New RAV4

I just leased my 4th RAV4 yesterday.  I kept the same silver color but the design is entirely different.  The tire isn't on the back end anymore, a feature I'll miss because it made finding my car easier in a parking lot and it opens up now instead of out.

So far I've had a silver 2006 a red 2009 a silver 2012 and now a silver 2015.  When I got the 2012 I was going to write to Toyota and tell them about all the changes I didn't like that they made to the car, but of course I never did.  I didn't even document them here and it wasn't until yesterday that I thought about it when I focused on all the changes that they made now that I don't like.  Maybe if I wasn't so lazy and didn't hate car shopping I wouldn't have gotten this car and would have looked for the perfect one, but I didn't.  It was easier just to take this one.

These are the things I didn't like that they did to 2012:
They took the phone buttons off the steering wheel and moved them over by the radio on the dashboard.  Dangerous!!  I don't remember how you looked up phonebook names in 2009 but the 2012 way also didn't seem as easy.  I didn't like that they got rid of SiriusXM radio, especially since Larry was paying for it.

But now in 2015 I have even more complaints, although I do like the advances in the technology and they did put the phone buttons back on the steering wheel.  I guess I wasn't the only one who didn't like that change.  BUT, THEY TOOK AWAY the upper glove box, the sunglass holder over the windows, the electric outlet in the back seat and the small upper storage area in the console storage box.  The pockets on the doors were reshaped so my maps won't fit in there anymore and who knows what else I'll find when I actually use the car.  They did put SiriusXM back in the car and I have 3 months free but Larry didn't volunteer to pay for it again so not sure if I'll get it since I usually listen to my books.  There's now GPS in the car, no choice, and they moved the backup viewer down to the GPS area from the rearview mirror which is nice.

1/25/15 - Update - another negative.  I don't like the door locking keyless mechanism.  On the old RAV4 you just pushed a button on the handle and all the doors would lock.  On this new one you put your finger where the grooves are and it locks.  However, unless I'm doing something wrong, it doesn't lock if you have gloves on.  I did get it to lock once with the gloves that you can use with an iPhone that has the special fingertips but I was only able to do it once.  I do love driving it though!

July 2015 update:  the back seats don't move up or back.  I noticed this when I wanted to move the seats up so I had more room in the back for golf clubs and cart.  Now the only way to get more space is to put the seat down but then you lose the seat.