Comments by "Stephen Hendricks" (@stephenhendricks103) on "" video.

kai zen: I'm part of the anti-CVT brigade, too. Have to admit, however, that several manufacturers have improved the design significantly in the last few years. I think Toyota has avoided them as a part of their tendency to sacrifice innovation in the interest of reliability. Same applies to Toyota's reluctance to embrace small displacement turbos.
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Platinum: You and about seven other customers. Toyota dropped the V6 from the Rav4 lineup about six years ago because they couldn't give them away. I know. I was offered a $5000 discount on one. A Toyota with a $5000 discount! Further, the weight of the V6 made every curve an "adventure." Want a "performance" SUV under $50K? Get a Ford Edge ST and put up with its other limitations.
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@tommieboi707 : Are you under the impression that offering a V6 option is cost-free for Toyota? Think Toyota wants to factor in a vehicle that struggles to get 20 mpg's in their overall Rav4 sales? Do you think that Toyota dealers want unsold V6 versions sitting on their lots for months? Just how much do you think Toyota would charge for such an option? Considering the minuscule take rate would a $15,000 premium be fair? Bottom line is that manufacturers don't "give" options. They sell them. They have to consider a number of factors including design changes, production costs, dealer willingness to sell a model, and the number of units they're likely to sell.
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@tommieboi707 Just because two vehicles share the same basic platform doesn't mean that an engine can be transferred easily from one to the other. The Camry, for example, has a wheelbase of 111.2 inches; the RAV4's wheelbase is 104.2 inches. That translates into different sizes for the engine compartment. A better comparison would be the Toyota Highlander with a 109.8 wheelbase but the current Highlander is not built on the TNGA platform. As for the resale value of the v6 RAV4, that's a simple matter of supply and demand. Toyota sold so few of the model that the even fewer on the used market retain their value relatively well among the minuscule number of potential buyers.
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@tommieboi707 Oh, come now. With FWD autos, wheelbase is a critical measurement and impacts the size of the engine compartment. When you learn something about automotive engineering come back.
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@tommieboi707 Not the same engine. Not the same architecture.
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@tommieboi707 Look, I used wheelbase as an obvious difference between the RAV4 and the Toyota models that use a V6. The bottom line is that it's obvious that the already crowded engine compartment of a RAV4 with an horizontal 4 cylinder engine would require more room for a V6. Toyota obviously has no interest in putting a V6 in a vehicle that would attract few buyers and the notion that the engine could simply be dropped into the engine bay ignores the engineering and design changes that would be required. Give it up, buddy. It ain't happening.
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@tommieboi707 Comments from internet fan boys don't sell vehicles. If they had any influence there would be V8 MX-5's and 400 HP subcompacts. Toyota is in the business of actually selling cars, not satisfying the fever dreams of adolescents.
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@tommieboi707 So your argument is that because Toyota offers the Supra it should offer a V6 option in a completely different class of vehicle? Sorry. If that's your level of logic I don't think anyone can help you.
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@tommieboi707 The problem lies with your logic, not my reading. How about this? Since Toyota offers three row seating in the Highlander your logic suggests they should offer the same in the Supra. Telling me to "stop" simply suggests how deeply you're sunk.
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@tommieboi707 You're the one who claimed that Toyota chairman's fondness for sports cars and Toyota's offering the Supra as a "halo" model somehow justified a V6 in the RAV4. If that's not what you meant, it's your problem, not mine. Further, you continue to conflate comments on youtube sites with actual sales. In fact, the demographics of internet fanboys are completely unrelated to that of actual customers for compact crossovers. Toyota discontinued the V6 Rav4 for a very simple reason. They couldn't sell them. Customers don't want them. Dealers don't want them sitting on their lots. And Toyota isn't building vehicles to satisfy the dreams of people unlikely to buy a compact crossover anyway. If you want a V6 SUV, Toyota offers a couple of choices designed for the mission of a V6 SUV. Want one? Buy one. But whining about the fact that the company doesn't offer the cheaper vehicle you might be able to afford isn't going to convince Toyota to offer it.
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@blacknesterI find it difficult to believe that literally every journalist who attended Toyota's introduction of the 2019 RAV4 Hybrid incorrectly noted that the hybrid model has a CVT. Not just the YouTube crowd but the print journalists who drove the new RAV4 Hybrid, as well.
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