How To Order The 2026 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid Right Now!
Do you want to be one of the first people to physically get your hands on a brand new 2026 Toyota RAV 4? Whether it’s the entrylevel LE or the Limited, the Woodland Edition, or even the GR Toyota RAV 4. Well, I’ve got a little known strategy that most of the general public and even Toyota fans don’t quite realize. And it all boils down to what the current situation is with Toyota factory orders in general when you’re talking about the current generation of Toyota RAV 4. I’ve literally been asked so many times in the comments of my videos, even if my videos have nothing to do with a Toyota RAV 4 Hybrid, and comments and questions asking, “How can I place an order for a 2026 Toyota RAV 4? When can I place an order for a 2026 Toyota RAV 4? So, I’m going to try to help you and answer these questions in this video. In North America and even in Canada, Toyota is one of the best selling car brands when it comes to electrified vehicles, but specifically when it comes to compact all-wheel drive hybrids like the Toyota RAV 4. And if you’ve recently been inside your local Toyota store, you may have realized that to get a Toyota RAV 4 2025, most likely depending on where you’re from, you had to actually put in a factory order for one. And depending on where you’re from, that could mean that you might have to wait for a brand new 2025 Toyota RAV 4. anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple of months and definitely could be north of 12 months if it’s a specific Toyota RAV 4 hybrid model. All right, the non-hybrid Toyota RAV 4s aside because that one there, we only have a small window left of time, probably a few more months to actually get yourself a non-hybrid Toyota RAV 4. After that, it’s going to be all electrified, all hybrid, fifth generation hybrid powertrain system, HEV, or the sixth generation plug-in hybrid powertrain system. But if you were about to go into your Toyota store or you did recently go into your Toyota store to place a factory order for a RAV 4 hybrid, whether it’s the XLE, the XSE, the Woodland Edition, or even one of the plug-in hybrid models. For example, right now for 2025, we have the SE, the XSSE, and the XSSE technology package. By the time your order gets built and scheduled, it may already be time to start producing the 2026 models. And what happens next all boils down to how Toyota handles the model year changeover from 2025 to 2026. You see, Toyota, like other automakers and manufacturers, have a model changeover period, which typically happens between early and late fall. That’s when they stop producing the current model year generation. For this example, the 2025 Toyota RAV 4, and they begin to have the 2026 Toyota RAV 4 go into production. Now, currently, if you didn’t already know, the 26 RAV 4 HEV, so not the PHEV, is slotted to start landing sometime early 2026, most likely in and around the month of January, is what we’re anticipating. And the PHEV, the plug-in hybrid options, for example, the Woodland Edition, depending on where you’re from, and some of the sport grades will start landing a few months after that, most likely sometime in March of 2026. So having said that, if everything goes according to plan in terms of timing, the model year change over or cut off from when Toyota would change from 2025 production to 2026 is probably going to be happening within the next couple of weeks or months. And if your order hasn’t been fulfilled by the time of the cutoff, then your 2025 Toyota RAV 4 order, for sure hybrid, not the non-hybrid, cuz there is no non-hybrid anymore, will get converted and transferred over to a 2026 model. Now, here is where it gets a little interesting. If you placed your order months earlier, even though you technically ordered a 2025 RAV 4 on paper, your spot in line just got pushed to the front for a 2026 Toyota RAV 4. And here’s why this strategy gets you a slight advantage over waiting for when the official release and 2026 RAV 4 goes on sale, which probably will happen when Toyota releases the pricing. Uh, in the early days of the release of the 2026 RAV 4 back on, I believe it was May 20th of 2025, Toyota stated that they’re expecting the 26 RAV 4 to come in right around the end of this calendar year or beginning of the next calendar year. So, pretty much what I just told you a minute or two ago and pricing to come out just before that. So, if that’s the case, and we’re expecting the 26 RAV to land in January, we’ll probably have pricing sometime between November and December, which means that’s when it would officially go on sale from the manufacturer. So, if you think about it, the rest of the public who actually waits for the official on sale release time to come from Toyota will already be behind you a bit because your order probably already would have gotten transferred over from a 2025 order to a 2026 order. And remember one thing, when new model years first land, especially in this instance, very few of them are available for public sale once they actually physically land at the dealership. Most early shipments are already spoken for by existing orders, like potentially the one I’m talking about for you. So, by going in now to place an order for a 2025 Toyota RAV 4 Hybrid or plug-in hybrid, you’re unofficially reserving your place in the production line for a 2026 RAV 4 Hybrid. Now, I get this question asked all the time. If I go in and order a Toyota RAV 4 Hybrid, can I still get a 2025 because for whatever reason that viewer or customer just doesn’t want the 2026 Toyota RAV 4 and they want a 25. The simple answer is yes, but it depends where you’re from and where you’re located and exactly how flexible you are on the model configuration and color configuration because all of this will be key uh to your success in actually taking possession of a 25 RAV 4 Hybrid if you went in to order one now or recently. So, it’s as simple as going in to place a physical order for a 2025 Toyota RAV 4 Hybrid that most likely, yes, will get converted to a 2026 Toyota RAV 4 Hybrid. You can pick the model, color, configuration of that 2025 RAV hybrid, anticipating it to get switched to a 2026. We do have the same model lineup when it comes to packages and trims. The only difference for 2026 is that some will be available only in a hybrid and others will be available only in a plug-in hybrid or both. The only difference now is that we have a GR Toyota RAV 4 plug-in hybrid. Everything else is the same. We have LE XLE XLE premium Limited Woodland SE XSSE XSSE technology and GR. So, pick the model you want. You might still have to configure and settle with the coloring of the exterior or maybe even the interior once that officially gets released, which will be closer to the release and on sale date. But by then, you should still be able to change the color or configuration at that point if you wanted to, but confirm with your store. All right, everyone. I hope you enjoyed this video topic and review, and I hope I’ve answered most of your questions. If I didn’t, leave them in the comments below and I’ll do my best to get back to you. We’ll catch you guys on the next video.
Even though the official on sale release hasn’t been made yet by Toyota.
There is still a way where you can potentially get ahead of the game in securing your all new redesigned 2026 Toyota RAV4 sooner rather than later.
Thanks for watching this video, and I hope I have answered some of your questions!
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For a more detailed breakdown of the Toyota Hybrid Powertrain system, check out this EBook;
Caring for Your Toyota Hybrid Guide
