Who Is The Toyota RAV4 Hybrid Best Suited To?

Article by Downtown Toyota Brisbane’s Jon Wimhurst -Senior Toyota Sales Consultant

Forgive the simplicity of the answer, but the RAV4 Hybrid suits a lot of people.

It is a generational car. Families, singles, older people, younger families, people whose kids have left home, people who want a sensible SUV that is easy to live with. The RAV has always sat in that space really well, because it is not trying to be too clever for the sake of it. It is practical, comfortable, efficient, and easy to use.

If you need a proper four-wheel drive, then okay, you are looking at a different Toyota product. But for your normal day-to-day driving, weekend trips, work runs, school runs and general family use, the RAV4 Hybrid is a very easy car to recommend.

It is the simple hybrid choice

The normal Hybrid does not need to be plugged in. That is still one of the things customers ask. Even now, after hybrid RAVs have been around in Australia for years, I still get people saying, “How long does it take to charge?” or “Where do I charge it?” The answer is that you don’t.

With the normal hybrid, the car recharges itself through driving and braking. Driving and stopping is what helps regenerate the battery side of it. So if someone wants the benefit of hybrid but does not want to think about charging, the normal RAV4 Hybrid is the simple answer.

It suits people coming out of older petrol cars

A lot of customers have had petrol cars for a long time. They might have had an older RAV, they might have had another petrol SUV, and they come in saying, “I’m worried about fuel,” or “I’m only getting this many kilometres,” or “I want something more efficient.” That is where the hybrid makes sense straight away because you are not asking them to change everything. You are just giving them a better version of what they already understand.

Fuel is a big part of it, of course, but it is also technology, safety, comfort, and just the practicality of the RAV itself. When you put all of that together, people start to see why the Hybrid works. It is not just a cost thing. It is a good all-round car.

When I would still lean someone toward the Hybrid instead of PHEV

I would not say I would “steer” someone away from the Plug-In Hybrid, because you present both options properly. But if someone says, “I drive to Sydney all the time,” or “I do big highway kilometres,” or “I do not have anywhere practical to charge,” then the normal Hybrid may be the better fit.

Both cars can do the job, but the normal Hybrid is probably the easier choice if you are not going to use the electric side of the Plug-In Hybrid properly. The Plug-In Hybrid gives you the most value when you can use what makes it different. If you are not going to do that, then the regular Hybrid may be the more natural choice.

It starts with the current car

Most people do not just wake up one morning and say, “I want a new car,” unless they are a bit weird like me and just like cars.

Normally, there is a reason, the current car is too small, or it is using too much fuel, or the kids have grown up, or the kids have left home, or the car is getting older and they want more safety and technology.

So that is where I would start. What has your current car done well? What is it not doing for you now? What do you need the next car to solve?

A lot of the time, the RAV4 Hybrid becomes a really good answer because it solves a lot of those problems without making the ownership side complicated. You still just get in, drive it, fill it with fuel when you need to, and let the hybrid system do its job.

To find out more about your options with the Toyota RAV4 and Toyota Electrified contact Jon and the team at Brisbane’s Downtown Toyota today.