Let’s Go Places

I just spent a week with the all-new 2019 Toyota RAV 4 Adventure AWD (thanks to the people at Southeast Toyota who loaned it to me) and it wasn’t nearly long enough. I had recently reviewed the Toyota Highlander Hybrid and was curious as to how it would compare.

This fifth-generation RAV4 started its life in 1996. The small crossover SUV is one of the best selling on the market. With a new engine on the inside, AWD, an all-new exterior, and full of macho touches with an aggressive grille, hood, and end-cut tail makes this car ooze charisma. This new model improves what people love about the rugged RAV4.

Driving it is a different story.

This small SUV has manners. In sport mode, the shifts are fast and furious, although the engine seems a bit noisy. In both normal and eco-modes it runs smooth and quiet. I was very happy with the power and transmission. The RAV4 Adventure offers the largest wheel and tire package, which improves handling and works well with the light and precise steering.

The interior cabin offers a clean design.

The seating is comfortable, even on long highway drives. Multiple shelves and bins make up the RAV’s cool interior. The contrasts are well within reach, and the blue flame ice edge paint scheme car that they dropped off for me is hard to miss. While I’m in Florida I was not really able to test the AWD mode (I’d love to take this up into the mountains during winter), the RAV4 Adventure was fun and a pleasure to drive. The concierge picked it up last week and I have to say that I miss it already!

Get ready… with an MSRP of $32,900 and a total of for the tricked out model that I drove at $39,634  it sounds a bit pricey for a RAV4, but this RAV4 with the AWD Adventure Package may be worth it.

The facts stats

MECHANICAL

• 2.5L 4 cylinder engine
• Direct shift 8-speed automatic transmission
• Torque vectoring AWD with multi-terrain select for mud, sand, rock, dirt, and snow
• Eco, Sport and Normal driving modes

SAFETY

• Toyota safety sense 2.0 pre-collision system with pedestrian detection
• Full speed range dynamic radar  cruise control
• Lane departure alert with steering assist
• Auto high beams
• Roadside assistance
• Blindspot monitor with rear cross alert
• 8 airbags
• Downhill assist control
• Anti-theft with alarm

EXTERIOR

• Matte black accented 19 incl alloy wheels
• LED headlamps/Daytime running lights
• Integrated fog lamps
• Adventure roof rack
• Power liftgate

INTERIOR

• Toyota’s Entune 30 audio plus with 8-inch touch screen
• 6 audio speakers
• Hands-free Bluetooth for phone AND music
• USB media port & 4 USB charge ports
• Sirius XM with a 3-month all-access trial
• Apple and Android car play compatible
• Smart key system with push-button start/stop
• Power driver seat
• Soft tex seat material
• 7″ color multi informational display
• Dual-zone automatic A/C with rear vents
• Rear cargo power outlet

OPTIONS

Adventure grade weather package 

• Heated and trimmed steering wheel
• Perforated heated and ventilated front bucket seats
• Rain sensing wipers with de-icer function
• Power tilt slide moonroof

Adventure grade tech package

• Intelligent sonar with cross-traffic braking
• Digital display rearview mirror with HOMELINK
• Smartphone charging with charge indicator lights

ALSO

• Entune 3.0 premium audio dynamic NAV
• JBL sound system including 9 LX speakers
• 8″ touchscreen AM/FM/HD radio
• Audio port, USB media port, 4 USB charging ports
• Dynamic NAV with up to a 5-year trial
• Hands-free phone and music via Bluetooth
• Safety connect with 3-year trial
• Wifi connect by Verizon with 6-month trial
• Destination assist with 6-month trial

Take a spin for yourself in RAV4 ADVENTURE SUV 

• Visit your Local Southeast Toyota Dealer
• Learn more about it at Toyota.com

PS Show me the money

Admission: I used to make fun of my wife for bargain shopping

I come from a time when a bargain = seconds (AKA – the one-armed sweater), but while looking at my options and making arrangements for test drives, I found pop-ups galore when I went to the dealers sites asking me to sign up for a test drive and in return I’d get a $25, $50, $75 or even a $100 gift card.

I was test driving cars anyway

So, why not make a little $$$ while I was at it? I found my pop-up directly on my local Subaru site. I simply clicked on the automobile that I wanted more information and up it came. A small box telling me that if I put in my name and phone number, that I’d get a $50 Visa card just for coming in and driving the car (in my case it was a Subaru Outback), no strings attached. I went into the dealership, took a spin in the car, gave the salesman the coupon, and I had an email in my inbox within minutes offering me a choice between a $50 digital card, or a plastic one to be mailed out.

If there was ONE offer

I figured that there must be more.

So, off I went to google “test drive gift cards” and there they were. Of course while on Google, I found blogs that listed MULTIPLE offers by all of the manufacturers who had current test drive deals, a much easier alternative to having to search for them myself.

Sites with test drive deals

Hustler Money Blog

This was the one that I used to find most of my test drive deals. This site offers primarily finance/bank bonuses for opening accounts, along with the best financing rates. A quick search for “test drive promotions” brought up the latest ones available including

• Subaru – $50 – $65 (depending on region – we were offered the $50 one)
• Jeep – $50
• Hyundai – $50
• and more

Maximizing Money

A similar site helping you to stretch that dollar offered those listed above plus

• Gander Outdoors RV Walkthrough – $25 (check to see if your state is listed)
• Local dealer offers from $25

They offer great tips for keeping on top of those offers by signing up with each of the manufacturers.

There are plenty more, but honestly, all of the deals are duplicates of the ones we found on these sites.

Make money while car shopping

I was car shopping anyway, so this was a great way to put a few extra dollars in my pocket while I was doing my test drives. Maybe we’ll list the offers in the future right here on Cars Bars and Pars. If you’d like us to do that, please let us know.

NOTE: Most of these test drive promotions offered us digital gift cards that came directly into our email. I was able to opt-in for a plastic one (to be used in stores and not only online) with Subaru. My wife did a Hyundai test drive for $50 and when she went to check the plastic card rather than a digital one, there was a $3 fee (so she’d get a $47 gift card instead.

Obviously, these offers vary by state and dealership.

To lease or not to lease, a question as old as mankind. Whether ’tis wiser to buy new, buy used or lease. In 51 years of driving, I have never bought a new car. I thought, too much depreciation, and a used car could be a money pit. So, after being a leasing virgin, I decided this was the way to go.

What follows is my education in the murky world of the lease.

Why Murky?

I say murky because the great price you see is never the price that you get. An advertisement that the price is $239 per month payment sounds GREAT…right? But, once you walk through the door of the dealership you quickly learn that it is NEVER, EVER, EVER going to actually be $239. NO, it’s not. The number in that ad you saw on TV or the internet doesn’t include taxes, dealer fees, title, any service contracts, lemon law, tire and battery fees, and rental surcharges. There is also a termination fee, an amount that will vary – usually a few hundred dollars just to RETURN the car to the dealer once your lease is complete. Wait, you have to pay to give it back to them? You sure do.

It’s all in the fine print and there is ALWAYS FINE PRINT!

My car leasing experience

I went in to look at a $159 per month lease on a Subaru and left with $250 payments. But, I was prepared…I had read the fine print and done the math. I can’t stress this enough…

READ THE FINE PRINT!

But, in its favor, I also left with a brand new car for 39 months….totally warrantied. For me, peace of mind is worth a lot. Thirty-nine months of worry-free driving – I love it.

Here’s how I got there

As I said above, I went into the dealer after seeing an ad for a $159 per month lease with $3995 down. BUT, when we sat down, that $3995, it quickly turned into $5550 down. This WASN’T what the advertisement stated. What followed was a dizzying, head-spinning series of numbers that brought the monthly payment to $250 per month, and NOT the $159. But, I was prepared. I had done the math and expected to pay more. What I was not expecting was the BAIT and SWITCH process that proceeded.

In order to decide on a car and what it really costs, I created a homemade spreadsheet with a list of cars that I was interested in test driving (and to see just how honest the dealers that I was about to visit would be).

Car                                   Payment            Months          Miles per yr                Downpayment

Toyota Highlander             $239                            36                    12,000                                 $3338

Remember that the price of $239 does not include the tax (I paid 7% here in St. Lucie County, Florida). To find out what you’ll really pay per month you’ll have to get out your calculators.

Here’s how I figure the cost

EXAMPLE: Price $239 x 36 months = $8604, Downpayment = $3238 = $11,842. Multiply that number by the state tax (for me it’s .07) = $12,671.  Divide the $12,671 by the 36 months that I’ll be driving the car and my cost before the dealer fees etc. equals $352 per month and not $239. Please note that all numbers are approximate, and do not include the mega-list that includes your turn-in fee, dealer fee, gap insurance and all of those smaller fees imposed by the dealer &/or your state.

The car dealerships

In your search for a car, you’ll undoubtedly visit a number of dealerships, each with a very different approach to car buying/leasing. I’ll describe the three that I visited.

The first that I visited was Dyer Subaru whom I found to be very low key and knowledgable. The dealer that I spoke with inspired a lot of confidence in the car that I looked at and was upfront about all of the costs of the vehicle. He spent time explaining it all, right down to the notorious “turn-in” fee.

The second dealership that I walked in to was Bev Smith Kia/Toyota. Right off the bat, I’ll tell you that I had a very bad experience there. I don’t want to say anything bad about the salesman, he was a nice kid but had very little knowledge about the cars and the prices. A salesman’s main job there seems to be to get the customer to come in and sit at a desk so that the manager/closer can come over and bully you into a purchase. I must have told him at the very least 10 times that I was just shopping (I began my search here), but that didn’t stop them from trying to shake me down for $30,000. NOTE TO DEALERS, keep your work area clean. The work station trash-can was overflowing onto the floor…YUCK.

Finally, I went to Coconut Creek Subaru/Hyundai/Lincoln. We got there and ventured into the showroom where we promptly….were IGNORED for 30 minutes (not even a “someone will be with your shortly” or acknowledgment that we were even there). Eventually, a salesman approached. My son and I test-drove two different models and the associate knew the vehicles inside and out. We headed back to his workspace where he knew the numbers inside out as well. He was very accommodating and very experienced. We made our choice and after the usual haggling a deal was struck.

BUT, it all took too long. We had been at the dealership for FIVE HOURS and I don’t know why. All I know is that by the end of the process I would have pleaded guilty to the Lindbergh baby murder (maybe that’s the sales tactic). After 5 hours I can attest to the fact that you are pretty much willing to do anything that they tell you to do.

The winner for me was Coconut Creek Subaru (yes, even after that wait and a long day). The dealership was clean and it was easy to look over the cars in while we waited and the staff knowledgable without being overly pushy.

What car did I end up with?

I leased a 2019 Subaru Outback premium and yes, I’m happy…at least for the next 39 months.

I’d love to hear about your leasing wins and any tips you may have. Please leave them in the comments, so that we can ALL learn what to do and not to do when leasing a car.

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to drive the newest Highlander SUV for a week thanks to to Southeast Toyota.

I have a history with the Highlander. It was one of the first cars that I reviewed when I wrote for Champagne Living exclusively and the first time I drove it I actually followed it up by driving a Lexus SUV. While I loved both of them, I was and still am surprised at how much Toyota gives you in this car. It compares very well to the luxury manufacturers, only at a price that’s reasonable. Here’s my take on the newest Highlander.

This time I got a little surprise when the SUV that I was about to drive turned out to be a hybrid. I’d driven my wife’s old hybrid many times. It was a first-generation and was sluggish on the start and I found the CVT annoying. I was about to have a change of heart about hybrids as I stepped into the 2019 Toyota Highlander Hybrid AWD for a full week, and I’ve never had a more pleasurable experience in a vehicle.  This car is a safe choice for all the right reasons. The Highlander offers a full-sized SUV with a luxury car ride. With a high-quality cabin, sophisticated style, and crisp solid handling,o matter where the road least you, the Highlander will get you there in comfort. An exterior that boasts aggressive lines give this car a macho look with a limo feel ride.  Toyota took a V-6 and mated it to an ECVT transmission making the ride quiet, quiet, quiet. Pairing the V6 with the ECVT made all the difference in the world in a larger car, and I never felt like this one was lagging behind or lacked power.

Seating in this car is more than ample with plenty of accessible storage space available. It is perfect for a family not wanting a mini-van, but just as good for empty nesters like us who love to road trip and live an active lifestyle. This SUV has three-row seating that includes a second row of captains chair for ultimate comfort.

The third row goes down in seconds to create plenty of storage for groceries, sports gear or a foursome full of golf clubs. Even the bag boys at my country club were impressed and particularly liked the ease of using the automatic tailgate. While Florida in summer doesn’t give you a lot of opportunities to access the AWD, I would not hesitate to take the Highlander up to ski country (and the storage space is perfect for all of the snow gear that we generally take up to New Hampshire each winter).

This SUV is completely tech smart and includes an 8-inch touch screen complete with Toyota’s signature Entune^™ Premium JBL^®77Audio with Integrated Navigation that includes a full app Suite. Zippy was easily able to sync our phones via Bluetooth for our calls or listening to our favorite music. This is Zippy’s thing and no mine, so I left her to her devices (sic) and she was able to call Ben handsfree in seconds, scanned for her favorite satellite TV channels and we found that new restaurant we wanted to try easily with the large split screen navigation.

Platinum Package

When Toyota drops off a car for us to use, they love sending it equipped with top of the line equipment and you’ll get no complaints from me on that. Our platinum package consisted of chrome wheels, a panoramic moonroof with sunshade, heated leather seats, 2nd-row outboard seats and a heated steering wheel, great for those ski trips we take each winter. The birds-eye view monitor, rain sensing wipers and front parking sonar make this car so easy to keep your eyes just where they should be front and center.

The Exterior Offers

• Auto on/off headlights with LED Fog + DRL
• Headed adjustable outside mirrors
• Adjustable power liftgate with a flip-up rear window

Performance -Standard

• The Toyota hybrid engine offers a 3.5-Liter V6 Double Overhead Cam (DOHC) 24-Valve direct-injection Atkinson-cycle-capable engine.
• ECVT Transmission
• 3500 lbs tow capacity
• Power assisted 4-wheel disc brakes with Re-gen
• A temporary spare tire
• Stop/Start System
• Electric on-demand AWD with intelligence

Safety Features

As with all new Toyota’s the Highlander comes fully equipped with Toyota Safety Sense P which is an amazing Pre-Collision System with Pedestrian Detection, Lane Departure Alert with Steering Assist, Automatic High Beams and Dynamic Radar Cruise Control. I’d feel absolutely safe letting a teenager Zippy take this car as I know that it has everything they’d she’d need to stay safe on the road.  With 8 airbags, a blind spot monitor and seats designed to lessen the probability of getting whiplash if you’re hit, I’d worry less.

Parking is easy with the hill-start assist control and rear parking sensor that alerts you (in addition to that great rear-view on the screen).

Also included are:

• rear cross alert
• smart key
• a great anti-theft system with alarm and engine immobilizer

But it’s the interior that I really liked with COMFORTABLE seating for seven. The front seats are made of a luxurious perforated leather-trimmed and offer heat as well as ventilation. I particularly liked the 12-way power-adjustable driver’s seat (I am spoiled by this now) with memory function and power thigh and lumbar support, as getting just the right position is key to driving long distances. For the passenger, there is also a 4-way power-adjustable seat. Look to the second row and you’ll see that they also offer perforated leather-trimmed captain’s chairs with side table and yes, even 2nd-row side window sunshades so they can concentrate on their movies or reading without glare.

The model we drove was priced at $48,630, but of course, the price will depend on which equipment package you choose. Any way about it, for what you get, this car is a bargain, as once again, Toyota has created a luxury SUV that I can afford.

Want  more info?

• Visit your local Southeast Toyota dealer