I bought a RAV4 diesel automatic new in 2010. It's now done 120000km and has been very good.
I do quite a lot of urban driving, a couple of 60km runs a week and a couple of times a year I couple a 750kg caravn to it and do 600km in a day. It does all these things very well, it's quiet and comfortable. A big gripe (but I knew this before buying) is the rear door, an almighty pain in the butt compared to a hatch.
On 3 occasions it has flagged up a 'check engiine' fault and on one occasion it went into 'limp mode', a very unpleasant experience with the automatic transmission. On each occasion it was diagnosed as an injector fault, the fault code was cleared, 'test it and come back if it happens again'.
I also have a Corolla Verso, with the same engine but tweaked up to 177hp. I bought it new in 2006 and it now has 229000km. The only items of any note have been an EGR valve, a throttle body, and a starter motor.
From my experience, I don't know why this engine has a bad reputation.
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