The new Toyota RAV4 is very good, this much is true. Is it so good that you should wait for one over a Honda CR-V Hybrid? That’s a matter of preference, I suppose, but I find it hard to swallow waiting weeks or even months for a mainstream, high volume car. I guess I’m alone, because RAV4s are selling at a wild rate and the waitlists keep growing.
Some of this is caused by the predictable and common switchover between generations, as the plants that make the newly redesigned RAV4 had to retool in order to make the vehicle. A lot of it is just extremely strong demand for the popular, efficient, reasonably affordable crossover. In order to help with the demand RAV4 Hybrids are starting to finally roll out at the company’s Georgetown, Kentucky plant, and that should provide an additional 40,000 units a year.
Will that be enough? Probably not. There’s no breakdown last year between hybrid and non-hybrid sales, but the company sold more than 400,000 of these things last year, and the new car is hybrid only, so I expect it to sell the same or even better. Why do I believe that?
From Selling Days To Selling Hours
I write about the chart above all the time, that is produced by Cox Automotive and shows the amount of inventory for each brand and the nation as a whole, which it measures in Days’ Supply, which is to say the number of days at the current selling rate it would take for all the inventory to be depleted. The national average is about 76 as of May, with Toyota and Lexus way at the left with barely a month’s worth of inventory due to how popular its cars are and how tight its production.
For the RAV4, at least, days is no longer an accurate measure. According to Automotive News there’s a new figure:
On June 16, the nation’s 1,237 Toyota dealers collectively had 967 unsold RAV4 hybrids and 719 RAV4 plug-in hybrids.
At least that’s what they started with that morning — but not where they ended that night.
“It’s so hot, we’re counting inventory in hours’ supply right now, not days,” said Damon Rose, vice president of sales for the Toyota division of Toyota Motor North America. “Our turn rate was 97.6 percent last month — that means 97.6 percent of RAV4s available for sale in May were sold. I never thought I’d live long enough to hear about a statistic like that, but it just speaks to the demand we’re seeing for [our] bestselling vehicle in the United States.”
Selling hours is wild! By comparison, it takes Dodge 148 days to sell out of its inventory, and that number is an average, so cars like the Dodge Hornet are probably even higher.
Is Mr. Rose being hyperbolic? I don’t think so. If a dealer gets an allotment or 40 new RAV4s a month and there’s a waiting list of more than 40 people than it takes less than a day to sell a car. According to Automotive News, that’s happening:
At Longo Toyota in El Monte, Calif., more than 800 customers are waiting for a 2026 Toyota RAV4 — and that waitlist keeps growing despite the dealership delivering over 200 of the redesigned crossovers in May alone.
And Earl Stewart Toyota in Lake Park, Fla., presold each of the 40 new RAV4s offered on its website, weeks or months before delivery.
While markets vary, this is a car that’s popular coast-to-coast, so even if a one-off rural dealer is sitting on the car it makes sense that overall demand has outpaced production. Will this last forever? Probably not. With the addition of Georgetown, the plants will likely catch up at some point. If you don’t want to wait, though, there’s a good alternative.
Why Not A Subaru Forester?
Because Toyota owns part of Subaru, the related companies share a lot of the same technology and the new Forester has similar performance to the RAV4. Thomas drove both of them back-to-back, and had this to say:
It’s safe to say the new Toyota RAV4 going all-hybrid is a big deal, because it means more people than ever will be able to experience awesome fuel economy for the segment. Between efficiency and the sheer range of trims on offer, the 2026 Toyota RAV4 is the best hybrid in its class, and it features a pretty slick new tech suite that’s remarkably user-friendly.
However, if you’re the sort of person to buy a car based on purely physical attributes, the Forester Hybrid feels like a better crossover. It has a bit more passenger space, a bit more comfort, and a bit more soft-road capability. Both are great choices for a daily driver, but if it were my money on the line for a U.S.-spec example and I had to buy one, I’d personally take the Subaru.
Just buy a Forester! Words you’re definitely used to me saying… though I personally bought a CR-V Hybrid, which has been great so far.
Top graphic images: Toyota; DepositPhotos.com
However, if you’re the sort of person to buy a car based on purely physical attributes, the Forester Hybrid feels like a better crossover. It has a bit more passenger space, a bit more comfort, and a bit more soft-road capability.
It also gets 35 MPG vs 41 for the RAV4 which ain’t nothing. That might be a tire issue though.
i bought a 2025 rav4 at the end of 2024. it was hard to find a base model, and when I did, the best deal i could get was at longo toyota, and that best deal was just msrp. however, i told the sales guy i was coming in the afternoon. He had the car ready. I signed a couple of things and gave him a check, and was on my way probably 25 minutes later.
Our local dealer keeps 2 RAV4s in stock. One on the showroom floor, the other a test driver. The window stickers are nearly 10K above the MSRP.
Their website has about 40 RAVS listed as “on the way.”
So does the Subie share the same engine that the RAV has?
I wonder what the Subie dealer mark up runs?
I assume they share the hybrid technology. The Subaru has a boxer four and the Toyota has an inline. Both 2.5L.
Thanks.
This is exactly what my local Toyota dealer does as well. No haggling on price – they have a line of folks waiting for one to arrive. It’s wild.
I sat in a new RAV4 hybrid this weekend and I absolutely hate the dashboard. All screens, no style, and the most prominent buttons on the dash were for drive mode BS that most drivers will use maybe 3X. I was pretty damn disappointed, and more importantly so was my wife who would actually buy one of these.
Toyota does this on purpose. Artificial scarcity is capitalism 101 shit. Limit supply, increase demand, profit. Toyota sells every car they make, their dealerships make money hand over fist because of ADMs, everyone is happy except the consumer. Toyota could absolutely build these damn things faster but why would they do that?
On the other hand, it takes two to tango people willingly put up with this…not to mention I’m sure a massive percentage of the folks tripping over themselves for the latest and greatest *checks notes* RAV4 are sitting in prior gen ones or other cars that are in perfectly fine shape. Even though the tactics are unethical as fuck, no one is forcing anyone into a $60,000 crossover. As Matt suggests, a Honda or Subaru dealership will happily sell you their hybrid midsized crossovers with 4 figure discounts.
I put a lot of this squarely on the shoulders of corporate greed…but we need to be smarter consumers as well. I tried to buy a GR Corolla in 2022, dealt with multiple dealerships telling me assorted nonsense, and eventually got my Kona N instead. Is it as good of a car? That’s up for debate (most would say no because Korean car BAD and Toyota GOOD) but I got such a good deal on it it’s already paid off.
Speak with your wallet when you can, folks.
Your second paragraph, spot on.
I buy my cars in the way commented towards the end.
I had the exact same experience in 2022 trying to buy the newly released CIvic Si. They wouldn’t let me test drive it and included a ‘market adjustment’ in the price. I went across the street and ordered a Crosstrek instead.
Weird cross-shopping I know.
Toyota: we now measure inventory turnover in selling hours.
Stellantis: we now measure inventory turnover in selling years!
I pulled up listings for the Charger Sixpack yesterday and some of them are already listed for $10,000 off MSRP. Stellantis gonna Stellantis…
By Grabthar’s Hammer…what a savings.
RAV4 Prime has been kind of a darling and also hard to find since it came out in 2019. 42 miles of Plug in hybrid range, AWD and 300 HP on tap, and it does not sound like a jar of marbles like the base 4 cylinder CVT in the regular Rav4 these days.
The Subaru has the same drivetrain too? Are now all japanese crossovers variations of the RAV4?
In the same way that all Italian were (at one point) variations of the Fiat Panda.
The Subaru uses the electrical portion from Toyota, but retains the Subaru flat four ICE engine.
Well crap….
Well, Subaru engine still and the planetary power-split CVT is rejiggered to fit going longitudinally so probably as close as a Ford hybrid is.
But also man, no spare in both CR-V and Forester is a bummer especially with the soft-road aspirations of the latter.
So much this. The lack of a spare tire in the Prius PHEV gives me more stress than it should. At least with the regular Prius you can visit the parts department or third party and stick a spare tire under the cargo floor. On the plus side, I haven’t bought gas in three months and I drive ~300 miles a week.
Why not a CX-50? Isn’t that optionable with the same drivetrain?
It’s optionable with the last generation of this powertrain and comes with some packaging compromises to make it work
On a long enough timeline, every vehicle (that people want) becomes a Rav4, apparently.
I love how Stellantis is like “V8s in everything! It’s what the people want!” with 148 days of inventory, and Toyota goes “Get a hybrid or get fucked” and consumers are stabbing each other to get an allotment.
It seems like a certainty that the Stellantis vehicles rotting on lots are not V8 powered.
Dodge has turned itself from a broadly popular and successful car company into a niche manufacturer. And it sounds right that the 6es and 4s are the ones on the lot, because they don’t fit the niche.
Dodge needs another shot of Vitamin K.
It’s the EVs more than anything I think.
Yep.
I guess that would be understandable in Europe, but in the US?
When the only thing you’ve got going for you is that you put V8s in things, you’d better put V8s in things.
These are fine choices, but I’m not sure why anyone would buy one when the Tiguan exists. Who wants the added weight, complexity and worry of corroded high-voltage cables (a $5,700 repair) that comes with a hybrid Toyota?
Pretty much anyone who doesn’t want to deal with a VW – and then some, it seems.
Better mechanical longevity, a lower frequency of repairs, and cheaper annual maintenance come to mind.
Mine’s about a thousand miles away from 100k miles. Oil changes and standard maintenance is all it’s ever needed.
I have niece with a Tiguan (as does her husband) and theirs have both had multi-day stays at the repair shop for unscheduled repair needs.
So far that high voltage cable has been routinely checked and has had no issues. If/when it does, we’ll probably about pull even with their Tiguans on repair expenses.
A Tiguan is exponentially less efficient, exponentially less reliable, and has exponentially worse residuals….
Edit: and also doesn’t have goddamn buttons for the climate control….
“…why anyone would buy one when the Tiguan exists”
Almost sprayed the screen with coffee when I read that. But it’s noon so I’m not drinking coffee.
Did I Rip VanWinkle myself into a future timeline where the Tiguan was market competitive with the RAV4?
Because those are generally non-issues.
Weight is negligible, the overall system is actually simpler especially in the transmission and engine accessory department, the connector corrosion issue was specific to certain RAV4 years and not a systemic issue in Toyota three decades of offering a hybrid.
Because a lot of people have friends who have owned Tiguans, and people talk.
So how many hours does a RAV4 stay on the lot on average then?
They seem to be saying that often there is a waitlist long enough that they are literally sold before the day is done.
Yes, a day is too long and so they’re count in hours. If they have a new metric then use it. Otherwise just say < 1 day if they’re not going to actually measure it.
Zero hours in my area.
Back in 2022, Toyota hybrids occupied four out of the eights spots on my next vehicle short list. I got in the habit of watching the new inventory from my local dealerships and continue to do so out of curiosity. The desirable hybrids are still purchased in the “build” or “in-transit” phase four years later. Most have hundreds of dollars of dealer added accessories added to pad the price.
My experience has been that most are sold before they even get to the dealer – esp. the plug-in.
Former Toyota dealer guy here. The time spent on the lot depends on how fast they can slap on the dealer add ons, and run the actual intake paperwork on each RAV, then slap an “adjusted” dealer sticker next to the actual TOYOTA sticker.
It seems most all are pre sold before they leave the factory.