Toyota RAV4 | At Home with Tech

October 13, 2024

I Drove 5 Different Hybrid SUVs and Bought this One

Here are the pros and cons for each of the Lester hybrid SUV finalists and how I made my decision on which one to purchase.

I’m not a professional car reviewer. This is not “At Home with Cars.” But I’ve been driving them my entire adult life, and I know what I need. When it was time to buy a new SUV for my family, and I was faced with one of the biggest purchases I can make, I certainly did my research!

So, if you might find another point of view useful, strap in…

Of course, I’ve closely followed the news regarding EVs. Who isn’t aware of this revolution that’s designed to move all of us away from gas-powered vehicles. Yes, I’ve felt compelled to be part of it all as I traveled down the road to a new car.

But as I shopped, I quickly discovered my own truths and limits.

EV?
As much as I loved the idea of going with a pure electric car, I just wasn’t ready to take the leap with an EV. I was held back by the usual reasons:

Range anxiety
Additional cost
EV depreciation

So, I never left the starting line and didn’t test drive any EVs.

PHEV?
I was initially enthusiastic with the idea of a plug-in hybrid. (Being able to drive around town without touching a drop of gas and then charging back up at night sounded amazing.) That’s the best of all worlds, right?

Well, it depends on who you ask, and there are car reviewers out there who suggest a PHEV creates the worst of all worlds… just an average-performing vehicle that’s weighed down by having to serve too many different technologies.

Still, I didn’t dismiss the option. Nor did I flinch at the upcharge for a PHEV. (Passion can take you a long way towards a decision, despite the logical drawbacks.)

But first, I had to find it in the car I wanted.

Hybrid?
The Toyota Prius made ‘hybrid’ a household term a thousand years ago. It’s hardly a new concept. And in many ways, a hybrid engine is the easiest way to move away from all gas. But it certainly doesn’t feel as exciting as a car that you can plug in.

Still, going hybrid is a step towards helping the planet (and saving some bucks on fuel costs).

Drivers, Start your Engines!
So, it was time to go shopping. My goal… buy a new small SUV. I’d been driving my 2009 Toyota RAV4 forever, and after 186K miles, it was time for a new starship. I wanted to replicate the same form and function… hopefully with newer and greener tech under the hood.

After hours of online research and reading car reviews by the ‘experts,’ I landed on these five choices to test drive.

Toyota RAV4 Hybrid and Plug-In Hybrid
A new RAV4 was obviously a leading candidate. But when we visited our local Toyota dealer, we had the strangest of experiences…

Get this: They didn’t have any new RAV4’s on the lot. Not one.

Everyone knows a new RAV4 is a solid choice. But apparently, you can’t buy one. Not easily. Not without waiting a long time. The salesman explained that Toyota simply isn’t building enough of them.

Sure, he would do everything he could for us, but finding a new RAV4 could take months and getting the exact options I wanted was uncertain.

Plus, after test driving the one 2023 model they had (off a lease), my wife and I felt it wasn’t that amazing. (And it was selling at the new car price. Oof.)

Yes, the RAV4 hybrid gets great gas mileage, and the model also has the PHEV option. But the purchasing path was just too daunting.

I loved my old RAV4, but a new one for the Lester family was clearly not in the cards. We drove away from the carless Toyota dealership and never turned back.

Mazda CX-50 Hybrid
The hybrid version is new for 2025. And the hybrid wasn’t available during my research phase, but we test drove the standard one to see how it felt.

Whoa! This Mazda was zippy with enthusiastic handling, and it really moved! But the car was a bit small and tight. Plus, I didn’t really need the sports-car feel.
(I’m a family guy with a teenager.)

Not to dismiss a great car, but it just wasn’t the right time for me and a Mazda. Plus, the hybrid wasn’t even available yet, and the sales manager told me he had no idea when they were coming in. He said that one day, they’ll simply show up. (true story). So, that made it an easy pass.

Still, my Mazda experience ultimately helped me realize that even though so many car reviewers focus on how quickly a car can accelerate, that wasn’t as critical a metric for me.

Sure, I want my new car to have enough power to move when I need it to, but an extra .8 seconds from zero to 60 mph isn’t as relevant to my real-life needs. Does that me boring? Perhaps. But I’ve got other priorities.
(Don’t count me out.)

The good news is most hybrid/PHEV engines usually have more punch by design.

Kia Sportage and Hyundai Tuscan (Hybrid and PHEV)
All the reviewers say the Sportage and Tuscan are similar. And they are. So, I’ll also consider them together:

Both flaunt the technology-focused design options I was looking for. I absolutely loved the high tech-feel in both vehicles. The extended dash and integrated screens with all the bells and whistles really felt like I had finally stepped into the car from the future. Some examples:

Blind-Spot View Monitor
360º Surround View Monitor

I secretly wanted to be on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise. And both these cars gave me that experience.

And all the cool screen displays came at the same price points of the competition. Plus, both SUVs offer the PHEV option.

But there were two big drawbacks…

Fingerprint Magnet
The SUVs’ touch screens aren’t always as easy to operate when you’re driving. And the reflective surface areas from all the black plastic molding will quickly get mucked up with fingerprints. Not to mention their potential to reflect the sun into your eyes (according to some reviewers).
Circular Gear Dial
And then, there’s the Kia’s gear-dial redesign. Kia has replaced the traditional gear shifter stick with a circular dial. You dial it right for ‘drive.’ And you dial it left for ‘reverse’ (neutral in the middle).

That’s innovative, right? Well…

In practice, that disruptive design change was a step too far for me and my wife.

The Tuscan took a different road and redesigned its gear-shift selector into a small column-mounted shaft behind the right side of the steering wheel. Not as bad a choice, but still unfamiliar.

After both test drives, my wife and I realized that we wanted more physical dials and a stick.

So even though both these cars had everything I was looking for, the user interface still pointed us in a different direction.

Honda CR-V Hybrid
The CR-V was the first car we test drove. And it felt absolutely great. The roomy cabin was awesome, and the driving experience was superior.

Yes, it comes as a hybrid… but unfortunately there’s no plug-in model. And it was missing some of cool features of the Sportage and Tuscan… such as a 360º surround view monitor.

Plus, I was shocked when I realized it just had a tire repair kit instead of a spare tire. (The same problem with the Sportage and Tuscan. That said, the RAV4 and CX-50 both come with spare tires.)

But the CR-V hybrid had everything else from a safety standpoint that you’d want.

Collision Mitigation Braking System
Road Departure Mitigation System
Blind Spot Information with Cross Traffic Monitor
Multi-Angle Rearview Camera
Adaptive Cruise Control
Lane Keeping Assist System

Since the CR-V was our first test drive. I needed to shop around some more due to the usual FOMO. So, we drove on to the other brands.

When we were finally done, it was suddenly clear the Honda CR-V Hybrid was the car for us.

Plenty of safety tech
Old-school twisty knobs where they really belonged
Wireless Apple Car Play
All wheel drive
Regular gear-shifter stick/knob that goes forward and back
Decent 9” color touch screen
Solid fuel economy: 40 mpg city/34 mpg highway/37 mpg combined

And may I say how much I appreciate Honda for not flooding the model line with 108 variations to choose from (like some of the competition). Buying a car is complicated enough. Model simplicity really helps to focus my decision.

Honda Wins the Race
We started with the CR-V, and after stacking it up against the competition, we realized that even though it didn’t have everything on my shopping list, it offered everything that mattered most.

The car was solid.
The choice felt right.
We were ready to buy!

And we purchased our Honda CR-V Hybrid!

As I mentioned last time, we then paid for some expert help to make our price negotiating experience as effective and painless as possible.

Brand Loyalty Matters
Once upon a time, my first cars were Honda Accords. Then, I spent many happy years with Subaru and Toyota.

Now, I can’t deny that it feels amazing to come back to Honda.

I’ve come home.
(That’s brand loyalty for you!)

Did that play a role in our decision?
Well, it didn’t hurt!

January 12, 2014

Are You as Smart as your Car?

This is the magic “kiss” that you hope you’ll never have to perform with your Smart Key to revive your keyless car. Don’t know what I’m talking about? Exactly…

I love my new car.
It’s really smart.
But now, I realize it may be a little too smart for my own good…

Last time on At Home with Tech,
I survived the car-buying gauntlet, and brought my Toyota RAV4 home.

But my brain was so focused on surviving the deal, I didn’t commit enough neurons to analyzing all the technology baked into the vehicle.

There was one feature that became of particular interest almost immediately after I drove off the lot…

Be Careful What You Wish For
The car comes with a ‘Smart Key’ remote instead of a standard key.
Essentially, it’s a mini transmitter that tells the car’s CPU, “Give this human full access to the vehicle.”
(until Skynet takes over)

All you need to do is carry the Smart Key in your pocket, and the car senses your presence.
When you walk up to the car and reach your hand to the door, the car unlocks automatically.
(an impressive parlor trick)

Once you’re in the car, there’s no ignition switch… just a push button labeled “Engine Start/Stop.”

It seems the future has arrived!

The Risks of Smart Key Technology
Actually, Smart Key tech has been around for more than a few years.
(Mercedes Benz offered the first one way back in 1998… interestingly only a few months after Skynet’s fictional creation.)

Today, lots of car brands are using this keyless ignition system tech.

Beyond convenience, Smart Key technology is supposed to be more secure, since it uses rolling security codes to frustrate hackers.

But as wonderful as it is, this advanced car tech can lead to some inconveniences down the line.

So if you aren’t familiar with this issue before you buy your next set of wheels…
(guilty as charged)
…at least you should be aware of it before it crops up when your roadster is parked in the middle of nowhere, and HAL won’t open the pod bay doors…
let alone start the car.

A Kiss can Save your Day
So what happens when your Smart Key remote dies?
How do you get into your car without a physical key?

The good news is Toyota thought of that.
They slipped a tiny key into the body of the Smart Key fob.
It’s totally hidden, and you’ve got to press a micro button to activate its release, like you’re 007.

So that gets you in.

But then how do you start the car?
Remember, there’s no place to insert your James Bond back-up key.

So I scoured the manual, did a little online research and then called a local Toyota dealership in search of an answer…

What I discovered sounds almost too good to be true:

If you place the Smart Key right next to the Engine Start button…
(like the remote is giving the button a little kiss)
…that little techy love smooch will magically power up your car when you press the Start button.

Uh huh.

Yes, you can awaken your sleeping beauty simply with a kiss…

The Power of Resonant Energy Transfer
The ‘how’ of this tech voodoo isn’t readily accessible on the Internet.
I really had to dig to find what I believe is close to an accurate answer…
(I guess Toyota doesn’t want to give away any secrets.)

The service department rep at my Toyota dealer actually told me that nobody has ever asked her why ‘the kiss’ works before.

But simple science backs up this seemingly too-good-to-be-true fairy tale hocus-pocus…

Here’s the deal:

Even without a working battery, the Smart Key remote has a passive proximity chip that’s activated when the frequency chip behind the Engine Start button sends out its radio signal looking for the fob’s start code.
(as long as the Smart Key is close enough to the button)

Science fiction?
Not really…

Your Smart Key’s backup system operates much like your work ID card that opens the doors in your office building…
The ID card is called a proximity card and contains an itty-bitty antenna and frequency chip. Your card will receive enough power from the RF signal provided by the door’s reader device for the card to transmit back its presence.
(The whole thing is called ‘resonant energy transfer’… for you geeks out there.)

So in a sense, your car’s Smart Key gets enough juice from the car to ID itself in an emergency and get the car going!

And all it takes is a kiss…

Once Upon a Time…
Sleeping Beauty always wakes up in the story, but I decided I should have a back-up plan, just in case.
(Somehow, my life doesn’t clock in like a fairy tale every day. You?)

So I ordered a couple of batteries on Amazon to power my remote. And I’ll keep them in the car, just to be safe. That way, I’ll be prepared if I need to do emergency surgery on my Smart Key should it decide to loose its smarts and can’t be persuasive with a kiss.

Silly Humans
I know I might be over reacting.
(just a bit)

Besides, this problem isn’t supposed to announce itself without warning.
Apparently, when the Smart Key’s battery begins to go… you’ll notice its shrinking capacity.
Its like when your TV remote starts to weaken….the channel buttons work only occasionally… and only when you push them with ‘great intent.’

Keep it in your Pocket!
Oh… here’s a final word to the wise, should you still be considering joining the Smart Key generation.

Don’t lose your Smart Key.
Your wallet will tell you that’s definitely not a smart thing to do…

For the record, when I bought my RAV4 last month, the salesman warned me it would be an expensive venture to replace the Smart Key.
(He didn’t say how expensive.)

I confidently replied I didn’t intend to lose either of the two fobs that came with the car.

But of course, I was curious what the damage would be.
So I called back my local Toyota dealer.
(I think they know me by name, now.)

$440.
(gulp)

Yes, it costs $440 to replace a lost Smart Key.

I think somewhere out there you can buy a car for $440 that will pass inspection.

How does one get to $440?
The dealer broke it down for me:

$200.00 for the smart controller fob
$112.94 for the laser-cut, mechanical (back-up) key
$127.95 to program the controller and the car together

That totals $440.89. (plus tax)

That’s a far cry from getting a spare key for a few bucks cut by your friendly locksmith down the street.

That said, I don’t plan on losing my fob.
If I don’t have to take it out of my pocket, why would I ever lose it?
(famous last words)

You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby
I suppose the old practice of putting a key into an ignition switch is rather analog. What’s really so crazy about Smart Key technology?
But isn’t it a little freaky how advanced cars are becoming?

On the not-too-distant horizon, Google’s got its self-driving car project
ready to launch.
One day, ‘driving’ one of those cars is really going to take a lot of trust on my part.

So I’ve decided that smart vehicle should have a wicked-large
glove compartment. Because I’ll be bringing plenty of back-up batteries…!!

2 Comments

January 5, 2014

The Internet is Killing the Car Buying Dance

How to buy a car will probably become crystal clear when hell freezes over. Still, the Internet can help melt away some of the confusion.

I really dislike buying a car.
That archaic routine wasting time at a car dealership…
Yuck.

Alas, few automobiles last forever.
A few weeks back, I finally faced the reality that I needed to replace my old Toyota RAV4.

No matter how prepared I feel going into the car-buying battle,
I know the odds are stacked against me to get the best deal.

It’s all quite excruciating.

Doing the Dance
Have you ever done the ‘dance?’
You know… that special tango you get to do with car salesmen when you’re trying to ‘negotiate’ a new set of wheels.
If so, you know what I’m talking about…

I do the dance every few years.
These sales guys are at it every single day.
What chance does an average Joe really have?

Sure, there must be a few of you out there who could go toe-to-toe
with Cal Worthington. Not me.
(maybe in the next life)

There must be a better way…

Technology has Changed the Rules
Fortunately, there’s some good news to report.
I’ve discovered the magic of today’s tech can even out the odds a bit.

Technology has had a significant impact on how the car-buying game now works. And if you pay attention to this new tech-adjusted landscape, you just might be able to use it to your advantage.

Find Your Car Online
It’s a no brainer that short of driving a car, the Internet can provide everything else you need to know about a particular model.

After some comparative research between the Honda CR-V and
a newer Toyota RAV4, I decided to re-up with Toyota.

Next, it seemed obvious to continue using my computer to locate specific cars with the bells and whistles I wanted…like a V6 engine.
(Mmmmm… V6)

Not surprisingly, I found that area dealerships all listed their cars online, complete with pricing.
(none of that ridiculous “call us the for the price” mumbo jumbo)

I also perused helpful websites like:

After I found what I was looking for, I picked up the phone to see if those vehicles were still available. (Don’t assume the listings are always updated daily.)

Only after that would I commit to taking a trip down to the nearby Thunderdome.

Two Men Enter. One Man Leaves.
Upon arrival, the old-school process inevitably takes over…

Test drive
Negotiate
Wait
Negotiate
Wait some more
Try to escape
Maybe do the deal

No More Wheeling and Dealing?
An annoying problem I found was none of the salesmen seemed particularly interested in dealing very much on the price.
(And I was shopping at the end of the month… at the end of the year!)

Maybe this simply pointed to my limited negotiation skills.

But apparently, there’s a huge disruptive force at play…
It’s called… The Web!

Our amazing Internet has been around for some time now, right?
Hasn’t everyone been shopping there for years to compare car prices?
Apparently not.

I’m told this newer shopping practice has only recently turned car pricing on its head.
(really?)

Today, folks have finally seen the light and are comparing car prices online first before showing up. So cars dealers have been forced to price their inventories competitively online or get passed over with a simple mouse click.

But that shift supposedly takes the punch out of your expected price negotiations later on.

Whenever I wanted to haggle, I was quickly informed that the online price had already been discounted to its rock-bottom, uber-competitive price.
This happened to me over and over again.

While this really felt like just another negotiating angle, I eventually collected some corroborating data along the way to validate the trend.

More than once, I observed the car’s sticker price on the windshield was higher than the online price.
(what?!)

It seems absolutely absurd to list two different prices in today’s technically enhanced shopping society, but apparently there are still enough unsuspecting souls out there who walk into the deal by first looking at the sticker price on the car.

Authority Auto
I also spent some time talking with the folks at Authority Auto.
They’re a car-buying consulting agency with a business model to do all the negotiating for you.
(sweet!)

Even though they take their own cut, it’s an attractive choice, since you’re still saving money on the final deal. Plus, you feel like you’ve got your own battalion on your side to force the best deal possible.

I really liked these guys. It felt like such a breath of fresh air to talk to someone out there who’s on your side!

Though I didn’t formally engage Authority Auto in my car search, (mostly due to timing considerations) they were extremely helpful providing some background on the cyber-affected pricing trend I had discovered.

They confirmed this ‘movement’ as something quite real.

So maybe the price is really the price…

Buy the CARFAX Report before You Show Up
Buying your car at the right price is only half the challenge.
You’ve also got to do your best to make sure the car is in great shape…
And when you’re shopping in the ‘pre-owned’ market, you can never be too sure…

Everyone knows you can get a CARFAX vehicle history report, which documents the reported maintenance and repair history of a car based on its VIN number.
The dealer will usually give it to you during the negotiation.

But here’s a tip you may not have considered:

-Have the CARFAX in hand before you show up.
($49.00 will buy you 5 online CARFAX reports.)

If your car looks fabulous online, isn’t it worth ten bucks to know that it hasn’t been in any accidents before you go down to drive it?

Case in point…

I spent the better part of one afternoon doing the dealer dance around a car I thought I liked.

The deal eventually fell apart…. due in no small part to the fact they started the negotiation from the sticker price, and I began with the online price….
(Imagine that!)

But before all that happened, I noticed a slight body irregularity near the fender before my test drive.

When I got home, I ran the CARFAX report. (No, they didn’t give it to me.)
And…yup… it had been in an accident.

Had I done the CARFAX ahead of time, I would never have considered the car, and I could have saved the whole afternoon!

No Dancing with Amy
I should also mention that I was originally given the damaged car’s disputed online price by a nice salesperson on the phone named Amy.
(The car was ‘newly available’… so it wasn’t actually listed online yet.)

Amy was quite helpful. Her pleasant style went a long way towards getting me to commit to an appointment to visit her dealership.

But when I walked in to see Amy, she was nowhere to be found. I was quickly escorted to someone else’s desk. When I relayed my conversation with Amy, the salesman barely gave a look of recognition. When a colleague walked over with the car’s paperwork, he did mention Amy briefly by name, but I swore I saw a slight smirk flicker over his face.

What was going on?!

I eventually discovered the truth.
There was no Amy…

Car Dealer Call Centers
Amy existed… but only at a call center in some other part of the country.
Yep, auto dealers have resorted to call centers to get you in the door.

And if you don’t show up, they keep calling you until you want to change your phone number!

Every dealership I called wasn’t the actual dealer.
It was the call center.

Consider yourself warned.
Don’t judge the dealership by that first call…

Finish the Dance the Old-Fashioned Way
Finally I found “the car.”
I think it winked at me when I first found it online.
It had everything I was looking for, and the test drive was great.

Done?
Not quite…

The last factor you can’t forget about is taking a good look under the hood.
And no cyber voodoo can do that for you.

I’m fortunate enough to have a great mechanic
who’s worked on my cars for years.
I’m not buying anything he hasn’t looked at and blessed.

So as part of the dance, I told the salesman he would need to get the car to my mechanic for a once-over.

He countered by inviting my mechanic to schlep up to the dealership.

When I insisted, he said that my mechanic might damage the car if he put it on the lift.
(what?)

I countered again by saying I would pay for any damages.
(just calling his bluff)

With a straight face he said, “What’s your mechanic going to find that mine didn’t?”

That was the last straw.

Sensing my determination, he pivoted away from the problem.

We did the rest of the deal, including the part where he explained to me how the Web had killed the ability for people like me to haggle over price.
(Yeah, I’ve heard.)

So when he extended his hand to seal the deal, I sat there unhappily and said the car still needed its appointment with my mechanic.

I guess when you’re really willing to walk away, they know it.

My Car has its Date with the Doctor
In case you’re getting stressed wondering if my deal fell through… don’t.
The salesman succumbed to my superior negotiating tactics.
(hardly)
But he did deliver the RAV4 to my mechanic for its physical.

And yes, the doctor loved it.
(though my mechanic did uncover a couple small problems,
which the dealer agreed to remedy)

Price is important.
But inside is where it counts in the long run…

Success!
So I bought the car.
And so far, so good…!

If you’re in need of some new wheels, I wish you good luck with your upcoming dance.
Just don’t forget to bring the power of your Internet research to the party.
And always make sure your mechanic gets the last word…

Tag: Toyota RAV4

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