Remember I said I was going to swap that baldy tyred Camry for something else? Well.....

When I tried, it was all a bit hard for the rental company. I would have to drive 100ks to collect it, and they didn't have any SUVs anyway. Really? But it kept raining and Tracy has to commute on a mud road. We almost bogged the Camry last weekend, after detouring around a worse patch. (Which would have been no test for the Santa Fe.)
Then they realised the Camry was about to run out of rego, overdue for a service, and had baldy tyres. So they sold it! Now, where is it again? "Mr Smith, we need that Camry back ASAP!"
"No worries, what have you got to trade? We need something with 2 or 3 diffs."
"Hmm, you might have to talk to AAMI."
Aami: "Hold the line please Mr Smith, I will ring them."........"They will deliver a Rav 4 to you tomorrow, and we are sorry for the inconvenience."
I like AAMI!

So whats it like? Well, compared to the Camry, it has better seats, better ride, better traction and way better ground clearance. And I've only driven it a few ks!
I am amazed that it is only about 5 grand more than the Camry, but I will report more once I've done the 8 hour trip this week so Milli can throw the discus and javelin.
Cheers, Matt.

Well, we had that long drive. 4 hours each way and there is nothing to complain about. It goes well, stops well, steers well. Its quiet enough (but more tyre rumble than the Santa Fe), rides well and the seat is ok. I like the daytime running lights, great for moving around a cabin park at night wthout dazzling people. The rear backrests recline (like the Santa)which is great for me if I have to ride back there. Which I will when Milli gets her learners permit. And the cruise control holds the set speed down hills. Why can't the Camry do that?

So I could happily live with a Rav 4, but a diesel would be my preference. It returned 8.7l/100km, which is a bit steep on a trip. The Santa Fe would have been about high 7s, so 1 lt better, and its a bigger car with 2 more seats and a much bigger boot. 1 lt for us is about $600 a year.

A good little car.
Cheers, Matt.

Just to close out the thread, and in case anyone is interested, we had this car for 9 weeks and did almost 6000ks.
(Suncorp assesor didn't want to replace an airbag, hence delay.) Thankfully AAMI payed for the car, and eventually the airbag. Average consumption over the time, 8.4l/100km. Ok. Nothing broke or stopped working or started rattling.
I asked Tracy her opinion.
"It's good, but I wouldn't swap it for the Santa Fe." Not as comfortable.
Cheers, Matt

Footnote: Price of that airbag? $1185. Price from Koraps? $346.