Does The Toyota Rav4 Come In Diesel?

If you know and understand much about diesel-fueled cars, you know that they provide a higher energy content for your car and give you around 35% more fuel efficiency in miles per gallon. So why, when diesel gives us a better average mileage and provides more torque to the drivetrain for a higher towing capacity and more power on the road, are diesels a dying breed?

According to Wikipedia, the Toyota Rav4 diesel powertrains were only made available in the US in its second-third generation. From 2000 to 2012 a limited number of diesel Rav4 models were available on the American car market, but the Rav4 diesel model is no longer available in the US.

America has not banned diesel cars, but some states are slowly putting an end to the sale of diesel and gas cars. California, for example, is phasing out gas and diesel cars and plans to do it by 2035. Other states are following suit, and this means largescale car manufacturers like Toyota no longer need to mass-produce diesel and gas cars in the US.

If you still fancy a diesel Rav4 read on to find out which used models to get your hands on.

Does the Rav4 Come in Diesel?

The Toyota Rav4 has some previous models that are available in a diesel powertrain. The second generation Rav4 2000 – 2005 and the third generation Rav4 2006 – 2012 made diesel powertrains available for purchase in the US.

Unfortunately for diesel lovers, the Toyota Rav4 is no longer manufactured with diesel powertrains and Toyota has stopped the production of diesel cars in the US altogether.

Toyota has also stopped manufacturing diesel vehicles in numerous other countries and announced the removal of the Rav4 diesel powertrain in the UK in 2017 – 2018.

According to Capital Reman Exchange, diesel is not a popular choice in the US because the word diesel has a negative name and image to it.

Which Toyota Rav4 Models Come with Diesel?

Although you can no longer get a new Toyota Rav4 diesel engine in the US, you will be able to purchase an older used Rav4 with diesel a diesel powertrain on the used car market if you can find one.  

Toyota released diesel engines for the Rav4 in the US for a short time only and discontinued the diesel Rav4 brand for the fourth generation which was released in 2013.

Considering the second and third generations of the Rav4 weren’t its best and there were numerous engine concerns and complaints, it probably wasn’t a difficult decision for Toyota to make.

Here is what you want to look for if a Rav4 diesel is what you’re looking for:

Second Generation XA20 Series 2000 – 2005

• 2.0-liter 1CD-FTV 14-T

Third Generation XA30 Series 2006 – 2012

• 2.2-liter 2AD-FTV I4-T

You might get lucky on used car sites like Trovit, Cars.com, and Car Max.

Why Has Toyota Stopped Producing Diesel Rav4s in the US?

Car manufacturers have certain standards they need to adhere to in many countries around the world to meet specific guidelines in new and emerging emissions and pollutions laws.

According to Toyota’s Executive Vice President Didier Leroy, his personal opinion is that Toyota will not launch another diesel car and that the popularity of eco-friendly petrol and plug-in hybrids are proving that diesel vehicles are becoming irrelevant.

Here are the few reasons why the Toyota Rav4 is no longer manufactured in diesel and why Toyota, as a large-scale company needing to stick with trends, regulations, and rising costs, has ended its manufacturing production of all diesel cars in the US:

• Although diesel may make your car last longer on the road in terms of mileage, diesel is a bigger pollutant than petrol in co2 emissions and is therefore being used less with every new car on the road.
• Basically, when it comes to the health of humans and the planet, petrol, though still producing harmful carbon dioxide emissions, is less harmful than diesel.
• Diesel engines are also more expensive to make than gas-powered engines which raise vehicle prices too. Expensive vehicles aren’t the most popular vehicles on the market so return on investment (ROI) is not great from a business perspective.
• Gas is cheaper than diesel, so this also makes petrol-based cars more appealing than their diesel cousins.
• Hybrids are becoming more popular every day, and this can be seen in Statista statistics that show one-fifth of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles accounted for the total car sales between July 2020 and September 2020. Why is this important? Because according to Torque News, we will never see a Diesel Hybrid vehicle in the US because of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations.

Are Rav4s Still Available as Diesel in Other Countries?

Diesel is still popular in countries other than the US, so while you may have noticed a decline in the sales of diesel vehicles due to a lack of available diesel vehicles, countries like Australia and the United Kingdom, are still selling diesel Toyota cars.

But for how much longer we couldn’t say.

What Toyota isn’t selling any longer in any country, is a diesel version of the Rav4. As of 2019, the Toyota Rav4 will be working towards perfecting their hybrid engines and will no longer offer the Rav4, in any country, with a diesel powertrain.

Toyota actually announced that it will no longer manufacture and produce any diesel passenger cars in the future throughout the EU but will continue to sell diesel cars in other countries like China and Australia.

Is Diesel Being Phased Out?

In short, yes.

When we’re all flying around in our miniature solar and lithium battery powered self-driving space craft-mobiles, diesel and gas cars will eventually be something we look back on one day as a thing of the past. No, but seriously, diesel is being phased out.

It’s going to take some time yet as there are still plenty of diesel vehicles on our roads today, check out some stats here:

• The Bureau of Transport Statistics estimates there are still around 8.5 million diesel cars registered in the US.
• Out of 20.1 million cars on the road in Australia, 2.6 million of them are registered as diesel
• The number of diesel vehicles in New Zealand as of 2019 made up for just over 76% of light commercial vehicles
• Contributing to climate emissions on a drastic scale is the UK with over 11.93 million diesel cars on the road as of 2020
• There are still over 50 million diesel vehicles driving throughout the European Union as of stats shown in 2019. This was before Brexit so also includes the UK’s almost 12 million diesel vehicles.

When will diesel be a thing of the past you ask? Possibly in the next 10 – 30 years.

The world’s biggest Climate Change Conference, 2021 COP26, which was held in Glasgow, Scotland, in November 2021, saw numerous countries and Individual American states sign a pledge to work towards zero-emissions vehicles by 2040. The pledge also saw signatures from companies like Ford, G.M, and Mercedes, but not from Toyota and others.

Considering some of the countries that signed the pledge are the largest countries for having vehicles on the roads, such as Britain, Canada, and India, we think this will see a huge decline in diesel and gas-powertrain vehicles. Larger companies like Toyota will eventually have to follow suit and start removing these vehicles from the market to keep up with trends and ROI.

Conclusion

While diesel Toyota Rav4 cars were available from 2000 to 2012, Toyota stopped selling the Rav4 with a diesel powertrain in its third generation.

Toyota no longer sells diesel-powered engines in the United States and has also in more recent years announced the removal of their diesel vehicles in numerous other countries.

If you want a diesel-powered Rav4, you’ll have to search the used car market space vigorously.