Inventory Listing

If you missed out on our last ultra-low mileage Rav4 we had here’s the next best thing! The 2010 Toyota Rav4 Limited 2WD with only 59k original miles, one owner clean carfax, and fully loaded with all of the best options. Finished in beautiful Pacific Blue Metallic with a light gray leather interior. Powered by the bulletproof 2.5 Liter 4-Cylinder (with a metal timing chain you never have to replace) paired to a 4-speed automatic transmission. A great compact SUV with low miles, reliability, and all of the best features that the Limited provides. This won’t last long so if you missed out call today before it sells! These low mileage time capsules always sell quickly!

Essentials

• 2010 Toyota RAV4 Limited, 2WD, 2.5L I-4, 4-speed automatic
• 59,000 original miles — far below typical for the year
• One-owner Carfax, no accidents reported
• Nine service records, clean California title
• Pacific Blue Metallic over light gray leather
• Limited content: Smart Key / push-button start, dual-zone auto climate, leather, heated folding mirrors with signals, 17-inch alloys, roof rails, XM / 6-disc, cargo cover
• EPA 22 city / 28 highway / 24 combined · 15.9-gallon tank · regular unleaded
• 179 hp @ 6,000 rpm · 172 lb-ft @ 4,000 rpm · 1,500 lb tow rating
• 2AR-FE four-cylinder with a metal timing chain — no scheduled belt
• NHTSA: driver frontal ★★★★★ · passenger frontal ★★★★☆ · side ★★★★★ · rollover ★★★★☆

NHTSA Safety Ratings

Driver frontal ★★★★★
Passenger frontal ★★★★☆
Side-barrier driver ★★★★★
Side-barrier rear passenger ★★★★★
Rollover ★★★★☆

IIHS (2006–2012 RAV4): Good in moderate-overlap front, side, and rear. Acceptable roof strength. Small-overlap was not part of the test set when this truck was new. Standard Star Safety on this year: ABS, brake assist, electronic brakeforce distribution, Vehicle Stability Control, traction control, front side airbags, side-curtain airbags, active front head restraints. These are design-era scores. Confirm airbags, VSC, and ABS at inspection and run the VIN for open Toyota recalls — this generation had multiple campaigns.

History of the Generation

This is a third-generation RAV4, sold in the U.S. for 2006 through 2012 and built in Japan. The third gen is the one that turned the RAV4 from a small tall wagon into a full compact crossover: 104.7-inch wheelbase, 181.9 inches long, a side-hinged rear door with the spare on the gate on most U.S. trucks, a flat load floor, and an optional tight third row on Base and Limited. 2009 replaced the older 2.4-liter four with the 2.5-liter 2AR-FE. 2010 is a mid-cycle year — small interior and appearance updates, more option availability — not a redesign. The fourth generation arrived for 2013 with a conventional liftgate, a different dash, and more electronics. Buyers who want the older Toyota’s simpler cabin, timing-chain 2AR, and the classic RAV shape are shopping 2006–2012. This 2010 Limited sits in the last third of that run with the updated four-cylinder already in the bay.

Fuel Economy, Horsepower, and Torque

The 2.5-liter Dual VVT-i four is rated 179 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 172 lb-ft of torque at 4,000 rpm. In 2WD Limited form it is paired with a four-speed automatic. EPA for this exact setup is 22 mpg city, 28 highway, 24 combined on regular gasoline. The 15.9-gallon tank gives a highway range in the mid-400s if you actually drive it at the rating. Four-cylinder 2WD towing is 1,500 pounds. This is a grocery and highway SUV, not a trailer truck. Toyota also sold a 3.5-liter 2GR-FE V6 in this chassis — 269 hp, 246 lb-ft, five-speed, 3,500-pound tow with the package. That V6 is the engine Car and Driver used to win comparison tests. This truck is the four-cylinder. Real-world 2AR RAV4s of this era usually land in the low-to-mid 20s mixed.

Engine and Reliability

The 2AR-FE 2.5 is a metal-timing-chain engine. There is no 90,000-mile belt job on this motor. Toyota used the same family in Camry, Highlander, and later RAV4s. Third-gen RAV4s routinely run past 200,000 miles when oil changes are not skipped. The weak points on this generation are almost never the block. What fails is calendar age: water pumps, radiator end tanks, coolant plastic, front struts and sway-bar links, rear wheel bearings, rear-gate struts and latch, evaporator odor, window regulators, engine mounts, and 16-year rubber. The four-speed automatic is simple. It is not a modern six- or eight-speed. Keep the fluid clean and it lasts. Nine service records on 59,000 miles is the right kind of file. A PPI should still include a cold and hot look, a scan for stored codes, confirmation that the VSC and ABS lights behave, and a close look at cooling-system plastic that dies on years rather than miles.

Limited vs Base and Sport

Base was the work trim: cloth, manual climate, fewer convenience pieces, smaller or steel wheels on early trucks. Sport was the look — 18-inch alloys, sport-tuned suspension, fog lamps, body-color cladding, darker cloth — and a firmer ride. Limited was the comfort trim and the one on this truck. Typical Limited content: Smart Key and push-button start, dual-zone automatic climate with cabin filter, leather-wrapped wheel and shift knob, leather seating on this example, heated power-folding mirrors with integrated turn signals, chrome-accent grille, 17-inch six-spoke alloys on 225/65R17 tires, roof rails and crossbars, XM with the six-disc changer, footwell lighting, engine immobilizer, and a cargo tonneau. Navigation, JBL, moonroof, and heated seats were still packages on some Limiteds — confirm what is on this VIN. Limited rides on the comfort suspension and 17s, not the Sport 18s.

How It Stacked Up

In 2010 the compact-crossover set was the Honda CR-V, Ford Escape, Nissan Rogue, Subaru Forester, Chevy Equinox, and Hyundai Tucson. The CR-V usually won interior quiet and the liftgate. The RAV4 won a usable flat cargo floor, Toyota’s reliability reputation, and the optional V6 that nothing else in the class could match. Car and Driver’s 2010 compact-SUV comparison put a RAV4 Limited V6 4×4 first after a four-cylinder RAV4 had already won their 2008 test. U.S. News ranked the 2010 RAV4 second in the affordable compact-SUV class with a 9.0 overall. The knock then and now is a utilitarian cabin and the side-hinged rear door, which is awkward when you are parked at a curb. This example is 2WD and four-cylinder. If you need snow or dirt traction, this is the wrong truck. Buy a 4WD.

What the Experts Said

Edmunds called the 2010 RAV4 spacious, comfortable, and easy to drive, and a top pick in the small-to-midsize crossover class. Pros they listed: huge cargo space with a flat load floor, roomy second row, balanced ride and handling, solid build, strong crash scores. Cons: budget-feeling interior, side-hinged rear gate, tight driver’s seat for tall drivers. They preferred the V6 when buyers could spend for it. Four-cylinder 2WD ratings they published were 22/28/24.

Kelley Blue Book editors framed it as the small-to-midsize SUV for people who wanted car-like drive and economy with available 4WD and room for five, or seven in a pinch. KBB consumer score sits at 4.4 out of 5, with reliability the highest mark at 4.7. KBB still lists the 2010 RAV4 in the better half of 2010 SUVs for holding value.

Car and Driver used a Limited V6 4×4 as the class benchmark in 2010 and wrote that nobody in that eight-truck test had an answer for it by day two. That test is the V6 story — 6.4 seconds to 60, 24 mpg observed, tied with the CR-V on fuel. This truck shares the same body, the same cargo layout, and the same Star Safety suite. It does not share that 0–60. J.D. Power’s 2010 compact-SUV quality score put the RAV4 near the top of the class.