Mrs. L.A. is a home health nurse, so she’s going to be out in the snow today. She hasn’t read the owner’s manual for her 2010 Toyota RAV4, and I don’t know where she put it. How do you engage 4WD?
It’s not like a 4x4 truck, as in a F-series truck, where you have a transfer case to engage manually or the operator engages as they desire and then it’s always on regardless of speed.
For vehicles like a Rav4, CRV, Element, etc, the 4WD/AWD capability engages automatically based on wheel-spin and then turns itself off. We have a Rav4 and if we had the Limited trim we could press a button to manually turn it on versus letting the car determine it needed 4WD based on wheel spin.
The 2010 Rav4 is AWD, so you don’t need to engage anything. It will kick in when it senses wheel slip. You can lock into 4WD apparently with a button but I suspect you shouldn’t do this if you’re unfamiliar with true 4wd operation. And it looks like it kicks out at 25 mph anyways.
Thanks for the answers. I don’t drive the RAV4, so I’m unfamiliar with it. (FWIW, the ‘trim’ seems to be fairly basic. e.g., it has an old-school rear-view mirror, instead of the electronic one I have on the Prius.) I’m familiar with my '99 Jeep Cherokee, which has a lever for selecting 2WD, 4WD High, and 4WD Low.
Finally, something I am an expert in. I have that year and model. The transmission selector has two positions for ‘D’ (drive) side by side. The one to the left locks in full-time AWD while the one to the right is normal operating mode.
your Jeep has a “part time” system which can’t be used on dry pavement since the transfer case locks the front and rear axles together. Toyota’s “AWD” system usually operates as front-wheel drive, and a clutch system will send some amount of power to the rear wheels if the fronts lose traction.
Yes, I know. 
I found this .pdf file, which describes the RAV4 AWD system. It’s for 2006, but I’m sure it applies to 2010. I let the wife know that her AWD is automatic, and that if she gets stuck, she can use the Lock button.
Wouldn’t you just turn off traction control if you get into the situation that you are happy to fishtail along but its stopping because of traction control ?
locking 4wd/AWD is for steep slopes or something… extreme conditions.
Anyway, no worry about owners manuals … just get them from toyota.
I have a 2010 RAV 4…
Years ago, I specifically read the part in my owner’s manual that pertains to
4WD.
To manually engage the 4WD, there is a button just to the right of the steering wheel. When the vehicle approaches around 22mph, the 4WD shuts off.
If your RAV4 senses wheels starting to lose traction, the 4WD will engage automatically and disengage when not needed.
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I also have the same, and there’s a manual button as described. I’ll note that the 4WD sensing is unreliable to the point of being useless, so I just use the manual button when I think it may help.
Yes, though most traction control systems can’t be fully disengaged anyway. And nothing in the OP suggests that Mrs. LA wants to do that.