My wife needed to rent a vehicle recently a 2008 toyota rav 4 is what they gave her and no owners manual came with it she cannot get the 4wd to engage and she has to deal with snow in the morning

The Internet, though, has a large number of web sites
where you can buy service manuals and schematics
from bookstores, publishers, and other collectors.
Here is just a sampling of what sites are out there:

Factory Auto manuals
http://www.factoryautomanuals.com/
search for : factory service auto repair manuals

Repair Service Manuals
http://www.repairservicemanuals.com/
the largest collection of Automotive Repair Service
Manuals and Owners Guides on the internet. Our
database currently holds over 54,000 entries
dating back from 1940 to more recent 2011.

about Chilton Repair Manuals
http://www.chilton.cengage.com/

about Haynes Repair Manuals
Haynes Publishing
Haynes auto manuals
http://www.haynes.com/

Recreational Active Vehicle with 4WD according to
http://toyota.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/7713/~/what-do-the-different-toyota-model-names-mean%3F

No one can tell you what is wrong with your vehicle

You have to have a dealer or repair shop access
the on board systems, as I would think you are aware
of & have many times had done on several vehicles
over the years

The Vehicle Stability Control & other items are
obviously not functioning correctly

When you say stays on ,all I can tell you is, that any
check lamp,Mil Lamp or anything that isn't normal,
is a system fault & should be checked for codes in
no more than 3 days,then diagnosed & repaired within
a week or stop using any vehicle,before possible
damage & expense occurs

You should have & read an owners manual

Absolutely no one has one & apparently refuse
to spend money on one

I also bought a used 2006 RAV4 Sport (in 2008) and I am really happy with it. What you need to look for is for a clunk, pop or knock type noise when you are turning the steering wheel left of right. I noticed it when I test drove it. There is a service bulletin ST001-08 not a Recall. The dealer would have fixed it under the 36000 warranty but I don't know if it will be fixed after that. The 2006 RAV4 has no recall problems for the accelerator.

I have a 2006 rav4....there is a button to the left side of the radio labeled 4WD push it and 4WD light comes on on dash. It is electronic. Bad thing is that it automatically turns off the 4WD when the car reaches about 25 MPH....This means that if you want to sling mud while going through a puddle at 10MPH while reading 40MPH on speedometer...you are out of luck.

The easiest way to tell if you have 4WD is to look under the car for a driveshaft under the rear floor, that is connected to the rear axle. If you have a driveshaft, you have a 4WD vehicle. No Driveshaft, no 4WD. The 2WD Rav / 4 are, for some reason, also called Rav/4s there is no 'Rav / 2"

Since you have such a new vehicle you should have a owners manual. The instructions to reset are in the manual. If not you should get one from the dealership, probably for free. That manual will give you other reset procedures you are going to need in the future.

your local library has all of these or the dealer or go to a parts place and buy one

check if the battery needs to be replaced

I work for Toyota, and I will be glad to provide you with the actual answer:

The RAV/4 product is available in two models, a 4WD model and a 2WD model.
The difference between the two is on the 2WD model, there is no driveshaft going under the vehicle to the rear wheels, and no rear differential. There is no "RAV/2"; both models are called RAV/4's.

There is a lot of common confusuion about how the 4WD works. It is full time 4WD. In other words, it is always in 4WD. It does not "kick in/kick out/automatically engage", or anything like that. It is 4WD all of the time. But, when I say "4WD", that is sometimes mistaken for "all wheel drive", and, in this case, the RAV/4 is not "AWD". What this means is that if you raise the RAV/4 up on a lift, and put it in gear, 1 rear and the other side front tires will spin. True "all wheel drive" would have ALL 4 wheels spinning. This is not the case with the Rav/4. What the RAV does have, making up for not having "True AWD" on the 5 speed model, however, is a switch that locks the center differential in the transfer case, which, when engaged, applies a method of "locking" the 4WD system for maximum traction, but it is still not AWD. The automatic version doe not have this ability.
The last "true AWD" vehicle for purchase was a 1970's International Scout.
If you are considering purchasing a RAV/4, that is a very good investement. They hold their value quite well, and are virtually bulletproof; I do not make any "money" off my RAV/4 customers...
Just "gas station work". Very nice cars. I hope that this helps you, please feel free to comment back with any otherr questions...Glad to be of assistance.
Toyota Ed