The Toyota RAV4 is a 3-door Sport utility vehicle / SUV (hardtop) / 5-door SUV / 3-door Convertible crossover / convertible SUV (softtop) from Toyota, built from 1994, when airbags, anti-lock brakes and Japanese build quality became the world standard. Under the bonnet: Petrol engine. Hideo Kondo (exterior 3-door/5-door: 1991, 1993) / Okawa Isao (interior: 1991, 1993) / Seiichiro Kitabashi (colours and materials: 1990–1993) drew it.
The story
The Toyota RAV4 (Japanese: トヨタ・RAV4, Hepburn: Toyota Ravufō) is a compact crossover SUV produced by the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. Having sold over 15 million units worldwide as of 2025, the RAV4 is the best-selling SUV of all time. The car is credited with popularizing compact crossover automobiles, often credited as the first modern compact crossover SUV. In February 2025, the RAV4 replaced the Ford F-150 as the best-selling car in the United States, after nearly four decades of the latter's reign. It made its debut in Japan and Europe in 1994, and in North America in 1995, being launched in January 1996.
The vehicle was designed for consumers wanting a vehicle that had most of the benefits of SUVs, such as increased cargo room, higher visibility, and the option of full-time four-wheel drive, along with the maneuverability of a mid-size car. The vehicle's name is an abbreviation of "Recreational Active Vehicle with 4-wheel drive", (occasionally "Robust Accurate Vehicle with 4-wheel drive"), although not all models come equipped with the four-wheel drive system. For the third-generation model, Toyota offered both short- and long-wheelbase versions of the RAV4. Short-wheelbase versions were sold in Japan and Europe; long-wheelbase versions in Australia and North America. Toyota of Japan also sold the longer-wheelbase version as the Toyota Vanguard (Japanese: トヨタ・ヴァンガード, Hepburn: Toyota Vangādo) at Toyopet Store dealership chain from 2005 through 2016. RAV4s for the Japanese market were sold at two different Toyota dealership chains, Corolla Store and Netz.
What is underneath
Power comes from Petrol engine; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. It shifts through a 5-speed Manual transmission / manual / 4-speed Automatic transmission / automatic. The wheelbase is 5-door: 2410 mm / 3-door: 2200 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Its place in the line
Its family tree is legible: assembly was at Toyota, Aichi (Motomachi plant. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Subaru Outback, the Audi A4, the Audi A6 — show what else the money bought that year. Nearby in the Toyota catalogue sit the Toyota Agya and the Toyota Calya.
What it costs now
The money question first: $7,400–$36,000 is the typical asking range today, and running it — fuel and maintenance at its age — costs about $2,690–$7,222 a year. Insurance sits around $1,020–$2,250 a year. The figures are class-level estimates from the federal record, with the formula on the methodology page; the model-year pages carry complaints, recalls and repair costs year by year.