Reva 2.0? Reva II? Reva Redux?

[BoSoxGal]

She is a 2004 RAV4 with 122k on her, grey w/black interior, very clean & shiny (barely any dings! shiny paint! she has clearly been garaged), moonroof/sunroof, radio/CD player that works (Reva's has been broken since 2010!), and MANUAL SHIFT!

Could you drive a manual shift again after not doing so for 18 years? Surely it's like riding a bike? I recall being more engaged in driving and less on autopilot when I drove a manual shift, which I did for multiple cars over several years' time in my misspent youth.

The car is fairly priced and my auto auction cousin says he can talk them down but who knows, it's a tight market these days. I will only have to briefly finance which is great, I don't like car payments I prefer owning my car outright, in case I ever have to go on the run.

I'm not overly fond of the color, but it's growing on me - I can festoon her with bumper stickers and other sticker swag.

Grey lady for a grey lady?

[BoSoxGal]

This might seem crazy, but given that she's fairly priced for the mileage and I know her engine and transmission will easily go another 100k, I would rather buy a 20 year old car to replace my 25 year old car because having driven a much newer one in recent weeks, I am not a big fan of all the STUFF they come with these days.

I miss Reva.

[MajGenl.Meade]

Enjoy!

[No Greater Fool]

[Burning Petard]

I know nothing about Toyota manual tranny. But any 20 year old car will have problems with the rubber stuff loosing flexibility and body welds leaking rain. I am not fond of sun roofs -- reduces the rigidity of the body shell. That is not a problem if you drive gently. For an old geezer, the manual tranny can be very much a pain in the left knee from using the clutch in slow traffic or short runs between traffic lights.

But this is a type of car you really know. Every used car is more of a an individual than typical representative of a large group. I wish you well; that you might wear you own body into the seat for a happy 200k.

[BoSoxGal]

Yeah this was definitely a thread meant to stimulate discussion, not an announcement of acquisition.

I was feeling pretty keen yesterday morning, but I have since given some thought about the shifting thing, especially considering that I live in the land of abundant stop lights and heavy traffic.

I am definitely hoping my next ride has a moonroof/sunroof, though. I loved having one in the years I had my Mazda 626 and it never caused me any trouble. (Knock wood!) It's so nice to have a few minutes of sun up there every now and then.

But if I found a fit for purpose vehicle in a good deal and it didn't have a roof, I'd live with it. I lived with roofless Reva for 18 years, after all!

[Big RR]

I hadn't driven a manual shift car for about 15 years when I bought one, and I adapted quite quickly. It was a bit of a pain in stop and go traffic, but I generally enjoyed shifting and the feeling of control over the car (I drove it, it didn't drive me). I now have an automatic transmission (and it appears that manual transmissions are tough to find--even many of the sportier car manufacturers have stopped making them), but I sometime miss it.

One thing I will say, on the cars I have had, I usually had to replace the clutch at around 150,000 miles (100,000 miles for the cheaper subcompacts I had in the 70s); although it depends on driving style, the clutch is a wear item, like brakes. If it has the original clutch, you should plan for replacing it sometime.

[eddieq]

Having driven a Toyota manual shift well over 100K miles I can tell you that their manual transmissions are fairly simple and bullet proof (or at least they used to be). Just like an automatic transmission, regular maintenance really will extend its life.

My daily driver is an automatic, but when I ventured into the "beater pickup truck" realm, I grabbed a manual shift Ranger. I hadn't regularly driven a stick for some time, but I picked it right back up. More like walking than riding a bike, to me (one foot down when the other comes up, etc.).

Anyway, if you choose to pursue Reva Redux it's a decent vehicle (as I'm sure you know). That generation Rav4 was the one that got my brother into them. He's on his third and ready to trade that in now.

[MajGenl.Meade]

My Toyota Corolla is auto clutch but has a manual mode. Which I would love to use but it's flappy paddles on the steering wheel and er . . . I'm too scared of breaking something to risk using it.

Certainly would relieve the left knee problem though.

[Big RR]

I never liked that manual mode, paddle shifters or not. I prefer a clutch.

[ex-khobar Andy]

I travel to the UK fairly frequently, and rent a car and get around all the relatives and do 2000 miles in a couple of weeks and come back to the US for a rest. In 2010 I got to the Avis counter at Heathrow and found that they had a manual for me. My mistake - I must have checked the wrong box when I reserved it on line. I asked what it would cost to upgrade to an automatic. He went off to do his calculations and came back with the answer. "£82, sir." (About $120 at the time.) I remember thinking that's not too bad, could have been worse. "OK I'll take it." "That's £82 a day, sir."

I found it didn't take me long to re-remember how to drive a stick, probably 20 years after the last time.

[Scooter]

I would have said they could give me an automatic for the same price, or I could return with the transmission completely destroyed, their choice.

[Big RR]

And after that, I'd bet they'd direct you to the train and say they have no more cars.

But I think you are right, the clutches probably don't last very long with all the novices driving the cars.

[Crackpot]

Revdux?

[BoSoxGal]

[datsunaholic]

Based on what I tow, that generation RAV4 is still a good call. The newer, especially the hybrid ones, not so much. Though it's usually just dead batteries. Too much always on electronics (that's a problem with everything under 15 years old or so).

[BoSoxGal]

So I didn't get the grey lady - too old to finance and she was sold before I could get the money together.

I ended up buying a car through a friend - a vehicle that sat for a year or so after its primary driver passed away. It seems like a decent vehicle, though I have yet to have it assessed by a mechanic (I know, I know!) because it was not registered and I couldn't take it for a test drive on the road or to see my mechanic. But the place where it was stored is a little sales/service place and that guy told me it was in decent shape, as did the CarFax report.

It's a 2003 Infiniti FX35, so only a few years younger than Reva but in very different condition - paint is nearly perfect & very shiny (it's ruby red, uh oh!), it has only very minor damage where one of the back reflectors was cracked when it was backed into something at low speed (I've ordered a replacement from eBay already), and the interior is in good condition except a couple of dash cracks and the front seats lower upholstery is damaged as they clearly didn't keep up on the ArmorAll-ing.

The battery was dead from sitting, but has since charged up to very good condition according to the test at O'Reilly's. I have some lights on the dash that I'm concerned about but wondering if maybe they just need to be re-set from the dead battery - the ABS light is on, a SLIP light is on and one other that I can't remember just now but I looked them all up in the manual and it says 'take to Infiniti dealer for servicing.' Planning on going to my mechanic this week for an oil change and diagnosis/fix of a muffler noise that won't pass inspection. I'll have him check over everything and fingers crossed it will be all minor stuff that isn't going to suck up all my cash. I got the car well under market value and on very easy payment terms; it has only 138k miles and change on it, so I'm really hoping I'll get another few years with a fairly reliable vehicle that has no payments and low insurance costs.

Has anyone ever driven one of these? It handles VERY differently from my other SUV experiences which have been RAVs and Highlanders. It's hard to think of it as an SUV because it rides much lower to the ground and seems more like a sports car type vehicle, which I guess was the intent of the design but I think that's a little weird. Also it doesn't get very good mileage at all (I only know the published, I'll figure out the cold hard reality as I use up the tank full I just put into it for $65!!) and it requires plus or premium gas, so that hurts but again - no car payments or high insurance so I guess that balances out.

Hopefully circumstances will be such that within the next couple of years I can buy a hybrid Toyota, but in the meantime, it's Ruby and me on the road again.

[BoSoxGal]

PS, Ruby has a sun/moonroof - no leaks! - and a very nice Bose sound system with working radio/CD/tape player, AND heated seats! So on the creature comforts front I am having a nice daily commute.

[Crackpot]

Factory sunroofs haven’t really been known for leaking since the mid 90’s.

[datsunaholic]

Occasionally I've found that some of those warning lights are because the battery went dead, and the error was a loss of voltage to the module. But only a mechanic with a scan tool can tell for certain.