I Love My RAV4

You know, sometimes it takes losing something before you really appreciate what you had... I guess you could say the same thing about my car and I. I've had my RAV4 for about 5 weeks now, and I now remember why I will never buy an American car again. No, there's nothing really wrong with American cars, it's just that Toyota's (and Honda's) are made so much better. This is the third Toyota I have owned, and God-willing, I'm, going to hold onto this one for many years.

My other cars have included 1 Nissan Pickup (purchased new in 1996), 2 used Honda's ('84 Civic Hatchback & 2001 CRV), 2 used Toyota's ('88 pickup & '98 Corolla) and my most recent - a 2000 Chevy Blazer (purhased used). My only American car. My last American car. Now don't get me wrong, I love my country, and there are thousands of things we can do better than any other people on the planet... but consistently building really good cars isn't one of them.

I never knew if I was going to head out to my driveway and have to go grab a neighbors car to give me a jump. The battery was fine (2 brand new Red Top Optimas), but sometimes the Blazer just didn't have any energy left to start. Then there was all the rattles and excessive squeaking, and the poor door/window seals... Ha, I see people on Toyota forums complaining about a small rattle near the rear door on a RAV and I cringe just remembering the CONSTANT sonic dissonance created by the Blazer. I really did like my Blazer, but I couldn't afford the $55-$60 in gas for 175 miles of driving either.

Anyways, I'm not trying to rip on US-made cars, I'm just saying how much better I like the Japanese cars. I'm not going to get into European made cars because I've never owned one (though I did live across from the Mercedes plant in Sindelfingen for one summer - that was interesting). I love knowing that my car will start when I turn the ignition, give me good gas mileage, and get me where I want to go quickly and safely.