RAV4 Blogging – 10 Days Behind the Wheel

We’ve had the new Toyota RAV4 for about 10 days, and I have a few observations:

• There’s a little digital display in the middle of the dashboard with some numbers on it, but when I first saw it I couldn’t figure out where the odometer was. After a moment, I realized that the odometer must be that little “4” all by itself on one row. I guess I’m not used to seeing less than six digits…
• The RAV4 is a complicated piece of machinery. It’s got a 5-speed automatic transmission with a switch to lock the differential. There’s anti-lock brakes, traction control, and stability control. It’s got daytime running lights, parking lights, regular headlights, high beams, and fog lights. It’s got front and rear window wipers, both with intermittent mode. The heating and air conditioning system has about 15 buttons. (I haven’t bought a new car in 10 years, so I don’t know how much of this stuff is standard on cars these days, how much is because it’s an SUV, and how much is because of the trim line we chose.)
• To me, the JBL logo on all the sound system components looks more like UBL, and UBL means Usama bin Laden—the old official spelling of Osama bin Laden. It strikes an odd note every time I see it: I’ll probably always think of it as the Usama bin Laden audio system.
• I wasn’t interested in getting heated seats, because I never really had a problem with my butt feeling cold while the rest of the car was warm. However, they came with the trimline we chose so we have them anyway, and I’ve learned something important: When I start the car cold, the heated seats will be the first thing to get warm.
• The RAV4 is very easy to drive. From the first test drive at the dealer, it felt just like my Camry, but with a jacked-up suspension. Even that feeling has gone away by now. It has very quickly become just our car.
• At night it’s easy to forget to turn on the headlights because the running lights come on as soon as I start the car and look just like the headlights. It’s only when I get to a dark area that I notice how much dimmer they are.
• The tail lights are all LEDs, which should last forever. I don’t know if all cars have this option these days, but they should.
• The rear window and the side windows behind the first row of seats are all tinted dark enough to keep people from looking in. I didn’t even notice that until the second or third day we had the car.

In roughly 10 days, we’ve put 804 miles on the car.