Hey Scotty I just bought a 2008 Rav4 sport 4 cylinder with all wheel drive, 138k miles I wanted to know how capable it is off road. Of course I’m won’t be climbing any mountains in it, but I’ve heard others say even some light packed dirt trails or gravel can damage the car?
Well it's not an off-road vehicle really. You can take it on dirt, roads and such, but I certainly wouldn't go rock crumbling with it. It's a relatively light duty drivetrain made mainly for paved roads and highways
All the Toyota RAV4 is, is a unibody with a little "attitude", if I may call it that. It's meant for flat dirt trails, not any kind of rock climbing. True body-on-frame vehicles like trucks and true SUVs are meant for rock climbing, like the Ford Bronco (the real one, not the Bronco Sport). Very few vehicles are truly off-roaders anymore, because they would be way too heavy for an everyday driver who never goes off-road. Only the Jeep Wrangler, Gladiator, and Ford Bronco are meant for serious off-roading.
maintained dirt roads are probably ok, but not much beyond that.
