- Doors and Seats
5 doors, 5 seats
- Engine
2.0i, 4 cyl.
- Engine Power
127kW, 203Nm
- Fuel
Petrol (91) 6L/100KM
- Manufacturer
FWD
- Transmission
Auto (CVT)
- Warranty
5 Yr, Unltd KMs
- Ancap Safety
5/5 star (2019)
2022 Toyota RAV4 GX FWD review
The Toyota RAV4 is Australia's most popular medium SUV, and while the entry-level GX is a pragmatic and well-featured vehicle, is it worth the long wait?
- Good standard features
- Ample space in the rear and boot
- Stylistically the RAV4 is appealing to a broad market
- Long wait times
- Toyota infotainment is looking tired
- Not the cheapest base option in the class
Is the Toyota RAV4 a good car?
The ongoing wait times and dominance of the Toyota RAV4 in the medium SUV market will no doubt answer this question for you, but I’ll delve much deeper in the review below of the 2022 Toyota RAV4 GX, which is the entry-level offering in a very vast line-up.
But first, allow me to take it back a few years to my very own experience with this vehicle. As soon as I passed my driving test, I got a Toyota RAV4. And being the car nut that I am, I got my licence two days after my 18th birthday. The vehicle was a three-door in Silver Ash and, the best part, it was manual. I truly loved that car.
The reason I bought it? Having a three-door vehicle back then meant you were oh so cool. Plus, it was also considered practical, reliable, and my family loved their Toyotas.
Not much has changed. Okay, the one I tested doesn’t have the cool rims and the subwoofers in the boot that I did back in the day, but the proposition remains the same. The Toyota RAV4 has long been known as a trusted, well presented, and pragmatic medium SUV. It’s also done a lot of growing up since I got my P-plates a long, long time ago.
Fast-forward to me being a motoring journalist and I’ve just tested a vehicle that, while it carries the same nameplate, looks vastly different and has done a lot of growing up.
At the end of 2021, the RAV4 range received a mild update. While a majority received price hikes, thankfully this model’s price tag declined – nothing too significant, but a lower price tag is a lower price tag.
The Toyota RAV4 GX petrol kicks off at $34,400 plus on-road costs. The GX also comes in a hybrid, in both front-wheel- and all-wheel-drive versions. Our test car was finished with Saturn Blue metallic paint adding $645 to the price – a total of $35,045 plus on-road costs.
The current Toyota RAV4 cast boasts 13 variants, with the price ranging anywhere from $34,400 (for the base GX) up to $52,700 (the range-topping Edge AWD hybrid). Prices exclude on-road costs.
With the facelift, the GX scored new standard features including DAB digital radio, rear seatbelt reminder and LED interior lights.
It also got cloth seat trim, a premium leatherette steering wheel, LED daytime running lights and tail-lights, power-folding side mirrors with heating, front and rear parking sensors, and safety features that I’ll chat about later.
As mentioned, the RAV4 sits in the medium SUV class – the most popular SUV category in Australia. It rivals against the sought after Mazda CX-5 and our 2022 Drive Car of the Year – the Kia Sportage.
Price-wise, the Mazda CX-5 kicks off at $32,390 for the 2.0-litre Maxx, also front-wheel drive, while the Kia Sportage also comes in a little under the RAV4 in its starting price, with the 2.0-litre S priced from $32,445. Prices exclude on-road costs.
Get a great deal today
Interested in this car? Provide your details and we'll connect you to a member of the Drive team.
Stylistically, all are immensely different, and this is a topic that is incredibly personal. But, what I will say to this point is that I think Toyota’s done a great job to give it a broad appeal at the same time as maintaining an edgy look. And that’s one of the assets of this car – it has a mass appeal.
However, if you put the RAV4 next to some of the newer models in the market, then it won't look as modern. Vehicles such as the Kia Sportage, Hyundai Tucson and Haval H6 are all incredibly striking and embrace futuristic luxury.
Key details | 2022 Toyota RAV4 GX |
Price | $34,400 plus on-road costs |
Colour of test car | Saturn Blue |
Options | Metallic paint $645 |
Price as tested | $35,045 plus on-road costs |
Drive-away price | $39,121 (Melbourne) |
Rivals | Kia Sportage | Mazda CX-5 | Hyundai Tucson |
What's the Toyota RAV4 like inside?
Jumping inside the Toyota RAV4, there aren’t too many surprises and it basically does exactly what it says on the box. Not in a bad way, though. It’s simple, uncluttered, and for an SUV of this size it boasts ample storage.
There’s a decent centre compartment, two cupholders up front with additional in the door bins, a spot near the gear lever, and one real bonus is an additional storage shelf located just in front of the passenger.
The materials aren’t too shabby either. There are some hard plastics about which is to be expected; however, there are some good-looking finishes too. Along the dash you'll find some soft-feel materials, the seats wear a nice-looking cloth finish, and there are some funky-looking rubber-like dials.
One shortfall is that this specification doesn’t get climate control, which you may find in a few lower grades in this class. Otherwise, longer trips behind the wheel see it as a comfortable place to be. The seats are cosy and well bolstered, and ergonomically everything is well laid out and, more importantly, elements feel well built.
At 173cm tall and with my seat in its driving position, I had ample leg, toe and head room sitting in the rear. There’s also a recline on the rear passenger seats but you don’t get a sliding base.
In terms of niceties in the back there are dedicated air vents, two USB ports, a seat back pocket on the passenger side, a fold-down armrest with cupholders, and door bins that can hold a smaller bottle.
The boot is large at 580L with the two-position floor set to its lowest position – one of the biggest in its class. With the rear seats folded, there’s 1690L of cargo capacity available. In comparison, the Kia Sportage offers 543L, while the Mazda CX-5 has 442L of cargo capacity. Boot length is decent at 1020mm, but it's not the widest at 1000mm, ranking below many of its rivals.
The RAV4's boot also gets a durable boot liner, but there's a trade-off for all that space – it only packs a space-saver spare rather than a full-size spare wheel, which is something that you will find in the Sportage.
2022 Toyota RAV4 GX | |
Seats | Five |
Boot volume | 580L seats up 1690L seats folded |
Length | 4600mm |
Width | 1855mm |
Height | 1685mm |
Wheelbase | 2690mm |
How big is the screen in the Toyota RAV4?
The Toyota RAV4 GX gets an 8.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system, which is a little small in comparison to others in the class, but it boasts large graphics and is all very simple to navigate, even for first-timers. The icons are high-resolution and easy to decipher, and getting around the system can all be helped with the shortcut buttons along the side of the screen.
The system is equipped with wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, alongside DAB+ radio, which all works without a hitch. A big win is that no passenger's smartphone should ever be running on empty as there is one USB port per person – three up front and two in the rear.
One thing to call out with Toyota's system, however, is that it's aged. Jump in the cabin and it all looks fresh, until you look up to the display – it could really do with a facelift, and a coming 2023 model-year update looks set to address this issue.
Is the Toyota RAV4 a safe car?
The Toyota RAV4 boasts a five-star ANCAP safety rating – last tested in 2019. The Toyota RAV4 scored highly from ANCAP in both adult occupant protection (93 per cent) and child occupant protection (89 per cent), while its safety assist result was marked at 83 per cent.
The RAV4 GX comes with various standard safety tech such as AEB with pedestrian/daytime cyclist detection, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, reversing camera, front and rear parking sensors, lane-departure warning, lane-tracing assist, adaptive cruise control, and traffic sign recognition. Also standard are dual frontal, side chest-protecting, side head-protecting curtain airbags, and a driver's knee airbag.
Lane-departure warning does its job well without being overly intrusive, while everyday features such as adaptive cruise control work seamlessly on a highway stint. However, autonomous emergency braking can detect pedestrians at night but not cyclists (it only offers cyclist detection during the day).
It also misses out a 360-degree camera, a tyre pressure monitoring system and driving fatigue alert, which others in the class pack as standard in comparable models.
So, while on paper there are plenty of safety features, the RAV4 unfortunately ranked low against main rivals in our recent research, which just goes to show how competitive safety is in this fast moving and popular segment.
2022 Toyota RAV4 GX | |
ANCAP rating | Five stars (tested 2019) |
Safety report | Link to ANCAP report |
How much is the Toyota RAV4 in Australia?
To refresh, the Toyota RAV4 GX costs $34,400. The GX is also available in hybrid form starting at $36,900, or as a hybrid with AWD from $39,900. These prices are all excluding on-road costs.
All Toyotas are covered by a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, and in the way of servicing, visits are required every 12 months or 15,000km. Servicing costs will set you back $230 per year for the first five years totalling $1150.
At a glance | 2022 Toyota RAV4 GX |
Warranty | Five years / unlimited km |
Service intervals | 12 months or 15,000km |
Servicing costs | $690 (3 years), $1150 (5 years) |
Fuel consumption is officially rated at 6.0 litres per 100km, but in the real world I returned 7.9L/100km. The good news is that I wasn't constantly running to the bowser and it takes 91-octane regular unleaded petrol.
Fuel Consumption - brought to you by bp
Fuel Useage | Fuel Stats |
Fuel cons. (claimed) | 6.0L/100km |
Fuel cons. (on test) | 7.9L/100km |
Fuel type | 91-octane regular unleaded |
Fuel tank size | 55L |
What is the Toyota RAV4 like to drive?
The heavy lifting of this GX is done by a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder petrol engine capable of 127kW and 203Nm with a continuously variable transmission driving power to the front wheels.
While the power doesn't knock your socks off, it doesn't need to. In fact, it's more than enough for this car's proposition – a quintessential everyday car, perfect as an urban runabout and even suited for longer stints.
Even without impressive power, and without sounding cliché, it's a fairly well oiled machine in that it's a well sorted and effortless drive. The steering is perfectly weighted and incredibly precise into the corners.
There are three drive modes on tap including Sport, Normal and Eco. The switch between Sport and Normal doesn't offer too much of an extra boost, other than adding a touch more weight to the steering, so I opted to remain in Normal for the majority of my trips.
Just a couple of gripes to mention, though. As you may expect, the sound of the CVT can easily be heard, and it gives off a bit of a snarl when trying to hit that higher rev range. Along with some hints of road noise on harsher roads, it can get a little noisy in the cabin at times.
What's more, when cruising at higher speeds on some bumpier country roads, the RAV4 remains composed but not entirely at ease as you can feel some of the harsher bumps and edges.
Give or take some minor shortfalls in the way of drivability, overall being behind the wheel is a pleasant and comfortable experience – just keep the music up and the unwanted acoustics will fade into the background.
Key details | 2022 Toyota RAV4 GX |
Engine | 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol |
Power | 127kW @ 6600rpm |
Torque | 203Nm @ 4400–4900rpm |
Drive type | Front-wheel drive |
Transmission | Constantly variable transmission |
Power to weight ratio | 82kW/t |
Weight (kerb) | 1550kg |
Tow rating | 800kg braked, 750kg unbraked |
Turning circle | 11.0m |
Should I buy a Toyota RAV4?
If you're wanting to purchase a RAV4, then keep in mind that the wait could be a long one. Toyota is battling unprecedented wait times, and while hybrid models are hit hardest, even the humble petrol-powered GX is facing production delays at the moment.
The RAV4 remains a strong proposition. Its combination of ease of use, low ongoing costs, and – of course – its relative Toyota familiarity all help here.
This sought-after medium SUV is outstanding in ownership and reliability, practicality and spaciousness. However, a lot has changed over the years, with flashy newcomers and cheaper entry-level offerings in the market. So, yes, the RAV4 is still a great vehicle, but it's no longer the best offering in its class.