Has Toyota Ruined The RAV4?

Or are the bad sales a sign of bad moves by the Japanese brand and not a bad product?

Author

Bernardo Montes de Oca
June 16, 2026

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Four Wheel Trends Automotive Newsletter
Issue #202

​Today, we discuss the most popular SUV in the US market. Is it good enough, or has Toyota ruined it by not doing plenty to revitalize it?

What are your thoughts?

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In The Know

Did Toyota Mess Up The RAV4?

I owned a 2016 Toyota RAV4 with all the bells and whistles. It was AWD, it had the top range interior, and all those bits and bobs such as luxury rims. I loved it, but it was as fun as watching a microwave boil water. 

In the end, that’s what the RAV4 is all about: practicality. It doesn’t look great and barely qualifies as a looker. But it’s reliable and gets you from point A to point B, 99% of the time. The other 1% is likely not the car’s fault.

The sixth generation came out right at the time when my RAV4 felt old. As I saw more and more hype about what it would look like, I began seriously considering a change. Then, it was finally released to the public.

Huh. That’s it?

It felt basic, as this review highlights.

It was as reliable and practical as always, but it lacked something more. I ended up going for a Mazda CX5 instead, and I don’t regret it.

What’s fascinating is that it seems I wasn’t on my own. Toyota RAV4 sales have dropped considerably, or, as this magazine puts it, they tanked. Year-to-Year comparisons show that Q1 sales have dropped by half, as this site reports.

Toyota blames it on production, and it’s an aspect that has a lot to do, as you can read here. For me, it’s not the only reason. It’s also that the car offers little. 

It’s important to remember that, in 2024, the Toyota RAV4 was the best-selling vehicle in the United States, outperforming the legendary F-150 for the first time in years.

That model, back in 2024, provided enough so that people were interested in it, but nowadays, the Toyota RAV4 fails to live up to standards. Granted, Toyota improved on many details, especially when it comes to driving, but it doesn’t stand out, as this review highlights.

The 2026 Toyota RAV4 is enough, and that’s not good enough for many buyers, especially with other options starting for less. At the same time, the American compact SUV market has more of the same, with little hints of variety here and there, but not much to write home about. This is the perfect ground for another brand to steal the RAV4’s crown, as CarBuzz writes.

By the way, did you know that the Jeep Grand Cherokee, out of all models, sold only 6,000 fewer than the RAV4? That’s impressive.

The 2026 Toyota RAV4 won’t win any prizes this year, except maybe one or two for reliability, but what’s more important is that, if Toyota doesn’t inject some life into it, the famous SUV could soon lose more fans. What do you think?