All generations and engines together · 87,534 MOT tests in the 2025 data · typical mileage at age 7: 63k
Middling among SUVs, by age and by mileage. Watch suspension and brakes. A fair used buy, provided its MOT history has no repeating suspension advisories.
Split by first-registration year. Cars registered in a changeover year can belong to either generation.
Owner folklore from forums and the motoring press, with how well each report stands up. Most of it never shows up in an MOT, which is why this section exists at all.
On 4th-generation automatics built 2013-2015, a worn torque converter clutch causes a shudder or juddering feeling under light throttle, most noticeable around 30-45mph or just after a gearchange. It tends to show up from around 60k miles, and Toyota extended cover on the torque converter and valve body after a run of complaints. Fixed out of warranty it is a four-figure job, commonly quoted in the £1,000-2,500 range for the torque converter alone.
On the 2.2 D-4D diesel, worn or perished injector seals can let unburnt fuel drip past into the sump, diluting the engine oil, a problem made worse on cars doing mostly short runs where the DPF cannot regenerate properly. Signs are an overfull dipstick that smells of diesel, rough or hesitant running, and repeated DPF or EGR warning lights. Toyota separately recalled EGR coolers on 2015-2018 builds for internal coolant leaks. Injector reseals and DPF attention typically run to several hundred pounds, more if injectors or the DPF itself need replacing.
A knock or clunk from the back of the car over speed bumps and potholes, down to worn rubber bushes in the rear control arms, is one of the most consistently repeated niggles on the RAV4, turning up on 2006-2012, 2013-2018 and even early hybrid cars from 2019 on. It fits with "suspension" being this model's measured MOT signature fault for large SUVs: the clunk itself rarely fails an MOT straight away, but it is usually the early warning for the bush and arm wear that eventually does. A control arm and bushing kit runs to a few hundred pounds a side.
On petrol and hybrid RAV4s built between September 2013 and October 2019, a faulty low-pressure fuel pump can fail without warning and cause the engine to stall while driving. Toyota issued an official recall to replace the pump free of charge at any dealer. It is not a wear cost so much as a safety check: any car in that build window should have the recall work confirmed before you buy.
Hybrid and plug-in hybrid owners repeatedly report the small 12V battery draining flat, sometimes needing a jump start or roadside call-out more than once a year, particularly on cars used for mostly short trips or left standing for weeks. It isn't officially acknowledged as a defect, Toyota's line is just to run the car further more often, but the volume of forum threads makes it worth asking a seller about. A new 12V battery is a modest cost, but repeated flattening can point to a parasitic drain that costs more to track down.
On 2022-2025 RAV4s, Toyota recalled cars over the digital combination meter (instrument cluster) losing information as a memory component deteriorates, and separately over the panoramic view monitor camera freezing or failing to display. Both are manufacturer-acknowledged and fixed free at a dealer, but on a used example it's worth confirming the work was actually done, a dead instrument cluster or frozen reversing camera is a bad surprise after purchase.
Ranked from this model’s own MOT record, then from what owners report.
Saveable checklistThe physical checks its own defect data says are worth your time, most telling first.
These judge the seller’s upkeep rather than the model, and they are where the haggling money is.
The physical checks its own defect data says are worth your time, most telling first.
These judge the seller’s upkeep rather than the model, and they are where the haggling money is.
The physical checks its own defect data says are worth your time, most telling first.
These judge the seller’s upkeep rather than the model, and they are where the haggling money is.
The physical checks its own defect data says are worth your time, most telling first.
These judge the seller’s upkeep rather than the model, and they are where the haggling money is.
Drawn from the reports above rather than the MOT data. These are the model-specific ones.
Computed from DVSA MOT results, all of Great Britain, 2025. Nothing here is opinion.
Share of tests where each item was recorded. The dark tick is the class average across all tracked models; bars are scaled within each group.
The rows that judge the model rather than its keeper. 27,966 tests in this band.
Tyres, pads and stone chips say more about how the car was driven and maintained than about how it was built.
Same segment (Family & large SUVs), best MOT record first. Compare before you shortlist.