In the Driver's Seat of a 2006 Toyota RAV4 Limited
When I was young and crazy about sports cars, it didn't matter if I had to crawl on my hands and knees to get into the driver's seat. Now that I'm older and slightly more sensible, one of the important considerations when testing a new vehicle is how comfortably I can enter and exit. I even defer to reader's needs by checking the rear doors and, of course, rear seat roominess. Putting aside my grouchiness about the RAV4's bloated dimensions, I'm pleased to admit this is one vehicle where I can slip in and out easier than a freighter on a greased launching ramp. And there's plenty of room for long legs and tall folk.The driver's seat was comfortable but for some unexplainable reason, sometimes left me with a slightly-sore back. And the pedals seemed a tad offset, although maybe I hadn't adjusted from a recent raft of manual transmission testers. Sightlines are excellent, as you might except with a tall vehicle. The instrument panel and door trim are handsome and the number of controls is kept to a minimum but I couldn't get used to the climate-control system, an attempt at replacing traditional knobs with a touch pad. It was always necessary to glance down and to the side before changing blower and temperature levels.
