Toyota Rush

Express yourself with freedom of the Toyota Rush, a blend of an SUV with the agility of forces city car in the form of charming. Toyota Rush replied that as long as you need it to feel locked into a routine of urban life

The new Toyota Rush hit our shores sometime in early 2008. In fact it crept in so quietly that I wasn’t even aware of its existence until I saw the model at the Toyota showroom when we went to view the new Toyota Altis.

The Toyota Rush is a cute little SUV that’s similarly modelled after the old Toyota RAV4. I’m not sure how many of you remember the Toyota RAV4 but it was another car that wasn’t hugely popular as it was priced rather high for a relatively small car. Toyota learnt from that mistake and now have brought in the Toyota Rush at a pretty cheap price for an SUV. I wouldn’t call the Rush a 4WD as we were told by the salesman that it is actually a 2WD car instead of a 4WD.

It is assembled in Indonesia and built on the Toyota Avanza chassis which contributes to its competitive price. It’s a 7 seater but I found the area where the last two foldable seats can be pulled down, a little too cramped with not much legroom. It might fit 2 children quite comfortably but adults with longer legs might find it a bit of a squeeze.

The dashboard is a simple and servicable dashboard similar to that of the Toyota Avanza. There were the standard airconditioning dials and little holes Toyota is quite fond of! Personally, I find that Toyota tends to have several little holes in their cheaper cars which are usually framed with plastic that sometimes feels quite flimsy. I guess with their cheaper cars, they don’t have the budget to cover it up!

The gearbox is similar to those in the new Toyota Vios and Altis which does away with the little push button to move it. The interior felt a little cramped when we sat in the front seats. The salesman sat at the back and it felt even more cramped so I’m not sure if their 7 seater claim was to seat 7 adults comfortably!