I am also new to this forum. We just bought an 06 Rav4 last month and love it.
We have only had it a month and have 5k miles on it, so we have really had a chance to check it out well. It is quiet, smooth and manuverable. Big and comfortable enough for 4 people to travel on a road trip, but small enough to tool around town in. Impressive turning radius!
The day we bought it, we took it for a 2800 mile road trip. The gas milage was good. We drove considerably over the speed limit (anywhere from 70 to 90mph) and still got on average 23 to 24 mpg. Overall, the 4cy has plenty of power.
I have a '98 Tacoma Prerunner and a '03 Honda Civic, but now I prefer the Rav4 handsdown! I travel alot and drive tons of different rental cars and none really compete with the new Rav4.
For the money, I havent really found anything that I dont like about the vehicle.
