Many thanks Stuart. I’ve arranged a dealer visit tomorrow to have a proper look. Glos Guy, I had a X2 25E Msport 21 plate for a few days this week, so the newest idrive and I was very impressed.
I don’t know much about the X2 Landyman as it was too small for us, but the iDrive system in the X1 (which I suspect is the same) isn’t even the latest iDrive system. From memory I think it’s iDrive 6 whereas newer model cars (such as the 3 Series and, when it comes out next year, the all new X1) have iDrive 7. I don’t think that there’s an infotainment system available on any other Motability car that’s a patch on iDrive 6, let alone 7. The X1 still has a dated instrument cluster, but I think digital ones are a bit of a gimmick. We have an all singing and dancing digital dash in our Tiguan and once I found the settings that I liked I’ve never touched it again. The X1 instrument cluster is too small and low down for my liking though, so I’ve opted for Head-Up Display which will render it pretty much redundant. The other thing that I don’t like about many new cars (don’t know if this applies to the RAV-4) is the trend towards touch screen for everything. This was a big downer on our 2nd choice car, the Volvo XC40. They are an absolute nightmare to use when on the move. The movement of the car makes it a distracting challenge to select the right option. Systems like iDrive, where you have touch screen if you want it but a control dial (select and push) which is far easier, more accurate and safer when driving are ten times better IMO.
One thing to keep in mind with a RAV4 is that Toyota, like many manufacturers, don’t offer a range of options so that you can tailor your car to your needs and requirements. With a few tiny exceptions, if the car doesn’t have everything you want as standard then it’s tough – take it or leave it. That being said, although the technology in the RAV4 is a bit dated, the top spec model pretty much has most things as standard.