'honda. the screen name probably gave that away, but i have spent some time in my friend\'s 07 Rav4 and i must say that there are a lot of little things that bug me, and overall the interior feels cheaper than a comparable CRV.\r\n\r\nsome things that annoyed me in the rav4:\r\n--
gauges. you start the car, and theres a ~1 second delay before the gauges begin to light up. they fade in to maybe 80%, then jump to full brightness. in hondas (or at least my 04 accord) gauges goto 50% when you open the door, then fade into 100% when you insert the key, and the needles and warning lights come on when you turn the key to on/start.\r\n--
dash lighting. everything is orange, except the gauges are bright white. at least make the dash lights white or off white to make everything match up.\r\n--
HVAC knobs. nothing wrong with them. its just that toyota uses those EXACT knobs on the scion xB, xD, and 09 corolla, matrix. the yaris has the same knobs, just with a different outer ring. to me it just screams cheap cheap cheap on toyota\'s part. i mean more inconspicuous things like same wiper/signal stalks or something, everyone does it. but the HVAC is like the centerpiece of the dash second to the headunit...and to have that identical between completely different cars is just too much.\r\n--
glovebox. the glovebox motion is damped at the BEGINNING. so motion is gentle and slow when you first open it, then the glove box SLAMS open. in my accord, the glovebox is damped at the end of motion, so it falls open and gently comes to a rest.\r\n--
sunglasses holder. its too flimsy (thin/cheap) to open itself all the way. the motion is damped, but its just not heavy enough to overcome the damping and fall open all the way. makes it seem really cheap.\r\n--
interior lighting. you open the door and there is a ~1 second delay, then the interior lights fade on. close and the lights immediately turn off with no fade. in my accord, you open the door and the lights come on immediately. close and they gently fade off.\r\n--
suspension. the tuning was not to my liking (its a rav4 sport). im not saying its stiff, because my accord is lowered on coilovers that are much stiffer. when running over multiple freeway expansion joints (like on concrete overpasses or something) the rav4 just bounces and bounces, not even in sync with the joints. my accord (pre and post lowering) just takes the hit at the joint once and thats the end of it.\r\n--
engine noise. there is a complete lack of any low frequency sounds from the engine. you just hear slightly muffled, meaningless mechanical noise, not the sound of an engine. my accord actually sounds like an engine, complete with the full spectrum of aural enjoyment.\r\n--
alarm. my friend has the optional toyota security system installed. i dont know if this is a design issue or dealer installation issue, but using the keyless transmitter the car will beep AND honk. pick one or the other!\r\n\r\ni know those are all nitpicky things, but its little things like those that annoy me.\r\n\r\nquality wise, just everything was cheap feeling hard plastic. dont get me wrong, build quality is great. but materials could definitely be better. something that really stood out was the headliner. it feels like cardboard and sandpaper had an illegitimate child! feel the headliner on any new honda and its a soft, expensive looking cloth.\r\n\r\nand of course i echo the general blanket statements that toyotas are boring and disconnected while hondas feel more sporty and have more style.
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