It's Big and It's Black and It's Mine

It's a 2010 Toyota RAV4.  It's the most fuel-efficient SUV available on the market and gets top marks from Consumer Reports for both safety and reliability.  We got a fantastic deal ($500 above invoice) thanks to Toyota San Diego.  Ask for Manny.

We settled on the RAV4 after weeks of research and test driving.  We also considered the Honda CRV and the Subaru Forester but neither car impressed us as much.  The RAV4 was more comfortable, roomier on the inside, had a more attractive interior, smoother ride, better acceleration, better handling, better turning radius, the seats folded down easier, had more storage, fit the baby car seat better, and had better value for the same features.  It's basically a Corolla with a raised chassis.  Also the salespeople were friendlier and better informed.  Even during the recession, RAV4's are flying off the lot; we ended up unable to get the exact color we wanted and most dealers refused to offer us anything under MSRP.

We settled on black exterior with a two-tone grey interior.  It's very masculine looking; I won't be ashamed to drive it around as the family car.  We got the base model, although in California they all come with the following:

• "Value package" which includes:

• Privacy glass, which is good to keep the sun out of Nathan's eyes.  I remember when I was a kid we didn't have privacy glass, so we hung these silly after-market curtain thingies on the back window.  Amy would always forget they were there and roll down the window and get it jammed.  They didn't work well and they were a pain in the butt.  Privacy glass solves the problem.

• Roof rack - the car has lots of storage but not enough for reenacting, at least not if the entire family comes along.  For the few times a year that we need more storage, we'll get a roof rack.  Certainly more economical than buying a larger car with worse fuel economy.
• Daytime running lights - I make a habit of turning on the lights every time I get in the car anyway.  It slightly increases your visibility which makes other cars slightly less likely to hit you.  Now that I'm a paranoid I'll take every marginal safety feature I can get.
• 17" rims - because they're phat.  (OK, I couldn't care less, but they come with the package.)

• 6-disc CD changer with XM radio - I don't use CD's any more and I'm not paying for XM radio, but the service does come free for the first 90 days so I will enjoy it while I can.  And the disc changer can read mp3 cd's, which would be cool if I didn't already have a 2-gig card in my smartphone.  And the car comes standard with an mp3 hookup anyway.  <shrug>
• Fancy floor mats.  I don't want to tell you how much I paid for them.  They came from the factory so the dealer insisted on charging us for them.  I mean, there's nothing wrong with floor mats, but I could have got them at Kragen for $30.  Ah well.

The car also gets 28 mpg on the freeway.  That's better than most sedans.  It's also better than any other SUV made by any other company in the world, with or without a hybrid engine.  There is simply no way to get a vehicle with that much storage space with better fuel economy.

This was the first time Yelena & I had purchased a car ourselves.  I think we got a pretty good deal considering.  Now we've got that new car excitement.  Wanna see it?  Give me a call.  ;-)

J<