{"id":13202,"date":"2026-06-08T18:32:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T18:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=13202"},"modified":"2026-06-08T18:32:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T18:32:09","slug":"why-the-toyota-rav4-is-suddenly-the-most-coveted-used-car-in-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=13202","title":{"rendered":"Why the Toyota RAV4 is suddenly the most coveted used car in America"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

By Chester Dawson<\/strong> | Bloomberg<\/p>\n

Most cars lose value the moment they leave a dealer\u2019s lot. The RAV4 hybrid gains it.<\/p>\n

Read more Car owners shocked by $200 fill-ups are embracing used EVs<\/a><\/p>\n

Used, late-model versions of the RAV4 hybrid often list for more than their original sticker prices, even with thousands of miles on their odometers. In some cases, they cost more than a new 2026 model fresh from the\u00a0Toyota Motor Corp.\u00a0factory.<\/p>\n

The price inversion seems to defy a natural law of used-car economics. But it illustrates some of the most powerful forces driving the US auto market this year.<\/p>\n

Also see:<\/strong>\u00a0Car owners shocked by $200 fill-ups are embracing used EVs<\/span><\/p>\n

The Iran war sent gas prices surging, with the national average for regular well above $4 per gallon. Some car buyers have responded by snapping up used electric vehicles, which often sell at a steep discount from their original price. Others who are either unwilling\u00a0or unable to go fully electric have turned to hybrids, which pair an electric motor with a gas-burning engine. Long considered a niche product in the US, they\u2019re now highly coveted.<\/p>\n

And for the moment at least, there aren\u2019t enough new hybrid RAV4s to go around.<\/p>\n

Production hit a lull last year as Toyota stopped building the fifth generation of the compact SUV and started making the sixth.\u00a0With fewer new RAV4s reaching showrooms, many would-be buyers have been\u00a0stuck on waiting lists. Used versions \u2014 as long as they\u2019re from a recent year and in good shape \u2014 command a premium, even topping the list price of a new car.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

The hybrid RAV4\u00a0gets upwards of 40 miles per gallon, well above\u00a0the US new-car average of 27.2 mpg. It\u2019s popular enough that Toyota discontinued all non-hybrid versions of the RAV4, starting this model year. And\u00a0Brandon Wingate of Albany, Georgia, decided it was just what his family needed.<\/p>\n

He and his wife were sold on its\u00a0roominess, Toyota\u2019s reputation for\u00a0reliability and the hybrid\u2019s promise of savings at the pump. Wingate paid $32,000 in February for a 2024 RAV4 with 44,000 miles on it \u2014\u00a0a car that listed for\u00a0$38,735\u00a0when new. He drove about five hours across the state to test-drive it after spotting it online\u00a0and was only able to haggle the dealer down $500 to compensate for a small window crack.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no negotiating anymore \u2014\u00a0you basically pay the asking price,\u201d said Wingate, 42, an IT technician.\u00a0\u201cI\u2019m just glad to have bought when we did, because prices for the same vehicle are up anywhere from $6,000 to $8,000 since then.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, CarMax recently advertised a 2024 RAV4 Hybrid XSE with 29,000 miles for $46,998, which is higher than that trim\u2019s original $38,735 sticker price.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Carvana\u00a0listed\u00a0a 2025 RAV4 Hybrid Limited with 5,606\u00a0miles for $48,590. That\u2019s a cool $6,040\u00a0above the manufacturer\u2019s\u00a0suggested retail price when it was new. It\u2019s also more than the $43,300 sticker price of a 2026 Limited model.<\/p>\n

Toyota, which began offering Americans a hybrid RAV4 option a decade ago, kept gas-electrics to a relatively low percentage of overall production volumes. That\u00a0shortage helping to fuel\u00a0high prices should end\u00a0as Toyota scales up output of the new\u00a0all-hybrid RAV4.\u00a0\u201cWe have a very methodical cadence of ramping up to ensure high quality,\u201d Cooper Ericksen, Toyota\u2019s North American head of product planning and strategy, said in an interview.<\/p>\n

For now, however, Toyota has less than five days\u2019 worth of\u00a0new RAV4 hybrids in its US showrooms, far below the company\u2019s\u00a0overall inventory of about 15 days.<\/p>\n

Read more War in the Middle East is flaring again. Here\u2019s how each side sees the stakes<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re selling every one we have in stock and have quite a few pre-sales\u201d said Ryan Redding, general manager at Jim Norton Toyota in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Customers unwilling to wait often look for used RAV4s, he said, which means they\u2019re also in high demand. \u201cMost of the time, we don\u2019t sell above the original MSRP,\u201d Norton said.<\/p>\n

Consumer Reports warns that new 2026 RAV4s are selling for about 4% more than their sticker prices. Managing Editor Jeff Bartlett, in a recent blog post, wrote that prices should edge down\u00a0as production revs up, but\u00a0\u201cbecause elevated gas prices may keep interest in the RAV4 high, don\u2019t expect discounts any time soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the average transaction price of a new car in the US now\u00a0around\u00a0$50,000, used cars have surged in popularity. So\u00a0too\u00a0have hybrids, which not only cut fuel costs but let drivers use highway carpool\u00a0lanes in at least 12 states. Once limited to a handful of models like the original Toyota Prius \u2014\u00a0with a shape often compared to a cheese wedge \u2014 hybrid drivetrains are now available in most every class\u00a0of passenger vehicle, including the Ford Motor Co. Maverick pickup, the Kia Corp. Carnival\u00a0minivan and Stellantis NV\u2019s\u00a0Jeep Cherokee\u00a0SUV.<\/p>\n

Some of those hybrids command\u00a0high prices used, although not as consistently as the RAV4.<\/p>\n

Carvana, for example, lists several Honda Motor Co. hybrids with asking prices near their prices when newly sold. It recently advertised a 2024 CR-V Hybrid Sport Touring version with 14,000 miles for $40,590, just below the original base sticker of $41,595. Data from CarGurus,\u00a0a website that lists vehicles for sale by dealers,\u00a0show\u00a0that two of the three types of 2025 CR-V hybrids list for at least\u00a090% of their original MSRP, and all three trims of the 2024 model year retain 80% of their initial value.<\/p>\n

All used RAV4 hybrids from the 2024 model year onward command\u00a0prices of at least 90% of their initial MSRPs,\u00a0according to\u00a0CarGurus. Of the seven hybrid trims offered in the 2025 model year, four now list for more than their original sticker prices.<\/p>\n

\u201cToyotas are in general tough to find, and hybrids are tough to find,\u201d said Kevin Roberts, director of economic and market intelligence at CarGurus Inc. \u201cIf you\u2019re struggling to find a new RAV4 hybrid, you might pay more for any used one you can get your hands on.\u201d<\/p>\n

While unusual, Roberts said that\u2019s not unprecedented. Used-car prices spiked during the Covid-19 pandemic, when automakers cut new car production and removed certain features like heated seats due to chip shortages.<\/p>\n

Prices for used hybrids, however, have climbed high enough this year that some buyers say they can\u2019t justify the expense \u2014\u00a0even knowing they\u2019d\u00a0save on gas.<\/p>\n

Peter Aviles, a retired home inspector based in Fort Lauderdale, tested a 2021 RAV4 hybrid in April\u00a0but instead bought a gas-only 2022 version for his vacation home in Puerto Rico. He wanted a RAV4 because of its reputation for quality and high resale value, but he wasn\u2019t willing to pay the premium for a hybrid.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt gets good enough fuel economy,\u201d Aviles, 75, said. \u201cAnd it can handle the potholes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more The Kennedy Center drops \u2018Trump\u2019 branding as Bill Maher\u2019s Twain Award guests are revealed<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Used, late-model versions of the RAV4 hybrid often list for more than their original sticker prices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13201,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-based-on-facts-either-observed-and-verified-directly-by-the-reporter-or-reported-and-verified-from-knowledgeable-sources","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy the Toyota RAV4 is suddenly the most coveted used car in America - Silicon Valley Moving Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=13202\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why the Toyota RAV4 is suddenly the most coveted used car in America - 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