Your questions answered: Why such long wait times for Toyota RAV4 Hybrid?

The fast-rising cost of living in Australia is clearly encroaching into car buyers’ purchasing decisions, with many questions about hybrid cars hitting the carsales email inbox.

There’s no shortage of interest in EVs, too – not that petrol and diesel isn’t attracting a fair bit of attention.

If you’re in the market for a ute or a serious off-roader that’s pretty much your only choice.

And, indeed, adventure is still clearly in the future plans of many Aussies, judging by some of our questions this week.

Question:

Answer: There’s certainly no harm in calling other dealers to see if they’ll be able to supply a car to you sooner. Make sure you know which model and colour/s you want so they can check their inventory. Each dealer will have an allocation and some may have longer waiting lists than others.

That said, you’ll almost certainly be waiting, likely for a year or more. Demand for the RAV4 Hybrid has been red-hot to the point where Toyota Australia simply can’t get enough. It’s a nice problem for the car company to have and means dealers don’t have to worry about discounts to get them out the door. But the experience as a customer leaves a lot to be desired.

Toyota knows that and is working hard to get hold of more stock, something it thinks it can do over the next year or so. But unfortunately you will still have to be waiting a while to get hold of one.

Question: I’m about to buy a new ute but am not sure whether to get a diesel engine or petrol. I keep reading that diesel is dead. So am I backing the wrong horse if I buy a diesel? – Kane W

Answer: Diesel popularity has been waning in some market segments, particularly with smaller SUVs and passenger cars. That’s no surprise, given diesel exhaust fumes contain more noxious gases, something that has regulators in places such as America and Europe cracking down on them.

But there’s still plenty of strength in diesel drivetrains, especially with utes and large SUVs. And overall diesel vehicles had their fourth-best year on record in Australia in 2022. So diesel doesn’t look like disappearing from utes in the next decade or so.

Diesel is certainly the fuel of choice for anyone buying a new ute. That’s demonstrated in what’s on offer. Shop for a Ford Ranger or Isuzu D-MAX, for example, and you’ll only be able to buy a diesel.

That said, we’d also expect more petrol ute offerings moving forward. They’ve recently been confined to the cheaper end of the market, but more convincing petrol engines are on the way.

One of the first is in the soon-to-arrive Volkswagen Amarok. It’ll be offered with a 2.3-litre four-cylinder turbo, something that promises plenty in the way of performance. Volkswagen says it has been surprised by the early interest in the four-cylinder petrol, even if diesel is still set to be the more popular engine.

Question:

Answer: It can often be a grey area between an SUV and a proper 4x4 off-roader. Jeep and Land Rover, for example, are two brands known for creating some of the most capable off-roaders in the business, but each has some models that are best left to the bitumen.

The number-one criteria should be a full-size spare tyre. While it’s not a guarantee that the car you’re looking at is a proper off-roader, it at least weeds out plenty of the ones that aren’t. Secondly, have a look for a low-range transfer case, which opens you up to a set of lower gear ratios for slower-speed off-road driving.

Again, it’s not a guarantee that the car will be an off-road star, but it at least shows it’s been designed with some rough roads in mind.

Pretty much any 4x4 ute will be fine for the journey, although some can be fairly agricultural. SUVs that will do the trick include the new Ford Everest and Toyota Prado – we’ve recently lined them up in a comparison test – as well as the Mitsubishi Pajero Sport, Isuzu MU-X and, of course, the Nissan Patrol and Toyota LandCruiser.

If you are planning to explore, it’d be worthwhile considering a 4WD course so that you can learn about some of the off-road features on your car.

Question:

Answer: Which way you jump may depend what you’re going to use the car for and how much you really value driving enjoyment.

The higher ride height and easier loading flexibility of the SUV body of the BMW X3 makes it a winner if you’re piling kids in or want to load it with sporting gear such as bikes or surfboards.

But that higher ride height leads to a little more leaning in corners, something that engineers typically counter by firming the suspension slightly. The X3 body is also heavier, in part because the 30i model is all-wheel drive so comes with additional drive shafts.

The lower-slung BMW 3 Series has fewer kilos to shuffle around so instantly feels more agile. And there’s decent compliance given the sporty cornering dynamics as well as a more planted feel. The latest 3 Series is one of the most engaging sports sedans on the market and, when the latest model was launched, was named carsales Car of the Year.

So if you can live with the less practical body of the 3 Series then be happy buying a car that is terrific to drive.

Question:

Answer: The first thing you want to do is grab the PlugShare app or visit the website. It’ll quickly show you what charging stations are near you and how much power they provide. The more power a charging station can supply, the quicker it will charge (as a general rule).

Anything less than 11kW means plugging in for at least five or six hours – possibly longer – for a full charge. If the charger is near a shopping centre or coffee shop and you can get there every day or two and have travelled less than 100km then an hour or so should suffice. Any charger supplying more than 50kW will mean an hour or less for a full charge. Of course, all of the above relies on the charger being available and working when you roll up to it.

The short story is it’ll require some planning and, possibly, the occasionally bout of patience. The less you travel the easier it’ll be.

So, yes, living with an EV off only public charging can be done. But you’ll need to do some research into your area to see if it’s practical.

Question: I see Toyota has its first EV coming, but not until later in the year. What the!?! Why does it take a major brand like Toyota so long to start selling an EV? – Brian J

Answer: You’re right, it has taken Toyota an awfully long time to get on the EV train. Toyota’s focus has clearly been on hybrids, which it is enjoying plenty of success with.

As to why it’s taking the top-selling brand so long to finally catch up with Tesla, Hyundai, Kia and others, it appears Toyota underestimated demand for EVs. The company can sometimes take a while to wind up with new tech and trends, but when it finally gets there it usually makes a reasonable impact.

While Toyota’s EV journey has so far been glacial, we’d expect things to ramp up quickly following the arrival of the bZ4X later in the year.

Question: Last year I bought a new Mazda SUV and love everything about it. Well, almost everything. The problem is with the main touch-screen. Every time I want to change the radio station or adjust the navigation I end pressing the screen, only to learn nothing happens. Why? Has Mazda not learnt to adopt touch-screen technology? – Chris S

Answer: Funnily enough, the central infotainment screen is indeed a touch-screen. But Mazda disables the touch-screen functionality once the car is moving. The company argues there is less chance of distraction because you are instead forced to use fixed buttons, including the circular selector that scrolls down menus and allows you to select icons.

We’re not convinced by that explanation because plenty of other manufacturers seem to manage with touch-screens that aren’t always distracting.

And for features such as Apple CarPlay the circular dial is an inferior way of choosing whatever app or menu you want to select. Unless, of course, the car is stationary.

Got a question but don’t know where to find the information you need? Email us at editor@carsales.com.au

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