Used Toyota RAV4 Ireland: Buyer's Guide, Motor Tax and Recalls

The Toyota RAV4 is one of the most common family SUVs on Irish roads, and it has been a top-five new car here in recent years: fourth in 2024 and fifth in 2025. That means plenty of used ones, across two quite different generations and four different drivetrains.

This guide covers the fourth-generation RAV4 (2013 to 2018, with the first RAV4 Hybrid arriving in 2016) and the fifth generation sold here from 2019, which came to Ireland as a hybrid only, with a Plug-in Hybrid added in 2021.

Front view of the new sixth-generation Toyota RAV4 — The new sixth-generation RAV4 arriving in 2026. This guide covers the two generations before it, which are the ones on the used market. Image: Toyota Ireland.

Which RAV4 you are looking at

2013 to 2015. The Irish range was led by the 2.0 D-4D diesel (124hp, front-wheel drive, six-speed manual). A 2.2 D-4D (148hp, four-wheel drive) sat at the top, with a manual or six-speed automatic, and there was a 2.0 petrol with a CVT and four-wheel drive.

2016 to 2018. The facelift brought a new 2.0 diesel (143hp, sourced from BMW) and, more importantly, the first RAV4 Hybrid: a 2.5 petrol engine with electric assistance and an e-CVT.

2019 on. The fifth generation was sold in Ireland with the 2.5 Hybrid only (218hp in front-wheel drive, or AWD-i with a second electric motor driving the rear wheels). The Plug-in Hybrid followed in 2021, with 306hp and an 18.1 kWh battery.

If the advert says 2020 RAV4 diesel, it is not an Irish car. Find out where it came from before you go any further.

Belt or chain

As far as we can establish, every engine in these two generations uses a timing chain, not a belt: the 2.0 and 2.2 D-4D diesels, the 2.0 petrol, and the 2.5 petrol engine in both the Hybrid and the Plug-in Hybrid. There is no scheduled cambelt bill.

The one engine we could not confirm from a RAV4-specific source is the BMW-built 2.0 diesel used from 2016 to 2018. If you are looking at one, ask a Toyota dealer to check the VIN against the service schedule.

Gearboxes

The hybrids use Toyota's e-CVT: a planetary gearset with electric motors, no belt and no clutch packs. Its well-known weakness is not reliability but noise. Press hard and the engine revs high and stays there, which some reviewers have found tiresome. Drive it gently and it is smooth and quiet. We found no pattern of mechanical failures.

The 2013 to 2015 petrol used a conventional CVT. The diesels came with six-speed manuals, and the 2.2 also with a six-speed automatic. Take any automatic on a long test drive and listen for hesitation or clunks on the way off the line.

Motor tax, version by version

Irish annual motor tax for each Toyota RAV4 version — Annual motor tax by version. Pre-2021 cars are taxed on NEDC CO2 for life.

A RAV4 first registered in Ireland between July 2008 and December 2020 is taxed for life on its NEDC CO2 figure. One registered from January 2021 is taxed on WLTP. For an import, the first registration date anywhere decides which table applies.

2013 2.0 D-4D, 127 g/km NEDC: band B1, €270 a year.
2016 2.0 D-4D 143hp, 124 g/km NEDC: band B1, €270.
2016 Hybrid AWD, 118 g/km NEDC: band A4, €200.
2019 Hybrid AWD-i, 103 g/km NEDC: band A3, €190.
2021 Hybrid AWD, 131 g/km WLTP: €210 a year.
Plug-in Hybrid, 22 g/km WLTP: €140, the second-lowest rate there is.

Look at the 2019 and 2021 hybrids. Near enough the same car, but the 2019 car is taxed on the old NEDC figure and costs €20 a year less. Watch out for 2019 and 2020 reviews and adverts that print the newer WLTP figure (around 125 to 128 g/km) next to a €270 tax figure. For a car registered before 2021 that is the wrong table. Read the CO2 on the car's own registration certificate.

Recalls to check, with Irish numbers

EGR cooler (diesel, 2015 to 2018). Toyota Ireland recalled Auris, Avensis, RAV4 and Verso diesels built between March 2015 and May 2018: around 7,546 vehicles in Ireland across the four models. Coolant can leak from the EGR cooler, damage the inlet manifold and, in rare cases, create a fire risk. On a 2016 to 2018 RAV4 diesel, ask for proof the work was done.

Front lower arm (hybrid, built September to October 2019). About 224 RAV4s in Ireland were recalled because the front suspension lower arms could crack.

Both are free at a Toyota dealer. Give them the VIN before you buy and they can tell you in minutes whether the work has been done on that particular car.

One to ask about on a 2019 to 2022 hybrid with AWD-i. In North America, Toyota extended its warranty on the high-voltage connector for the rear electric motor, which can corrode and stop the car starting. We found no Irish or European equivalent. If the car you are looking at has AWD-i, ask the dealer whether any work has been done on the rear motor connector.

Warranty: why the service history is worth money

This is where a Toyota-serviced RAV4 earns a real premium.

Toyota Relax. Each service at a Toyota dealer adds 12 months or 15,000 km of warranty cover, for cars up to 10 years old or 185,000 km. It transfers to the next owner and, according to Toyota Ireland, it applies to imported cars too.

Hybrid Battery Extended Care. On a hybrid, each annual Hybrid Service includes a battery health check and extends the battery cover by a year or 15,000 km, renewable up to the car's 15th anniversary. Miss a service and the cover lapses.

So a 2019 RAV4 Hybrid with an unbroken Toyota service record is a materially safer buy than the same car serviced elsewhere, even if both are mechanically sound today. Ask for the records, and ring the dealer that stamped them if anything looks thin.

Five checks before buying a used Toyota RAV4 in Ireland — Five checks that take ten minutes and can save you a four-figure mistake.

Hybrid, Plug-in or diesel?

The Hybrid is the sensible default. It costs €190 to €210 a year to tax, has no clutch or belt to wear, and suits mixed Irish driving.

The Plug-in Hybrid makes sense only if you can charge it at home and most of your trips are short. Charged every night, it covers the daily commute on electricity and the €140 tax is a bonus. Left unplugged, it is a heavier, dearer hybrid.

The old diesels are the cheapest way into a RAV4, but they are now at least eight years old. A diesel that only does short town runs is a diesel particulate filter problem waiting to happen. Check the EGR recall status first.

What to look at on the car itself

A cold start, ideally with the bonnet up, listening for chain rattle on high-mileage diesels.
Recall status from a Toyota dealer, using the VIN.
On a hybrid: the last Hybrid Health Check date and result.
On AWD-i: that the rear motor engages (a dealer can read any stored faults).
On a Plug-in: that both charging cables are present and that it charges on a home socket.
The CO2 figure on the registration certificate, not in the advert.

What they cost

Used RAV4 prices move week to week, and mileage, drivetrain and service history shift them far more than the year on the plate. A Toyota-serviced hybrid with its Hybrid Health Check record in place is worth paying more for. Compare current listings on ecosteer.ie.

The short version

No cambelt on any RAV4 engine we could confirm. All the ones we could check run on a chain.
2016 to 2018 diesel: confirm the EGR cooler recall was done.
Late 2019 hybrid: confirm the front lower arm recall.
Tax: €190 for a 2019 AWD-i, €210 for a 2021 hybrid, €140 for the Plug-in. Read the registration certificate.
An unbroken Toyota service record is worth real money: it carries the warranty and the battery cover.

Toyota RAV4 Ireland Buyer's Guide: Hybrid, Plug-in or Diesel, Motor Tax and the Recalls to Check