Buying a Rav4 outside of CA

[Kohler Controller]

My Austin dealer just called me to say that the last two 5k services they performed under the 2 year 25k mile Toyota Complete Care were denied by Toyota Corporate and they can no longer perform those services (and charge Toyota) because they are not a certified RAV4EV dealer. This pisses me off. All they are doing is rotating tires and checking the fluids. It's not like they are doing any EV related work.

I'm going to get a copy of the correspondence they received from corporate and try to talk to someone at Toyota about it. This is ridiculous.

Anything ever come of this?

I haven't been back for my 15k mile normal service (they quoted me $89.99 for "health check" and tire rotation), so I don't know.
Car is running strong and I haven't had any issues.
Just crossed 16k miles on the odometer.

 

[quartzav]

That just figures new to the forum.

I find about about this forum Nov. 11. They stop out of state incentives Oct. 1.

If I had started car shopping a few months ago this would have been easy.

Don't feel bad. I thought it was an easy choice with the out-of-state purchase incentives back in July. Only to realize the incentives was meant for the ~30%+ chance that you will have to pay to ship the car back to west coast for motor/EV system related services.

 

[everman]

Dang it all, I can't believe this! I am begging to purchase one of these EV's at this incentive level, but since I am out of state (a few doors down, CO), they're not interested at all.

$16,500 lease cash to CA, MSRP to everyone else.

Just chaps my ... Hide.
:x :x :x :x

 

[Airton]

Keep your eyes peeled for a used one.
I purchased my 2012 from a dealer in Michigan ($27,500) with only 2,700 miles on the clock and had shipped to NJ ($450) found it on cars.com, paid no sales tax (NJ incentive) the car is mint condition and I'm loving every day of ownership.

 

[mikegerard]

Find a good friend in CA...

 

[reeler]

Find a good friend in CA...

Not worth paying the high sales tax out there. Also, the state will ask for its $2500 back if you don't title it there for 3 years. You might even get the state wanting you to file a tax return because of the 2500 you earned in the state.

 

[miimura]

Find a good friend in CA...

Not worth paying the high sales tax out there. Also, the state will ask for its $2500 back if you don't title it there for 3 years. You might even get the state wanting you to file a tax return because of the 2500 you earned in the state.

If you get the $16,400 lease incentive from Toyota for being in California, you can afford to pay the sales tax and forego the $2,500 rebate and "export" the car to your true home state. To me these are relatively small amounts of money if you really want the car and are willing to deal with shipping the car home and potentially shipping it back to CA if a major Tesla component fails.

 

[NEEV]

I read that some users managed to get RAV4 EV shipped out of California. Could you share your experience? Was it hard to get the car shipped and registered? How did you deal with repairs (if any)? Did anyone had to ship the car back for major repair? That is my major worry. Thank you for your time.

 

[Kohler Controller]

When I bought mine, the dealer organized transportation from CA to TX ($800). As long as I could wait for their schedule, I didn't have to do a thing but pay the bill and be patient. It was not hard to get the car shipped. I did have to wait some additional time after that to get the appropriate paperwork from Toyota to get the car registered, but once I had it in hand, it wasn't hard to register.

I haven't had to deal with any repairs. I did get two free tire rotations under the Toyota Car Program before the local dealer realized that Toyota corporate wasn't going to reimburse them for the work. So far I have been able to get one firmware update by talking to the dealer to find out when the roaming Toyota Technician will be in town (he's the only one with the correct equipment to connect to the RAV4EV). It was free, but I had to work around their schedule, more patience required.

I've put 25k miles on it in 1 year. Trouble free. I have had the Check EV light come on twice (at ~5k and ~6.5 miles), but recycling the on/off button 4 times cleared it and I've never had it affect the cars performance since.

It's definitely a risk, but I think its a wonderful car and worth it. There is also a Telsa Service Center located in Austin that might be able to help me out in a pinch. They are probably not technically allowed to touch the car, but I bet they could use their equipment to diagnose a drive-train problem (hook up to the gateway computer to download errors or history) if I asked nicely.

What city are you in?

Good luck.

 

[smkettner]

Find a good friend in CA...

Not worth paying the high sales tax out there. Also, the state will ask for its $2500 back if you don't title it there for 3 years. You might even get the state wanting you to file a tax return because of the 2500 you earned in the state.

Does CO exempt EVs from sales tax? CA sales tax is not much more than Denver. Often you would get credit for out of state tax paid for a car recently purchased. Check with your DMV.
Still might be worth buying out a CA lease if you want the vehicle.

 

[NEEV]

What city are you in?

Good luck.

Thanks for your reply.
I am in Connecticut. I see one owner from NY. Anybody from CT?

 

[Davidb9608]

I am in hatfield Massachusetts 27 miles from the Connecticut border. Bought 1031 vin from toyota of San Francisco it is 2012 used had 5000 miles I have put on another 6000 total now 11000 very happy with range and rapid charge 10 kW . Hoping to get a chademo port on it as soon as tony is ready. In May I am driving it to the Dayton hamfest over several days . There are several used rav Ev around $30,000 available from California.

 

[NEEV]

I am in hatfield Massachusetts 27 miles from the Connecticut border. Bought 1031 vin from toyota of San Francisco it is 2012 used had 5000 miles I have put on another 6000 total now 11000 very happy with range and rapid charge 10 kW . Hoping to get a chademo port on it as soon as tony is ready. In May I am driving it to the Dayton hamfest over several days . There are several used rav Ev around $30,000 available from California.

Thanks! Used is the only way to go for out of CA. My only hesitation is not knowing how the previous owner treated the battery. Glad to hear that you are happy. Can't wait to get one too.

 

[Kohler Controller]

Thanks! Used is the only way to go for out of CA. My only hesitation is not knowing how the previous owner treated the battery. Glad to hear that you are happy. Can't wait to get one too.

The battery is fully protected. It is difficult to see how a previous owner could damage the battery pack. Ask for a test drive after an Extended Charge and see if it goes 100-125 miles.

 

[TonyWilliams]

Thanks! Used is the only way to go for out of CA. My only hesitation is not knowing how the previous owner treated the battery. Glad to hear that you are happy. Can't wait to get one too.

The battery is fully protected. It is difficult to see how a previous owner could damage the battery pack. Ask for a test drive after an Extended Charge and see if it goes 100-125 miles.

Exactly. The battery is fully protected except when turned off in heat. Then, the battery will get as hot as the ambient and radiant heat allows.

So far, not a single car has reported ANY noticeable range or capacity loss.

 

[reeler]

Does CO exempt EVs from sales tax? CA sales tax is not much more than Denver. Often you would get credit for out of state tax paid for a car recently purchased. Check with your DMV.
Still might be worth buying out a CA lease if you want the vehicle.

Colorado does not exempt EVs, but my sales tax in the suburbs of Denver is 4.25%. Colorado also gives a $6K tax rebate.

 

[jimbo69ny]

I have cousins and family friends in Cali. Would it be possible to have one of them purchase a new Rav EV, they get the tax credits and I purchase the car from them "used"? If they leased it could they assign the lease to me?

I dont purchase vehicles all that often so I dont remember the DMV rules. Im just trying to figure out a way to make this work. I dont see many for sale online right now.

 

[cossie1600]

In CA, they only care about where you registering your car. I had my CT license when I bought my car. I don't recommend it, but you can easily lease under your own name and register it to your cousins house. Once you get the plate, you can re-register it wherever you are. Of course you will have to pay the 8% tax in CA, and fees. I guess if you really want the car, this is what you have to do. Don't apply for the CARBS rebate, the fed credit is taken by Toyota.

Actually I do remember one issue. CA doesn't issue license plate, you would have no plates to drive on unless you can find one in PA....

Once again, the car might be pretty reliable, but you will be so SOL if it breaks on you. I hope you keep the Prius as backup...

 

[TonyWilliams]

Don't accept the $2500 California rebate unless you want to get into a fraud accusation. Other than that, sure, get a new one using your cousin's address.

 

[jimbo69ny]

Don't accept the $2500 California rebate unless you want to get into a fraud accusation. Other than that, sure, get a new one using your cousin's address.

But Id have to pay the tax twice. Unfortunately I am not a rich man and thats not an option. :/