Looking at 2005 Rav4 AWD

[dronek75]

Hi, I was just test driving a AWD Rav4. My question is if You guys that own one of these are happy with their choice? With all the options that i want (edmunds.com) the MSRP is like 25K while invoice price is around 23K (US dollars) , I think i should be aiming at invoice price once i go to buy it. Anything i should know about this car (your experiences so far) before i proceed. I'll be doing a trade in of my 2005 mazda 3s sedan., bacause i want something bigger (family grows) but still good on gas and reliable.
Thanks for any responses.
Greg

[Slayer]

I'd say go for the invoice price and try to work in their service coupon book that'll give your free regular maintenance every 5K miles up to 50K miles. 22K sounds like a more reasonable price. That's about what I paid for my 2003 Rav4 S awd two years ago. I love my vehicle and don't really have any complaints about it except maybe for lacking a little bit of passing power at highway speeds. You'll probably be better off since you have the 2.4L 2AZFE engine so you won't suffer at passing like I do. Plus, I know about needing a bit more space for a family. I want the space inside, but don't really want a big vehicle seeing as how parking in some areas is so compact that parking hugh vehicles next to each other just leads to a hella lot of door dings.

[RAV4Don]

I just purchased my new 05 Rav4 FWD manual last week.
I chose the FWD only 5spd for fuel economy and I don't have much need for a 4WD. Oh, the price is much less also.

Carefully examine their so called invoice price. Yoyota likes to load up the price with fees and other items to arrive at what they tell you is the invoice price. Liars! Go equiped with data from Edmunds.com to get info for better bargaining.

[Bakemono]

I almost bought a RAV4 a while back. Very nice little buggy, smooth ride, decent power, good gas milage and as dependable as the sunrise. If I didnt NEED a truck for hauling firewood, Id give the RAV4 a serious look.
Cap'n