Honda's Restyled CR-V and Toyota's RAV4 Were Radically Restyled

In the auto industry, sometimes there's more to a redesign than meets the eye. Take the popular Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4 that were redesigned into sleek, rounded vehicles a couple of years ago. There was apparently much more to this redesign than meets the eye (other than the fact that it was a scheduled mid-run model change but it was far more radical than usual).

If you were to look closely at the 2005 or 2006 Honda CR-V or Toyota RAV4, you would likely see an interesting feature, the rear-mounted spare tire and tire cover. Granted, these rear-mounted wheels and their high-mounted swing out holders look really cool, especially when you put a hard cover on them. There's just a teeny problem with this type of mounting.

Well, really not so teeny, if you think that a couple of thousand dollars in damage from a low-speed accident is what might result even in just a low-speed supermarket smack-up.

That's what body shops and the auto manufacturers themselves found when they ran tests themselves and testing groups, such as the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, have confirmed that even low-speed accidents can cause serious denting and distortion not only to the rear door itself but also to the bumper cover and the tire carrier and mounting hardware.

Looking at this from a monetary standpoint, the door problems can cost anywhere up to $1,500 or more, depending on the speed and strength of the accident. Then, there's the bumper cover (always made of plastic or an ABS-type material) that can cost as much as $320 to replace. And, then there's the wheel and assembly and carrier itself which can also be distorted or cause body distortion that can put the figure back into the $1,500 range (usually somewhat less). Still, when you add it up, this type of accident can be costly.

So, let's add it up and see what a low-speed accident can cost on a relatively recent - and highly popular - crossover. First there's the damage to the door of $1,500 or so and then there's the bumper cover of $320 and then there's the wheel assembly and carrier arm that can go another $1,500. Suddenly, your low-speed accident can cost you more than $3,000 and if your deductible is, say, $1,000 or $1,500, it means you are paying a fortune out of your own pocket, unless it's the fault of the other driver and then their insurance MAY (and that's a very big MAY) pay enough to cover the deductible on your insurance.

So, whatever way you look at it, low-speed accidents in older CR-Vs or RAVs can be costly.

Enter the design team about 2004 - for Honda it was actually the Acura side of the house that developed the concept with its RDX - when they looked at the problem and determined that it was time to relocate the spare tire on their highly popular mini-SUVs. But, the question, where to put it?

After lots back and forth, the designers decided that an under-vehicle location for the spare was the best way to go. In other words, they took the spare; turned it 90 degrees so it was horizontal and they found place to slide it under the luggage area of the vehicle.

That, of course, has led to another problem that has been remarked on by customers. The older CR-Vs and RAVs have all seemed to have more interior space than the redesigned vehicles and tests of the rear seats and luggage areas have shown that to be true.

So, there has been some real give and take in this situation. The give has been in the brand-new lines (they are very nice for both vehicles and show that this just wasn't a slapdash effort) that modernize each vehicle and say they are new cars. The take has been that those who like the cool looking rear-mounted spare have lost their cool-looking spare.

On the whole, the public has taken to the redesigns by both manufacturers very well and those sales have remained relatively strong, even in a weak market.