So long 1999 Blazer...Hello newish 2013 RAV4!

Darhawk

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Well it finally happened... the Blazer had to say goodbye. I sold it like 3 weeks ago and I had a hell of a time trying to find something newer to replace it. There were a lot of variables that made make my decision. It was best for our family to get this over the other choices. I came super close to buying a V8 Sequoia, but that didn't make much sense after I thought about it long and hard overnight ( plus it was a tight fit in the garage). I put out offers on 3 cars and finally after making a deal on the LE RAV4, we brought her home. We bought it at a Hertz car sales place and with my wifes Gold Card, we got it below 20K, which is about $3000 cheaper than any other one in my area. My wife and I are pretty excited about our purchase. It's not a bad driving car and it's AWD with Bluetooth and a backup camera, pretty good for a base model. GRIN! I had Bluetooth sync in my Hybird Escape and loved every minute of it. I podcast a lot.

The blazer had a lot of engine work done and last thing to go out was the right front hub bearings, so that cost another $350 to replace. So in the last year I paid over $8000 in repairs, and I didn't feel safe driving it and my wife had the steering lock up on her at a stop light; she had to force it loose. I was thinking the truck wasn't worth putting more money into it. So I fixed up the last problem and sold it on CL for a nice price, more than I thought I would get and now wish I had asked for more, but then if you get greedy it won't sell...LOL! [MENTION=17027]whiplash473[/MENTION] He knows my pain with this truck!!!

Anyway I already have the green light to get wheels ( wife can't stand the hubcaps ) and some fog lights for the RAV4...so I am trying to pick out a set. Some mild A/T's is what I prolly will go with, for the snow in this area, but I won't have to worry about that until next season.

I am just glad to have a vehicle that will run and not breakdown anymore and be safe for my wife to drive....I get the Highlander to my self now...whoo hoo. I guess we are officially Team Toyota, but with a side of Ford..lol





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THIS IS kinda funny , but interesting say the least...I will not be lowering mine.
 

whiplash473

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Sad to see it go but I remember the issues you had. Nice to see someone that keeps their vehicle nice even though it's nothing "special."
 

Tally_4.6

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My '96 used to be as clean as yours, but a trade with a coworker and then again back to me followed by 2 wrecks in a 4 day span ended all that lol.

Your Rav looks like a base, no 3.5 in it right?
 

RichV

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Lol @ Def Leppard. (My genre as well)

Good upgrade! Can't go wrong with Toyota.
 
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Darhawk

Darhawk

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My '96 used to be as clean as yours, but a trade with a coworker and then again back to me followed by 2 wrecks in a 4 day span ended all that lol.

Your Rav looks like a base, no 3.5 in it right?
Yeah I loved my Blazer had her for 12years and I was the 2nd owner, then guy I sold it too was happy to get it with all the receipts from this last year and the years before.

The new Rav4 only is a 2.5 , as they dropped the 6 cyl for 2013. I drove a few of them before we settled on this. I didn't want a 2010 with 60K miles for the same price. 4WD are more expensive here since everyone in Colorado wants a 4WD. I suppose.
 

Tally_4.6

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Aww man they dropped the 3.5 for it? Dang.

With the 3.5 in it and non 4WD, that thing would roooooooast the front tires lol. I can't believe that was ever an option.
 

Goldmember

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Dumping the 3.5 was a mistake. Even still, in fit and finish/quality, the gen4 RAV is a huge step up over its predecessor. Nice grab.
 

DropTopPony

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Wow, talking about a boring DD.


It's surprisingly not that bad, not what I expected when we bought it.
My 1 and 3 year olds have a lot of shit so it was a necessity.



It does have more HP then half the cars on this site! :)
 
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Darhawk

Darhawk

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Yeah A van was almost in my future too, but I got out of it..lol!

I was sad to find out that the Blazer was only 190hp with the 4.3L V6 and now this Rav4 has 176hp in a 4 banger. Hahahah. It's lighter than the blazer so the weight to power ratio is better. Feels like a V6 and handles very well, I pushed it through some curves already and it's quite the fun little car. It would be even more fun if it was turbo, but then that comes at a price, plus I don't want to deal with turbo problems after the warranty runs out. Like the Mazda CX-7, those I hear are a turbo nightmare. I drove a CX-7 and it was really nice to drive, but not worth the headaches.

All cars are bound to break down somewhere inside the car...there is not a perfect car made these days. Just go to Car Complaints.com and you see what I saw.

2013 RAV4 176-hp, 2.5-liter I-4
172 lbs.-ft.
0-60 mph 7.69 seconds
Curb weight
3,550 lbs.


1999 Chevy Blazer
190-hp, 4.3-liter V-6
0-60 mph 9.0 secounds
Engine torque 250 lb.-ft.
Curb weight 4,023 lbs.
 

DropTopPony

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Gotta remember that 190hp was really good for a 6cyl in the early 90's when the S10 and Blazer/Jimmy were remodeled.

I had a 95 Jimmy and Wife had the 96 Blazer and they were nice while under warranty :) Wife actually ended up Lemon Lawing her Blazer for front suspension issues.
 
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Darhawk

Darhawk

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Gotta remember that 190hp was really good for a 6cyl in the early 90's when the S10 and Blazer/Jimmy were remodeled.

I had a 95 Jimmy and Wife had the 96 Blazer and they were nice while under warranty :) Wife actually ended up Lemon Lawing her Blazer for front suspension issues.

Oh yeah no doubt...I just comparing the then and now..times have changed and it's pretty cool how much Hp you can now get these days. The Trailblazer came out about the same time we bought the ( I bought in on July 6th 2002) it's has much more Hp. Trailblazer are pretty cool too, but I thing they are about the same as in reliability.
 

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