Does the Tundra Hybrid give you the confidence to buy a 2026 RAV4?

Shopping for our replacement "utility" vehicle that my wife and I share for jaunts around town, trips to the grocery store, Sunday drives to church, and an occasional long distance trip. Would like to get a hybrid something (not a PHEV version). Have a few models that I am studying. I have been pleased with what Toyota has done on my Tundra and therefore it puts the new RAV4 in favorable consideration. Does the Toyota hybrid design make you confident to do it again?

 

Check with your insurance company and DMV for any additional costs for hybrids. I did before buying our last car and the additional costs more than offset any fuel savings I'd see with a hybrid.

 

We had a 2023 Rav4 Hybrid. Absolutely loved it and saved a ton of money on gas. I think we got avg mid 40 miles to the gallon. Hybrid Rav4 is nothing new, they have been solid for years. Savings on gas would surely be greater than any DMV fees. Also insurance was very reasonable as well.

 

RAV 4 hybrid system is totally different from Tundra and having evolved from Prius is tried and true for a couple of decades. You can get similar now in a bigger vehicle with the Highlander if you need more space. As an alternative take a look at Honda CRV hybrid. A friend has one and is getting 39 MPG. It is a very nice vehicle, bigger than you think and very refined. For us Tundra owners, the MPG of these things would be like driving for free.

 

What state charges fees for a Hybrid? It's not an EV.

 

Since it will carry the basic A25A engine that's been pretty bulletproof, especially in the hybrid version, can't see any issues. That being said, anyone who buys the first of even second year of an all-new platform, as was the case with the new Tundra, kinda get what they deserve being the test hamsters. This new Rav4 is really not a big change from the previous Gen.

 

Ohio tacks on an additional $100 for hybrid, $150 for plug in hybrid and $200 for electric each year. My insurance company told me that a hybrid model would always cost more than a straight ICE all else being equal. When we were car shopping last year we considered a Corolla and had our agent give us quotes. I don't recall the actual numbers but do remember I wasn't excited about the difference.

Since our driving style doesn't involve much stop and go it just didn't make sense.

 

Why? Found the answer..... Yes, Ohio imposes an additional annual registration fee on hybrid vehicles, on top of the standard registration fees. The purpose of this fee is to offset the gas tax revenue that is lost because these vehicles are more fuel-efficient and use less gasoline than traditional gasoline-powered cars.

Kinda sucks.

 

That's a pretty arbitrary way to add the fee, just for being a hybrid without respect to EPA MPG rating. Like 3rg gen Tundra hybrids that were designed to give a power and torque boost and don't get better MPG. It would be a pisser to have to pay extra for that.

 

Virginia did the same thing several years ago for electric cars and they specifically said it was to make up for lost revenue on gas tax.

Just goes to show you the taxes/monies are going to be collected one way or the other.

Of course Virginia still joined the California practice of eliminating all ICE engine sales for new cars by 2025 and people rejoiced.

 

I've thought of that too.

 

We have a 23 rav4 hybrid and it has been great. It's got plenty of get up and go, rides smooth, handles great. MPGs are fantastic. Only complaint is that I wouldn't take it on anything beyond a normal gravel road. Basic suspension design. Even small rocks sound like they'll rip off a wheel. That's not the point of the vehicle tho either.

 

Here in Arkansas, it is $77 a year for tags and registration if that is what you are asking.

 

I still don't get the use of the Hybrid system. If it's for more power just add it to the motor. And that the fact take away space.

 

You mean for Tundra, I assume? The gas engine is already pretty pumped up and stressed to be adding more power... and the hybrid allows more power and torque while maintaining MPG while a bigger gas engine would hurt MPG. That keeps the fleet average up. But I agree, it makes little sense as the engine has plenty of power already.

 

Virginia has set a 25mpg threshold that triggers the use fee. The Tundra hybrid mpg rating is below the threshold. The use fee can be applied to vehicles that are not hybrid or EV with ratings > 25mpg.

 

Wife has had two hybrid rav4’s. Her new one is a 2024 clean hybrid and is a great car. We take it on a lot of trips and use it as our runabout when the space of the tundra isn’t needed. She loves it, the kids drive it, it’s safe and she is averaging 44mpg since she has had it (has 36,000 miles on the odometer). I don’t think she would drive anything else

 

I had a 2018 AWD RAV4. Absolutely hated it. The stereo/entertainment system was garbage. The AWD system was unsafe. Toyotas idea of Reactive AWD is garbage. By the time Toyotas AWD decides to turn on, you’re upside down in a ditch
I drove it less than 3 years and traded it in on a non-Toyota car that was a full time AWD

 

Apples and oranges. Rav 4 hybrid is based on the 2.5 which to my knowledge has no recent failure history.

The Tundra has the 3.4 which does.

The Tundra also has a non CVT transmission. I am not a hater just to hate of CVTs having owned a Nissan one for years as wife's daily. But is does change the driving dynamics.

I had a 2.5 in a 19 Camry commuter. Non hybrid got 41 mpg going 80 with max AC with decent power for a 4 banger. The downside it was mucho loud under acceleration; lots of cats being killed under the hood if you hit the juice. No idea if the hybrid solves that. But it was as enough of a concern I would certainly test it under full acceleration if I ever looked at a 2.5 again.

 

Yup!

Last month we just bought a 2025 Rav 4 LXE hybrid fully loaded for our daughter (shes been getting over 40 mpg). 4 months ago we bought a 2025 Lexus NX plug in Hybrid for my wife (which is a RAV 4). The NX is sitting at around 69 MPG.

 

My wife also has the 2025 RAV4 Hybrid, OP. She loves it. Very nice all around. It would be nice if the engine was a little quieter, but I don’t think I’m used to a small engine. Like everyone says here, the tech has been around for a long time in these.

They are made in Japan, so I don’t know how that will affect the price of the ‘26 model, if that matters much. Is what it is.

 

This is really surprising to me.
My wife has put 85,000 trouble free miles on her 2017 AWD RAV4 SE and still loves it. Other than keep quality tires on it I've done nothing special to it and it has gone through MN winters like a champ.
No AWD issues whatsoever.

I will agree on the infotainment system though. Pretty low tech, even for 2017.

 

One minor thing with these is that the CVTs require more frequent fluid changes than conventional auto transmissions, like on 30k intervals. I am not sure about the RAV4 but I have done the job on a CRV and it is trivial, just a drain and fill like an oil change except no filter to mess with.

 

I thought they were made in Kentucky for US market and Ontario for Canadian market?

 

I'm assuming you don't drive enough to make it worth it. They seem to make the most sense if you buy to keep for a very long time and really pile on the miles.

My wife and I both put 18k-ish miles on our vehicles each year. Wouldn't take long for the hybrid cost savings to start pulling away I would think.

 

Hmm, I’ll check. I thought my wife’s said Made in Japan. I have a vague recollection she had been waiting for it to get to the dealership from a port in California.

 

My wife’s VIN starts with a “J”, it’s one that came from Japan. I had assumed they were all that way. I learned something today, thanks!

 

No, I don't. The Civic sits 5-7 months while the Tundra drags the trailer south for the winter. Even when home for the summer the Civic makes a 150 mile round trip to see my mother each week and that's only 4 stop lights each way, to see our kids each about the same distance, highways as well and few trips to eastern PA which is 367 miles one way. I'm rural and brakes last me much longer than average.

 

Nice.I didn't realize some came from Japan, thought only the plug in hybrids came from Japan.