan 2026 in “Adoption of EVs tied to real-world reductions in air pollution: study” “Toyota RAV4 seems to be the best selling car globally in 2025”
Comment from 2 Jan 2026 in “BYD Sells 4.6M Vehicles in 2025, Meets Revised Sales Goal” - Comment from 3 Aug 2026 in “German carmakers flood jobs market with managers after wielding axe”
Holds value exceptionally well
“RAV4 and other Toyotas have insanely good residuals that make up for any upfront price difference”
Comment from 17 Dec 2025 in “Ford Has Steered Its Former EV Truck and Plant Plans in to a Ditch” “my car is worth more than his (around 22k, his is 18-20k)”
Comment from 11 Apr 2026 in “Code is run more than read (2023)” “Toyota hybrids not just retain their value”
Comment from 14 Jan 2026 in “Ford F-150 Lightning outsold the Cybertruck and was then canceled for poor sales” Simple car, no subscriptions
“you can buy a car that is primarily safety+capability and not luxury+subscription”
Comment from 10 Jan 2026 in “Allow me to introduce, the Citroen C15” “effectively zero modern "subscription-esque" fancy features”
Comment from 10 Jan 2026 in “Allow me to introduce, the Citroen C15” “about as boring of a car as you can get (in a good way)”
Comment from 28 Oct 2026 in “Reviewers rarely talk about reliability. Owners bring it up twice as often” Good fuel economy from hybrid
“The mechanical advantages of the e-CVT are too nifty, the mileage benefits too great”
Comment from 16 Sep 2026 in “How much oil-market buffer is left?” “they get >30% better fuel economy, and they output more power”
Comment from 22 Apr 2026 in “Alberta Startup Sells No-Tech Tractors for Half Price”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Joyless CVT, dull driving
“Think RAV4 Hybrid. I'd much prefer a fully electric drivetrain with an electric generator to the joyless CVT.”
Comment from 16 Dec 2025 in “Ford kills the All-Electric F-150” “it's a truly miserable driving experience”
Comment from 1 Nov 2026 in “When electric cars were for women” Security flaws and spyware concerns
“Especially with the Rav4 where a colleague, Ken Tindell, showed a very serious flaw”
Comment from 15 May 2026 in “Removing the Modem and GPS from My 2024 RAV4 Hybrid” “Toyota, a brand I once trusted, has slipped into spyware/nagware like this.”
Comment from 15 May 2026 in “Removing the Modem and GPS from My 2024 RAV4 Hybrid” Unlock and latency glitches
“you already can't unlock it in heavy rain”
Comment from 15 May 2026 in “Removing the Modem and GPS from My 2024 RAV4 Hybrid” “Toyota didn't account for that latency”
Comment from 9 Sep 2026 in “Flock Wants a Closely Surveilled World with No Exit”
Other compact SUVs people recommend
The four most recommended other compact SUVs, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toyota RAV4This page | 19 | 16 | 54% | 9 | 5 yrs3 owners | — |
| Honda CR-V | 11 | 2 | 85% | 5 | — | Approved |
| Kia Niro | 11 | 3 | 79% | 5 | — | Approved |
| Toyota RAV4 Prime | 9 | 4 | 69% | 4 | — | — |
| Mazda CX-5 | 8 | 4 | 67% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
37 of the 38 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“it's a truly miserable driving experience”
“about as boring of a car as you can get (in a good way)”
“If they were going to add electricity they should have gone for a full EV performance car”
“they just started diluting that moniker with the GR Rav4”
“The mechanical advantages of the e-CVT are too nifty, the mileage benefits too great”
“Toyota didn't account for that latency”
“The RAV4, Camry, Corolla, and Tacoma do massive numbers”
“The RAV4 is at least $5k more in street price than an equivalently specced out Mitsubishi Outlander and Toyota sells a whole lot more RAV4s than Mitsubishis.”
“the Toyota RAV4 hybrid is selling so fast in the USA that customers can barely find one at a dealership”
“a far superior solution, especially for interstate driving where the trailer is less of an annoyance”
“which felt like driving a boat”
“mechanics have a lot of experience working on these vehicles”
“Toyota, a brand I once trusted, has slipped into spyware/nagware like this.”
“you already can't unlock it in heavy rain”
“Especially with the Rav4 where a colleague, Ken Tindell, showed a very serious flaw”
“Stop "reporting this to them multiple times" and sue them.”
“Solid, soulless vehicle though.”
“they get >30% better fuel economy, and they output more power”
“they overstrain them, and put huge turbos on the engines”
“my car is worth more than his (around 22k, his is 18-20k)”
“The Rav4 costs the same, but has far worse performance, technology, and ongoing maintenance costs.”
“Can I just have an electric car that's a car and nothing else?”
“The top of the charts is made up of cars like the RAV4, Model Y, and CR-V.”
“they know it works long term without issues”
“replaced it with a RAV4 that she didn't like”
“Toyota hybrids not just retain their value”
“you can buy a car that is primarily safety+capability and not luxury+subscription”
“effectively zero modern "subscription-esque" fancy features”
“Toyota RAV4 seems to be the best selling car globally in 2025”
“you might have 8 months to wait for a Rav4 and not care about the plug-in”
“There's like 6 or so cars that rank above it for various reasons: CRV, RAV4”
“RAV4 and other Toyotas have insanely good residuals that make up for any upfront price difference”
“Think RAV4 Hybrid. I'd much prefer a fully electric drivetrain with an electric generator to the joyless CVT.”
“just like a RAV 4 or a 1998 TLC”
“the one exceptional black mark really being the RAV4”
“my butt to basically slide in without effort”
“the lights are distinctly weaker than in other cars I had”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.