WTB Small SUV for my daughter. Rav?

[Tips Up]

Looking for a small SUV for my Daughter. Something safe to drive to college and trips over the malahat.
Ideally a 4 cylinder Rav4 or similar. $5-8K range. Automatic.
Just throwing it out there to see if someone may be thinking of selling or know of one available.

Thanks!

 

[kingblazer84]

I’ll keep an ear to the ground in my shop for you but may have to come to Kelowna?

 

[Stizzla]

Dang!
I just pawned off a 2012 Acura RDX to a local dealership for $9500 with 140k’s

 

[Tips Up]

I’ll keep an ear to the ground in my shop for you but may have to come to Kelowna?

I’m in Victoria so Kelowna is out of Range
Thanks though!

 

[Fishalot]

A 2004-2009 Lexus RX is very reliable. They run forever.

 

[Alex_c]

A second gen Rav4 is pretty unbeatable. Used to have one and had no issues until my ex money shifted and the motor popped. Got a replacement installed for $1500 and it ran for another 5 years until she got in an accident and it got written off. I think the only thing I did to it in 10 years was a rear diff mount. 20 minutes and $40 to replace

 

[Max123]

I've been looking for something similar, there's a couple of decent listings in Vancouver that hit the sweet spot of older vehicle, low price, but relatively low mileage. All likely need some minor work - but any of these could give you another 10 years of reliable service with decent maintenance:

If you fancy a trip to Van, here are the ones I'd check out

https://vancouver.craigslist.org/nvn/cto/d/north-vancouver-2005-toyota-rav4-great/7767829657.html (get details on the rebuild)
https://vancouver.craigslist.org/van/cto/d/vancouver-2001-lexus-rx300/7763456223.html (lots of great maintenance - note the fresh tires and Lexus battery, indicating dealer maintained - note that these old 4-speed transmissions are sensitive to deferred maintenance)
https://vancouver.craigslist.org/van/cto/d/coquitlam-2006-honda-cr-low-kms/7763799273.html (extra set of snows)
https://vancouver.craigslist.org/nvn/cto/d/north-vancouver-southwest-2012-honda/7757645303.html (slim on details, but price is right)
https://vancouver.craigslist.org/van/cto/d/burnaby-lexus-rx-350/7761385486.html (looks decent, has a better transmission than the older RX300)
https://vancouver.craigslist.org/van/cto/d/vancouver-2009-lexus-rx350-for-sale/7768089482.html (well optioned, nicer colour than the typical 'champagne', but a bit higher mileage)
https://vancouver.craigslist.org/van/cto/d/vancouver-suzuki-grand-vitara/7767757147.html (nice old Grand Vitara, lower mileage - not sure on the reliability of this generation, but the older Grand Vitara's are generally well regarded)

PS - I strongly agree with the idea of getting an older vehicle for a younger driver. Anything from the 2000s is going to be relatively safe (just make sure that you get any airbag recalls done), and it lowers the stakes a bit so that they can make mistakes without wrecking a $30k+ vehicle. You don't need to worry as much about minor fender benders, and you can get collision-only insurance (comprehensive insurance isn't worth it on a car under $10k, and insurance premiums for younger drivers are just murder). Also, maintenance is cheap and it forces people to learn how to maintain vehicles. Get to know your local independent mechanic - generally nice people! When you buy, unless you have receipts, change the oil, drop transmission pan and change fluid, fresh brake fluid (it kills me how long people leave brake fluid in), and fresh coolant. I always put about $1k into deferred maintenance on any vehicle I buy. If it has a timing belt - find out when it was changed - anything approaching 100k needs a new belt. Even if its a timing chain, sometimes the tensioner need to be done. Most people don't maintain the suspension - you can do most bushings in your driveway, and new ball joints/shocks will make it ride like brand new.

I'm in my early 40s and still follow this approach. If you are a careful buyer, $20k buys you a hell of a nice older vehicle and $10k still gets you something totally serviceable.

 

[Tips Up]

I've been looking for something similar, there's a couple of decent listings in Vancouver that hit the sweet spot of older vehicle, low price, but relatively low mileage. All likely need some minor work - but any of these could give you another 10 years of reliable service with decent maintenance:

If you fancy a trip to Van, here are the ones I'd check out

https://vancouver.craigslist.org/nvn/cto/d/north-vancouver-2005-toyota-rav4-great/7767829657.html (get details on the rebuild)
https://vancouver.craigslist.org/van/cto/d/vancouver-2001-lexus-rx300/7763456223.html (lots of great maintenance - note the fresh tires and Lexus battery, indicating dealer maintained - note that these old 4-speed transmissions are sensitive to deferred maintenance)
https://vancouver.craigslist.org/van/cto/d/coquitlam-2006-honda-cr-low-kms/7763799273.html (extra set of snows)
https://vancouver.craigslist.org/nvn/cto/d/north-vancouver-southwest-2012-honda/7757645303.html (slim on details, but price is right)
https://vancouver.craigslist.org/van/cto/d/burnaby-lexus-rx-350/7761385486.html (looks decent, has a better transmission than the older RX300)
https://vancouver.craigslist.org/van/cto/d/vancouver-2009-lexus-rx350-for-sale/7768089482.html (well optioned, nicer colour than the typical 'champagne', but a bit higher mileage)
https://vancouver.craigslist.org/van/cto/d/vancouver-suzuki-grand-vitara/7767757147.html (nice old Grand Vitara, lower mileage - not sure on the reliability of this generation, but the older Grand Vitara's are generally well regarded)

PS - I strongly agree with the idea of getting an older vehicle for a younger driver. Anything from the 2000s is going to be relatively safe (just make sure that you get any airbag recalls done), and it lowers the stakes a bit so that they can make mistakes without wrecking a $30k+ vehicle. You don't need to worry as much about minor fender benders, and you can get collision-only insurance (comprehensive insurance isn't worth it on a car under $10k, and insurance premiums for younger drivers are just murder). Also, maintenance is cheap and it forces people to learn how to maintain vehicles. Get to know your local independent mechanic - generally nice people! When you buy, unless you have receipts, change the oil, drop transmission pan and change fluid, fresh brake fluid (it kills me how long people leave brake fluid in), and fresh coolant. I always put about $1k into deferred maintenance on any vehicle I buy. If it has a timing belt - find out when it was changed - anything approaching 100k needs a new belt. Even if its a timing chain, sometimes the tensioners need to be done. Most people don't maintain the suspension - you can do most bushings in your driveway, and new ball joints/shocks will make it ride like brand new.

I'm in my early 40s and still follow this approach. $20k buys you a hell of a nice older vehicle.

Thanks for this.
My wife had a RAV4 and then a CRV, now a Highlander. 1 kid... 2 kid... kids with friends.
I'm a fan of Toyota for sure.
This will be my daughters second car. First one was a cheap Hyundai Accent that got her through first year and a bit. Couple of bumps and curbs through the leaning curve. But now she drives more and further so time for a safer vehicle. We also ski a lot and she wants to be able to drive to hill and get more days on her pass.
First thing I do is take used vehicle to my mechanic (owns a shop and long time friend). Fluid changes and once over so we have a solid baseline.
My standard questions for this vintage are : How long have you owned it? What recent work was done? What condition are tires? Has timing belt been done? *Funny that the flippers and resellers will not respond to my inquires because they don't know history. Weeds these guys out.
A Toyota RAV4 from 2000's with less than 250K would be ideal right now to keep the costs under 8K.

 

[Max123]

Lets not rule out a Range Rover...