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MYLR vs Mach-e vs RAV4 Prime

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My only regret with my Model Y is that I miss CarPlay. Tesla's system is not a great (not terrible, but not great) substitute. With the high prices for used Teslas I've sometimes considered selling and getting something else like a RAV4 Prime just to get real CarPlay (and make a huge profit selling my 6 month old car) :D
i have carplay in my other cars and i find teslas to be more available and a more elegant solution... carplay is only useful for me in rental cars
 
I have a 2003 Outback and ordered a RAV4 Prime. While waiting I test drove the Y, Mach E and ID4. I told the Toyota dealer when the Prime finally arrived that I was no longer interested.
I chose to go all electric when I began to think that while a PHEV seems to be the best of both worlds, its also the worst. It's not all electric. You have an ICE with the exhaust and maintenance. The RAV4 is putzy. I've driven the same car for 18 years. I'm giving it to my 18 yo. I'll be driving the Y when it arrives next week. At home charger installed tomorrow.
 
I have a 2003 Outback and ordered a RAV4 Prime. While waiting I test drove the Y, Mach E and ID4. I told the Toyota dealer when the Prime finally arrived that I was no longer interested.
I chose to go all electric when I began to think that while a PHEV seems to be the best of both worlds, its also the worst. It's not all electric. You have an ICE with the exhaust and maintenance. The RAV4 is putzy. I've driven the same car for 18 years. I'm giving it to my 18 yo. I'll be driving the Y when it arrives next week. At home charger installed tomorrow.
Maintenance is overrated.... it's minimal. 1 oil change a year for <$100. Tesla recommends lubricating brake calipers annually which will cost more than $100.

I think people who think about maintenance are thinking of old school cars that need oil changes every 3 months, spark plugs changed often, as well as other fluids. it's just not that easy any more, especially on PHEVs.

(I have a Prius Prime and Model Y)
 
I have a 2003 Outback and ordered a RAV4 Prime. While waiting I test drove the Y, Mach E and ID4. I told the Toyota dealer when the Prime finally arrived that I was no longer interested.
I chose to go all electric when I began to think that while a PHEV seems to be the best of both worlds, its also the worst. It's not all electric. You have an ICE with the exhaust and maintenance. The RAV4 is putzy. I've driven the same car for 18 years. I'm giving it to my 18 yo. I'll be driving the Y when it arrives next week. At home charger installed tomorrow.
Good choice to go full EV! PHEV is only the best of both worlds if you don't care about performance and your regular diving is within the meager battery range. Otherwise PHEV is the worst of both worlds.

(I will acknowledge that government incentives often skew towards PHEVs, and in some cases a PHEV is worthwhile over a regular ICE car or hybrid just to take advantage of the incentives.)
 
I currently drive a 2009 Outback (don't judge - I do like driving) and am looking for a new car. Like at least a few other folks I've narrowed it down to Model Y, Mach-e and the RAV4 Prime.

I've only been able to test drive the Model Y. I was... blown away:cool:👍. The Toyota dealers are difficult to deal with and no Primes in stock, same with the mach-e. I think I prefer the Model Y over the mach-e anyway due to better charging infrastructure and more interior space.

The two main advantages (to me) of the Prime over the Model Y are price ($26K advantage for SE after taxes and rebates) and the fact that it's just like any other ICE car (with pretty good MPG) for road trips. We still have another hybrid car that we're currently using for traveling, so we can always fall back on that should we find the Tesla to be too tedious (I think we'll be fine with the SC network). Our road trips aren't that far or often. I'd say 4-5 times a year we go 400-ish miles each way. Most driving is around the local area, 20-ish miles / day with occasionally 100-ish on the weekend days.

I guess most would probably cross-shop the Model Y with the Prime XSE PP, but even there is still an $18K difference after taxes and rebates.

Has anyone here been deciding between a Prime and the Model Y, then ended up with the Model Y and is now regretting their decision and wished they had gotten the Prime instead?
I have a MYLR on order and currently drive a 2008 Outback. Actually I think these cars drive pretty well for what they are (slow though).

Anyway, we test drove a RAV4 hybrid (not plugin) and it felt like a boat. Big and boring. Nothing like a MY. The RAV4 *may* have other things going for it, but from a driving please poitn of view the MY is in a whole different league.
 
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Maintenance is overrated.... it's minimal. 1 oil change a year for <$100. Tesla recommends lubricating brake calipers annually which will cost more than $100.

I think people who think about maintenance are thinking of old school cars that need oil changes every 3 months, spark plugs changed often, as well as other fluids. it's just not that easy any more, especially on PHEVs.

(I have a Prius Prime and Model Y)
Afaik, the brake lubrication is only required in cold climates. I doubt Georgia qualifies.
 
It is only <$100 a year for oil changes for some vehicles. A lot depends on your driving habits and your brand/class of vehicle. If you are a 15K+ mi/yr driver, and drive a German car, you'll have more maintenance, including the 20/40/60K+ mile maintenance intervals (cost can be astronomical, depending on the brand). Brakes will wear out much quicker on an ICE vs EV, which again, on some brands can be very expensive. Anyone who has owned a modern German car over ~50-75K miles also knows a stream of expensive issues begins, such as leaking valve cover gaskets, leaking crank/cam seals, necessary coolant flushes, cracked/leaking thermostat housings, water pumps or cooling system components, timing belts or timing chain guides and tensioners, oh, and the ever-so-fun issue with direct-injection gas engines where carbon builds up in the manifold and/or EGR valves that requires it to be walnut-blasted out. VW, BMW, Mercedes all suffer from these problems as you rack up the miles. And SUVs from these brands eat brakes quickly. For those not in 2-3 year leases perpetually, this is the price you pay for driving these cars. Ask me how I know. Teslas are far from perfect, and I still love German cars. However, I breathe a bit easier knowing that I won't face the decades of German car maintenance and repairs I've experienced and paid for.
 
It is only <$100 a year for oil changes for some vehicles. A lot depends on your driving habits and your brand/class of vehicle. If you are a 15K+ mi/yr driver, and drive a German car, you'll have more maintenance, including the 20/40/60K+ mile maintenance intervals (cost can be astronomical, depending on the brand). Brakes will wear out much quicker on an ICE vs EV, which again, on some brands can be very expensive. Anyone who has owned a modern German car over ~50-75K miles also knows a stream of expensive issues begins, such as leaking valve cover gaskets, leaking crank/cam seals, necessary coolant flushes, cracked/leaking thermostat housings, water pumps or cooling system components, timing belts or timing chain guides and tensioners, oh, and the ever-so-fun issue with direct-injection gas engines where carbon builds up in the manifold and/or EGR valves that requires it to be walnut-blasted out. VW, BMW, Mercedes all suffer from these problems as you rack up the miles. And SUVs from these brands eat brakes quickly. For those not in 2-3 year leases perpetually, this is the price you pay for driving these cars. Ask me how I know. Teslas are far from perfect, and I still love German cars. However, I breathe a bit easier knowing that I won't face the decades of German car maintenance and repairs I've experienced and paid for.
Amen! My last three cars were a VW, MINI, and BMW. the VW & MINI start getting expensive at 70k. The BMW got downright painful at 60k.
 
Amen! My last three cars were a VW, MINI, and BMW. the VW & MINI start getting expensive at 70k. The BMW got downright painful at 60k.
my 2010 Prius had 0 issues when we sold it to get a Model Y.

I've had VWs and you've basically listed why I never bought one again. My friend loves her Minis (she's had 3 and they're always breaking... not sure why she keeps getting them).

Brand matters a lot... I'd be lying if I said I wasn't concerned about this car after it's 4yr/50k warranty ends. Why don't they offer extended warranties? 😕

Last American car I owned was a CTS-V and I loved it, but it seemed like it was in the shop more than it was on the road. The service center knew me on s first name basis. Sold it at 47k mi (right before the warranty ended). The guy that bought it had it break down on him driving across country after picking it up. I felt bad and offered to pay for his hotel while it was at the dealership (still under warranty). He declined and enjoyed Nashville for a couple of days. but I digress
 
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I currently drive a 2009 Outback (don't judge - I do like driving) and am looking for a new car. Like at least a few other folks I've narrowed it down to Model Y, Mach-e and the RAV4 Prime.

I've only been able to test drive the Model Y. I was... blown away:cool:👍. The Toyota dealers are difficult to deal with and no Primes in stock, same with the mach-e. I think I prefer the Model Y over the mach-e anyway due to better charging infrastructure and more interior space.

The two main advantages (to me) of the Prime over the Model Y are price ($26K advantage for SE after taxes and rebates) and the fact that it's just like any other ICE car (with pretty good MPG) for road trips. We still have another hybrid car that we're currently using for traveling, so we can always fall back on that should we find the Tesla to be too tedious (I think we'll be fine with the SC network). Our road trips aren't that far or often. I'd say 4-5 times a year we go 400-ish miles each way. Most driving is around the local area, 20-ish miles / day with occasionally 100-ish on the weekend days.

I guess most would probably cross-shop the Model Y with the Prime XSE PP, but even there is still an $18K difference after taxes and rebates.

Has anyone here been deciding between a Prime and the Model Y, then ended up with the Model Y and is now regretting their decision and wished they had gotten the Prime instead?
I was considering a RAV4 Prime, but all the ones I have found in Ohio have been marked up anywhere from $5,000 to $12,000. So that alone has pissed me off and crossed them off the list. I here similar experiences with Ford dealers. So I'm back to a Tesla or ID 4 AWD.
 
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We've had our Rav4 Prime for a couple of months now. Still waiting on our MYP as our second car. Personally, we feel the Rav4Prime is awesome. Most of our typical weekly driving uses only electric. However, it is nice to have the gas engine if we wish to go longer. I'll be interested to see which car we grab when we are taking a longer road trip in the future. We "only" paid MSRP for our Rav4 Prime -- to this day we are not sure why the dealer let us pay "only" that much when dealers were selling them for so much more. We needed a car and thought it would be a Tesla. Then, we ran into this crazy long wait for the Tesla. Thus, the Tesla is becoming car #2 (we've been living with one car for the entire pandemic as we were not leaving home often and expect that to change soon). We were eligible for the $7500 rebate on the Rav4Prime also -- so it was a great choice for us.
Everytime I call about a RAV4 Prime the price is through the roof
 
I was considering a RAV4 Prime, but all the ones I have found in Ohio have been marked up anywhere from $5,000 to $12,000. So that alone has pissed me off and crossed them off the list. I here similar experiences with Ford dealers. So I'm back to a Tesla or ID 4 AWD.
I considered MY, Mach E, RAV4… I own a MX… second EV… after I test drive drove an AWD Pro S ID4 was an easy choice. Cost aside it is my favorite of all the cars, probably including the MX. Drive quality is simply the best. Tight German handling, 5.4 0-60 is fine in 99% of situations, apple car play, electronic sun roof screen, 260 mile usable range has been fine and the EA charging network (free for 3 years) has been surprisingly convenient up and down the east coast. It’s just so much more comfortable than MY, yet still fun. And In 5 weeks of ownership ZERO problems. The infotainment system is inferior — ie, far less intuitive — but once you learn it’s quirks it makes no difference. It also has a very good autopilot system (though no lane change), and better than MX bc don’t have to touch wheel nearly as often and it works just as well…
 
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I went from ID.4 to Model Y to Mach-E to RAV4 Prime...

I have to say the Prime is IMPRESSIVE. I thought I would find it MEH and trade it in as soon as my red/white MYLR arrived but now I'm not so sure.
  • It's quiet in EV mode.
  • I measured the highway noise on the Mach-E at 75mph... mid-60s dB. The Prime is low-70s in HV mode (gas at 75mph) and low-60 in EV mode. It's quieter than the ID.4 IMO in EV mode.
  • Ride comfort is great in both EV and gas mode. Similar to ID.4.
  • It can go to 85 mph in EV mode!!! (it's not a wimpy hybrid)
  • 42 miles range in EV mode.
  • 550 miles in gas/HV mode.
  • It's wickedly fast. 0 to 60 in 5.5 seconds. It feels faster than my Model Y for some reason.
  • The gas mode (HV) on highway speeds is also very powerful/peppy.
  • Boring Toyota quality. Reliable, plain, functional. Some love it. Some hate it.
  • Infotainment is early 2010s quality with CarPlay thrown in but it's functional and not glitchy.
  • Wired CarPlay just works... had glitchy experience with the ID.4 and Mach-E.
  • If you can get it at MSRP.. .it's cheaaap. Like $42K minus $7500 tax credit
  • It drives like classic SUV. The Y and Mach-E are crossovers IMO. The ID.4 is a classical SUV.
 
We've had our Rav4 Prime for a couple of months now. Still waiting on our MYP as our second car. Personally, we feel the Rav4Prime is awesome. Most of our typical weekly driving uses only electric. However, it is nice to have the gas engine if we wish to go longer. I'll be interested to see which car we grab when we are taking a longer road trip in the future. We "only" paid MSRP for our Rav4 Prime -- to this day we are not sure why the dealer let us pay "only" that much when dealers were selling them for so much more. We needed a car and thought it would be a Tesla. Then, we ran into this crazy long wait for the Tesla. Thus, the Tesla is becoming car #2 (we've been living with one car for the entire pandemic as we were not leaving home often and expect that to change soon). We were eligible for the $7500 rebate on the Rav4Prime also -- so it was a great choice for us.

Now that you own a MYP... how does it compare to the Prime?

I'm very surprised at how well the Prime drives. Was thinking it was going to be a gas sh*tbox but I am so wrong. This car will sell in the hundreds of thousands if they can build enough of them.
 
I went from ID.4 to Model Y to Mach-E to RAV4 Prime...
Really appreciate your contributions here, but I have to ask... how is it that you've owned 4 different EVs in a shot span of time. Seems like an expensive and time consuming hobby. Not that there's anything wrong with that, no judgement. But I find it interesting that you've owned so many of these cars.

What's your story, if you don't mind?
 
Really appreciate your contributions here, but I have to ask... how is it that you've owned 4 different EVs in a shot span of time. Seems like an expensive and time consuming hobby. Not that there's anything wrong with that, no judgement. But I find it interesting that you've owned so many of these cars.

What's your story, if you don't mind?

The EV tax credits and insane used resale values have basically made all the trade zero or minor net profit. It let's me experience different cars at no loss.

The ID.4 was a glitchy lemon so I dumped that for a demo MYLR for zero gain. I bought the demo MYLR at $57K (Oct) which rose to $61K in four weeks so when I traded it for a Mach-E (at MSRP) it covered more than covered registration fees, dealer fees, etc. And in FL, you only pay sales tax on the price difference (I paid zero after trade in). When I traded the Mach-E, prices had risen too. CarMax was selling used Mach-E's in my trim at $7K over new MSRP because Ford raised 2022 prices and short supply. CarMax offered $2K over MSRP and this was before the $7500 tax credit. Toyota dealer basically offered a little more in terms of "trade in value" and a great price on a RAV4 Prime that I had tried to buy back in August/Sept (I bought the ID.4 a day before one became available from that same dealer... leading me down this journey). The dealer called me back last week and said he had one arriving without a buyer... :)

Any other year, I'd be losing $3-4K in every trade instantly. I barely escaped losing my shirt on the ID.4 and it was only because of the tax credit. Resale values for it at the time were not great. Now the car is impossible to find...
 
I have a MYLR on order and currently drive a 2008 Outback. Actually I think these cars drive pretty well for what they are (slow though).

Anyway, we test drove a RAV4 hybrid (not plugin) and it felt like a boat. Big and boring. Nothing like a MY. The RAV4 *may* have other things going for it, but from a driving please poitn of view the MY is in a whole different league.
Suburaus may handle ok but the ride quality is terrible
 
Suburaus may handle ok but the ride quality is terrible

I test drove 2021 or 2022 Outback and it was fantastic. I had test driven CX-5s, Tucsons, RAV4s, Sorrento(?) around that time looking for a new car before I considered EVs. I was expecting a barebones shitbox like I remember them making 10-20 years ago but no… they feel a little upscale like the CX-5 and was as comfortable as all the others. In fact, the worse ride was the RAV4 non hybrid. I hated it since it was a jerky mess. The Prime is quieter and gentler.
 
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I currently drive a 2009 Outback (don't judge - I do like driving) and am looking for a new car. Like at least a few other folks I've narrowed it down to Model Y, Mach-e and the RAV4 Prime.

I've only been able to test drive the Model Y. I was... blown away:cool:👍. The Toyota dealers are difficult to deal with and no Primes in stock, same with the mach-e. I think I prefer the Model Y over the mach-e anyway due to better charging infrastructure and more interior space.

The two main advantages (to me) of the Prime over the Model Y are price ($26K advantage for SE after taxes and rebates) and the fact that it's just like any other ICE car (with pretty good MPG) for road trips. We still have another hybrid car that we're currently using for traveling, so we can always fall back on that should we find the Tesla to be too tedious (I think we'll be fine with the SC network). Our road trips aren't that far or often. I'd say 4-5 times a year we go 400-ish miles each way. Most driving is around the local area, 20-ish miles / day with occasionally 100-ish on the weekend days.

I guess most would probably cross-shop the Model Y with the Prime XSE PP, but even there is still an $18K difference after taxes and rebates.

Has anyone here been deciding between a Prime and the Model Y, then ended up with the Model Y and is now regretting their decision and wished they had gotten the Prime instead?

I thought that the prime would be a phenomenal car.

Toyota doesn't make many though. Good luck even getting the chance to buy one.

 
@JNM67 @voxel I'll second that newer Outback/Legacy are nice cars and worth considering over RAV4 if you're not set on a hybrid/PHEV. If AWD and wagon and ground clearance are useful to you, an Outback is pretty great. Ride quality is very good at least since 2010. (2005-2009 Outbacks were too soft IMO.) Sporty or super fast? No, but overall nice rides when optioned with H6 or turbo H4, either of which gets you a good fulltime AWD system. (Historically slushbox non-turbo H4 Subarus had only parttime AWD. Any of manual and/or turbo or H6 would get you various configurations of fulltime AWD. Not sure if this is still the case.)

@mypsandiego Maybe you're thinking of Impreza and the Impreza-based cars? They've never had great ride quality that I recall. Nothing that bothered me personally, most probably ride better than a Model Y, but still not great. Legacy/Outback always have always rode a lot better and had a nicer interior, at least since 2005+.

I've nothing against the RAV4 but I'd take an Outback over a RAV4 in a heartbeat. That's just me, I liked my Subies. :cool: The V6 RAV4 was surprisingly peppy though for its day...a bit of a sleeper. I guess the V6 is dead now.

@voxel After getting used to EVs does the short electric range of a PHEV not bother you? I've never owned a hybrid, but I feel like I would be super annoyed every time I ran out of battery range and the ICE engine kicked in, after being used to EVs all these years.